Chapter 1171: Chapter 1171 1171: New Condition of the Soul Domain

".Heavens." Robin muttered in a low voice, his face filled with sheer astonishment as he took in the chaotic scene before him. His soul domain was in complete disarray, a sight that made his breath hitch for a moment. .After his intense battle against the Shadow of the Cataclysm Sealing Cube, his soul domain had suffered unimaginable devastation. A massive rift, spanning nearly the entire size of the domain itself, had torn through its center. It was an open wound that refused to heal properly, an ugly scar that threatened the very stability of his soul domain. After that battle, what was once a thriving domain filled with vast soul force had become an empty, desolate wasteland. The abundant force that once filled this domain was all but gone, leaving behind a near-dead space. The countless initial souls he had devoured from the Sea of Lava drifted sluggishly, struggling to move in the cramped and restricted space they had. Some of them even fell from the sky as if they were succumbing to a second death for a second time. The very foundation of his domain was tainted with ominous, dark, viscous patches that pulsed with an eerie glow. These patches emitted an unsettling hum, a ghostly whisper that filled the air with an oppressive presence, making the domain feel like a haunted ruin rather than a place of Force. Even after he had discovered the cave where Jabba had hidden and absorbed a substantial amount of soul force, the only real change in his domain was that the countless initial soul orbs, once stagnant, had begun to move again. They bounced and floated about in random patterns, as if aimlessly searching for purpose. But the underlying problems remained. Robin had deliberately chosen to ignore his soul domain for a long time. He had refrained from entering it or even thinking about it. The reason was simple - he knew that fixing this damage would take an unbelievable amount of time, possibly even centuries. The rift that ran through his domain, for example, was the result of him forging a Soul Shard. That alone was a problem so immense that he couldn't even begin to fathom how to fix it. He had no knowledge of how Soul Shards were truly formed, nor how to reverse their effects. If he left it alone, his soul domain would remain vulnerable to complete collapse the moment it sustained another significant damage. And then there were those dark swamps. What were they, exactly? Evergreen had warned him that they were a bad omen - a harbinger of something far worse. She called them precursors to the emergence of Heart Specters - terrifying, unnatural creatures that would soon awaken and become the apex predators of his domain. These entities, once fully formed, would mindlessly seek out and devour all other soul creatures within his realm. The first victims, of course, would be the countless initial souls he had painstakingly collected. But that wasn't the worst part. Once the Heart Specters were active, Robin himself would be in a state of constant unrest. Their very existence would disrupt his focus, gnawing at his mind and draining his ability to concentrate. The tension and stress would be unrelenting. It was a punishment, a terrible price he had unknowingly paid for mercilessly destroying and absorbing countless souls on the night before his great battle. And yet, as always, Evergreen had conveniently failed to tell him how to deal with them. Robin had estimated that, in order to properly study these ominous changes and develop solutions, he would have to isolate himself for years. No, perhaps even decades! It was an impossible situation. Thus, he had chosen to push it all aside. Instead of worrying about it, he had shifted his focus to refining Nihari, believing that doing so would grant him enough strength to defend against potential invasions from other empires. After all, Pythor had already made it clear that external threats would come. His wide-eyed shock slowly gave way to something else. He could hardly believe what he was witnessing. The massive rift in his soul domain - the one that should have taken an eternity to fix - was now healing right before his eyes! The cursed dark swamps, the breeding grounds for Heart Specters, were not just receding. They were being actively purged! More than that, the very walls of his soul domain were expanding outward at an astonishing speed. What was once a confined, nearly suffocating space had transformed into a vast, open territory. The initial soul orbs, once clustered together in a desperate bid for room, now had seemingly endless space to roam and play freely! Robin caught himself, forcing down the excited grin that threatened to take over his face. He needed to stay calm. He needed to understand everything first. Taking a deep breath, he asked in a measured, serious tone: "What exactly is happening here?" At that moment, a familiar presence emerged. Neri appeared, gracefully walking amidst the countless jubilant initial souls. With one hand placed elegantly over her stomach, her posture was one of pure nobility. She halted a few steps away from him before giving a deep, respectful bow.