As the blood-colored dagger pierced the rippling water, the Forbidden Seal on the forehead of the woman within the Glazed Coffin flared with sudden light. The Star Mark on Lin Xuan’s wrist surged, transforming into chains that shackled the blade. The depths erupted in a boil as nine iron-black chains burst forth with ghostly blue fox fire, illuminating the Reincarnation Mantra engraved at the base of the coffin—the script was identical to the fox fire talismans of Su Jiuli!
"Three hundred years of time, and yet you have allowed your senior brother’s Star Mark to erode into such a pathetic state." The woman’s fingertips brushed against the dagger, and the Greedy Wolf Star Mark suddenly recoiled, spiraling back into Lin Xuan’s chest. "Have you forgotten even my Imprisoned Dragon Seal?"
The Astrolabe wrenched itself from his control, and the Seven Mansions of the Vermilion Bird whirled like a tempest. Amidst the searing starlight, Lin Xuan beheld a vision: the Star Palace training grounds three hundred years ago, where he was carving a Star Mark into a young girl’s brow. Her face was a perfect fusion of Su Jiuli and the woman in the coffin!
"Crash!"
A vortex exploded above the water, and the Star-Fishing Old Man’s rod pierced the watery veil. A bronze bell transformed into a hydra’s shadow, lunging toward the Glazed Coffin. The woman sneered and raised a hand, causing the iron-black chains to snap asunder. "Old dog, did you truly think the Star-Devouring Pot could bind me for two lifetimes?"
As the coffin lid was ripped away, Lin Xuan saw the Star Chart on the woman’s back—the nine stars of the Big Dipper were inverted, and in the position of Dubhe sat the Taotie crest of the Nether Palace Master! Sensing a familiar resonance, the Astrolabe projected the complete chart of the Twenty-Eight Mansions across the seafloor, transmuting the entire domain into a field of stars.
"Junior sister... no, Imprisoned Dragon Star Monarch!" The Star-Fishing Old Man’s line ensnared the Glazed Coffin. "You privately released the Black Tortoise True Spirit all those years ago; today, it is time to pay your debts!"
The woman trod upon the waves with bare feet, the star-shaped hairpin in her hair transforming into a ten-foot-long serpent spear. "Senior brother, have you forgotten who created the forbidden arts of the Star Palace?" The spear’s trajectory mirrored the Jing-Wood-Xing position; the Star-Fishing Old Man’s conical hat shattered on impact, revealing half a skull crawling with Soul-Devouring Gu.
Amidst the roiling starlit energy, Lin Xuan clutched a shard of the Glazed Coffin. As the sharp edge sliced his palm, his blood coagulated in the void, forming a Greedy Wolf Star Chart. The Astrolabe emitted a joyful hum, and the Vermilion Bird Separation Fire merged with the Xuanming True Water, forming a Taiji symbol that cleaved the waters into realms of Yin and Yang.
"A magnificent Greedy Wolf Swallowing the Sun!" The Imprisoned Dragon Star Monarch flashed behind Lin Xuan, her ice-cold fingers pressing against the Star Mark on the nape of his neck. "It was not in vain that I carved out my heart to leave a seed back then..."
Agony swept through him as Lin Xuan watched his own shadow distort into the shape of a wolf. From the depths of the water came the mournful cry of the Black Tortoise, and nine chains burst from the earth to bind the ankles of the Imprisoned Dragon Star Monarch. Seizing the moment, the Star-Fishing Old Man cast the Star-Devouring Pot, from which erupted the lingering soul of the Star Palace Master!
"Master!"
Lin Xuan roared as he lunged toward the soul, the Twenty-Eight Mansions on the Astrolabe spiraling into a frenzy. The Greedy Wolf Star Mark tore away from his chest, transforming into a giant blood-red wolf to devour the soul. The Imprisoned Dragon Star Monarch erupted in hysterical laughter, tearing open her robes to reveal a black hole where her heart should have been. "Look, senior brother! He is even consuming his own Destiny Soul!"
Fine cracks spread across the surface of the Astrolabe as a third eye opened on the brow of the giant blood-red wolf. In his agony, Lin Xuan saw the scene reflected in that iris—three hundred years ago, in the forbidden grounds of the Star Palace, he was plunging a dagger into the Imprisoned Dragon Star Monarch’s heart, while she held nothing but Su Jiuli’s Tail-Tip Gold Bell!
"So it was you..." The Star-Fishing Old Man’s rod suddenly shifted direction. "The traitor who stole the Yaoguang Star Core all those years ago!"
The water domain froze into ice, and Su Jiuli’s fox fire pierced through ten thousand feet of solid frost. Her severed tails burned with Hellfire, and in her palm, half a Star Core resonated with the Greedy Wolf Star Mark. "Lin Xuan, crush the Astrolabe!"
The giant blood-red wolf turned on him, its fangs sinking into Lin Xuan’s throat. At the moment of life and death, the Glazed Coffin shard pierced the cracks in the Astrolabe, and the Reincarnation Mantra crawled along the Star Marks across his body. In the chaos, Lin Xuan heard two voices overlapping:
"Remember, the Greedy Wolf Star never bows its head—"
"—unless it is to sever the cycle of reincarnation!"
In the blinding light of the shattering Astrolabe, the blood-red wolf howled and turned into stardust. Lin Xuan seized the flying fragments of the Star Core, seeing the truth reflected within: on the night the Star Palace fell three hundred years ago, the Imprisoned Dragon Star Monarch had personally sealed the Yaoguang Star Core into the Tail-Tip Gold Bell of Su Jiuli!
The domain collapsed with a roar, and the Star-Fishing Old Man’s manic laughter echoed through the void: "The play has begun!"
As he fell, Lin Xuan grabbed Su Jiuli’s hand, and the shards of the Star Core pierced their clasped palms. Where their blood mingled, the nine-star array of the Big Dipper appeared, with the bronze mask of the Nether Palace Master at its center. A low rumble rolled down from the Nine Heavens, and seventy-two bolts of purple heavenly lightning condensed into chains, binding the star of Dubhe—
On the surface of that shackled star, a giant Taotie eye slowly blinked open!