47: The mastermind behind the theft of the fragments in the forbidden room finally reveals himself.

The Starlight Staircase extended downwards, seemingly without end. Embedded in the walls on both sides were not luminous pearls, but slowly rotating miniature Star Models, emitting a cool radiance that cast a hazy glow over the passage. The further down they went, the stronger the scent—a mixture of ancient bronze and obscure darkness fluctuations—became, even faintly accompanied by a low hum, as if from primordial times.

Lu Qingxuan (Pseudo-Li Beichen) followed behind Elder Mu Yan, his expression calm. However, his Exquisite Dao Heart was operating at its maximum, the Chaos Qi around him internalized like a deep abyss, and the power of the Chaos Return to Ruin Dao Domain was primed, like a fully drawn bow ready to unleash an earth-shattering blow at any moment.

Elder Mu Yan, walking ahead, looked relaxed from the back, but the hand gripping his Starwood Staff was slightly tightened, the knuckles turning white. The deeply hidden deep darkness parasitism within him was emitting extremely obscure fluctuations, echoing the dark power deep within the staircase.

Finally, the staircase reached its end. Before them appeared a massive door, ten zhang high, cast entirely from dark, heavy Star Metal. The door was carved with the Heavenly Cycle Star Pattern, and countless Star Runes flowed like living things, emitting a powerful sealing force. This was the true entrance to the God-Sealing Chamber.

"Senior Brother Li, please lend me a hand to open this door," Elder Mu Yan stopped, turned around, and spoke with a look of "solemnity."

According to the rules, opening this final gate required two Hall Guardian Elders to simultaneously inject their unique Star Force and Divine Soul imprints.

Lu Qingxuan sneered internally, knowing this old man was likely planning to make his move here. He showed no change in expression, stepped forward, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Elder Mu Yan, raised his right hand, and Star Force surged in his palm, preparing to press it against the door.

Just as his force was about to touch the door—

An abrupt change occurred!

The eyes of Elder Mu Yan beside him suddenly erupted with pitch-black light, thick as ink. The rosy, benevolent expression on his face was instantly replaced by distortion and ferocity! The Starwood Staff in his hand was no longer a walking stick but transformed into a Poison Dragon. The tip of the staff condensed into a point of extreme Dark Death Ray, shooting out like lightning, aimed straight at Lu Qingxuan's vital spot on his back!

This strike was utterly unexpected and ruthless! It condensed all of his Spirit Transformation Late Stage cultivation and further contained the Origin Power of the parasitic darkness, enough to instantly severely injure or even kill a Cultivator of the same rank!

"I've been waiting for you!"

However, Lu Qingxuan's reaction was even faster! Or rather, he had anticipated it all along!

He didn't touch the door at all. The trajectory of his right hand, which was aimed at the door, twisted strangely. His five fingers spread open, meeting the incoming Dark Death Ray precisely! Meanwhile, his left hand, fingers held like a sword, struck first despite moving later, aiming for Elder Mu Yan's glabella!

"Chaos Return to Ruin!"

Boom—!

A small Chaos vortex suddenly appeared in Lu Qingxuan's right palm. The Dark Death Ray, powerful enough to pierce stars, plunged into the vortex like a clay ox entering the sea. It failed to even stir a ripple before being instantly swallowed and annihilated by the Chaos Qi that returned all Laws to ruin.

Simultaneously, the sword-finger of his left hand was wreathed in gray Chaos current, containing the Power of Interdiction that made words Law, and the Purifying Divine Light of the azure emperor edict. Ignoring the Star Shield Elder Mu Yan hastily erected, it directly struck his glabella!

"Pfft!"

A light sound, like popping a water bubble.

Elder Mu Yan's body shook violently, and his forward momentum ground to a halt. The ferocity on his face instantly froze, replaced by boundless terror and disbelief. He felt a supreme Law, transcending all power he knew, violently rushing into his Sea of Consciousness, forcibly severing and refining his connection with the parasitic darkness!

"No! What power is this?! The Lord of the Void Abyss will not spare you!!" Elder Mu Yan let out a desperate mental roar. The darkness parasite inside him sensed a fatal threat and struggled frantically, attempting to escape.

But all was in vain.

The power of the Chaos Return to Ruin Dao Domain slowly ground over him like a millstone. Elder Mu Yan's own Star Force was the first to collapse and disintegrate. Following that, the source of the deep darkness parasitism—a constantly twisting and shifting pitch-black shadow hidden deep within his Divine Soul—was exposed.

The shadow let out a silent shriek, emitting extremely dense Chaos and dead silence, but enveloped by the Chaos Qi, it rapidly melted away like ice and snow exposed to sunlight. Pure traces of Darkness Origin were stripped away and integrated into Lu Qingxuan's body.

[Ding! Successful stripping. Gained the trait [deep darkness parasitism (???)] x1.]

[Ding! Refined special Darkness Origin. darkness origin (dilute) has been significantly enhanced.]

[Ding! Killed 1 Spirit Transformation Late Stage Cultivator. Gained cultivation feedback...]

The pitch blackness in Elder Mu Yan's eyes quickly faded, revealing his original cloudy but momentarily clear gaze. But that clarity lasted only an instant before dimming as his life force completely vanished. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately it only turned into a meaningless sigh, and his body slumped softly to the ground, utterly lifeless.

A Hall Guardian Elder at the Spirit Transformation Late Stage, along with the darkness parasite within him, was utterly destroyed in less than three breaths under Lu Qingxuan's calculated ambush and absolute power suppression!

Lu Qingxuan didn't even glance at Elder Mu Yan's corpse, fixing his gaze on the Star Door. Without the Hall Guardian Elder maintaining it, the Star Runes on the door were visibly dimmer.

He stretched out his hand and pressed it against the door. The chaos immortal infant stirred slightly, and immense Chaos Force surged out, no longer simulating Star Force, but forcefully impacting the core structure of the gate in its purest and most overbearing form!

"Break!"

RUMBLE—!

The entire Star Door violently shook. The runes on the door emitted ear-piercing wails and burst one after another. After a few breaths, accompanied by a loud crash, the God-Sealing Chamber door—which could withstand the full bombardment of a Soul Transformation Peak Cultivator—was forcibly blasted open by Lu Qingxuan's raw power!

Amidst the rising dust, the scene inside the God-Sealing Chamber came into view.

The room was small and the four walls were bare, save for a Jade Altar Guarded by Nine Stars standing in the center. Suspended above the altar was a bronze fragment, about the size of a washbasin, covered in verdigris and ancient inscriptions. This was precisely Lu Qingxuan's target for this trip—the larger bronze fragment!

At this moment, this bronze fragment was trembling slightly, emitting a dense gray aura, creating a strong resonance with the smaller fragment in Lu Qingxuan's embrace, buzzing loudly.

However, Lu Qingxuan's attention was immediately drawn to a black shadow that had appeared beside the altar at some unknown time.

The shadow was not solid; it was more like a humanoid mass of dense black mist, constantly twisting and rolling. Only two points of crimson light glowed where its head should be, full of tyranny, Chaos, and endless malice. The dark aura it emitted was far purer and more terrifying than the parasite inside Elder Mu Yan!

"As expected... there was a backup plan." Lu Qingxuan's eyes were icy, but he was not surprised. This black shadow was likely the true mastermind behind Starfall Pavilion's dark infiltration, perhaps even one of the executors of the Dark Star Project.

"Ant... you actually made it here... and you destroyed a decent vessel of mine..." The black shadow emitted hoarse, distorted mental fluctuations, filled with killing intent. "But, this is where it ends! Your Physical Body, your power, they are very special... they will be the perfect sacrifice for the Void Abyss!"

Before the words finished, the black shadow suddenly expanded, transforming into an immense black net covering the sky and enveloping Lu Qingxuan! Upon the net, countless painful Soul phantoms wailed, emitting a terrifying power that corroded the Divine Soul and polluted Star Force!

Facing this dark attack, which was capable of instantly sinking ordinary Soul Transformation Cultivators into depravity, Lu Qingxuan merely curled his lip in disdain.

"Mere dark residue dares to speak of sacrifice?"

He didn't even fully deploy his Dao Domain. With just a thought, the darkness origin (dilute) within him—which had been strengthened many times and grown considerably—trembled slightly.

A higher-level pressure, originating from the very Origin of the dark power, naturally permeated the area!

The enveloping black net instantly froze upon sensing this pressure, like a subject meeting their sovereign, and the wailing Soul phantoms upon it solidified! The black shadow's body let out a shriek of terror:

"No! Impossible! How could you possess... the aura of the Origin?! What exactly are you?!"

"The one who destroys you."

Lu Qingxuan didn't bother with pleasantries. He pointed his fingers like a sword, and a strand of gray Sword Qi, condensed to the extreme but internally containing the Chaos cycle of creation and destruction, the Azure Emperor's longevity, and a trace of Darkness Origin characteristics, shot out!

This Sword Qi looked inconspicuous, but everywhere it passed, the solidified black net disintegrated and annihilated inch by inch, like snow under sunlight! The Sword Qi's momentum did not diminish, shooting directly into the core of the twisted black shadow!

"The Void Abyss... will avenge me..." The black shadow let out a final roar filled with malice and unwillingness, before completely collapsing under the Sword Qi containing multiple supreme powers, transforming into the purest dark energy, which was absorbed entirely by the Darkness Origin within Lu Qingxuan.

[Ding! Killed Dark Emissary (Clone) x1. Gained a large amount of Darkness Origin. darkness origin (dilute) has advanced to Darkness Origin (Faint).]

[Ding! Gained memory fragment: Partial information on the Dark Star Project: Reception Ritual.]

Having instantly cleared all obstacles, Lu Qingxuan took a step and arrived before the altar. He reached out, grabbing the constantly trembling bronze fragment.

The moment his fingers touched the fragment—

Another change occurred!

The entire Star Gazing Palace—no, the entire Starfall Pavilion's Seven Star Islands—violently shook! A terrifying aura far surpassing Soul Transformation, reaching the Body Integration Stage, and even touching the edge of Undergoing Tribulation, suddenly awakened from the deepest part of Starfall Pavilion, like a Vicious Beast that had slept for eons!

Simultaneously, a voice filled with fury and icy killing intent reverberated throughout the sky above Starfall Pavilion:

"Who dares trespass into the God-Sealing Chamber, destroy my Clone, and seize my Sacred Item?!"

Accompanied by this voice, a figure shrouded in distorted starlight and dense black Qi tore through the Void Realm and appeared directly at the entrance of the God-Sealing Chamber! Its aura was vast as a sea of stars, yet carried an unsettling dark dead silence!

It was none other than the Starfall Pavilion Head—True Lord Xing Lan!

As expected, he had long been completely corrupted by darkness, perhaps even being a much more powerful darkness vessel himself!

True Lord Xing Lan's gaze instantly locked onto Lu Qingxuan before the altar and the bronze fragment in his hand. The killing intent in his eyes almost solidified: "Imposter identity? No... you are not Imposter identity! Good! Very good! No matter who you are, today, I shall sacrifice your Physical Body and Divine Soul, along with that fragment, to the great Void Abyss!"

The terrifying pressure of the Body Integration Stage crushed down on Lu Qingxuan like a physical mountain! The space of the entire God-Sealing Chamber groaned, as if it might collapse at any moment!

Facing this sudden, powerful enemy whose strength far exceeded the previous ones, Lu Qingxuan showed no signs of panic. Instead, a trace of eager Battle Intent appeared on his face.

He slowly turned around. The chaos immortal infant hummed joyfully within him, and the nascent form of the Chaos Return to Ruin Dao Domain flickered around his body.

"Finally, someone decent has shown up," he said faintly. The bronze fragment in his hand had already been put into the System space. "I'll use you to test the might of the Darkness Origin I just refined."