Tianyang saw the light.
At first, it was silver, then it shifted to orange, followed by red, then blue, black, and purple...
A variety of colors, surreal, richly pigmented, much like an Impressionist painting.
After a short while, all the colors blended together, swirling into a yellow with a hint of rosy red, resembling the twilight sky.
In this twilight-like radiance, a brilliant river of stars faintly appeared, formed by countless stars coming together. They spanned the field of vision.
Tianyang strained his eyes, but he couldn't discern the beginning or end of this starry river.
Behind this river of stars, concealed in the ethereal golden-hued light, there was a dense shadow.
Its outline was indistinct, but it was evident that the shadow had a humanoid shape. However, if it was a "person," it was colossal beyond imagination.
After all, in front of this colossal figure, the stars appeared like tiny grains of sand...
Whether it was an illusion or not, Tianyang constantly felt that the shadow was moving, and it was now raising its arm.
Then he knew it wasn't an illusion. The shadow's arm had already crossed the starry river, and as it passed through the river of stars, countless stars disappeared into the darkness.
The radiant river of stars now had an inexplicable void.
The hand reached towards Tianyang, seemingly slow but impossibly fast, shortening the immeasurable distance between them.
As it approached Tianyang, the shadow extended a finger.
The shadowy finger consumed Tianyang's entire field of vision. He could no longer see the starry river or the twilight radiance.
What he could see was the deepest abyss of black.
Strangely, Tianyang didn't feel fear; instead, he felt a strange anticipation of the impending contact.
As the gigantic finger came closer, Tianyang finally saw that within the shadow, other stars were twinkling.
This shadow, it was as if it was another universe.
Another universe was hurtling towards him.
And then, gently, they met.
At the moment of collision, Tianyang felt his head expanding, inundated with an influx of information that was almost tearing him apart!
There were some elusive whispers in his ears, like voices from another universe. Tianyang couldn't comprehend their meaning, but merely listening to these voices had an inexplicable impact on his senses.
Just as Tianyang heard these mysterious whispers, the abhorrent creature that had been attacking the Pillar of Stars suddenly stopped.
This grotesque entity, like a frightened beast, abruptly retreated, causing a sharp whistling noise as it moved in the tunnel.
It had felt the arrival of a powerful will. The focus of that will wasn't on the creature but on the young man lying on the ground.
When the creature realized this, it also noticed that Tianyang was grasping one of the roots of the Pillar of Stars.
At this moment, the silvery radiance transmitted by the Pillar was coursing through Tianyang's veins, nerves, and every cell of his body.
These radiant streams encountered the black mist.
The black mist was injected into Tianyang's body by the creature, and it had the power to corrupt and transform living beings into terrifying, dark entities.
But now, the black mist was in direct conflict with the silvery radiance, creating a battle within Tianyang's body.
Tianyang's body convulsed uncontrollably as these two opposing forces collided, and each impact caused severe damage to his body.
The human body was fragile and couldn't withstand the collision of these two opposing forces.
Originally, the silvery radiance, driven by instinct, would have violently and ruthlessly annihilated the dark forces on the other side, regardless of Tianyang's life.
However, the consciousness that was focused on Tianyang secretly sent a subtle and imperceptible signal. This signal merged with the silvery radiance surging through Tianyang's body.
Like a skilled commander, it maintained high pressure on the black mist but sent a portion of the silvery radiance to enter the damaged cells, tissues, organs, and bones.
The silvery radiance silently liquefied, encasing the damaged areas like mercury, and then formed a biological matrix, repairing and strengthening them.
Tianyang's hair, starting from the roots, gradually transformed into silver-white.
In the blink of an eye, the young man had a head of silvery-gray hair, and each strand emitted a faint, misty radiance!
Inside the battlefield of his body, the black mist gradually faltered. The silvery radiance overwhelmed it, scattering, dividing, and consuming it.
As a result, the black veins on Tianyang's face gradually smoothed out, and even his skin became smoother and more refined than before.
As the silvery radiance was about to achieve a complete victory, the last, densest, and darkest patch of black mist, the size of a fingernail, suddenly condensed into nanometer-sized units. It formed a hieroglyphic symbol resembling a black goat's skull.
It flickered and then disappeared.
This symbol was too small, and the will only sent a peripheral signal into Tianyang's body, allowing it to slip through unnoticed.
Once the silvery radiance had completely occupied Tianyang's body, some data started transmitting in Tianyang's brain. These were signals that were indecipherable to humans, but if one were to describe them in human language, they released the following information:
... Will data download completed, beginning integration with the host's deep consciousness.
... Full assessment completed, host damage level at 57%. Repair has commenced, with progress at 46%.
... Threat signal detected, threat level three, recommended for elimination.
... Given the temporary loss of function in the host, the puppet system has been initiated.
... Mental fusion initiated, 10%, 20%, 30%...
100%!!
Tianyang suddenly raised his head, and his remaining eye opened wide. In the once deep brown irises, there were now glimmers of starlight.
He slowly pushed himself upright, swaying like a newborn baby, unsteady on his feet.
But the creature continued to retreat.
This dark entity felt the threat, despite still seeing a human form in Tianyang's appearance. Yet, its instincts were screaming that beneath that human guise lay something different.
Something mystical, mysterious, and powerful!
The creature with the beautiful female face screamed, and the mass of tendrils under its cloak shot out like bullets from a heavy machine gun!
Tianyang swayed his body, raised his hand, and silvery radiance pierced through his protective suit. The overflow of energy from his body even caused his right eye to shine like a dazzling star.
With a sweeping motion of his hand, a thin, paper-like barrier appeared between Tianyang and the creature.
This vast barrier divided the tunnel into two halves. It was covered with a grid made up of diamond-shaped patterns.
The creature's tendrils violently collided with the barrier. Tendrils that could penetrate armor were all deflected, and they burst one after another.
The only things left behind were tiny sparks of energy that scattered upon impact.
This dark entity, for the first time, felt helpless and powerless.