64: An ambush erupts within the ship, and the shadows of the Celestial Palace appear.

As soon as he rushed out of the starship hatch, before he could even catch his breath, a black light suddenly shot out from the shadows of the Meteorite Crater wall — it was a short blade engraved with the White Cloud Sect's "rift seal pattern," its blade glowing with a dark purple poisonous light, aimed directly at Lin Yang's Dantian!

"Be careful!" Su Qingyue reacted extremely quickly, her ice silk instantly unfurling, transforming into an ice shield to block in front of Lin Yang. With a crisp clang, the short blade was deflected by the ice shield, but three figures simultaneously sprang out from the shadows. The leader was none other than Elder Li of the White Cloud Sect! He wore a gray Elder's robe, with a darkened rift seal blade hanging at his waist, his eyes full of greed: "Lin Yang, hand over the starship key and the star map fragment, and I can spare your lives!"

Behind Elder Li were four White Cloud Sect Disciples, each holding a soul locking talisman. The burning green smoke from the talismans spread with the wind, carrying a pungent sulfurous smell, instantly causing the Chaos True Essence in Lin Yang's Dantian to become restless — the black patterns of the soul locking talisman resonated with the residual Immortal Palace True Qi in his body, and the black patterns on the edge of his pale gold True Essence reappeared.

"Do you really think you're worthy of touching the starship's treasure?" Lin Yang sneered, circulating the Clear Heart Art. Pale green runes flowed around his body, instantly suppressing the restlessness of his True Essence. Instead of retreating, he advanced, Chaos True Essence condensing into a fist in his palm, striking towards the rushing White Cloud Sect Disciple. That Disciple hadn't expected Lin Yang to dare to attack proactively, and in his haste, he raised his sword to block. With a "bang," the long sword was knocked away, and the Disciple was struck in the chest by Lin Yang's palm, spitting out blood as he flew backward.

Bai Wanqing's ice soul pearl shot out a blue light, precisely locking onto the location of Elder Li's soul core: "Lin Yang, his soul core is beneath his left eyebrow bone! And he has pseudo spirit liquid in his body, his strength is close to the Gang Qi Realm, be careful of his rift seal blade!" The blue light of the ice soul pearl could not only locate soul cores but also see through the enemy's cultivation details, giving Lin Yang a countermeasure.

Seeing this, Elder Li roared, brandishing his rift seal blade and slashing towards Lin Yang. The rift seal blade glowed with black light, and the rift seal patterns on its blade lit up, carrying the dual effects of armor penetration and soul devouring, even splitting a black mark in the air. "Senior Sister Qingyue, help me entangle his weapon!" Lin Yang shouted. Su Qingyue immediately understood, her ice silk unfurling to entangle the blade of the rift seal blade, and her ice-element True Essence froze Elder Li's wrist along the blade.

Lin Yang seized the opportunity to close in, pressing his left hand against the blade of the rift seal blade. His Chaos True Essence, with its devouring power, began to absorb the seal-breaking energy stored within the blade. "You dare to devour my rift seal blade?!" Elder Li's face changed drastically. He hastily circulated his True Essence, trying to retract his weapon, but found that the energy within the blade was rapidly being drawn away by Lin Yang, and the rift seal blade's glow grew dimmer and dimmer.

"Here, take it back!" Lin Yang suddenly let go, and the devoured seal-breaking energy, along with his Chaos True Essence, rebounded, violently striking Elder Li's chest. Elder Li spat out a mouthful of black blood, stumbling backward, his eyes filled with disbelief: "How is your True Essence so solid? You, at the Eighth Layer of Innate Realm, can actually take my full-power strike!"

Just then, a White Cloud Sect Disciple suddenly circled behind Lin Yang, his short dagger glowing with poison, aimed directly at Lin Yang's Dantian — he wanted to ambush Lin Yang while he was entangled with Elder Li! "Lin Yang, be careful!" Bai Wanqing was quick-witted, fiercely pouncing to Lin Yang's side, using her own shoulder to block the short dagger. "Puchi—" The short dagger pierced into Bai Wanqing's shoulder, deep enough to see bone, and blood instantly stained her light green dress.

"Wanqing!" Lin Yang's eyes were bloodshot, his Chaos True Essence completely boiling, black patterns appearing in the pale gold Qi flow (the restlessness of devouring the pseudo spirit liquid). He turned and slammed a palm into the Disciple's chest, the devouring power instantly draining most of his True Essence. The Disciple's body shriveled at a visible rate, falling to the ground lifeless.

Seeing his Disciple killed, Elder Li was both shocked and enraged. He actually bit into the pseudo spirit liquid in his mouth, forcibly raising his cultivation to the Early Stage of the Gang Qi Realm. The rift seal blade once again glowed with black light: "Boy, you killed my Disciple, today you will surely be buried here!" He brandished the rift seal blade, slashing towards Lin Yang, the black light carrying an even stronger armor-penetrating power.

Lin Yang did not dodge, but instead rushed towards the rift seal blade. He knew that if he retreated now, not only would he be in danger, but the injured Bai Wanqing would also be unable to protect herself. Chaos True Essence condensed into a shield around his body, and at the same time, he activated his Soul Power's devouring ability, beginning to absorb Elder Li's pseudo spirit liquid energy. With a "bang," the rift seal blade struck the shield. Lin Yang was shaken back three steps, but he seized the opportunity to devour most of the pseudo spirit liquid energy within Elder Li's body.

Elder Li's cultivation plummeted, falling from the Gang Qi Realm back to the Tenth Level of the Innate Realm, his face as pale as paper: "You... you can actually devour pseudo spirit liquid?!" He no longer dared to fight, turning to flee, but was entangled by Su Qingyue's ice silk around his ankles, falling heavily to the ground.

"Trying to run? Too late!" Su Qingyue exerted force with her ice silk, binding Elder Li to the rocks of the Meteorite Crater wall. Ice-element True Essence froze his True Essence along the ice silk, rendering him immobile. The remaining three White Cloud Sect Disciples, seeing their Elder captured, were terrified and turned to run, but were struck by Lin Yang's Chaos True Essence-condensed spear, falling to the ground twitching.

Lin Yang quickly walked to Bai Wanqing's side, carefully helped her up, and looking at the deep wound on her shoulder, his heart was filled with self-reproach: "I'm sorry, I didn't notice the sneak attack from behind, causing you to get hurt." He took out the moon essence pill given by the Sect Master from his embrace, crushed it, and applied it to Bai Wanqing's wound. The liquid True Essence on his fingertips carried warmth, gently soothing her Meridians that were tense from pain.

Bai Wanqing endured the pain, reaching out to wipe away the black dirt on Lin Yang's cheek, her ear tips slightly red: "I'm fine, it's just a superficial wound... Don't waste time, we need to enter the starship's Core Cabin as soon as possible to get the Chaos Legacy." She looked at the bloodshot eyes of Lin Yang and added, "You devoured Elder Li's pseudo spirit liquid, and your True Essence is a bit restless. When we enter the Core Cabin later, perhaps the Chaos Qi inside can help stabilize it."

Su Qingyue walked over, handing him a bottle of "ice heart elixir": "This medicine can accelerate wound healing and alleviate the residual effects of soul poison. I'll tie these captives to the rocks first, and then hand them over to the Sect Master for disposal after we leave." She looked at the wound on Bai Wanqing's shoulder, a flicker of worry in her eyes, "The road ahead will be more dangerous. We need to practice the coordination of the ice silk and ice soul pearl more proficiently to avoid such accidents again."

Lin Yang nodded, carefully bandaging Bai Wanqing's wound. The wind in the Meteorite Crater, carrying pale gold dust, blew through Bai Wanqing's loose hair, occasionally brushing against Lin Yang's hand, bringing a subtle itch. He lightly coughed, composing himself: "Let's go. According to the star map fragment's guidance, the starship's Core Cabin is below the Bridge, and requires the Core Cabin key to open."

The three returned to the starship, walking down the stairs of the Bridge. The light in the corridor grew dimmer and dimmer, relying only on the faint blue glow of the wall lamps for illumination. The Chaos Qi in the air also grew denser, making Lin Yang's chaos star core beat more intensely. Just then, Lin Yang suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and a familiar aura flashed through his Sea of Consciousness — it was the Immortal Palace's Soul Sealing Power!

"Someone is following us!" Lin Yang stopped, his Soul Power perception instantly expanding, but he found nothing. "The other party's stealth methods are very clever; they should be a hidden agent of the Immortal Palace, specifically for tracking and snatching treasures."

Su Qingyue's ice silk instantly tensed: "No matter who it is, if they dare to stop us, don't blame us for being impolite! Wanqing is injured, we need to enter the Core Cabin as soon as possible. There are the starship's defensive Formations there, which can block external enemies."

Bai Wanqing also gripped her ice soul pearl, blue light circulating around her body: "I will use the ice soul pearl to monitor the surrounding movements. If there's any abnormality, I'll immediately warn you. Lin Yang, you focus on leading the way, don't be disturbed."

Lin Yang nodded, gripping the Core Cabin key, and quickened his pace towards the Core Cabin. The Chaos Qi in the corridor grew denser and denser, and the aura of the Immortal Palace was faintly discernible, like a pair of eyes secretly watching. Lin Yang knew that a new crisis was approaching, and they had to enter the Core Cabin and obtain the Chaos Legacy before the enemy attacked to seize the initiative.