Devouring demons, I attain immortality.

The bronze lamps in the headquarters of the Demon Suppression Bureau flickered in the dark room, and Lin An rubbed the Xuan Tian Mirror he had just received with his fingertips.

The mirror reflected the crane cloak hanging down from the supervisor, and twelve bronze counting rods were arranged in the shape of stars on the table, reflecting the location of the Heavenly Ruins Secret Realm in every detail.

"This journey will require enduring three calamities and nine tribulations."

The supervisor swept his wide sleeve across the counting rods, revealing blood-red patterns on the bronze surface.

"The rotting bone winds of the Netherworld Swamp, the fiery lava of the Burning Heaven Valley—finally, one must break through the Nine Heavens Gate's restrictions to enter."

Lin An accepted the map of the secret realm crafted from jade. The Devouring System rippled in his sea of ​​consciousness: [Ancient restriction remnants detected. It is recommended to exchange for a restriction-breaking talisman (requires three inches of millennium-old lightning-struck wood)].

He glanced at the tiny ink stains in the northwest corner of the map, where dangerous areas that should have been marked had been deliberately blurred.

Three days later, a bronze chariot drawn by twelve dragon-blooded horses crushed the clouds. Lin An sat cross-legged on the chariot shaft, the newly worn Demon-Suppressing Token at his waist gleaming with an eerie light.

Lu Xiuwen, a seventh-rank array master from the Demon Suppression Division who was traveling with them, suddenly made a hand seal. The Taotie pattern on the carriage wall suddenly opened its eyes, and the wind-avoiding pearl in its mouth shot out a blue light, tearing a crack in the rolling gray mist in front of them.

"careful!"

Before Lu Xiuwen could finish speaking, the bronze chariot suddenly tilted.

Seven copper coins flew out from Lin An's sleeve, forming the Big Dipper formation in mid-air, barely blocking the pale white finger bones that emerged from the mist.

The finger bone was as thick as a beam, with black chains wrapped around the joints, and the sound of metal clanging could be faintly heard from the end of the chains.

Lin An bit his fingertip and drew the imperial edict on the copper coin.

The Devouring System suddenly vibrated: [Netherworld aura detected. Nine Heavens Thunder Spell can be activated (requires Foundation Establishment stage demon beast essence blood)]. The instant the blood bead fell, purple lightning struck down from the clouds, blasting the finger bone into dust.

Lu Xiuwen looked over with surprise and doubt, but Lin An had already put away the slightly hot copper coin, as if the lightning magic just now had nothing to do with him.

While setting up camp late at night, Lin An studied "Tianxu Zhiyi" by the campfire. It was a handwritten copy that the supervisor had given him before he left.

The crane feathers tucked between the pages of the book suddenly moved without wind, drawing crooked hexagrams on the sand.

His pupils contracted slightly—this was clearly astrology taught privately by the Supervisor, indicating that someone in the secret realm had altered the location of the Gate of Life and Death.

"Fellow Daoist Lin also studies astrology?"

A clear female voice rang out, and Su Wanyun, a formation master dressed in a moon-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), handed over a jade pot.

The fine wine in the pot reflected the campfire, but it couldn't illuminate the dark gold patterns that flowed in the woman's eyes.

As Lin An took the wine jug, the Devouring System suddenly issued a warning: [Puppet Technique fluctuation detected, strength: early Nascent Soul stage].

On the second day, we passed through Burning Sky Valley, where crimson lava surged in the ravines.

Just as Lu Xiuwen was about to unleash the Xuanbing Talisman, Lin An suddenly grabbed his wrist: "The earth fire is unusual; something is hidden in the southwest Xun position." Before he finished speaking, nine fire pythons sprang out of the magma, each wearing half a bronze mask on its head.

With a gentle wave of her hand, Su Wanyun inserted twelve battle flags into the rock face.

Lin An noticed that the transparent threads wrapped around her fingertips were subtly altering the formation's direction as the fire python attacked. He feigned being forced back by the heatwave, and the copper coin in his sleeve silently embedded itself into the formation's core. The Devouring System began frantically analyzing the restrictive structure within the fire python's body.

When the last fire python was frozen by the Xuanbing ice, Lin An's palm had been marked with 3,600 incantations on the barrier-breaking talisman.

Lu Xiuwen walked over, wiping the blood from his forehead: "Thanks to Fellow Daoist Lin's warning, otherwise..." His words were cut short - the Demon-Suppressing Token at Lin An's waist suddenly burst out with bloody light, burning the puppet silk shot from Su Wanyun's sleeve into green smoke.

"Miss Su, you have quite the skills."

(Please remember the website 20 ...

Lin An turned the Soul-Stabilizing Nail that had somehow gotten stuck between his fingers.

"Starting from the Netherworld Swamp, your puppet threads will grow three inches after each attack. Can you tell me now?"

He kicked aside the rubble, revealing a teleportation array drawn in cinnabar beneath. "This is the reverse teleportation array leading to the Abyss, isn't it?"

Su Wanyun's smile froze on her face, her pupils turning completely dark gold.

The ground suddenly collapsed, and Lin An slapped the barrier-breaking talisman into the array's core before falling.

Within the soaring pillar of light, he saw Lu Xiuwen's horrified face, and the notification that the Devouring System had just finished analyzing: [The Nine Heavens Gate's restrictions have been 71% broken; the core array patterns are of the same origin as the Demon Abyss]!

The moment Lin An fell into the pillar of light, the Devouring System unfurled a golden scroll in his sea of ​​consciousness, with countless seal characters flowing like swimming fish.

He bit his tongue and spat out a mist of blood. The blood droplets condensed into a talisman that enveloped his body, and his downward momentum suddenly decreased.

The sound of metal striking metal reached my ears, and when I opened my eyes, I was standing on a bronze floor covered with cracks.

"Is this...the interior of the Nine Heavens Gate?"

Lin An stroked the Taotie pattern on the bronze wall, and felt a stinging pain in his fingertips.

Dark red liquid seeped from between the lines, carrying the stench unique to the Demon Abyss.

The Devouring System suddenly vibrated: [Detected chaotic aura, location: Zhen trigram, third quarter].

The sound of clothes rustling came from behind, and Lu Xiuwen, along with five Nascent Soul Realm array masters from the Demon Suppression Division, staggered to the ground.

The group's robes were tattered, but Su Wanyun was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Xiuwen stared at the still-warm Demon-Suppressing Token at Lin An's waist and said in a hoarse voice, "That Reverse Array leads directly to the Demon Abyss. Su Wanyun is probably..."

"not necessarily."

Lin An's fingertips ignited a spiritual fire, illuminating the bronze chime bells hanging upside down above his head.

"Look at the cracks on these clocks."

As the firelight flickered, it was clear that each crack contained a half-section of puppet silk, exactly the same as the one used by Su Wanyun.

Lu Xiuwen gasped and took out his compass to survey the location.

The pointer spun wildly, and the twelve earthly branches rotated mysteriously on the bronze wall.

Lin An closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then suddenly pressed the Demon-Suppressing Token onto the Xun position wall pattern. The bronze emitted a dragon-like tremor, and the entire wall slowly rose, revealing a passageway filled with starlight.

"Is this the Zhou Tian Star Array?"

The accompanying old formation master tremblingly raised the luminous pearl.

"No! The positions of the Twenty-Eight Mansions are reversed; Kui Wood Wolf has moved to the position of Ghost Metal Sheep..."

Before the words were finished, the star charts on both sides of the passageway suddenly came to life, and the bluestone-paved ground transformed into a dazzling galaxy.

Lin An sank into his sea of ​​consciousness, where the Devouring System was comparing the star map with the records in "Tianxu Zhiyi".

[WARNING! Constellation shift triggers a killing formation; it is recommended to move to the Taiyin Bi Ri position.]

Lin An abruptly grabbed the old formation master who was about to step into the starry river: "Everyone, close your eyes and follow my footsteps!"

With his toes touching the gap between the stars, Lin An silently recited the Broken Army Star Mantra.

Behind them, the group was connected by the Demon-Suppressing Judicial Treasure Binding Immortal Rope, struggling to traverse through the interplay of illusory and real starlight.

Suddenly, a young array master let out a muffled groan. In the instant he opened his eyes to steal a glance, the stars beneath his feet suddenly exploded, transforming into thousands of golden needles that pierced towards him.

"The Kan River serves as a guide, and the Black Tortoise guards the north!"

Lu Xiuwen threw out eight metal-avoiding talismans, which turned into phantom images of black turtles upon encountering the metal energy.

The golden needles struck the tortoise shell with a clanging sound, and black blood seeped from the young cultivator's right arm.

Lin An felt a chill run down his spine as a notification from the Devouring System appeared: [Star poison has entered the body; Tianxuan Star Sand is needed as an antidote].

Lu Xiuwen suddenly drew his sword and sliced ​​away the rotting flesh from his fellow disciple's arm, the tip of the sword flicking up scattered starlight: "Fellow Daoist Lin, may I borrow your Demon-Suppressing Token?"

The moment the token pressed against the wound, stardust fell from the dome and condensed into a dazzling healing ointment on the wound.

Before everyone could catch their breath, the sound of flowing water came from ahead. Passing through the star array, they saw a colossal bronze tree standing tall, its trunk dripping with a mercury-like liquid.

Each leaf is carved from jade talismans, and the tree roots are entwined with half a stone tablet, the inscription of which is "The Ode to Chaos".

There's something at the top of the tree.

Lin An's pupils contracted, and the bronze bell knob could be vaguely seen through the layers of jade leaves.

Just as they were about to take flight, the tree roots suddenly grew rapidly, pulverizing the stone tablet. Amidst the flying debris, blood-red seal script emerged—the very script of the Demon Abyss.

Before Lu Xiuwen could complete his sword technique, the jade talisman leaf had already transformed into a flying knife and attacked.

Lin An unleashed the Xuan Tian Battle Seal to set up an array, only to find that the spiritual energy in the area was stagnant.

The Devouring System suddenly turned red: [A forbidden magic domain has been detected. You can use your essence blood to activate your natal magic weapon].

"then!"

Lin An tossed the Xuan Tian Mirror to Lu Xiuwen, then bit his wrist, sending a blood arrow towards the bronze tree.

The moment the purple blood unique to the Nascent Soul Realm touched the tree trunk, thousands of jade leaves trembled simultaneously, forming half a star map in the air.

Lin Anfu, with a sudden inspiration, embedded the remaining copper coins into the ground according to their star positions.

The bronze tree let out a painful scream, and the bell at its top crashed down.

The moment Lin An caught it, the Devouring System in his sea of ​​consciousness shone brightly with golden light.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have obtained a fragment of the Chaos Bell (1/9), unlocking the incomplete scroll of "Nine Heavens Thunder Technique"].