73: Chapter 73: Arrival at the Hall of Inheritance, Star Gate Locked by Array, Void as Key

Following the map's guidance, he flew for approximately another half a day.

The terrain gradually rose along the way, and the strange metal trees completely disappeared, replaced by rocky peaks that were pitch-black, barren, and strangely shaped.

Between the peaks, wild winds howled, kicking up fine black gravel that pattered against his protective Spiritual Qi.

The air was permeated with a heavy, solemn, and desolate Aura that seemed to come from the ancient primordial era, and the Star Power also became restrained and obscure.

Finally, after passing through a stone forest composed of countless sharp stalagmites, the scene ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a lone peak that towered into the clouds.

The summit had been forcibly leveled to form a massive platform.

Standing upon the platform was a magnificent hall, towering, primitive, and built entirely from dark gold and grayish-white boulders.

The style of the hall was similar to the previous ancient hall, but larger in scale and more imposing in Aura, with the entire structure shrouded in a faint, translucent light barrier that constantly shimmered with starlight.

Upon the light barrier, countless star runes could be faintly seen flickering, forming a massive and complex three-dimensional Formation that tightly guarded the entire hall.

The main entrance of the hall was ten zhang high and tightly shut. Carved upon the door panels was a complete, slowly rotating, vast star map. At the core of the star map was a massive, complex emblem woven from countless rays of light, which shared the same lineage as the star emblems seen on the ancient hall, the map, and the stone slabs, yet it was far more intricate and majestic.

Above the lintel, two imposing characters were carved in ancient silver runes.

Although Ye Qing did not recognize these ancient characters, combining them with the various clues before, he already understood in his heart.

Inheritance Hall.

This place was the core of the Cuiping Mountain Secret Realm, the location of the true Legacy left behind by the ancient Star Sect.

He lowered his escape light and landed on the edge of the platform, still several hundred zhang away from the hall door.

He did not approach immediately, instead using his Divine Sense to carefully investigate first.

The platform was polished from a single piece of black rock, smooth as a mirror, and was also covered in dense star patterns, connected to the hall's light barrier, clearly forming a single, massive defensive Formation.

The Formation operated steadily with an obscure Aura, far more unfathomable than the "Geng Metal Void-Splitting Great Array" outside the ancient hall. With his current Formation Dao cultivation and Void Realm perception, he could hardly glimpse its full picture, let alone find its flaws.

The hall door was tightly shut, and that star map rotated slowly, emitting faint spatial fluctuations; it seemed not to be a physical object, but rather some kind of spatial portal maintained by Star Power.

"As expected, this is the true core. The defensive Formation is of an extremely high Rank, and the hall door is not opened by ordinary means. Without the map's guidance and knowledge of the key points, even if one found this place, I fear one could only sigh at the door. The result of forcibly breaking the Formation would likely be triggering even more terrifying killing moves, or causing the Legacy to self-destruct."

Ye Qing understood clearly in his heart and took out the dark green stone slab map, carefully comparing it with the Inheritance Hall before him.

The markings on the map regarding the Inheritance Hall were the most detailed; not only was the location noted, but seven special positions were outlined with tiny silver light dots next to the star map on the hall door.

These seven light dots were not marked randomly but corresponded to seven relatively bright stars in the hall door's star map, which were arranged in a specific ladle shape.

"The Big Dipper? No, it is some kind of special star cluster from the ancient astrology of this realm... Could these seven points be the key to opening the hall door?"

Ye Qing walked closer to the hall door, stopped at a safe distance, and looked up at the massive rotating star map.

The star map was vast, with countless stars. He quickly found the seven stars marked on the map within it.

The positions of these seven stars in the star map were not fixed; as the star map rotated slowly as a whole, their relative positions were also constantly changing. Yet, no matter how they changed, the seven always maintained a mysterious geometric connection, faintly forming a three-dimensional, constantly deforming "key" shape.

"So that's it. To open the hall door, one must use specific Star Power to 'light up' or 'trigger' these seven stars in sequence, and it must be completed the moment they rotate to a certain specific relative position. The sequence, timing, and frequency of the Star Power are all indispensable. The map indicates the identification method and basic operating laws of these seven stars, but the specific triggering sequence, timing, and frequency likely need to be calculated by combining the actual operation of the star map, or... require a specific token or incantation."

Ye Qing's brows furrowed slightly. This was more complex than he had anticipated.

Simply observing the operation of the star map and calculating that fleeting correct timing and sequence might be achievable with his current accomplishments in star Formation Dao, but it would require a massive amount of time for repeated observation, calculation, and verification. Moreover, he could not afford to make a mistake; once an error was triggered, the consequences would be unpredictable.

"Perhaps the token obtained from the dark gold box is related to this?"

With a thought, he took out the dark gold token.

The complex star emblem on the front of the token was seven or eight parts similar to the emblem at the core of the hall door's star map.

The few ancient characters on the back remained difficult to identify.

"Let's try it."

Ye Qing tried to inject a wisp of mana containing star source essence into the token.

The token had no reaction.

He also tried communicating with Void Realm power, but there was still no movement.

"It's not used this way. Perhaps it needs to be placed close to the hall door's star map, or triggered at a specific moment?"

He observed the star map's operation and looked at the token in his hand, rapidly deducing in his mind.

Time passed bit by bit.

The star map rotated slowly, and the positions of those seven key stars constantly changed.

Ye Qing, like the most patient chess player, poured all his focus into analyzing and calculating the movement trajectory of the star map.

His Void Dao Seed vibrated slightly, providing keen intuition regarding spatial and energy fluctuations. Numerous concepts from the nameless star Cultivation Technique and knowledge of star Formation Dao flowed, combined, and verified in his mind.

Gradually, he captured a trace of the pattern.

The movement of those seven stars, seemingly chaotic, actually secretly aligned with a certain celestial cycle. Every time it completed a cycle, the seven would briefly form an extremely standard, symmetrical three-dimensional "Star Key" pattern, lasting less than a breath.

And the massive emblem at the core of the star map would light up slightly the moment the "Star Key" pattern formed.

"That is the moment! The instant the 'Star Key' forms and the core emblem resonates, that is the triggering time! But the triggering sequence... does it need to follow the generation and Restriction cycle of Star Power, or does it correspond to some ancient astrological sequence?"

He continued to observe, calculate, and eliminate.

Finally, as the star map was about to finish another cycle, a flash of light appeared in his eyes.

"The sequence is... Tianshu, Yaoguang, Kaiyang, Yuheng, Tianquan, Tianji, Tianxuan! It corresponds to the complete cycle of Star Power from 'Initiation' to 'Inheritance', then to 'Transition' and 'Union'! The Star Power frequency needs to simulate the frequency of the 'Initial Explosion' when a star is born!"

The timing, sequence, and frequency became clear in his mind in an instant.

It is now!

The star map rotated, the "Star Key" pattern was about to form perfectly, and the core emblem began to light up slightly.

Ye Qing no longer hesitated. Holding the dark gold token in his left hand, he raised his right hand, extended his index finger, converted his Chaos mana into pure Star Power, simulated the frequency of the "Initial Explosion", and according to the calculated sequence, struck rapidly through the air at the seven star phantoms on the hall door's star map!

Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

Seven condensed beams of Star Power, bearing specific frequencies, were like seven meteors, hitting those seven stars with extreme precision, without the slightest deviation, not even a hair's breadth.

Each time one was struck, that star would suddenly light up, producing a faint resonance with the emblem on the front of the token.

When the seventh star was lit up—

Boom!

The hall door's star map suddenly shone with immense light!

The massive emblem at the core lit up completely, shining in mutual reflection with the emblem on the token in Ye Qing's hand.

The tightly shut hall door emitted a low, distant, rumbling sound that seemed to come from the end of time and space.

Click... click-click...

A heavy sound of metal friction rang out.

The ten-zhang-high hall door slowly opened inward.

There was no brilliant light, no gushing of Spiritual Qi.

There was only a deep, quiet darkness that seemed capable of swallowing everything, spreading out from within the door.

Within the darkness, points of starlight flickered, emitting an even more ancient, pure, and vast Star Dao Rhyme.

The door was open.

Ye Qing took a deep breath, put away the token, and did not step in immediately.

He first probed with his Divine Sense, but the darkness still blocked it; he could only sense that behind the door was an extremely vast and empty space, devoid of life signs, nor were there any obvious Restriction fluctuations.

He consumed a void concealment pill, Chaos Spiritual Qi shimmered around his body, and he took a step, entering that deep darkness.

His figure was instantly swallowed by the darkness.

Behind him, the hall door did not close and remained wide open, but that darkness seemed to possess life, completely obscuring the scene inside the door; from the outside, it still appeared pitch black.

On the platform, silence returned.

Only the star light barrier shrouding the hall continued to circulate slowly, guarding this ancient place of Legacy that had been silent for who knew how many years.

Within his body, in his four-hundred-and-fifty-zhang Grotto-Heaven, the star core vibrated slightly, as if it had sensed the Star Dao Rhyme from the outside that was of the same origin but even more ancient and vast, and the starlight it cast became brighter and more active.

His Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage cultivation, under the faint guidance of this Dao Rhyme, also seemed to become more agile and profound.

Inside the Inheritance Hall, what kind of Opportunity would be waiting for Ye Qing?