The Enforcement Elder’s Soul-Suppressing Ruler descended, wreathed in purple-black malevolence. Suddenly, Su Jiuli’s fox tails erupted with the Heaven-Incinerating Karmic Fire. Amidst the inferno, Lin Xuan saw the gold bell at the tip of her tail shatter, its nine inner clappers transforming into stars and merging into his own dantian—they were the long-lost, legendary Star-Locking Nails of the Star Palace!
"Clang!"
The sound of metal striking metal shook the sea of clouds. The Soul-Suppressing Ruler halted abruptly, three inches from Lin Xuan’s brow. Seven Soul-Devouring Gu Insect chains lashed out from the Enforcement Elder’s sleeves, each tipped with a pulsating human heart. Silver light suddenly burst from the star marks on Lin Xuan’s wrists, and the seven mansions of the Vermilion Bird from the Twenty-Eight Mansions manifested in the firmament.
"Separation Fire as my guide, Well Wood breaks the evil!"
Su Jiuli’s fox fire merged with the starlight, transforming into a Vermilion Bird that streaked toward the Nine Heavens. The Enforcement Elder sneered, crushing a heart in his hand; eighty-one bronze tripods—the very sacrificial vessels of the Wu Clan from the bottom of the abyss—emerged from the blood mist. The Taotie patterns on the tripods gaped wide, swallowing the Vermilion Bird whole.
"Watch out for the tripod eyes!"
A warning from the ancient Astrolabe echoed in Lin Xuan's mind. He rolled toward a coiled dragon pillar. Where he had stood a moment before, a pitch-black vortex exploded as seventy-two dragon-locking chains erupted from deep within the earth's ley lines. The Enforcement Elder drove his Soul-Suppressing Ruler into the ground, its surface revealing the full image of the Heavenly Wolf Eating the Sun!
"Clatter—"
The moment the chains coiled around Lin Xuan’s ankles, the Twenty-Eight Mansions of the Astrolabe spun in reverse. A phantom of the northern Xuanwu emerged, treading the waves; as Xuanming True Water poured onto the chains, a foul-smelling white mist hissed into the air. Seizing the chance, Lin Xuan traced a line toward the Astrolabe with his fingers. A silver beam shot from the Dubhe star position, piercing the clouds and illuminating the Reverse Scale brand on the back of the Enforcement Elder’s neck.
"You’re the traitor from the North Sea!" Su Jiuli’s nine tails lashed out. "Three years ago, when the Dragon Lord was gutted, you were standing guard for the Nether Palace!"
The Enforcement Elder ripped off his human mask, revealing half a face covered in dragon scales. "The little fox has a sharp eye, but the Dragon Vein is mine!" He slammed his palms into the ground. The Trial-Sword Peak shuddered violently as the seventy-two coiled dragon pillars collapsed—each one had been sealing a fragment of a dragon’s skeleton!
The Astrolabe emitted a mournful wail as broken memories flooded Lin Xuan’s consciousness: three hundred years ago, the Lord of the Star Palace had sacrificed himself to seal the North Sea Dragon Vein into the seventy-two positions of the Earthly Fiends. Now, those dragon bones were transforming into streams of light, converging toward the massive bronze coffin at the bottom of the abyss.
"Stop him!" Su Jiuli hurled three fox-fire talismans. "If the Dragon Vein returns to its place, it will tear through the mountain’s protective formation!"
Lin Xuan bit his tongue and sprayed his essence blood onto the Alkaid position of the Astrolabe. The seventh star of the Big Dipper flared with intense light, its descending brilliance coalescing into a giant sword that struck at the Enforcement Elder. The latter did not dodge, allowing the blade to pierce his chest—pitch-black dragon blood gushed from the wound!
"My thanks to the Star Lord for helping me break the seal..."
The Enforcement Elder’s body swelled, blue-gray dragon scales covering him entirely. Su Jiuli’s fox fire bounced off the scales, and Lin Xuan finally saw that the inner walls of those scales were inscribed with Soul-Devouring incantations. The Astrolabe shook violently, and the seven mansions of the Xuanwu dimmed one after another—the Xuanming True Water in the ley lines was drying up!
"Roar!"
The dragon-transformed Enforcement Elder let out a heaven-shaking howl, the shockwave shattering half the observation platforms. The Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion unleashed the River Map and Luoshu, but they were swept into fragments by the Elder's dragon tail. Caught in the hurricane, Lin Xuan grabbed Su Jiuli’s wrist; suddenly, the essence of the Separation Fire leaped from the Vermilion Bird position of the Astrolabe.
"With my Star Blood, I invoke the wrath of the burning heavens!"
He crushed the Horn-Wood Flood Dragon star mark on the edge of the Astrolabe with his bare hands. As his blood stained the surface, the entire sky ignited with crimson flowing fire. Su Jiuli’s nine tails automatically formed an array, blending her fox fire with the celestial flames into the phantom of a Golden Crow. The Enforcement Elder’s scales began to melt, revealing the writhing Soul-Devouring Gu Insects beneath his skin.
"No!"
Amidst a shrill dragon shriek, all seventy-two Earthly Fiend positions exploded. Lin Xuan saw the main coffin at the bottom of the abyss rise, its lid inlaid with the Big Dipper, fashioned from human souls! The Astrolabe flew uncontrollably toward the Dubhe position, sucking the struggling soul-pearl into its core.
"Quick, sever the Alkaid!" Su Jiuli suddenly screamed. "That’s the eye of the formation!"
Lin Xuan channeled the final remnants of starlight, but his blade swerved at the last moment as it touched the soul-pearl—the face of the soul was clearly that of his mentor who had fallen three years ago!
"Star Lord... flee..." the soul-pearl transmitted a faint fluctuation. "They are refining... the Ten Thousand Immortals..."
Before the words could fade, the Enforcement Elder’s dragon claw pierced Lin Xuan’s shoulder. In his agony, the Astrolabe activated its self-defense mechanism, the Star Chart of the Twenty-Eight Mansions manifesting as armor over his body. Su Jiuli’s fox tail suddenly bound the dragon claw, and the gold bell at its tip gave a piercing ring—
"Crack!"
A sound of breaking chains echoed from the bottom of the abyss, and a beam of green light pierced the ley lines, shooting toward the Nine Heavens. Amidst the blood-red light, Lin Xuan saw the figure within the green glow: a man with a wine gourd hanging from his waist exactly like his own, though the star mark on his palm had spread all the way to his neck.
"Master?!"
The moment the exclamation left his lips, the man in the green light reached out to touch the Astrolabe. The Enforcement Elder’s dragon body stiffened, and his scales grew inward, piercing his own flesh. The Astrolabe hummed with joy as the Twenty-Eight Mansions Star Chart appeared in its entirety for the first time!
"So it was you..." the Enforcement Elder crumbled into fly ash amid his screams, "Greedy Wolf Star..."
When the green light dissipated, a Bronze Key remained in Lin Xuan’s hand. Su Jiuli stared at the fox-head relief on the key’s handle and suddenly tore open his blood-stained robes—there, over his heart, a Greedy Wolf star mark of the Big Dipper had emerged!
Thunderclouds gathered above the sea of clouds, and seventy-two bolts of purple tribulation lightning locked onto the Astrolabe. Lin Xuan heard the cold sneer of the Nether Palace Master ringing from the void: "Traitor of the Star Palace, do you enjoy this gift of mine?"