I want to tread the heavens

At the edge of the Star Origin Pool, the sounds of battle rose again, but this time they carried a more resolute determination to fight to the death.

Guo Dahai's eyes were bloodshot, greed almost burning through his reason. He swung his long sword, which was wrapped in a fierce wind, and slashed down at Uncle Rong, who had just stood up from the pool. The inner courtyard disciples and demon minions behind him pounced like wolves and tigers, and various weapons and demonic energy attacks intertwined to form a net, covering the three men and the wolf.

However, Uncle Rong at this moment was no longer the old servant who was exhausted and ready to die with only a burst of courage, just moments before.

The floodgates of memory burst open, and seven years of buried combat instincts and experience, like a rusty sword washed clean in a spring, suddenly revealed a glimpse of the once-mighty commander of the Heavenly Palace's personal guard. He stood naked in the waist-deep, shimmering pool. Though his emaciated body hadn't fully recovered from the nourishment of the stars, it possessed a calm, profound, and insightful aura. Facing Guo Dahai's powerful slash, he neither dodged nor evaded. Only at the very moment the blade touched his body did he subtly shift his stance, his body sliding sideways like a fish, brushing against the blade's edge. His cracked, broken sword slashed diagonally, the tip precisely striking the point where Guo Dahai's spiritual energy flowed most stagnant!

With a crisp "clang," Guo Dahai felt a numbness in his wrist, and his blade instantly veered off course. A sharp gust of wind grazed Rong Shu's ribs, slicing a deep gash in the pool water and splashing up countless silver droplets. Rong Shu used the momentum to twist his body, his broken blade drawing a brutal arc as it swept across two inner courtyard disciples who were attacking from the flank. The two hadn't expected the dying old servant's moves to be so cunning and ruthless; they hastily parried but were still thrown back by the impact.

"Old man! Playing tricks!" Guo Dahai was both shocked and furious. He steadied himself, his wind spiritual power surging, ready to attack again.

"Get rich! Left wing, eye of the storm!" Ling Xiao's shout was almost synchronized with Uncle Rong's tacit understanding. His cultivation had broken through to the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining, and the newly acquired power of meteorite surged and flowed. Driven by pure spiritual power, the "Swimming Fish Step" was as fast as a ghost, dodging Guo Yan's sneak attack with a poison cone, and slapping the surface of the pool with a backhand.

"Bang!" The silvery pool water exploded, forming a curtain of water that obscured the view. Fa Cai responded instantly; though not enormous, its four claws gleamed with silver light, piercing the eye sockets of a demonic wolf beast on the left as easily as slicing through tofu. With a fierce tear, the wolf beast howled and collapsed. It then opened its mouth and let out a short, sharp, soul-piercing howl at another demonic minion that was about to cast a spell! The minion's spellcasting abruptly stopped, and it clutched its head, groaning in pain.

The master, servant, and wolf stood back-to-back by the Source Pool, forming a pincer movement. Uncle Rong, with his keen eye, repeatedly guided Ling Xiao to dodge or counterattack at the most critical moments; Ling Xiao, with his astonishing comprehension, combined his newly acquired Starfall power with combat techniques, unleashing swift and fierce attacks; Fa Cai, like a gray lightning bolt, specialized in targeting the lower body, joints, and the caster, constantly disrupting their attacks. For a time, they managed to stabilize their position amidst the encirclement, even forcing two enemies to fall into the pool, their demonic energy eroded by the dense star power, causing them to scream in agony.

But the enemy was ultimately numerous and powerful. Guo Yan was treacherous, always launching sneak attacks; the demonic minions were fearless; and the mutated creatures were thick-skinned and tough. Uncle Rong's new wounds piled on top of old ones, and his movements gradually slowed; Ling Xiao's spiritual energy was severely depleted, and his breathing became heavy; Fa Cai's body was covered in more bloodstains.

"Hold them back! Wear them down!" Guo Dahai saw through the situation, grinned maliciously, slowed his attack, and ordered his men to take turns fighting.

"We can't fight for long." Uncle Rong deflected a poisoned dagger and whispered to Ling Xiao, his gaze sweeping towards a narrow passage behind the source pool, half-hidden by stalactites of starlight. "That's the exit shown on the star map, leading to deeper levels or another way out. I'll cover your retreat; you take Fa Cai and go!"

"Let's go together!" Ling Xiao said decisively, forcing back the attacking claws with a single strike.

Just as the stalemate was at its peak, the star field projection on the Source Pool dome suddenly fluctuated violently, as if interfered with by an external force. Immediately afterwards, from the direction of the star staircase from which the group had come, came heavy, chaotic footsteps, the sound of metal scraping, and a violent, inhuman roar!

"Not good! The guard puppets and monsters behind us have been completely alerted and are catching up!" Guo Yan's expression changed as he heard the terror contained in the roar.

Guo Dahai's heart skipped a beat. Ahead lay a trapped beast (Ling Xiao and his two companions), and behind were pursuers (the palace guards). If they were trapped in this depression in the source pool, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Send some men to hold off the rear! The rest of you, take down Ling Xiao with all your might!" Guo Dahai ordered urgently. Several demon minions and inner court disciples hurriedly turned and ran towards the top of the stairs to set up defenses.

"Now!" A glint flashed in Uncle Rong's eyes. He took a deep breath and deliberately stepped into the deeper part of the pool, drawing the two enemies into pursuit. Ling Xiao understood immediately. He unleashed the full power of his Fish Step, his figure as swift as smoke, carrying Fa Cai straight towards the hidden passage!

"Trying to run?!" Guo Dahai roared, unleashing a flurry of wind blades, but Rong Shu managed to block two of them with his broken sword, coughing up blood and staggering backward. Ling Xiao had already reached the entrance of the tunnel, and Fa Cai was the first to slip inside.

"Stop him!" Guo Yan shrieked, and three poison cones shot towards Ling Xiao's back in a triangular formation.

Ling Xiao turned around, channeling the power of meteors into his broken blade, drawing a gleaming silver arc. Two of the poisoned needles were knocked away with a clang, while the third cunningly grazed his shoulder, leaving a spray of blood. He grunted, using the force to crash into the darkness of the tunnel, and simultaneously flung the remaining poisoned needles he had seized from Guo Yan at his pursuers.

Seeing this, Uncle Rong stopped fighting, feinted a strike to force back the enemy in front of him, and then retreated swiftly, slipping into the tunnel like a fish. Guo Dahai and the others, hindered by the poisoned needles and the source water, were a beat too slow and were furious.

"Chase them! Don't let them get away!"

The passageway was extremely narrow, allowing only one and a half people to pass at a time, and less than two zhang high. The walls were no longer made of star crystal, but of rough, cold, dark blue rock, engraved with ancient patterns that had long since faded, used to guide the flow of stellar energy. The air was murky, filled with years of dust and a faint smell of sulfur, clearly indicating that it was far from the core area of ​​the source pool.

The darkness was thick, with only the faint glow of the fluorite in Ling Xiao's hand flickering. The shouts of the pursuers and the sound of clashing weapons (he had engaged in combat with the palace guards) followed closely behind.

"Go straight for thirty paces, then turn left at the fork in the road; the terrain descends!" Uncle Rong's voice rang out in the darkness, steady and powerful, carrying with it an instinctive familiarity with the structure of the Starfall building after regaining his memories. "That's an old maintenance passage; it's not on the map, but the structural principles are the same!"

Ling Xiao followed orders and ran quickly, his feet sinking into the uneven ground. Fa Cai led the way, his breathing rapid, occasionally whimpering as a warning. Behind them, the footsteps and curses of Guo Dahai and his men grew closer, clearly indicating that a select group of elite soldiers were relentlessly pursuing them.

"Bang!" A piece of rock fell from above and hit Ling Xiao in front of him. He looked up and saw fresh cracks in the rock wall.

"They're trying to widen the road by force!" Uncle Rong shouted. "Speed ​​up!"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud roar came from behind, and a shockwave carrying dust surged in. It turned out that Guo Dahai and the others had used brute force to shatter the narrow rock wall and squeeze in.

"Ling Xiao! You can't escape!" Guo Yan's shrill laughter echoed in the cramped space, its sound particularly sinister.

A fork in the passageway appeared ahead, one to the left and one to the right. Uncle Rong barked, "Left!" Ling Xiao turned without hesitation. Fa Cai, however, suddenly stopped, letting out an extremely uneasy growl towards the dark depths on the right, as if something more terrifying than the pursuers lurked there.

"Never mind, let's go!" Uncle Rong gave Ling Xiao a push. The three of them had just entered the left passage when Guo Dahai and the others had already caught up to the fork in the road.

"Split up and chase them!" Guo Dahai ordered. Several inner courtyard disciples rushed to the right, while Guo Dahai and Guo Yan led the demon minions to the left.

The passage on the left became increasingly steep downwards, with an extremely steep slope and slippery ground. Ling Xiao slipped and nearly fell, but Uncle Rong caught him. A whooshing sound came from behind, and a blade of wind grazed Uncle Rong's back, leaving a bloody mark.

"This won't work, we'll be worn down." Uncle Rong, panting heavily, glanced at the rock face and suddenly said, "Xiao'er, use the power of meteors to strike the third horizontal node on the upper right!"

Without asking why, Ling Xiao focused his strength into his fist, which shone with silver light, and slammed it hard into the spot that Uncle Rong pointed to.

"Boom!" The rock wall trembled, and rubble scattered everywhere. That node turned out to be the weak point of an ancient diversion mechanism. Once triggered, the stress in the rock layer above suddenly changed, and large rocks collapsed, instantly blocking the passage several meters behind!

"Ah!" "Damn it!" The shouts and curses of the pursuers came from behind, but were temporarily blocked.

"Let's go! We can't hold on much longer!" Uncle Rong pulled Ling Xiao down the steep slope.

Suddenly, Fa Cai surged forward by more than ten zhang and stopped at a slightly wider turning platform. It barked wildly at the darkness below, its fur standing on end and silver light flowing uncontrollably—there, extremely powerful spiritual energy fluctuations and pressure were emanating!

Ling Xiao and Uncle Rong arrived and looked down. A hundred feet below, they could vaguely see a vast lava lake, its crimson bubbles churning and steaming with heat. In the center of the lake was a solitary black rock island, on which seemed to stand some kind of structure. Connecting this platform was a dilapidated natural stone beam, only half a foot wide, suspended above the lava, its surface riddled with cracks, as if it might crumble at any moment.

The other end of the stone beam was hidden in the dark mist on the opposite bank and could not be seen clearly.

"We have to get there." Uncle Rong's expression was solemn. "The lava lake disrupts our divine senses, and the aura on the other side is blocked. It's the only way to escape their pursuit."

"I'll go first." Ling Xiao gritted his teeth and was about to step onto the stone beam.

"Wait!" Uncle Rong pressed him down, his gaze sweeping over several unnatural wear marks on the stone beam. "Someone or something just passed by recently; it could also be a trap."

Just then, a series of explosions came from the collapsed area behind them, demonic energy surged, and debris flew everywhere—Guo Dahai and the others were about to break through the obstacle!

"Too late!" Uncle Rong bit the broken knife in his mouth, stepping onto the stone beam first. He swayed slightly but quickly regained his balance. "Follow me closely! Watch where I step! Fa Cai, cover the rear and keep watch!"

Ling Xiao held his breath and followed closely behind. The stone beams were narrow and slippery, and the scorching heat from the lava below made him dizzy. He was completely focused, stepping precisely where Uncle Rong had stepped.

Midway through the journey, Guo Yan's stern shout came from behind: "They're on the stone beam! Destroy it!"

A dark, demonic streak shot out, striking directly at the base of the stone beam!

"Hurry!" Uncle Rong roared, accelerating forward.

The black energy struck the stone beam with a deafening roar, sending shards of rock flying. The beam trembled violently, cracks spreading across its surface. Ling Xiao's feet slipped, and half his body dangled over the beam, a wave of heat washing over him from below!

At the critical moment, Fa Cai suddenly darted forward, grabbing Ling Xiao's belt in its mouth. Its four silver claws dug deep into the rocky ridge, dragging him back. Uncle Rong turned around, reached out, grabbed Ling Xiao's wrist, and with a pull, the two men and the wolf leaped onto the platform on the opposite bank.

The stone beam behind them shattered under the second bombardment of demonic energy, crashing into the lava and stirring up towering waves of fire.

Guo Dahai and his group were blocked on the other side, their angry roars clearly audible across the lava lake.

"We've shaken them off for now." Ling Xiao slumped to the ground, still shaken. Uncle Rong leaned on his knife, panting, looking at the shadowy pursuers in the darkness on the opposite bank, then at the deeper, unknown territory behind him, his gaze unfathomable.

"We can't stay here any longer. They'll definitely find another way around, or notify the demons on the ground to seal off the exit." Uncle Rong tore off a piece of his shirt to bandage his wound. "Let's go. We must find the 'void node' shown on the star map before they surround us."

A new escape begins, deeper into the darkness of the earth. The faint light from the lava lake elongates the three figures, casting them onto the rugged rock face like indomitable silhouettes.