Night fell. The wind cut like blades.
The trio stepped into the edge of the Northern Wastes, entering an ancient ruin known as Forgotten Dust Valley. It was said to have once been one of the most secret strongholds of the Palace of Eternal Night, long buried by time. Yet recently, cultivators had discovered a long-lost demonic array pattern here—its design eerily identical to the blood formation that had appeared on the night the Tianling Sect was wiped out.
"This place feels like a grave that's been dead for a thousand years," said Chu Yuan, gripping the red-gold saber at his waist. He was bold by nature, but something about this place made his skin crawl.
Yan Yao crouched down, brushing dust from a cracked stone stele. Her fingertips trembled slightly. "The spiritual vein here was severed… using a forbidden technique of extreme evil. I fear remnants of the Demonic Palace really did cultivate here."
Xiao Chen said nothing. He stood motionless before a broken sword, half-buried in the dirt.
The blade was rusted and devoid of spiritual energy. Yet on its surface was a pattern he knew better than anyone else—The mark of Zhan You, the ancestral sword carried by every sect leader of the Tianling Sect.
Slowly, he knelt and pulled the broken sword free. The fracture at the blade's edge was still razor-sharp, glinting faintly in the dark.
"This… was my father's sword," he said quietly, but the words hit the other two like thunder.
Yan Yao spun around, face turning grave. "You're certain?"
"I saw him wield it myself, the day he blocked that heavenly lightning strike," Xiao Chen replied, his fingers trembling, knuckles white. "But this sword… shouldn't be here."
Chu Yuan frowned. "That means your father might've been taken alive—brought here afterward?"
"Or… he never died at Tianling Sect."
The moment the words were spoken, all three felt their hearts jolt.
Just then, a deep, ancient horn echoed through the valley. Runes lit up on the surrounding stone walls, activating a long-dormant defensive formation.
"We've been discovered," Yan Yao said, her expression shifting. She drew the long whip from her waist in one smooth motion.
Dozens of black-clad figures surged from all directions, their movements eerie and silent, their presence chilling. Each wore dark robes and copper demon masks—remnants of the Palace of Eternal Night.
Chu Yuan roared, "Perfect timing!"
He slashed forward, flames trailing his saber like a dragon, cleaving two enemies in an instant. Yan Yao unleashed the Snowglass Secret Art, her body darting like wind, her whip splitting into three shadows that entangled several foes.
And Xiao Chen—still stood still, broken sword in hand, unmoving as a mountain.
"You just gonna stand there?" Chu Yuan shouted.
Xiao Chen finally looked up. His eyes blazed like starlight.
"I swore never to use my cultivation in front of others… not until I found a lead on my parents' deaths," he said.
"Now, I've found one."
As the words fell, the world held its breath.
He raised two fingers, touching the broken blade.From within him surged boundless starlight, condensing in the air into a radiant Gate of the Starwheel. The sword hummed, and before their eyes, its broken edge began to mend—until it was whole once more, gleaming with celestial brilliance.
"Soul of the Stars, Unsealed — First Form: Starlight Shatters the Veil!"
He slashed.
Heaven and earth trembled.The residual formation collapsed.Every shadowy figure was annihilated.
Silence returned to the valley. The ground was littered with corpses.
Chu Yuan swallowed hard. "Brother… you're no innkeeper—you're a god of death."
Yan Yao, however, gazed at Xiao Chen with a flicker of tenderness in her eyes. "You used your Star Soul power. From now on, you won't be able to hide anymore."
Xiao Chen looked at the now-restored Zhan You in his hand and murmured, "If they've come for me… there's no need to hide."
"I'll cut down every last one of them… with my own hands."
The night wind tugged at his robes. The broken sword's cold gleam had not faded.
This was the first time he stood once more in the mortal world—as Xiao Chen.