Devouring demons, I attain immortality.

"There's only one branch altar left."

He stepped on the coach's chest.

The man suddenly exploded, his flesh and blood forming a map on the ice, the final scene at Falling Star Cliff.

The fierce winds from Falling Star Cliff stung people's faces.

Lin An lay in a crevice in the mountain, chewing on dried meat, while the sound of chains dragging on the ground came from the top of the cliff.

Six black-robed monks were pouring crimson liquid onto the altar, the air thick with the stench of rotting corpses.

"The sacrifice begins at midnight during the lunar eclipse."

The dragon's scales rustled in the wind. "Beneath the altar lies three hundred catties of fire-thunderstone."

Lin An took out a piece of star marrow crystal, crushed it, and sprinkled the powder on the arrowhead.

As the arrow left the bowstring, it grazed the mountain rocks, and sparks ignited the crystal powder, drawing a blinding white light in the air.

The moment the black-robed monks raised their hands to block the light, he leaped onto the altar, stepping on the protruding rock.

The blade severed three bronze sacrificial pillars, spraying foul-smelling liquid all over the ground.

A figure in a black robe lifted his hood, revealing half a decaying face: "The Ancestor is about to..."

Before he could finish speaking, his throat was pierced by the Star Chart Blade, and seven centipedes crawled out of his corpse.

The remaining five formed a sword formation, their sword energy weaving a bloody net.

Suddenly, the dragon leaped up from the bottom of the cliff, its tail slapping and shattering the corner of the altar.

The falling rocks broke two array flags, revealing a flaw in the blood net.

Lin An rolled to dodge the crisscrossing sword energy, the hilt of his sword shattering the kneecap of the nearest cultivator.

The lunar eclipse has begun.

Black mist seeped from the cracks in the altar, and a heartbeat could be heard from underground.

Lin An kicked away the charging cultivator and plunged the Star Chart Blade into the crack.

The blade hissed as it was corroded by the black mist, and the Twenty-Eight Mansions star pattern suddenly shone brightly, forcing the black mist to retreat into the ground.

"Fire Thunder Stone!" The dragon slammed into two black-robed figures who were trying to activate the mechanism, sending them flying.

Lin An lifted the stone slab of the altar, revealing that the fire-thunder stone buried underneath had already been partially detonated.

As he ripped off the fuse, the last black-robed cultivator suddenly self-destructed, his rotting flesh obscuring the Star Chart Blade.

The heartbeat from underground grew louder and louder, and the entire cliff began to tremble.

The dragon dug into the altar's foundation with its claws: "The key to the formation is that Soul-Suppressing Stele!"

Lin An lunged at the blue stone tablet three zhang away, and blood suddenly seeped from the inscription.

The moment my fingertips touched the surface of the monument, countless wronged souls screamed and burrowed into my mind.

He bit his tongue to stay awake, and the star map knife slashed down fiercely along the inscription marks on the stele.

Amidst the deafening roar of a landslide, the dragon seized him and slammed him into the icy pool.

Floating underwater was half of the Xie family patriarch's body, with a piece of star marrow crystal embedded in his heart.

When Lin An pried out the crystal, the corpse turned into black sand and dissipated.

Three months later, the storyteller in the teahouse slammed his gavel: "After Lin An destroyed the Xie family's lair, the Star Chart Blade transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the East Sea..."

The man in the straw hat in the corner put down his tea money, and the scales on his sleeves shimmered faintly.

The storyteller suddenly stopped, then noticed a bag of spirit stones on the table, with half a piece of star marrow crystal inside.

A sudden blast of air erupted from the alley outside the teahouse.

Lin An quickly retreated three steps, his hand on his straw hat, leaving seven poisoned crossbow bolts embedded in the bluestone pavement.

Five black-clad swordsmen leaped down from the rooftop. The one-eyed leader grinned maliciously, "Our ancestor wants your soul to be used to make lamp oil!"

The dragon whipped its tail, sending two swordsmen flying. Its claws sparked as they scraped across the brick wall: "Even with the Xie family wiped out, there are still mad dogs around?"

The one-eyed man suddenly tore open his clothes, revealing a blood-red star map on his chest.

Lin An's pupils contracted sharply; this was clearly the missing Horn Constellation pattern on the Star Chart Blade!

The broken sword hummed in its sheath, resonating with the blood-stained patterns.

"So you were the ones who made the knife."

Lin An spun around and shattered the poisoned darts that were being shot at him, the back of his blade striking the one-eyed man's bloody mark.

The man convulsed, and dozens of glowing bloodworms crawled out from under his skin.

The bloodworms landed and transformed into humanoid forms, instantly turning the street battle into a chaotic melee.

The dragon spewed ice, freezing three streets. Taking advantage of the moment, Lin An snapped the one-eyed man's collarbone chain, the pendant being half a fragment of a star map.

"East Sea... Dragon Palace..." The one-eyed man managed to squeeze out four words before he breathed his last.

Seven days later, at the ferry crossing.

The old boatman stared tremblingly at the fragment of the star map in Lin An's hand: "A black ship came by twenty years ago, its deck was engraved with this pattern..."

He pointed to the mist-shrouded sea, "But that's the Dragon King's territory!"

The dragon suddenly slapped its tail in frustration.

As the ship sailed into the deep sea, a dilapidated warship emerged from the thick fog.

Lin An touched the rusted bronze bell on the bow of the ship. The inner wall of the bell was clearly engraved with the Twenty-Eight Mansions star map, which was exactly the same as the pattern of the star map knife!

The sound of chains being dragged came from below deck.

The dragon suddenly bristled its scales: "This is the Dragon Clan's execution ship!"

Before the words were finished, three crimson chains burst out of the cabin, each end attached to a half-human, half-dragon monster.

The star pattern on the monster's forehead flashed, perfectly matching the fragment in Lin An's hand.

The waves suddenly boiled.

Ten black-sailed warships broke through the mist, and a white-robed man wearing a bronze mask stood at the bow: "Hand over the star map, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse!" He raised his hand and summoned a storm, and the skeleton of a giant dragon vaguely appeared in the lightning.

Lin An slapped the fragment into the monster's forehead with his other hand.

The moment the starlight illuminated the sea, the chains shattered, and the dragon's roar shook the heavens.

A giant wave, hundreds of meters high, erupted on the sea surface.

The dragon skeleton beneath the white-robed man's feet opened its empty eye sockets and spewed out ghostly blue flames.

The half-dragon monster raised its head and roared, the star pattern on its forehead drawing the will-o'-the-wisp in a different direction, burning through the two nearest black sailboats.

"Using their power as a tool!"

Suddenly, the dragon grabbed Lin An and flung him toward the mast of the execution ship.

The rusted bronze mirror at the top of the mast reflected starlight, revealing the dragon scale pattern that had appeared on his neck at some unknown time. That was the legendary location of the dragon's reverse scale!

The bronze mask cracked open with a snap.

The man in white robes hurriedly formed hand seals, but the skeletal dragon suddenly turned around and crashed into the main ship.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin An leaped onto the dragon's head, inserted the Star Map Blade into the gap in the skull, and pried out half of the vertebrae engraved with star patterns.

The dragon swatted away a henchman trying to ambush it with a single claw: "This is the first-generation Star Chart Blade!"

The broken bone knife suddenly resonated with the broken knife in Lin An's hand, and the burst of starlight tore the Black Sailboat fleet to pieces.

The white-robed figure transformed into black mist and vanished, roaring before leaving, "The Dragon Palace's forbidden area awaits your demise!"

Three days later, in the hold of the execution ship.

Lin An wiped the reassembled bone knife, the blade reflecting the hidden door in the bulkhead.

The dragon breathed fire and melted the copper lock. Inside the secret chamber were three hundred dried dragon corpses, each with a star-patterned bone nail driven into its heart.

"This is the Spirit-Stripping Nail." The dragon's scales rustled. "The Xie family extracted the Dragon Soul Star-Refining Dagger!"

The innermost crystal coffin suddenly trembled, and the reverse scale on the neck of the girl inside the coffin and the patterns on Lin An's body glowed at the same time.

The crystal coffin lid shattered with a deafening roar, and an ice blade materialized from the girl's fingertips, pressing against Lin An's throat.

The Mysterious Mirror suddenly flew out of Lin An's arms, and its surface reflected the same reverse scale pattern on the foreheads of the two people, which was actually a bloodline resonance!

"The Xie family sealed the Dragon Palace with the Xuan Tian Seal!" The girl's voice carried the metallic tone of a metal chime.

She pulled open her sleeve to reveal a charred palm print. "Thirty years ago, the man in white robes used this golden seal to shatter my father's protective scales."

The dragon suddenly curled up in pain.

A gilded jade seal flew out from a hidden compartment in the bottom of the cabin; it was none other than the Xuan Tian Seal!

The character "镇" (zhen, meaning "suppress") on the bottom of the seal blazed with blood-red light, causing the dragon's scales to bleed.

Lin An swung the Nine-Turn Demon-Slaying Blade at the golden seal, and the dragon pattern on the blade suddenly awoke, opening its mouth to bite the seal's knob.

"The Demon-Slaying Blade has devoured a dragon's soul?"

In her astonishment, the girl made a hand seal, and the blue light emitted from the Xuan Tian Mirror enveloped the golden seal.

The three treasures clashed in mid-air, causing the keel of the execution ship to crack.

The white-robed man's sinister laughter pierced through the cabin walls: "The Xuan Tian Seal originally belonged to the Xie family!"

He reached for the golden seal from afar, but Lin An preemptively spat out his essence blood, staining the Xuan Tian Mirror red.

A map of the Dragon Palace appeared on the mirror, and the Nine-Turn Demon-Slaying Blade used the momentum to sever the bloodline controlling the Xuan Tian Seal, then plunged the blade into the chest of the white-robed man.

"break!"

Lin An crushed the dragon blood crystal he had pried out of the hilt of the sword, and the Nine Revolutions Demon Slayer Sword instantly transformed into a hundred-foot-tall phantom.

As the blade cleaved the sea, the Xuan Tian Mirror reflected the ruins of the Dragon Palace a thousand miles away, where nine dragon pillars inscribed with Xie family talismans were suppressing the soaring resentment.

The girl pressed her rebellious scale onto the Xuan Tian Seal: "The Dragon King's blood can alter the seal!"

After the golden seal trembled violently, it returned to calm. Suddenly, the dragon collapsed, exhausted: "The Xie family planted a curse within my dragon bones..."

It spat out a memory bead with teeth marks on it, inside which was a scene from twenty years ago when the Xie family elder was refining the Xuan Tian Mirror.