Alkaid Dim
As the morning light pierced through the sea of clouds, the bronze bells atop the seventy-two coiled dragon pillars chimed in unison. Lin Xuan stepped barefoot onto the sword-testing platform. The cold emanating from the blue jade floor condensed into frost, crawling from his heels up to his calves. It was here, three years ago, that he had invoked the celestial stars and, with his Foundation Establishment body, unleashed that sword technique capable of shaking the Nine Heavens.
"Brother Lin, please."
Ling Shuang held her Ice Soul Sword horizontally before her; the blade’s spine reflected a bewitching purple mark on her forehead. On the observation dais, a bronze chime suddenly shattered. The fingers of an Elder from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion ignited, his six-line divination coins burning without fire, forming the "Heavenly Wolf Devours the Sun" omen in the air. Lin Xuan lowered his gaze to the ordinary iron sword in his hand. The pain from his Purple Mansion Golden Core, which had fractured at the hour of the Rat the night before, still surged through his meridians—the surface of that core was, for some unknown reason, covered in web-like Nether markings.
"Clang!"
The Ice Soul Sword transformed into nine afterimages, each streak of light housing a frost-colored dragon. As Lin Xuan blocked with his sword, the old scar on his wrist suddenly burned like a branding iron—it was the Star Mark carved by an ancient sword spirit when he had ventured alone into the Myriad Sword Graveyard at age twelve. The iron sword snapped on impact, and the broken blade reflected the surging purple light in Ling Shuang’s eyes. Behind her, nine ice-crystal fox tails materialized!
"Shuang'er, stop!"
Amidst the Sect Master’s sharp shout, the seventy-two coiled dragon pillars lit up with exorcism incantations. As Lin Xuan stumbled back, he caught a glimpse of a black jade chess piece sliding from the sleeve of the Enforcement Elder—it was clearly the token of a "Heart-Eater" from the Nether Palace. The Ice Soul Sword had already pierced to within three inches of his throat when the Star Mark on his wrist suddenly erupted with blazing silver radiance. A beam of light from beyond the heavens broke through the gale, landing squarely in his blood-stained palm.
"Constellations of the North Star, Nine Luminaries return to their positions..."
A vast, ancient chant echoed from the void, and the thousand-year-old snow on the sword-testing platform evaporated with a roar. Lin Xuan dug his five fingers deep into the blue jade ground, the bronze Astrolabe in his palm erupting with the Star Chart of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. As the silhouettes of Ling Shuang’s fox tails touched the starlight, they melted like spring snow in the sun, revealing Xuanming chains coiled around the tips of her tails.
"Soul-Devouring Chains!" The Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion crushed his compass. "This is a forbidden art of the North Sea!"
The Ice Soul Sword suddenly emitted a wail like that of a vengeful ghost, its surface crawling with dense, dark Nether incantations. Lin Xuan bit his tongue and sprayed his vital blood onto the position of the Purple Mansion on the Astrolabe. As the Star Chart expanded violently, everyone saw half of a pitch-black Gu Insect crawling out from Ling Shuang's forehead—and on the insect’s body was clearly branded the Greedy Wolf Star Mark of the Big Dipper!
"Pfft!"
The moment the Gu Insect burst, purple-black venomous blood surged from Ling Shuang’s seven orifices. She trembled as she tore open her collar, revealing a Reverse Scale embedded in her chest—the edges of the gray-blue dragon scale glowed with blood, the very Heart-Protecting Scale stripped from the North Sea Dragon Lord three years ago! On the observation dais, a chorus of swords being unsheathed erupted, yet the seventy-two exorcism locks were all being corroded by black mist.
"Dubhe shifts, Alkaid dims... so that is how it is."
A sigh from an old man suddenly emanated from the Astrolabe. A vision appeared before Lin Xuan: he was standing atop a mountain of corpses, draped in a blood-stained star robe, his feet crushing a fragmented Big Dipper Star Chart. The version of him in the vision suddenly turned his head, his left eye transformed into a brilliant galaxy: "Do not forget the day of the Red Planet’s opposition..."
"Boom!"
The sword-testing platform collapsed, and Lin Xuan fell into the sea of clouds with the debris. As he plummeted, he caught sight of a piece of shark-silk falling from the Sect Master’s sleeve—it was the coming-of-age gift he had personally hunted for Ling Shuang in the South Sea three years ago. The silver radiance erupting from the Astrolabe suddenly enveloped his body, and ancient maxims echoed in his ears:
"When the Nine Luminaries fall, the Greedy Wolf devours its master. If Po Jun does not emerge, the Red Planet stays forever..."
As a cold wind swept through the bottomless abyss, Lin Xuan saw a flicker of red within the starlight. It was a pair of demonic slit pupils, deep within which danced the fire of destruction. Before he could see the creature’s full form, a cold sword blade touched the back of his neck—
"Hand over the Astrolabe, and I will leave your corpse intact."
The hoarse voice sounded like metal striking stone. Lin Xuan struggled to turn his head, seeing the bronze fanged mask on the black-robed figure’s face; on that man’s left wrist hung nine infant skulls carved with sorcery runes. The Astrolabe suddenly vibrated violently, the Big Dipper Star Chart appearing on its surface, with the Megrez position pointing directly at the heart of the black-robed figure!