Bronze Roots pierced the icy layer of the Sea Eye, and Su Jiuli’s ankles were submerged in Star Marrow. The waters of the Return to Void washed over the broken tailbone at her spine; the Star Sand drifting in the water suddenly coalesced into the shattered likeness of Lin Xuan, only to crumble into spots of light representing the Twenty-Eight Mansions at the slightest touch of her fingertips. The Netherworld Decree Mark on her wrist flared, dark red lines crawling across her collarbone to scorch a star chart of a white tiger carrying a corpse onto her heart.
"Sister, do not touch that sand."
Lin Xuan’s sigh drifted from deep within the Star Sand, and thousands of light points converged into the phantom of an armillary sphere. As the sphere rotated, it crushed three Bronze Roots. Instead of sap, black blood infused with Wu Clan incantations erupted from the severed roots. The moment the droplets hit the sea, a thunderous roar of chains snapping echoed from the abyss. Nine bronze sarcophagi, wrapped in thick seaweed, burst through the water. The tribulation marks on the lids aligned perfectly with the fractures in her spine.
Chapter 146