I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

"The Desolate Starfield is just ahead." Liu San pointed to the pitch-black expanse in the distance. "Look, even light can't escape."

Qin Yuan followed his finger. At the edge of the starry sea, there was a region completely devoid of starlight, like a black patch crudely sewn onto the starry sky. The edges of the darkness were unnaturally neat, as if cut out by something.

"When will the bell ring?" Qin Yuan asked.

"Counting the days, tomorrow will be the seventh day." Liu San was already backing away. "I'll wait for you on the outskirts. If you haven't come out in three days, I'll—I'll go back and report Ye Wuji's death."

Yan Lingji glared at him, and Liu San quickly changed his tune: "I'll go back and get reinforcements!"

Qin Yuan ignored Liu San's slip of the tongue. He activated the Eye of Chaos, attempting to see through the darkness. The light from the Eye of Chaos pierced the edge of the Desolate Starfield, penetrating about a hundred miles before Qin Yuan saw a blurry outline.

It was a tower.

It wasn't ruins, nor wreckage, but a complete, perfectly preserved seven-story tower. The tower was entirely black, blending seamlessly into the surrounding darkness; were it not for the Eye of Chaos, it would have been impossible to detect its existence. Each floor had seven windows, all shrouded in darkness. But at the very top of the tower—the very top of the seventh floor—a dim point of light flickered, extremely slowly.

Qin Yuan counted the number of flashes. During the time he observed it, the point of light flashed seven times before plunging into darkness.

Seventh time. Once every seven days.

"Let's go." Qin Yuan was the first to step into the darkness.

The interior of the desolate star field was quieter than he had imagined. There was no danger, no traps, no sign of any living creature. Only pure, dense darkness. This darkness was not caused by the lack of light, but rather by the very nature of this space—it repelled light, repelled laws, and repelled all things orderly.

Qin Yuan's Eye of Chaos found itself in perfect harmony here. Chaos is an existence that transcends both order and disorder; this darkness, a dead end for other cultivators, felt to him like a return to a primordial state. His gaze pierced through the darkness, clearly revealing the outline of the seven-story black tower, the patterns on its surface, and even a line of ancient characters carved on its base.

The text wasn't written in ancient divine script, nor was it the common script of the Great Void; rather, it was a symbolic system even older and more primitive than divine script. Qin Yuan didn't recognize these symbols, but the Eye of Chaos allowed him to understand their meaning.

"The seven stars return to their positions, and chaos is restored."

He read those eight words aloud. As soon as he finished speaking, a deep, resonant chime echoed from the depths of darkness.

The first chime of the bell caused the darkness around them to surge violently, like a pebble thrown into water. But there was no offensive force, just pure vibration.

The second chime of the bell extinguished the flames in Yan Lingji's hand for a moment. She looked down at her palm; the flames reignited, but were dimmer than before. "My Heavenly Fire Law has been suppressed," she said.

With the third chime, Mu Hongyi's longsword emitted a faint mournful cry, and the sword intent on its blade diminished considerably. With the fourth chime, the chill surrounding Bingji completely dissipated. With the fifth chime, cracks appeared on the shaft of Hongyue's spear. With the sixth chime, all the wildflowers in Yueyao's arms withered. With the seventh chime, the sword in Jian Wushuang's hand automatically drew half an inch from its sheath before returning to it.

After the seven chimes ended, Su Yao's expression changed slightly. The Chaos Sacred Body within her body resonated with an unprecedented intensity during the chimes, even more so than when she faced the remnant soul of the demon god in the sealed palace.

"That tower is calling us." Su Yao's voice was soft, but it pierced through the darkness. "It's telling us our location by resonating with the essence of the Seven Star Sacred Body."

Qin Yuan gripped the bone blade tightly and took the lead in walking towards the Black Tower.

The base of the Black Tower was much larger than it appeared from a distance. Upon closer inspection, the base was at least a mile in diameter, constructed entirely of an unknown black stone. The stone's surface was as smooth as a mirror, but under the gaze of the Eye of Chaos, one could see that the stone was intricately engraved with countless runes, nested layer upon layer, forming an extremely complex array structure.

There was a door on the front of the tower. The door was small, only a little over a person's height, disproportionate to the tower's grand scale. Seven grooves were carved on the door frame, arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper. Qin Yuan recognized the shape of the grooves at a glance—exactly the same as the runes on the bottom of the Chaos Seal.

"The Origin Imprint of the Seven Star Sacred Body." Su Yao stepped forward and placed her palm on the first groove. The light of the Chaos Sacred Body surged from her palm and poured into the groove. The groove lit up. The other six women stepped forward in turn, pouring their own Sacred Body essence into the corresponding groove. All seven grooves lit up, and the seven-star pattern on the door frame rotated half a circle on its own. The door opened.

The tower wasn't as dark as I'd imagined. In the main hall of the first floor, a fist-sized luminous pearl floated, emitting a soft glow. The light illuminated the four walls of the hall, which were covered with murals.

Qin Yuan stopped in front of the first mural.

The mural depicts seven women dressed in ancient attire, standing side by side. Their faces do not resemble those of Su Yao and her seven companions, but the sacred marks on their brows—Chaos, Heavenly Fire, Limitless, Profound Ice, Purple Thunder, Green Wood, and Taiyin—are exactly the same as the marks on the foreheads of the seven women.

Before the seven women stood a white-haired man. His face was blurry, as if deliberately blurred, but his features bore a striking resemblance to Qin Yuan. In his hand he held a sword, its blade semi-transparent, with stars and galaxies flowing within it.

It was a sword that was almost identical to Qin Yuan's Eternal Bone Blade.

"This is..." Yan Lingji pointed at the white-haired man in the mural, her voice filled with disbelief.

"The first generation of Seven Star Sacred Body possessors." Su Yao's gaze swept over every detail of the mural, "and their guardians."

She stopped before the last mural. It was larger than the others, occupying an entire wall. In it, the first-generation Seven Star Holy Body Guardian raised his sword, the tip pointing to the sky. A massive rift stretched across the sky, revealing an eye without a pupil. Behind the Guardian, the seven Holy Body possessors were pouring their entire essence into the Guardian's sword.

There was a line of runes in the corner of the mural. Qin Yuan deciphered its meaning using the Eye of Chaos.

"The Guardian used the source of the Seven Stars as a guide to cleave through chaos and seal off the outer realms. However, the source was exhausted, the Seven Stars shattered, and the seed of the Holy Body scattered into all worlds, waiting to be reborn 100,000 years later. The Guardian used his remaining body to transform into this tower to suppress and seal it, so that it may never escape."