63: A starship searching through a meteorite crater reveals hidden clues in a fragmented map.

Passing through the end of the Soul-Splitting Gorge, the view suddenly opened up—a Meteorite Crater, a hundred zhang in diameter, appeared beneath their feet. The crater walls were steep, covered in dark purple moss, emitting a faint, metallic odor. At the center of the crater floor, an ancient starship, dozens of zhang long, stood towering. The hull was forged from an unknown dark gold metal, covered in spiderweb-like cracks, yet it still shone with a faint golden light. Clearly, the material was special, having resisted complete decay even after tens of thousands of years.

The bow of the ship was carved with complex star pattern totems, which perfectly matched the markings on the space stone in Lin Yang's embrace. A strong resonance was generated between the two; the faint purple star patterns on the surface of the space stone grew brighter, even beginning to float autonomously and fly toward the starship. "This is it! This is the ancient starship we were looking for!" Lin Yang said excitedly, the chaos star core beating fiercely in his Dantian, as if responding to the starship's summons.

The three followed the gentle slope of the crater wall down. The pale gold debris on the Meteorite Crater floor crunched underfoot. The debris was mixed with tiny spatial turbulence, causing a slight stinging sensation when it touched the skin. Walking to the side of the starship, Lin Yang placed the space stone against the star pattern totem on the hull. The faint purple star patterns instantly merged with the totem, and a pale gold beam of light shot out from the totem, opening a zhang-wide hatch on the side of the hull—this was the "Star Core Gate Opening Technique" recorded in the Scripture Pavilion's ancient texts, which could only be triggered by starship tokens like the chaos star core or the space stone.

The aura pouring out from inside the hatch was denser than outside, mixed with the smell of rusted metal and faint Chaos Spiritual Qi, along with weak Soul Power fluctuations. Bai Wanqing's ice soul pearl once again shone with a faint blue light. She softly warned, "There are three Guardian Battle Souls inside. Judging by the Soul Power fluctuations, they should be 'Iron-Armored Soul-Splitting Dual Battle Souls'—they possess both the defense of the Iron-Armored War Soul and the soul attack ability of the Soul-Splitting Battle Soul. They are stronger than any battle souls we've encountered before, so we must be careful."

Su Qingyue unfurled her ice silk, Ice True Essence circulating around her body. The silk, wrapped in the liquid True Essence emanating from Lin Yang, became even tougher. "I'll walk in the middle and use the ice silk to guard the flanks, preventing surprise attacks; Wanqing, you use the ice soul pearl to lock onto the location of their Soul Cores; Lin Yang, you take the main attack, use your Soul Power Devouring ability to finish them quickly, and don't give them a chance to initiate a Soul Detonation."

Lin Yang nodded. Chaos True Essence gathered in his palm, and his Soul Power perception covered the entire cabin. The three Dual Battle Souls guarded the entrances of the three corridors leading to the Bridge. Each wore complete dark gold armor, heavier than the Iron-Armored War Souls they had previously encountered. They held spears condensed from Soul Power, and scarlet Soul Flames flickered in their eye sockets. Faint spatial turbulence lingered around them, clearly due to their long-term guarding of the starship and immersion in spatial energy.

"The Soul Power fluctuation of the battle soul on the left is the weakest. We'll break through the corridor on the left first." Lin Yang pointed to the left corridor, where the light was dimmest, showing only the faint blue glow of the wall lamps. The three quietly entered the corridor. Light blue energy crystals were embedded in the cabin walls on both sides of the corridor, illuminating the path ahead. ancient runes remained on the surface of the crystals, radiating a faint protective light.

Just as they reached the middle of the corridor, a dark gold figure suddenly sprang out from the shadow on the left—it was the Dual Battle Soul! The Soul Power spear in its hand whistled sharply as it pierced straight toward Lin Yang's chest. Pale gray soul threads lingered around the spear tip, clearly intending to attack both Lin Yang's Physical Body and Sea of Consciousness simultaneously.

"Ice Silk: Entangle!" Su Qingyue reacted extremely fast. The ice silk instantly wrapped around the spear shaft, and Ice True Essence rapidly spread along the shaft, freezing the battle soul's arm and stalling its movement for a moment. Bai Wanqing's ice soul pearl shot out a blue light, accurately locking onto the Soul Core in the battle soul's chest. "Lin Yang, the Soul Core is on the left! Its armor is augmented by Spatial Power, inject more True Essence when you attack!"

Lin Yang exerted force under his feet, flashing to the side of the battle soul. Chaos True Essence condensed into a fist, wrapped in pale gray Soul Power (the newly unlocked Soul Power Devouring ability) within the pale gold airflow, and smashed fiercely into the battle soul's left chest. "Bang!" The fist struck the armor, producing a dull sound. A layer of spatial ripples actually appeared on the dark gold armor, attempting to dissipate the force of the attack. However, the Chaos True Essence, carrying the power of devouring, forcibly penetrated the ripples and struck the Soul Core.

The Soul Power Devouring ability operated at full capacity. Pale gray Soul Power surged inward through the center of his fist. The battle soul's armor instantly lost its luster, and the Soul Flames in its eye sockets flickered violently, clearly indicating damage to the Soul Core. Bai Wanqing seized the opportunity to activate the ice soul pearl. The blue light transformed into two ice thorns, accurately stabbing toward the battle soul's Soul Core. "Put more effort into it! It's about to break free from the ice silk's restraint!"

Lin Yang increased his True Essence output. The chaos star core erupted with stronger suction force, completely devouring the battle soul's Soul Power. The battle soul's body gradually became transparent under the suction, finally turning into a wisp of gray Qi absorbed by Lin Yang, leaving only a piece of dark gold armor fragment on the ground. This fragment was harder than the previous Iron-Armored fragments, still retained residual Spatial Power on its surface, and felt cool and metallic to the touch.

Su Qingyue bent down and picked up the fragment, weighing it. "This metal can absorb Soul Power and Spatial Power. If we give it to the Sect's Artifact Refining Pavilion, we might be able to forge a Heart Guard Mirror that can defend against soul attacks and resist spatial turbulence. It would be very helpful for your future exploration of the Small Worlds of the Heavens." She handed the fragment to Lin Yang, her eyes full of approval—Lin Yang's growth rate had long exceeded her expectations.

The three continued forward, successively dealing with the two Dual Battle Souls in the middle and right corridors. The battle soul in the middle attempted to initiate a Soul Detonation but was preemptively locked down by Bai Wanqing's ice soul pearl. Lin Yang seized the chance to devour the Soul Core, preventing it from succeeding. The battle soul on the right specialized in speed, launching multiple sneak attacks on Su Qingyue, and was finally suppressed by Lin Yang using the Chaos Domain before being successfully resolved.

When they finally reached the Bridge, all three sighed in relief. The Bridge was a circular hall; most of the dome had collapsed, revealing the sky above the crater floor. In the center of the hall was a circular control console, crafted from white jade, embedded with a palm-sized star map fragment glowing with golden light. Several dull energy crystals were scattered around it. On either side of the console stood two broken statues. The statues wore ancient battle armor, and the long swords they held were already covered in rust, yet they still emitted faint spatial fluctuations, clearly depicting the starship's crew members from antiquity.

"That's the star map fragment!" Lin Yang quickly walked to the control console and placed the space stone against the star map fragment. The faint purple star patterns instantly merged with the golden fragment, and a phantom star map, about a zhang in diameter, unfolded in mid-air. The star map marked dozens of flickering coordinates. Next to one coordinate were carved the four ancient characters "Misty Forbidden Land," which perfectly matched the markings on the incomplete star map within the chaos star core. Several other coordinates pointed to unknown Small Worlds like the Blazing Fire Realm and the Azure Water Realm—precisely the Trial of the Heavens Secret Realms mentioned previously by Shen Shuanghua!

"That's wonderful! With this star map, we can find the exact location of the Misty Forbidden Land, and we'll know the coordinates of the Trial of the Heavens Secret Realms in advance!" Bai Wanqing said excitedly. The blue light of the ice soul pearl resonated with the phantom star map, magnifying the Misty Forbidden Land's coordinates several times. "Look, there are nine Spatial Restrictions surrounding the Forbidden Ground, which perfectly correspond to the nine star patterns on your space stone. As long as we replenish the space stone's energy, we can unlock the Restrictions one by one and enter the depths of the Forbidden Ground!"

Su Qingyue also leaned over, her gaze falling on the Godfall Plane coordinate on the star map. "This coordinate matches the location of the 'Ancient God War Ruins' recorded in the Sect's ancient texts. It is said that the Legacy of the God Race is hidden there, along with a massive amount of chaos origin energy. It seems this starship is not only related to the Misty Forbidden Land but also inextricably linked to the Trial of the Heavens." She turned to Lin Yang, "When we return, hand the star map to the Sect Master. He will surely be able to find a way to replenish the space stone and unlock the Restrictions from the Sect's hidden treasures."

Lin Yang stared at the marker for the Misty Forbidden Land on the star map, a strong sense of anticipation rising in his heart—his mother's residual soul was likely imprisoned there. As long as he replenished the space stone, he could enter the Forbidden Ground and find clues about his mother. He reached out to take the star map fragment in the center of the control console. The moment his fingertip touched the fragment, the console suddenly lit up with dazzling golden light, and a faint golden phantom slowly emerged from the fragment.

The phantom wore the same ancient battle armor as the statues. Its face was blurry, yet it exuded an imposing aura, as if a monarch who had slept for ten thousand years had finally awakened. "I am the Captain of the ancient starship 'Chaos,' tasked by the Chaos Star Lord to guard the star map for a thousand years..." The phantom's voice carried the vicissitudes of time, sounding as if it came from a distant space-time. "He who can activate the chaos star core must be the Fated One. This star map fragment is only the guiding key. The starship's lowest level, the Core Cabin, holds the complete chaos star core Legacy, as well as the key to the Land of Chaos Origin..."

Before the phantom could finish speaking, its body began to flicker violently, as if it might dissipate at any moment. Lin Yang quickly pressed, "How do we enter the Core Cabin? What is the key to the chaos origin?"

"The Core Cabin requires... requires the starship key to resonate with Chaos True Essence to be opened... The key is... the 'Heart of Chaos' deep within the Misty Forbidden Land..." The phantom's voice grew fainter and fainter, finally dissolving into golden dust scattered everywhere, leaving only a pale gold key, about an inch long, resting in front of the control console. The key's surface was engraved with the same spiral pattern as the starship's core, clearly identifying it as the key to the starship's Core Cabin.

Lin Yang picked up the key and tightly clenched it in his palm, his heart filled with shock. He had originally thought finding the star map fragment was the greatest gain, but he never expected the starship's lowest level held an even more crucial chaos inheritance, and that the key to unlocking the Misty Forbidden Land was hidden deep inside the Forbidden Ground itself, the "Heart of Chaos"! This discovery gave him greater confidence in saving his mother and improving his strength.

Just then, the chaos star core suddenly issued a strong warning. He clearly sensed five powerful auras rapidly approaching from the Ancient Land of Starfall entrance. One of the auras was especially familiar—it was Elder Li of the White Cloud Sect, along with auras from the Immortal Palace and the Xuantian Sword Sect! Clearly, they had tracked the starship's energy fluctuations, aiming to seize the star map fragment and the starship key.

"Someone's coming!" Lin Yang's expression suddenly changed. His Soul Power perception instantly expanded to its maximum range. "At least five people, all above the Eighth Layer of Innate Realm, and Elder Li is among them! They must be coming for the starship and the star map!"

Su Qingyue immediately retracted the ice silk, and Bai Wanqing also gripped the ice soul pearl. Both simultaneously took half a step back, shielding Lin Yang between them. "We must leave quickly! The star map fragment and the Core Cabin key absolutely cannot fall into their hands!"

The three stopped hesitating, quickly gathered the star map fragment, the Core Cabin key, and the armor fragment, and ran toward the starship hatch. The pale gold debris on the Meteorite Crater floor scattered under their feet. The aura of the starship wreckage faded behind them, but the dangerous aura ahead grew closer. Lin Yang gripped the star map fragment, understanding in his heart: this trip to the ancient land had not only given him clues to save his mother and hope for the chaos inheritance, but it had also attracted more powerful enemies. Every step forward must be taken with greater caution to protect his companions and the treasures in his hands.