I want to tread the heavens

After an unknown amount of time, Ling Xiao struggled to regain a sliver of consciousness amidst a severe headache and excruciating pain throughout his body. The ringing in his ears persisted, and his mouth and nose were filled with the faint smell of dust and burnt starstone. He struggled to open his heavy eyelids; his vision blurred for a moment before gradually clearing.

What came into view were collapsed and broken star pillars, rubble scattered everywhere, and a huge, charred crater in the distance with melted, crystalline edges—the epicenter of the star golem's self-destruction. The air still held turbulent energy currents, swirling fine dust that floated slowly in the starlight of the dome.

"Cough...cough cough..." Rong Shu's suppressed cough came from beside him, his voice hoarse and weak. Ling Xiao barely managed to turn his head and saw Rong Shu slumped against a broken pillar, his chest soaked in blood, his face ashen, and his hand holding the broken knife trembling slightly. Fa Cai lay at his feet, its back covered in charred marks, its left front paw curled unnaturally, but seeing Ling Xiao wake up, it still managed to lift its head, its amber eyes filled with exhaustion and worry, and let out a soft "woof".

"Uncle Rong... get rich..." Ling Xiao tried to speak, but his throat was dry and painful, and he couldn't make a complete sound. He tried to sit up, but a tearing pain came from his left shoulder, where the puppet's silver light had grazed. Now, a thin layer of cold ice crystals had formed.

"Don't move." Uncle Rong's voice was filled with barely concealed exhaustion. "His internal organs were shaken, and his shoulder injury is now infected with the Starry Cold Poison. Moving around will cause the poison to spread. That puppet's self-destruction... its power was terrifying, and that final aura..."

A hint of solemnity and lingering fear flashed in his eyes. The dark red patterns and blood-red eyes that the puppet displayed at its last moment were not what one would expect from a legitimate guardian of the Starfall Clan; rather, they resembled the result of being corrupted and polluted by some evil force. This underground palace was probably even more ominous than they had imagined.

Ling Xiao also recalled the eerie dark red patterns and crazed, blood-red eyes of the puppet before its self-destruction, casting a shadow over his heart. He suppressed his discomfort and activated the meager power of meteorites from the *Star Sensing Chapter*, attempting to dispel the chill in his left shoulder. The power of meteorites shared the same origin as the cold poison, but was purer and gentler. Although it couldn't eradicate the chill immediately, it did alleviate the biting cold somewhat.

"Click...click click..."

Just as they caught their breath and tended to their injuries, the chilling metallic scraping sound echoed once more from the depths of the ruins! And not from just one direction, but from multiple directions! It came faintly from the shadows of the collapsed side halls and corridors, and from the depths of the underground palace further away!

More Star Golems! Alarmed by the self-destruction just now, or... they've always been there, only to be activated now!

"Oh no..." Uncle Rong's expression changed, and he struggled to stand up, but staggered. His injuries were too severe, and he had just been subjected to the impact of the explosion at close range. He was now at his last gasp.

Fa Cai also forced himself to stand up and stood in front of the two men, letting out a low growl in the direction the sound came from, but his voice was also weak from exhaustion.

Ling Xiao's heart sank to the bottom. Was he going to perish in this puppet formation after all the hardships of entering the underground palace?

No! We must not give up!

His gaze swept quickly across the surroundings, then suddenly fixed on the other side of the crater, on a relatively intact area that seemed unaffected by the blast. There, a passage sloping upwards was obscured by more giant star pillars and a broken dome structure. At the end of the passage, an even denser starlight could be faintly seen, along with... a strange, tranquil fluctuation that seemed to soothe the soul.

Is this the direction of the Hall of Inheritance? The jade slip map is vaguely marked, indicating that there is a most important hall at the core of the underground palace.

"Uncle Rong, look over there!" Ling Xiao pointed to the passage. "The fluctuations there are different; it might be the core area! These puppets seem to only operate in the outer ruins!"

Uncle Rong followed his gaze, his spirits lifting slightly: "Possibly! The palace guards generally don't enter the core inheritance or forbidden areas. Let's go! Over there!"

He gritted his teeth and stood up, using the broken knife to support himself. Ling Xiao also endured the excruciating pain and, with Fa Cai's help, got to his feet. The three (wolves) no longer hesitated and staggered towards the passage.

The cracking sounds behind them grew closer and more frequent, and they could even hear heavy footsteps echoing through the ruins. They dared not look back, and charged forward with all their might.

The passageway was wide, its floor paved with solid star stones, engraved with even more intricate and mysterious star maps. Fist-sized star gems were inlaid in the walls on both sides, emitting a soft, luminous glow. Compared to the ruins outside, this place was relatively well-preserved, with only scattered rubble and dust.

But the passage was not smooth. Every so often, dim, silver runes would appear on the ground, almost blending into it. Occasionally, the walls or dome would silently slide open, revealing dark holes behind them, but no puppets or other mechanisms would pop out. It seemed that the defense mechanisms here had also fallen into a dormant or semi-inoperable state due to energy depletion or damage.

Even so, they remained cautious and moved as quietly as possible, with Fa Cai especially listening intently to any unusual activity.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the sounds of their pursuers seemed to have disappeared, the starlight in the passage grew stronger, and the serene and peaceful atmosphere became clearer. Finally, they reached the end of the passage.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

This was a magnificent, solemn, and awe-inspiring circular hall, far surpassing any palace I had ever seen before. The hall stood a hundred feet tall and over three hundred feet in diameter, its dome supported by eight colossal star-shaped stone pillars, each requiring ten people to encircle it. Above the dome, no longer was a simulated starry sky, but a slowly flowing, incredibly realistic, and infinitely smaller version of a magnificent star map! At the heart of the star map was a strange, specially marked, dazzling star field, radiating a breathtakingly powerful stellar energy that cascaded down like a waterfall, illuminating the entire hall.

The floor of the main hall was paved with a single, huge, translucent piece of star crystal. Beneath the crystal, there seemed to be a slowly flowing silver river composed purely of liquid star power, breathtakingly beautiful.

In the very center of the main hall, there are three star platforms, each about three zhang high, constructed of different materials, arranged in a "品" shape.

The star platform on the left is made of the purest silver-white star crystal, emitting a rich and pure stellar energy fluctuation. A faint but tenacious silver halo floats on the surface, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet it has never been extinguished.

The central star platform is made of a strange, dark gold metal covered with intricate, three-dimensional patterns. Occasionally, a stream of light flashes through the patterns, but the overall structure is dull and lifeless, emitting no aura whatsoever, as if it were completely dead.

The star platform on the right is inlaid with countless tiny star gems of different colors, forming a miniature, extremely complex three-dimensional array model. The gems are also dull and lifeless, and the array model is incomplete and lifeless.

The three star platforms are connected by faint traces of light, as if they were originally a whole. But at this moment, only the "Star Power" star platform on the left still has a trace of life.

This is the Hall of Inheritance! The core place where the ancestors of the Starfall Clan left their legacy!

However, in stark contrast to the magnificent hall, the immense stellar power, and the inheritance platform, there were traces of battle scattered throughout the hall.

Huge claw marks and charred scorch marks were left on the walls, not by puppets or mechanisms, but by some enormous, ferocious creature exuding an aura of destruction. Several stone pillars bore deep cracks, as if struck by a tremendous force. On the ground, there were many broken pieces of star crystal, and even several dark red, long-dried bloodstains that still emitted a faint, ominous aura; their shapes were not human-like.