Lin Yi darted through the alleys of Myriad Sound Valley like a ghost, following the faint trace of the Nether Sect's aura. The night was as thick as ink, with the moon obscured by clouds. The surroundings were eerily quiet, only the sound of his footsteps echoing in the empty alleys.
Rounding a corner, the shadow flashed again. This time, Lin Yi didn't hesitate. Channeling his spiritual power, he shot forward like an arrow. However, as he stepped into a narrow alley, black mist suddenly filled the air, and a powerful 禁制 (restriction) sealed off the exit in an instant.
"You're too hasty, boy." A sinister laugh echoed from all directions. Dozens of dark figures emerged from the mist, surrounding Lin Yi. The leader, holding a short blade engraved with the Nether Sect's ghost hand totem, eyed him greedily. "Hand over the Meteor Chime jade slip and the Celestial Sound Fragment, and I'll spare your life."
Lin Yi's expression turned grave as he slowly unsheathed his sword. He could sense that these Nether Sect disciples were far more powerful than the previous ones, clearly well - prepared. The battle erupted. The disciples launched the first attack, weaving black incantations into a net that descended upon Lin Yi.
Using the "Meteor Step" from Meteor Chime, Lin Yi deftly maneuvered through the incantation net, striking back with his sword. The blade was imbued with starlight, each swing slicing open a gap in the mist. But outnumbered, he soon had several gashes in his clothes, blood seeping through.
In the heat of battle, Lin Yi's gaze suddenly fell on the mark on the leader's short blade—it was the exact same special mark he had seen in his sea of consciousness! A plan formed in his mind. He deliberately left an opening, luring the leader closer.
As the short blade neared his throat, Lin Yi suddenly grabbed the leader's wrist and poured his spiritual power in. The mark on the blade glowed brightly, resonating with the inherited power within him. An illusory map materialized in the air, pointing to a desolate mountain outside Myriad Sound Valley.
"What have you done?!" The leader panicked, struggling to break free as his spiritual power drained rapidly. The other disciples abandoned their attacks and rushed to his aid. Seizing the opportunity, Lin Yi launched a powerful strike. A dazzling meteor - like sword light swept out, forcing them back.
While they were in disarray, Lin Yi broke through the restriction and sped towards the mountain. In the Nether Sect's secret lair, the black - robed man watched the warning light flashing on his jade slip. His smile grew colder. "Just as I expected. That altar on the desolate mountain is a special gift for you, Lin Yi"
The night wind howled on the peak of the desolate mountain. Lin Yi stared at the three fragments of star meteorite iron in the groove at the center of the altar. The tremors of the star meteorite iron fragments within his body grew faster and faster. The moment his foot stepped onto the stone steps of the altar, excruciating pain exploded in his Sea of Consciousness. The voice of the First Valley Master, mixed with the noise of electrical currents, echoed: "The Nine Star Meteorite Palaces... None can be missing... To break through the cocoon, one must endure the pain of falling stars—"
He suddenly collapsed to his knees, blood seeping from his seven orifices. The inherited power he had absorbed earlier violently clashed with the spiritual energy of the third layer of the Qi Refining Stage in his body. The star meteorite iron fragment in his dantian was like a red - hot branding iron, scorching his meridians black. "So it's not as simple as gathering the fragments!" Lin Yi gritted his teeth so hard that they cracked, finally remembering the "Three Tribulations of the Falling Stars" recorded in ancient books—for a Qi Refining Stage cultivator to break through with the help of star meteorite iron, they must first withstand the "Meridian - Burning Tribulation".
Star - track patterns suddenly emerged on the ground of the altar, trapping him firmly in the center. The three new fragments levitated into the air, forming a five - star alignment with the two fragments within his body. However, when the sixth star - track attempted to condense, it collapsed with a bang. Lin Yi felt as if thousands of tiny knives were cutting at his internal organs. Illusions of Myriad Sound Valley burning and images of Yun Ge's guqin shattering in a sea of blood flashed before his eyes again and again.
"I can't fail!" He forcefully circulated the Meteor Chime technique, integrating the rhythm of the Celestial Sound Fragment into the flow of his spiritual energy. When he tried to condense the star - track for the fifth time, a blurry interface of the black device suddenly emerged in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness—it was not a text simulation, but a string of star map codes he had never seen before. Instinctively, he guided his spiritual energy along the trajectory of the codes. The five star fragments autonomously absorbed the power of the star meteorite in the altar groove, forming an incomplete six - pointed star array in his dantian.
"Click—" A clear cracking sound came from within his body. Lin Yi's left arm was instantly covered with star - shaped cracks. But amidst the intense pain, he clearly sensed that the bottleneck of the Qi Refining Stage was loosening. Taking this opportunity, he took out the fragment of the star meteorite iron long sword obtained from the Forbidden Ground and, gritting his teeth against the pain, embedded it into the gap of the six - pointed star array. In an instant, a rumble like thousands of horses galloping echoed from beneath the altar. The seven fragments formed the image of the Big Dipper within his body, and spiritual energy of the Foundation Establishment Stage poured into his meridians like a surging galaxy.
"This is... the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation?!" Dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky, and nine thick pillars of thunder as wide as bowls crashed down towards the altar. Lin Yi then realized that breaking through with the star meteorite iron had actually triggered the "Nine - Star Heart - Burning Tribulation". He struggled to stand up, crossing the Meteor Chime jade slip and the Celestial Sound Fragment above his head. The power of the star meteorite and the sound - wave protective shield barely held up amidst the thunderstorm. The first six pillars of thunder shattered his three layers of protective spiritual energy, and the seventh directly broke three of his ribs.
"Valley Master... Myriad Sound Valley..." On the verge of death, the image of Yun Ge desperately blocking the leader of the Nether Sect at the altar flashed before his eyes. Lin Yi suddenly let out a roar. The star meteorite iron fragment in his dantian unexpectedly absorbed the thunder light on its own, condensing a translucent star meteorite golden core within his body. When the ninth pillar of thunder fell, he opened his arms and took it head - on. The star map mark on his chest resonated with the thunder light of the tribulation, transforming the thunderous power into pure star meteorite energy.
"Ninth layer of the Qi Refining Stage!" The rain washed over Lin Yi, who was covered in blood and dirt. He looked at the five star meteorite iron fragments hovering in his palm—somehow, they had formed the complete "Five Star Meteorite Palaces". The breakthrough not only brought an improvement in his cultivation realm but also allowed him to "see" the spiritual energy in the air flowing like stardust. The incomplete techniques of the Meteor Chime were automatically supplemented with three new powerful moves in his Sea of Consciousness.
In a mountain depression in the distance, the black - robed man of the Nether Sect trembled as he clenched the jade slip in his hand. "Impossible... He actually withstood the Nine - Star Heart - Burning Tribulation?!" What he didn't know was that when Lin Yi was in the most perilous moment of the tribulation, he had unconsciously pressed a hidden button on the black device. The device interface flashed a prompt [Fate Core Resonance + 15%], but it was quickly obscured by the light of the heavenly tribulation.
When the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, Lin Yi stood up. His robe was soaked in blood, but his eyes sparkled brighter than the stars. This breakthrough made him understand that the inheritance of the star meteorite iron was never a gift but a high - stakes gamble with fate. The cultivation realm of the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Stage was just the first key to unlocking the mystery of the Nine Star Meteorite Palaces. And true Foundation Establishment perhaps required gathering all nine fragments of star meteorite iron and completing the final "Return of the Falling Stars" under the starry sky.
Lin Yi's fingertips grazed the scorching star map mark on his chest, where the lingering pain from the Heavenly Tribulation still throbbed. Five fragments of star meteorite iron hovered in his palm. Only he could see the faint quantum glow swirling on the surface of the fragments—a unique response from the device to its core components. To others, these fragments were nothing more than ordinary spiritual artifacts with a faint glow, suitable for refining weapons.
"Click—"
As the sole of his boot crushed a charred remnant of the thunder tribulation, Lin Yi noticed that the star - track patterns on the altar ground precisely matched the startup interface of the device in his Sea of Consciousness. However, Yun Ge and the others would merely regard it as an ancient formation left behind by the First Valley Master. When the power of the star meteorite in the central groove merged into his shadow, a prompt [Energy Siphon Completed] exploded in his mind. Yet, there was no external sign of this occurrence. Only a fleeting stream of code flashed deep within his pupils.
When the stone wall of the secret passage opened, the patterns on the device's surface projected three - dimensional star markings onto his retinas. But in Yun Ge's eyes, the stone wall simply opened automatically due to the resonance of spiritual energy. She had no inkling that this was the manifestation of the device's core code. Lin Yi's palm gripping the sword hilt grew damp with cold sweat—he had to bear this secret that spanned dimensions alone. Even the Valley Master of Myriad Sound Valley couldn't be privy to it.
In the ice chamber, when he touched the sixth fragment, it erupted with a brilliance as intense as the sun. Yun Ge could only see the dazzling light emanating from the skeleton's chest, but she couldn't perceive the quantum circuits disintegrating on the fragment's surface. The prompt [Core Component Detected] echoed in his Sea of Consciousness. When he blurted out, "Star meteorite iron is a component of the device," to Yun Ge, it merely sounded like speculation based on the inheritance.
Outside, the bone flute in the hands of the black - robed man from the Nether Sect let out a mournful wail. The cracks on the fragments of the flute body seemed to him like an omen of spiritual energy backlash. He was unaware that this was actually the device systematically rejecting illegally integrated components. When the image in the crystal ball distorted, what he panicked about was the "loss of control of the star meteorite iron's power," rather than realizing the existence of the supreme device.
At the foot of the desolate mountain, when Yun Ge's guqin rang out upon touching the Map of the Nine Star Meteorite Palaces, she merely thought it was the resonance between the incomplete score and the instrument. She didn't notice that the runes on the guqin were being reorganized under the radiance of the device. What Lin Yi saw as "shortcut commands" seemed to her like the natural activation of advanced secret techniques.
When the blood - red lanterns rose, the full - alert mode of the device interface unfolded in Lin Yi's Sea of Consciousness. The real - time surveillance images he "saw" were translated into precise predictions of the movements of the three major sects. When he grabbed Yun Ge's wrist, he didn't dare to explain the true source of the "navigation path." Instead, he only said, "Stay close. There are emergency secret passages left by the First Valley Master in the valley."
When the skeleton in the secret passage of the altar turned to dust, Yun Ge only saw the fragments merge into his shadow. She couldn't see the [Resonance + 3%] notification 跳动 on the device interface. As the blood - red lantern illuminated the side of his face, she noticed an otherworldly blue glimmer in his eyes that she had never seen before, but she mistook it for an abnormal spiritual energy manifestation after his breakthrough.
The welcome message from the device deep in his Sea of Consciousness remained his exclusive secret. When Yun Ge asked about the star map mark on his chest, he lied that it was a "spiritual brand formed after the Heavenly Tribulation," concealing the fact that it was actually the projection of the device's authority in the three - dimensional world. When the star meteorite iron core deep beneath Myriad Sound Valley rose, the disciples cheered as the protective valley - guarding formation was activated. Only he knew that this signified the awakening of the device's energy hub.
In the more distant chaotic space, the supreme emblems on the remaining three fragments only lit up in response to his consciousness. The cultivators who tried to seize these fragments could only perceive powerful fluctuations of spiritual energy. They would never be able to understand that the patterns on the surface of these fragments were cosmic codes beyond the rules of their world, and these codes were only accessible to the 427th adapter.