Chapter 135: Undercurrents by the Sea, Traces of the Star Map

Linhaicheng, standing majestically on the east coast of the Tianyuan Continent, is an important gateway connecting the interior to the Endless Vast Sea. Its walls are towering, forged from deep-sea sunken iron and diamond rock; having weathered countless sea beast tides and storms, they remain imposing. On the walls, newly reinforced array runes shimmer with a faint light under the sun, revealing that since the Demon Calamity and the Battle of Shattered Stars, this place has entered a state of high alert.

The fleet carrying Lin Xuan and his party, after surviving a harrowing ambush in the Lost Sea, finally sailed into the massive military port of Linhaicheng without further incident. Imperial officials and garrison troops, already prepared, along with cultivators from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, quickly took over the series of tasks including treating the wounded, sealing the spoils of war, and detaining prisoners.

A grim and tense atmosphere enveloped the entire city.

The decree from Emperor Huangfu Hao of the Chengping Era had long since arrived: with the "Sea-Suppressing Military Governor's Mansion" of Linhaicheng as the core, the "East Coast Joint Defense Department" was established to coordinate responses to the demon scourge and the threat of the Blood Shark Pirates. Eunuch Wei was temporarily appointed as the Department Head, with the three overseas Elders—Beichen, Yangang, and Lingshuang—as Deputy Heads, while Lin Xuan was honored as the "Chief Consultant," possessing the authority to make decisions on the spot.

In the Sea-Suppressing Military Governor's Mansion, three levels underground, lay a secret chamber sealed by multiple layers of arrays, making it difficult even for the spiritual sense of a Soul Transformation expert to probe.

In the center of the secret chamber floated that pale bone sickle. At this moment, it was shrouded by a hastily inscribed composite array that fused the power of Chaos Tribulation, the purifying power of the stars, and the sealing power of Profound Ice. On the surface of the bone sickle, wisps of black demonic energy still tried to seep out from the hideous cracks, but under the alternating scouring of gray-purple lightning, silver starlight, and ice-blue cold, they were continuously purified and dispersed.

Lin Xuan sat cross-legged on one side of the array, his eyes slightly closed, his right hand pressing into the void. A wisp of pure Chaos Tribulation power, like the most dexterous carving knife, worked in tandem with the star purification power channeled by Beichen and the Profound Ice sealing power triggered by Lingshuang to carefully peel and extract the residual demonic thought fragments and law imprints containing information from the deepest structural gaps of the bone sickle.

This was a delicate and mentally exhausting process; a slight carelessness could trigger the final self-destruction restriction within the bone sickle or lead to a backlash from the residual demonic thoughts.

Beichen and Lingshuang sat on either side, assisting with full concentration. Yangang and Eunuch Wei guarded the entrance of the secret chamber, responsible for vigilance while also processing intelligence coming from the outside.

Time passed bit by bit.

Beads of sweat gradually seeped from Lin Xuan's forehead, but his expression remained calm. In his perception through the Chaos Tribulation power, this bone sickle was not merely a demonic weapon, but more like a distorted "information carrier" and "coordinate beacon." Its material itself seemed to have an affinity with some kind of special "void" or "dead silence" law, allowing it to carry the projection of the higher will of the Abyss Demon Consciousness.

Gradually, some fragmented images, distorted thoughts, and intermittent coordinate fluctuations were peeled away, intertwining in the air above the center of the composite array into blurred and unsettling scenes—

A boundless, dark void rolling with chaos and the desire to devour (the location of the Abyss itself?); "channels" flowing with demonic energy like blood vessels connecting different realms or planes; figures of various forms, all exuding powerful demonic might, roaming and conquering in the void; and also... a fragment of a coordinate for a strange region wrapped in thick demonic energy, where huge skeletons and the outlines of broken stars were vaguely visible. Its aura was similar to the Bone Sickle Demon Commander and "Shadow Erosion," and it was very likely one of their important strongholds or core nest areas in this world.

The most important discovery was an extremely tiny yet incredibly tough "imprint" at the very core of the bone sickle. This imprint was not composed of demonic energy; instead, it looked like some kind of... distorted star trajectory? Or rather, a "Star Waymark" that had been polluted and forcibly twisted by demonic energy!

When Lin Xuan's Chaos Tribulation power touched this imprint, it actually lit up slightly, projecting a phantom of a star map that was extremely incomplete, yet could vaguely identify parts of the eastern coastline of the Tianyuan Continent and the outline of the edge of the Endless Vast Sea! On the star map, several light spots flickered, two of which were exceptionally bright: one located in a deep mountain on the continent (suspected to be Star Fall Lake?), and the other located in the depths of the Vast Sea, on the edge of an area marked with chaotic storm symbols (suspected to be the Return-to-Ruins Sea Eye?). And near that light spot in the Vast Sea, there was another tiny, extremely dim light spot that was almost about to go out; its position actually roughly coincided with the location of Blood Shark Island!

What shocked Lin Xuan even more was that when he tried to trace the source of this star imprint with his Chaos Tribulation power, he faintly felt a trace of an aura that was of the same origin as the broken "Star Core" in his own dantian and the "small star core" on Huangfu Hao, yet it was more ancient and more majestic!

"This bone sickle... is actually related to the ancient stars, or rather, to the source of the 'Star Meteor Secret Realm'?" Ripples rose in Lin Xuan's heart. "That's it. Xing Lan is desperate to find Star Essence Gold to repair the 'Star Evolution Luo Pan' and deduce the 'Chaos Sea Ruins.' And Star Essence Gold is likely related to the fall of ancient stars. Perhaps the material of this bone sickle is mixed with ancient star fragments polluted by demonic energy? That is why it can simultaneously carry demonic consciousness and star coordinates?"

He temporarily suppressed the speculation in his heart and continued to peel. Finally, after completely purifying all dangerous demonic thoughts, the bone sickle completely lost all spirituality, turning into a strange, gray-white, cracked bone material floating in the air. As for that incomplete star imprint, Lin Xuan carefully sealed it into a specially made jade slip using his Chaos Tribulation power.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, how is it?" Seeing Lin Xuan finish his work and open his eyes, Beichen asked hurriedly. Lingshuang also cast a look of concern.

Lin Xuan briefly informed them of the purification process and the main findings (excluding the part about the star imprint's resonance with his own star core), and displayed the phantom of the incomplete star map and the jade slip containing the sealed star imprint.

"Ancient star fragments? Refined into a demonic weapon after being polluted by demonic energy?" Beichen gasped. As a cultivator of the Star Palace, he was most sensitive to the power of the stars. Looking at the jade slip at this moment, his eyes were filled with shock and grief. "No wonder that traitor Xing Lan is so obsessed! He must have detected clues to the ancient star ruins from this bone sickle or its related records, wanting to use the power of the Demon Abyss to find the 'Chaos Sea Ruins'! Hateful! Shameful!"

Lingshuang also frowned: "In that case, the ruins under Blood Shark Island are likely related to these ancient star fragments, and may even be a place where a star fell. It is no coincidence that the Demon Abyss chose to establish a nest there."

"We must take Blood Shark Island as soon as possible, destroy the demon nest, and at the same time find out the truth about the ruins. We must never let the Demon Abyss or that traitor Xing Lan obtain any more of the ancient star legacy!" Beichen said decisively.

Just then, array fluctuations came from outside the secret chamber, and Eunuch Wei's voice sounded: "Consultant Lin, Elder Beichen, Elder Lingshuang, the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion has arrived, and there are important matters to discuss."

The three looked at each other, put away the purified bone material and the jade slip, and walked out of the secret chamber.

In the meeting hall, the blurred figure of the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion was already seated. Yangang and Zhao Yuan were also present. Zhao Yuan stood quietly to the side, still holding the broken "Silent Shadow" sword in his hand, his aura steady and his eyes sharp, like a different person from before.

"The Pavilion Master has come in person; are there new discoveries?" Lin Xuan got straight to the point.

The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion nodded slightly, his voice carrying a hint of gravity: "After Xing Lan defected to Blood Shark Island, his aura merged with the demonic energy on the island, making it difficult to lock onto him precisely. But this old man used secret techniques to observe the heavenly secrets and the earth veins, and discovered that the earth vein trends under the sea area where Blood Shark Island is located are extremely abnormal, and there is a strong aura of 'Star Sha' and 'Demonic Erosion' intertwined."

With a wave of his sleeve, a sea area terrain map condensed by spiritual power appeared in the air. The location of Blood Shark Island was highlighted, and beneath it, several twisted veins exuding dim starlight could be vaguely seen, entangled with the black tide of demonic energy surging from deeper down.

"Star Sha?" Beichen's eyes narrowed.

"Indeed. It is not natural star power, but the fierce evil aura formed by the collapse of core laws after a star falls and disintegrates. It has extremely strong erosive and destructive power on living beings and spiritual energy. Usually, only in the core area where a large star falls, after a long period of time, will such a large-scale 'Star Sha Earth Vein' be formed." The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion explained, "The ruins under Blood Shark Island are likely not just an ordinary ancient cultivator's cave, but a... 'Falling Graveyard' of an ancient star! Moreover, this star graveyard seems to have been polluted and demonized by some kind of power."

A star graveyard! Demonized!

Everyone's hearts sank. This meant that the danger there far exceeded their estimates.

"What's more troublesome is," the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion continued, pointing to the intersection of those twisted starlight veins and the black tide of demonic energy, "this old man deduced that the intersection of these Star Sha earth veins and the demonic energy seems to form an extremely obscure, yet slowly 'activating' array node. This node not only absorbs the power of the earth veins and demonic energy, but is also faintly resonating with... the direction of the Imperial Capital, the Demon Abyss passage sealed by Little Friend Lin, and the 'Eye of Return-to-Ruins' in the south!"

"What?!" Eunuch Wei exclaimed, "Does the Pavilion Master mean... the demonized Star Sha node under Blood Shark Island might be a 'hub' or 'amplifier' connecting multiple sources of the demon scourge?"

"It is highly likely." The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion nodded. "If this is true, once this node is fully activated and controlled by the Demon Abyss, it will not only greatly enhance the power of the Blood Shark Island demon nest, but could also use this as a fulcrum to influence or even shake the stability of the Imperial Capital's seal and the Return-to-Ruins Sea Eye! By then, with the three demon scourges linked together, the consequences would be unimaginable!"

In the meeting hall, the atmosphere suddenly dropped to freezing point.

Beichen's face was livid: "That idiot Xing Lan! He is playing with fire! No, he is dragging the entire Vast Sea and Tianyuan Continent down with him!"

Lingshuang said coldly: "We must destroy the Blood Shark Island demon nest before he and that 'Shadow Erosion' complete the node activation!"

Yangang slammed the table: "Then what are we waiting for? Assemble the troops and kill them!"

Lin Xuan was silent for a moment and asked: "Pavilion Master, how long will it take for the node to activate?"

The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion pondered: "Based on the currently observed flow rate of the earth veins and demonic energy, if there is no artificial acceleration, natural activation will take at least ten years. But if there are cultivators proficient in arrays and star power (such as Xing Lan) cooperating with the means of the Demon Abyss to deliberately catalyze it... the node will definitely be formed in as short as three months, or as long as a year."

"Three months..." A fierce look flashed in Lin Xuan's eyes. "Time is tight, but there is still room for maneuver. Blood Shark Island has been managed for many years and has the blessing of the Demon Abyss; a frontal assault will surely result in heavy losses. We need a careful plan, preferably to coordinate from inside and outside, strike directly at the core, and destroy the node."

He looked at Zhao Yuan: "Zhao Yuan, how is your communication with the 'Silent Shadow' sword spirit? Can you sense the 'flaws' or 'keys' in the demonic energy of Blood Shark Island?"

Zhao Yuan stepped forward and said respectfully: "Reporting to Senior, the junior's communication with the sword spirit has deepened day by day. This sword does indeed have a unique sense for things of 'illusion,' 'shackles,' and 'secrecy.' When approaching the sea area of Blood Shark Island, the junior once vaguely felt a trace of extremely weak 'discord' and 'decay' in the demonic energy to the southeast of the island, which seems to be related to dead silence and decline. Perhaps... it is a weakness or entrance that can be utilized."

"Oh?" Lin Xuan and the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion looked at each other.

The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion pinched his fingers to calculate for a moment, and his blurred face seemed to move: "Southeast... dead silence and decay... could it be a 'Star Sha' vent? Or a place of permanent 'Dao injury' caused when the star fell back then? If so, that place might be a 'blind spot' that neither demonic energy nor Star Sha can completely cover, and it is also a relatively weak point of the array node."

"Very good." Lin Xuan nodded. "Zhao Yuan, for this investigation, you will be the vanguard. Eunuch Wei, Elder Beichen, Elder Lingshuang, Elder Yangang, we need to draft a detailed attack plan as soon as possible, assemble the elite, and head straight for the southeast weakness of Blood Shark Island. At the same time, we must guard against the Demon Abyss and Xing Lan jumping over the wall in desperation, activating the node in advance, or launching attacks from other directions to contain us."

Everyone took their orders and began to plan nervously.

Just as Linhaicheng was busy preparing for the decisive battle.

Deep within Blood Shark Island, in a cave filled with demonic energy.

Xing Lan's face was pale as he sat cross-legged on the edge of the incomplete, ancient altar exuding faint starlight, injecting strands of star magic power into the altar, intertwining with the demonic essence released by "Lord Shadow Erosion" shrouded in rolling demonic energy beside him, trying to jointly drive the altar to accelerate the activation of the "Star Sha Demonized Node" below.

Beneath the altar, it was bottomless, and a "thump... thump..." sound like a heartbeat could be vaguely heard. Every time it beat, it caused the demonic energy in the entire cave to churn and the starlight to become chaotic.

"Lord Shadow Erosion, at this speed, the node will be initially activated in at most two months!" A light of intertwined fanaticism and exhaustion flashed in Xing Lan's eyes. "By then, using this node as a base, not only can we completely control this Star Sha earth vein, but we can also remotely sense the true entrance to the 'Chaos Sea Ruins'! As long as..."

"As long as you can provide enough 'Blood of Imperial Destiny' and 'Origin of Chaos Cultivators,' this seat will fulfill its promise." Shadow Erosion's voice was hoarse and low, as if coming from the Nine Netherworlds. "Xing Lan, you have no way out. The Star Palace cannot accommodate you, and the Tianyuan Dynasty and Lin Xuan want to kill you even more. Only by helping this seat achieve great things can you get everything you want."

Xing Lan gritted his teeth and nodded, looking at a groove in the center of the altar, which was empty and was the position reserved for placing the "key sacrifice." A ruthless look flashed in his eyes: "The 'sacrifice'... will be sent soon. I have already arranged for people from the 'Shadow Hall' to take advantage of Linhaicheng's focus on the front, from another secret sea route..."

Before he finished speaking, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the cave. A Blood Shark Pirate leader, covered in blood and with a withered aura, stumbled in and hissed: "My Lord! It's not good! There is unusual movement from the direction of Linhaicheng. A large number of cultivators are gathering, and their movements are unclear! And... the secret sentries we set up in the southeast 'Dead Silence Gorge' have all lost contact just now!"

"What?!" Xing Lan stood up abruptly.

The demonic energy around Shadow Erosion also churned violently, making a cold snort: "They reacted quickly... It seems they have detected the abnormality in 'Dead Silence Gorge.' Xing Lan, your plan may have to be advanced."

Xing Lan's face changed, finally turning into a ferocious look: "Then advance it! The 'Shadow Hall' will act immediately, follow the second plan, and capture the 'sacrifice'! At the same time, activate all defensive arrays on the island and deploy heavy troops in 'Dead Silence Gorge'! I want to see if they have the guts to break into my dragon's pool and tiger's den!"

On Blood Shark Island, ear-piercing alarm sounds and the roars of demonic creatures suddenly sounded, breaking the silence of the island.

The great battle was on the verge of breaking out.