Projection of the Heavens: I prove my immortality through slaughter.

Within the crimson, lifeless crater, dust slowly settled, outlining the contours of a human-shaped trench. The burly, muscular body of the stone was embedded within it, his aura feeble, his right arm bent at an eerie angle, clearly crippled. He struggled to lift his head, looking at the figure in blue robes still standing silently atop the stellar debris, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.

Lin Xuan ignored the gazes of his defeated opponent, his mind completely absorbed in the dark golden star-gazing compass in his hand. His divine sense probed into it like threads, as if touching a miniature version of the starry sky. The compass's internal structure was exquisitely crafted, far surpassing any magical artifact in the Azure Netherworld. The slowly rotating nebula-like halo was establishing a profound connection with countless stars in the darkness.

A stream of information, clearer and more detailed than the coordinates obtained from the ancient altar, flooded into his mind.

"Tianfeng Starfield...Liusha Star Belt...Chenxi Ancient City..." He murmured a few key points, understanding dawning on his mind. This compass not only indicated the location but also marked some known starfield names and relatively safe travel routes, truly an essential item for interstellar travel.

Just as he was beginning to refine the compass and gain a basic understanding of its functions, his brow suddenly twitched slightly.

"It seems the trouble is not over yet."

He slowly raised his head, his deep gaze fixed on the distant horizon. Three streaks of light, each a different color, were rapidly cutting through the hazy dust, like sharks drawn by the scent of blood, hurtling towards the wreckage of the star. Judging from their undisguised aura and the speed of their attacks, they were all Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their target was clear.

Clearly, the commotion from his fight with Man Shi and the disciples of Xing Shu Sect, as well as the unique spiritual aura emanating from the Star Compass, had ultimately attracted new covetous eyes.

In just a few breaths, the three streaks of light reached the edge of the meteorite crater. The light faded, revealing three figures.

On the left was a man dressed in a magnificent brocade robe, with a delicate and feminine face. He held a gilded folding fan and gently waved it. A faint smile played on his lips, but his eyes swept across the scene like a venomous snake, finally settling on the compass in Lin Xuan's hand. His cultivation level was at the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

The man on the right was a short, stocky man wearing tight leather armor. He had a hideous scar on his face, fierce eyes, and two short halberds crossed on his back. He exuded a menacing aura and was also at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

The one in the center was the most eye-catching. He wore a black cloak embroidered with a hideous ghost head, his face shrouded in the shadow of the hood, revealing only a pale, thin chin. He exuded a cold and eerie aura, seemingly out of place with the surrounding light. His spiritual energy fluctuations were obscure and difficult to understand, but Lin Xuan felt that he was more dangerous than the effeminate man and the scarred man, probably already having one foot in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

The trio was clearly no benevolent group; they were rogue cultivators who spent years licking blood from the edge of the stars and making a living by plundering.

"Tsk tsk, it seems I'm a step too late. The show has already begun." The effeminate man waved his folding fan, his gaze sweeping over the lifeless, unaccounted-for rock in the deep pit, and the unconscious companion the Star Pivot Sect disciple hadn't had time to take with him as they fled. Finally, his eyes fell on Lin Xuan, who stood holding the compass. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but more so, a greedy glint in them, like that of someone scrutinizing prey. "This fellow Daoist is quite unfamiliar. May I ask which immortal mountain you cultivate on? This compass in your hand is brimming with spiritual light; it's quite extraordinary. Would you mind lending it to us for a look?"

His words seemed polite, but the condescending and unyielding tone in his voice was obvious.

The scarred man was even more direct, grinning maliciously and licking his lips: "Why waste words with him! Kid, if you know what's good for you, hand over the compass and your storage bag. If we're in a good mood, we might spare your life!"

Only the man in the black robe remained silent, the shadow beneath his hood like two tangible gazes, fixed firmly on Lin Xuan, with a sense of scrutiny and inquiry.

Lin Xuan remained calm, as if he hadn't heard their shouting. He leisurely put the Star Compass into his robes (actually, he placed it into a safer storage artifact), then looked up at the three of them, his tone indifferent:

"Want it? Come and get it yourself."

Upon hearing this, the effeminate man's fake smile vanished instantly, his eyes turning icy. The scarred man roared in fury, "You're asking for death!"

The man in black robes, who had been silent all along, finally spoke, his voice hoarse and dry, like metal rubbing against stone: "Be careful, this kid is no ordinary person. He's no pushover, capable of taking down that body cultivator and that piece of trash from the Star Pivot Sect."

"Hmph, no matter how strong he is, he's only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage! With the three of us joining forces, are we afraid of him?" The scarred man was clearly extremely confident in his strength, or rather, his greed had blinded him to the necessary vigilance. Before he finished speaking, the two halberds on his back flew out automatically, transforming into two streaks of black light, accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the air, crisscrossing from left and right as they attacked Lin Xuan! Even before the halberds arrived, their fierce killing intent already assaulted him.

At the same time, the effeminate man also moved. He slammed his folding fan shut and pointed it at Lin Xuan from a distance. Dozens of fine, bluish-green poison needles shot out from the tip of the fan. These needles did not fly in a straight line, but rather, as if they had a life of their own, they drew strange arcs in the air, blocking all possible evasion routes for Lin Xuan and heading straight for the major acupoints on his body.

The two worked together seamlessly, one forceful and the other gentle, one overt and the other covert, clearly accustomed to such murderous and thieving activities.

Faced with an attack that would have made even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator flustered, Lin Xuan remained standing still, without even moving an inch.

Until the two dark halberd shadows reached him, and the sky full of poisonous needles was about to hit him.

He moved.

Without casting any fancy spells, he simply raised his right hand.

Pointing together, like a sword.

The next moment, an incomparably sharp sword intent, seemingly capable of severing all things in the world, suddenly erupted from his body! This sword intent was not illusory, but rather condensed to the extreme, to the point that the air around him began to distort and emit a subtle hum.

"laugh!"

He pointed his fingers like a sword and made a light slash forward.

A condensed, almost transparent sword aura appeared out of thin air. This sword aura was as thin as a spider's thread, yet it was so fast that it exceeded the limits of divine sense!

The first to be hit were those two dark, gleaming halberd shadows.

"Snap! Snap!"

Like a hot knife through butter, the two short halberds of considerable quality were silently cleaved in two the instant they came into contact with the transparent sword energy, the cuts as smooth as mirrors! The scarred man, whose mind was connected to the sword energy, was struck dumb, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face filled with extreme horror.

However, the sword energy did not diminish in momentum. After severing the twin halberds, it seemed to possess a spirit, trembling slightly in the air and drawing a perfect arc.

"Puff puff puff puff—"

With a series of soft sounds, the dozens of cunning, poison-laden, dark blue needles, as if encountering their nemesis, were precisely cleaved in two by this arc-shaped sword energy, losing their luster and falling to the ground.

One sword strike shattered the twin halberds and cut through all the poison needles!

This seemingly casual scene caused the previously confident, effeminate man and the scarred man to suddenly shrink in the pupils, their greed and sneers instantly turning into endless terror.

"Sword intent! He's a sword cultivator!" the effeminate man screamed, his voice trembling. Only sword cultivators with unparalleled offensive power could effortlessly unleash such refined sword energy, imbued with the will to sever everything!

"This is a tough one, let's all attack together!" The scarred man was both shocked and furious. He forcibly suppressed his injuries and quickly formed hand seals. A violent earth-attribute spiritual power gathered in front of him and condensed into a huge meteorite burning with dark yellow flames, which crashed down towards Lin Xuan! This was his trump card technique - Burning Star Meteor!

The effeminate man knew he was facing a life-or-death situation. He fully unfolded his folding fan and danced wildly, releasing streams of pink peach blossom miasma. This miasma not only contained potent poison but also bewitched the mind and eroded the spiritual light of magical artifacts.

Even the black-robed man who had been holding back finally made his move. With a flick of his sleeve, a black soul banner the size of a palm flew out, growing larger in the wind and instantly becoming over ten feet in size. Countless twisted and painful ghost faces appeared on the banner, emitting mournful howls and forming a sonic shockwave aimed at the soul. At the same time, several pitch-black ghost claws reached out and grabbed at Lin Xuan.

Despite the three men's all-out attack, Lin Xuan's eyes remained calm and unwavering.

"An ant trying to shake a tree."

He uttered four words calmly.

This time, he held back. His early Foundation Establishment stage spiritual power erupted in full force. Although his cultivation level was slightly lower than his opponent's, the purity and power contained in that drop of liquid true essence far exceeded ordinary people's imagination.

He still held his fingers together like a sword, but this time, he made three consecutive strokes.

The first sword strike met the burning meteorite head-on. The transparent sword energy sliced ​​through the massive meteorite as easily as cutting tofu, its momentum undiminished, grazing the scarred man's neck. The scarred man's狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) expression froze, a line of blood appeared on his neck, his head rolled off, and the headless corpse, still in the hand seal posture, plummeted from the sky.

The second sword strike aimed at the pervasive miasma of peach blossoms. Where the sword energy passed, the pink miasma seemed to be purified by an invisible force, instantly dissipating. The sword energy precisely pierced the folding fan in the effeminate man's hand, penetrating him along with his heart. The terror on the effeminate man's face was frozen forever; the folding fan shattered, and his body collapsed limply.

The third sword strike aimed directly at the onrushing black soul banner. The sword's aura, imbued with an all-severing will, seemed inherently the nemesis of such sinister creatures. The mournful wails abruptly ceased; the ghostly faces appearing on the banner, as if encountering their natural enemy, twisted in terror and vanished. The pitch-black ghostly claws shattered inch by inch before the sword's power. The sword struck the soul banner itself without hindrance.

"Rip—"

The soul banner, clearly an evil artifact, was forcibly torn apart, its spiritual light instantly dimming and turning into ordinary cloth. The black-robed man below let out a shrill scream, clearly indicating that the soul banner was deeply connected to his mind. With the artifact destroyed, he was also severely injured, his hood falling off to reveal a pale, distorted face covered with strange runes.

His eyes were filled with endless fear and resentment. He glared at Lin Xuan, and with a flash of black light, he unhesitatingly used some kind of blood escape technique, transforming into a streak of blood light and fleeing towards the sky at an astonishing speed, without even having time to utter a harsh word.

Lin Xuan watched the receding streak of blood-red light but did not give chase. Not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to. Having just arrived, he needed someone to spread the word about what had happened here, especially his name and methods.

He slowly withdrew his fingers, and the sharp, soaring sword intent around him also subsided, transforming him back into the calm and handsome young man.

With a flick of his sleeve, he collected the storage bags of the scarred man and the effeminate man, as well as the damaged fragments of the Soul Banner. As for the unconscious Star Pivot Sect disciple and the barbarian stone in the deep pit, he didn't even glance at them.

After doing all this, he transformed into a streak of azure light and left the crater filled with debris and corpses, heading towards the "Chenxi Ancient City" indicated by the Star Compass.

The wind still howled, swirling up crimson sand and gravel, slowly concealing the traces of the battle.

But the name "Starry Sky Killer" spread quietly along the edge of this star field called "Ancient Road to Bury Stars," like the coldest wind on this ancient star, along with the black-robed man who had narrowly escaped and the gazes that might have been watching from even further away.

The image of a black-haired, black-eyed, ruthless, and profoundly skilled swordsman in a green robe was imprinted in the minds of some observant individuals. Everyone knew that a formidable figure had arrived in this star field.