Immortality Cultivation: I can use my clansmen’s energy and blood to add points.

The Star Spirit's body grew dimmer and more ethereal.

It knew that it was about to disappear.

In the moments before it completely dissipated.

It condensed its last bit of power into a stream of information and shot it into Luo Qingchen's brow.

"Beware of the shadows..."

"The Way of Heaven is both bait and curse..."

"Disaster is imminent..."

Intermittent, cautionary thoughts echoed in Luo Qingchen's mind.

next second.

The body of the Star Spirit suddenly disintegrated.

It transformed into a sky full of dazzling starlight.

In the end, all the starlight converged into a single point.

On the platform where it originally stood, there remained a crystal fragment, crystalline and irregularly shaped, only the size of a palm, yet exuding an aura of endless mystery.

The irregular crystal shard floated silently above the circular platform.

It is completely transparent, yet its interior seems to contain a vast starry sky.

Countless tiny points of light appear and disappear within it, and each flicker seems to be illustrating a fundamental truth of the universe.

An indescribable, ancient, vast, and supreme aura emanated from this small fragment.

Just looking at it filled the souls of Luo Qingchen and the other two with a sense of awe and longing that originated from the level of life itself.

This is the fragment of the Heavenly Dao.

It was the cause of that ancient war, something that the Dragon Emperor and the Shadow Demons were willing to shatter the entire Astral Plane to fight for.

Luo Qingchen's breathing became somewhat rapid.

His gaze was fixed intently on that fragment.

The final warning from the Star Spirit still echoed in his mind.

"The Way of Heaven is both bait and curse..."

These words filled him with doubt and vigilance.

But, in any case.

He must get this piece.

This is not only about whether he can find his way back, but also about whether he can uncover the ultimate secret of this world, and even the entire universe.

He took a deep breath and slowly extended his hand.

Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan both looked at him nervously, not daring to even breathe.

Luo Qingchen's fingers trembled as she touched the fragment of the Heavenly Dao.

There was no energy surge as expected.

There was no rejection reaction.

The moment the fragment touched his finger, it transformed into a stream of light, tracing along his fingertip and entering his body.

Then, it directly entered his dantian and dantian.

Everything happened peacefully and naturally.

Luo Qingchen was stunned for a moment.

He looked inward and saw that the fragment of the Heavenly Dao was quietly floating next to his golden core.

Together with his golden core and the chaotic power in his dantian, they formed a wondrous, tripod-like balance.

It's that simple?
A sense of absurdity welled up in Luo Qingchen's heart.

However, the next second.

His expression suddenly changed drastically.

An indescribable, excruciating pain suddenly erupted from his dantian.

boom!
The seemingly calm fragment of the Heavenly Dao, the moment it entered his body, completely revealed its violent and primal true nature.

It is not energy.

It is the law!
It is a complete, fundamental, and primordial rule that constitutes this universe!

Now, this rule must be forcibly imprinted into Luo Qingchen's body, his meridians, his bones, and his soul.

We must transform him from a "person" into a part of the law.

This process is incredibly painful and ruthless.

Luo Qingchen's body lost control in an instant.

Golden cracks, filled with a mysterious aura, appeared on the surface of his skin.

Those cracks, like parched earth, spread rapidly, covering his entire body.

Golden blood seeped from those cracks.

His body is beginning to break down from the inside out.

"what!"

Luo Qingchen let out a suppressed, painful roar.

His consciousness seemed to have been thrown into a data storm composed of countless chaotic pieces of information.

Regarding space, regarding time, regarding birth and death, regarding cause and effect...

Countless universal truths that he could neither understand nor bear were frantically assaulting his fragile soul.

He felt like he was about to be torn apart.

No, it's about to "burst" from being so full.

"Senior Brother Luo!"

Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan both let out terrified screams.

They watched helplessly as Luo Qingchen's body, like an inflated balloon, visibly expanded and deformed.

They wanted to help, but were firmly pushed away by an invisible force.

That power originated from fragments of the Heavenly Dao, from the laws themselves.

Before the laws of nature, their power is as insignificant as dust.

They could only watch helplessly.

Despair instantly enveloped the two women's hearts.

Luo Qingchen's consciousness had begun to blur.

He felt his existence being gradually erased by that massive flow of information.

He will completely dissipate, becoming a part of this fragment of the Heavenly Dao, nourishment for this law.

Is this how it's going to end?
A strong sense of resentment surged up from the deepest part of his soul.

He thought of Qingyun Sect, his master, and his fellow disciples who were still waiting for him to return.

He thought of Lin Wan'er, Su Xiaowan, and Bai Ling'er.

He can't die!

We absolutely cannot die here!

Stimulated by this powerful will to survive.

The gray, chaotic power within his dantian, which had been in a passive state, finally began to react.

Chaos is the beginning of all things, and also the end of all things.

It encompasses everything and assimilates everything.

The laws of Heaven are supreme.

But it was still born in chaos.

In the face of chaos, it is not untouchable.

hum!
The gray, chaotic power transformed into countless fine, gray threads.

They did not attack the fragments of the Heavenly Dao.

Instead, like the gentlest vines, it slowly wrapped around the crystal shard that was frantically releasing the power of laws.

Then, begin the absorption.

It's not the kind of domineering, predatory devouring.

Rather, it is a kind of assimilation, a seamless integration.

The power of chaos was calming the rage of the fragments of the Heavenly Dao.

It gradually decomposed and sorted out the chaotic information of laws that was so vast it could overwhelm Luo Qingchen's soul, and then slowly injected it into his soul in a way that Luo Qingchen could understand and bear.

It's like the perfect translator.

A very robust, buffer layer.

The excruciating pain began to slowly subside.

Luo Qingchen's consciousness, which was on the verge of collapse, regained its clarity.

He felt that his body was being transformed by a new, higher-level power.

Those golden cracks are no longer wounds.

Instead, it transformed into a sacred Dao pattern.

His blood, his bones, and his meridians were all undergoing a transformative change under this transformation. After breaking through to the late Golden Core stage, his cultivation level once again surged wildly upwards.

Late stage of Golden Core...

Peak of the late Golden Core stage!

He was only one step away from reaching the Nascent Soul stage.

More importantly, he felt that he had developed a close, blood-related connection with the world.

He could clearly perceive the flow of every wisp of star energy in the air.

He could hear the distant crystal mushrooms breathing in the moonlight.

He could even change the shape of the obsidian ground beneath his feet with just a thought.

Is this the power of the fragments of the Heavenly Dao?
Is this what is meant by the authority of Heaven?

I don’t know how long it took.

Luo Qingchen finally opened her eyes slowly.

The golden Dao patterns on his body had disappeared.

Her skin became smoother and more delicate than that of a newborn baby, even radiating a faint, precious glow.

His eyes seemed to hold the movement of stars, deep and full of wisdom.

His entire demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation.

"I succeeded."

Luo Qingchen said softly, her voice carrying a hint of relieved joy.

"Great!"

Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan, overjoyed, rushed forward and hugged him tightly.

However, at this moment.

Luo Qingchen's expression changed slightly.

He raised his head and looked towards the distant horizon beyond the ruins.

Just now, at the very moment he successfully refined the fragment of the Heavenly Dao.

A powerful yet subtle energy fluctuation inevitably emanated from his body.

This fluctuation was fleeting.

But it was like a dazzling, luminous pearl being thrown into a dark, calm lake.

He can feel it.

In the far distance, several auras filled with greed and malice were drawn to this fluctuation.

And they are heading towards their location at an extremely fast speed.

It was those black-clad demonic cultivators.

They, too, came into this world.

Moreover, they came for the fragments of the Heavenly Dao.

"We need to get out of here immediately."

Luo Qingchen's expression turned serious.

He has just gained new power, and his foundation is not yet stable. He needs time to adapt and consolidate it.

He didn't want to have a direct confrontation with those mysterious demonic cultivators right now.

The three dared not linger any longer.

Immediately, we left this ancient ruin.

Soon after they left.

Several black streaks of light descended from the sky and landed on the dilapidated square.

The leader was a middle-aged man dressed in a black robe with a sinister face.

His cultivation level was also at the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

He sensed the primordial aura in the air, which was still lingering and belonged to the fragments of the Heavenly Dao.

His eyes revealed an insatiable greed and a ferocious expression.

"The fragments of the Heavenly Dao have indeed appeared..."

"Pass on my order: seal off this area!"

"Even if we have to turn this entire wasteland upside down, we must find the guy who took the fragment!"

Beneath the indigo sky, three figures moved swiftly through a jungle of strangely shaped plants.

Luo Qingchen's expression was more solemn than ever before.

Behind him, Lin Wan'er and Su Xiaowan also looked on with wary expressions.

After leaving the ancient ruins, Luo Qingchen could clearly feel several cold, hound-like auras locked onto them.

No matter how they change direction or how they hide their tracks.

Those auras followed them like shadows, and were constantly closing the distance between them.

"Their tracking methods are very strange."

Su Xiaowan was panting, her face pale.

"I tried to disrupt our aura with talismans, but it was completely useless."

Luo Qingchen nodded.

He also found out.

Those black-clad demonic cultivators seemed to possess some kind of magical artifact or secret technique that allowed them to pinpoint locations precisely in this unique astral environment.

This made him even more vigilant.

These demonic cultivators seem to have a far greater understanding of this world than anyone else.

What are their origins?
How did they come into this world?
A series of questions swirled in Luo Qingchen's mind.

But now is obviously not the time to think about this.

"We can't keep passively running away like this."

Luo Qingchen stopped in her tracks.

“We know nothing about the environment here. If we continue to flee, we will only be driven into a corner by them.”

"We must find a way to get rid of them."

Lin Wan'er gripped the green vine whip tightly in her hand.

"How about we find a place, set up an ambush, and fight them to the death?"

Luo Qingchen shook her head.

"No."

"We know nothing about their strength and methods, and it would be too risky to start a war rashly."

"Moreover, I have just refined the fragments of the Heavenly Dao, and my power is still very unstable. I need time to consolidate it."

His gaze swept across the surrounding environment.

This is a vast crystal jungle.

One after another, towering, translucent crystal giants, some even hundreds of feet tall, rose from the ground.

The light from the three moons refracted through these crystals, creating bizarre and mesmerizing light and shadow.

The stellar energy here is much denser and more active than in that previous wilderness.

A glint of light flashed in Luo Qingchen's eyes.

A bold plan quickly took shape in his mind.

"I have an idea."

"Perhaps we can make use of the environment here."

He spoke softly to the two women, explaining his plan.

……

Half an hour later.

Four black figures, like ghosts, landed on the outer edge of this crystal forest.

The one leading them was the sinister-looking middle-aged man in the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

Beside him were three black-clad demonic cultivators, also at the Golden Core stage.

Each of them exuded a strong aura of bloodlust and malevolence.

"Right here in this forest."

The sinister-looking middle-aged man glanced at the compass-shaped magical artifact in his hand.

The pointer of the magical artifact is steadfastly pointing deep into the Crystal Forest.

"This Soul-Chasing Compass was personally crafted by the Hall Master. Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you won't be able to get rid of it."

"A demonic cultivator said obsequiously."

"Hmph, at least they ran fast."

Another demonic cultivator snorted coldly.

"But that's it."

"This [Crystal Meteor Forest] is a notoriously dangerous place in this wilderness. The star beasts within are incredibly ferocious; going in is tantamount to suicide." (End of Chapter)