I want to tread the heavens

Inside the narrow maintenance tunnel, it was dark, oppressive, and oxygen-deprived. Ling Xiao used both hands and feet, grinding himself until his hands were bleeding against the rough rock wall, but he dared not stop for a moment. The faint rumbling, roaring, and screams behind him chased after him like a nightmare. Uncle Rong's safety, Fa Cai's madness, Guo Yun's rearguard action... every scene seared his nerves.

The pipe was not straight, with many twists and turns, and he relied entirely on a jade slip that Guo Yun had given him before he entered the pipe, which still retained a faint sense of star power, to guide him. He didn't know how long he had been climbing, his lungs felt like they were on fire, and waves of excruciating pain came from his wounds. He relied entirely on the "Zhou Tian Xing Chen Dao Dao Jing" to forcibly refine the sparse free star power around him to maintain his clarity.

A faint light appeared ahead, and the air became moist. He struggled to climb out of the pipe and landed on a natural cave platform only a few feet in diameter. The platform was suspended on a smooth, mirror-like black rock wall, below which lay a bottomless abyss, shrouded in mist. On the opposite cliff face, a hundred feet away, the entrance to another man-made walkway could be vaguely seen, but between the two, there was only the broken remains of a suspension bridge, with only a few rotten wooden stakes remaining, making it impassable.

This is a dead end! Or rather, it's an unfinished, abandoned contact point!

Ling Xiao's heart sank to the bottom. Just as he was about to retreat into the pipe to find another way, he heard a tooth-grinding, rapid scraping sound and a sinister laugh coming from inside the pipe behind him!

"Hehehe... Little mouse, I've found you..."

A dark figure darted out of the pipe opening like a gecko and landed lightly. It was none other than the trusted confidant of "Ghost Crow," the demon spy who was now missing an arm, half his face cleaved in a bloody mess by Uncle Rong's broken sword, and whose demonic aura was dim yet still lingering! A penetrating wound in his chest was still bleeding, clearly indicating that he had paid a heavy price to escape Fa Cai's obstruction and catch up. His eyes burned with greed and madness for Ling Xiao's flesh and blood and the essence of Starfall.

"Hand over the stuff...and your soul...offer it to the Demon Emperor..." The spy coughed up blood, his only remaining hand raising a short bone flute covered in twisted demonic runes, flickering with an ominous black light. "Otherwise...detonate this 'Soul-Shattering Demon Flute'...and we'll all...be buried with it!"

Ling Xiao stood with his back against the cold rock wall, with nowhere to retreat. The suction of the abyss below was immense, making it impossible to leap down. A dead end lay ahead, pursuers were behind, and a bottomless abyss lay beside him. Despair, like a cold tide, once again overwhelmed his heart.

But this time, a fiercer rage ignited within the despair! Uncle Rong's blood, Fa Cai's roar, Guo Yun's resolute decision, his parents' dying wishes… Why do these people, these demons, always have to take everything away from him?!

"Want it? Come and take it yourself!" Ling Xiao roared, his eyes devoid of fear, only filled with a deathly coldness and a wildly growing desire for destruction. He forcefully circulated his cultivation technique, causing the stellar essence within his dantian, which had already been largely depleted, to tremble violently, stirred by his rage and beginning to boil uncontrollably!

The scout grinned maliciously, refusing to waste any more words. He slammed the magic flute against his chest with his single hand, about to inject his last bit of demonic energy to detonate it! At the same time, he lunged forward, his single claw grabbing at Ling Xiao's throat, intending to drag him down with him into destruction!

Time seemed to freeze and stretch out in that instant.

As Ling Xiao watched the approaching demonic claws and the impending explosion of the demonic flute, his mind was filled with vivid images of his mother, Su Yingxue, manipulating the stars in the jade pendant's image, the tragic sight of countless stars falling during the "Star Soul Tempering Heart" ritual, and the fragments of "Star Wrath" from the Source Pool's inheritance—"Star Wrath is not for destruction, but for purification; with a single thought, the Milky Way tilts, cleansing away all evil!"

"Ah—!!" He let out a hoarse roar that seemed to rip out his soul. No longer suppressing or weighing his options, he poured all his anger, sorrow, and obsession with protecting into the unruly source in his dantian. His hands instinctively crossed over his chest, mimicking the posture of his mother guiding the galaxy in the fragments of his memory, and he pushed outward with a sudden force!

There are no complicated techniques, no subtle controls, only the purest and most brutal expression of will!

Om-! ! !

The entire cave platform, and even the surrounding rock walls and the mist in the abyss, trembled violently! Countless previously hidden and dim star runes suddenly appeared on the smooth black rock wall behind Ling Xiao, as if they had been awakened, and resonated with the power erupting from Ling Xiao's body!

A silver beam of light, indescribably brilliant and majestic, condensed to the point of being tangible, erupted from Ling Xiao's hands! Within the beam, countless miniature stars seemed to be born and die, and galaxies seemed to be surging! It did not strike in a straight line, but rather spread out like a ring of stars, carrying a powerful will to purify and annihilate all evil, instantly engulfing the scout and the magic flute in his hand!

"No—!!" The scout's sinister smile instantly turned into extreme terror and disbelief. Under the silver light, the Soul-Shattering Demon Flute in his hand didn't even have a chance to erupt before silently disintegrating like melting snow! His protective demonic energy, withered flesh, and deformed bones were stripped away, decomposed, and annihilated into nothingness layer by layer under the sweep of the silver star ring!

There were no screams, no explosions, only a complete and silent purification. The demonic artifacts and demonic followers that were enough to take the group down with them were completely destroyed by the Wrath of the Stars, leaving not even a trace.

The silver light, its momentum undiminished, swept across the mist of the abyss, clearing it; it swept across the rock walls, dispelling all traces of demonic energy. The entire space seemed to have been cleansed by some sacred and immense power.

Ling Xiao remained in the thrusting posture, his eyes glazed over. Then, the silver light in his pupils dimmed rapidly, and purple-gold lightning crackled beneath his skin. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, his body slumped forward, and his consciousness completely plunged into darkness. His meridians had ruptured in several places due to the unbearable strain, and the stellar essence within his dantian was almost exhausted, with only a faint glimmer of light remaining, spontaneously protecting his heart meridian.

Meanwhile, the main battlefield of Obsidian Forest.

Guo Yun and her three trusted nannies formed the "Three-Star Demon-Locking Formation," fiercely resisting the frenzied attack of Guo Dahai's forces. Uncle Rong, protected within the formation, was barely breathing, yet he stubbornly refused to faint, his broken sword held across his knee, his eyes fixed on the battle. Fa Cai's enormous, berserk body blocked the pipe entrance, several broken arrows piercing his flesh, his dark red flames faint, yet he still instinctively tore at any enemy who dared to approach, buying time for Ling Xiao.

"Guo Yun! You colluded with foreign enemies and betrayed the family! Today I will cleanse the Guo family of its filth!" Guo Dahai roared like a madman, his wind spirit power raging wildly, but it was repeatedly neutralized by Guo Yun's exquisite array transformations and seasoned experience. Guo Yan hid behind the demons, constantly casting cold arrows and poisonous curses, but he was also hindered by Fa Cai's madness and the desperate cover provided by the old women.

"You are the one who betrayed the family! Guo Dahai!" Guo Yun slammed her phoenix-headed staff on the ground, the tip radiating a blue light that repelled a demonic beast. Her voice was as cold as ice. "You let wolves into the house, colluded with the demons, harmed your own kind, and coveted the legacy of your ancestors! Today, in the name of the Third Elder, I will enforce family law and uphold clan rules!"

Before she could finish speaking, a strange and unsettling surge of spiritual energy suddenly emanated from the direction of the distant cave. A faint silver glow flashed by and then vanished into silence.

Guo Dahai felt a sudden panic, and Guo Yan's expression changed drastically: "Not good! The aura over there... has disappeared!" He was referring to the auras of the Demon Detective and Ling Xiao.

Uncle Rong's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up, then dimmed again. He didn't know if it was good or bad, but there must have been a major change on Ling Xiao's side.

Guo Yun keenly sensed this sudden shift in morale, her eyes flashing with a cold light. She decisively shouted, "Now! Change formation! 'Three Stars Reverse Charge'! Take Guo Dahai's head!"

Without hesitation, the three old women simultaneously bit their tongues, spitting out their blood essence into the array's core. The array instantly reversed, transforming from a defensive stance into an explosive, all-out attack! Three streaks of azure light, like swords drawn from their sheaths, merged into one, forcibly linking the life force of the three women with Guo Yun's spiritual power, transforming into an indestructible azure phantom that hurtled straight towards Guo Dahai!

Guo Dahai was terrified and frantically activated his wind shield. However, his mind was in disarray, and he underestimated Guo Yun's determination to fight to the death. The phantom of the Azure Phoenix shrieked as it tore through the wind shield, and Guo Yun's figure flashed out from within. Her phoenix-headed staff, like a judge's pen, ignored Guo Dahai's terrified and desperate eyes and precisely struck his brow!

"puff!"

The force penetrated to his very bones, shattering his brain. Guo Dahai's body stiffened, the madness and greed in his eyes freezing instantly, then dimming. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but only a mouthful of black blood gushed out before he fell heavily backward, dead.

"Master!" The Guo family's confidants were in an uproar, their formation thrown into chaos.

"Guo Dahai has colluded with the demons and has already been punished according to family law! If you continue to be obstinate, you will all be punished as accomplices!" Guo Yun stood holding a staff, her white hair stained with blood, her imposing presence awe-inspiring. Although her aura was unsteady, she still intimidated the entire audience.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless and Guo Dahai was dead, Guo Yan's eyes flashed with resentment and fear. He screamed, "Retreat! Retreat quickly!" He led the remaining demon minions and monsters and fled in panic into the depths of the maze.

Guo Yun did not pursue, suppressing her churning blood and qi, and urgently ordered, "Save him! Quickly!"

The old woman helped Uncle Rong up and fed him a life-saving pill. Seeing the enemy retreat, Fa Cai's berserk state subsided, and his enormous body rapidly shrank back into his gray wolf form. Covered in wounds, he fainted and was carefully carried away by the old woman. Guo Yun, disregarding her own injuries, rushed into the pipes and chased after Ling Xiao in the direction he had gone.

When she finally found Ling Xiao, unconscious, with damaged meridians and barely breathing, on the cave platform, even this stern-fisted old woman couldn't help but feel a lingering fear and relief in her eyes. She carefully examined him and confirmed that although Ling Xiao was extremely injured, a strange primal power within him was protecting his heart meridian, so his life was not in immediate danger, and the demonic aura in the area had been completely eliminated.

"Good boy...you've suffered." Guo Yun sighed softly, took off her outer robe to wrap Ling Xiao, carefully carried him on her back, and returned to the main battlefield.

The chaotic battle deep within the underground palace temporarily ended with the death of Guo Dahai, the defeat of the demons, and the unconsciousness of Ling Xiao. However, the undercurrents of the old land and the destiny of the starry sky were unleashed in an even more turbulent chapter by the blood and fire of this night.