184: Flower Scars of the Same Vein and Alien Stars Knocking at the Door
When the flow of light faded, Liu Shan was choked awake by the refreshing fragrance of the biye flower.
He lay on the familiar haystack, and a tingling itch emanated from the wounds on his back—not pain, but the sensation of flesh and skin healing.
Lin Qingxue was sitting beside her, her fingertips coated with a cyan-gold ointment, carefully applying it to his wounds, with undried tear stains still hanging on her eyelashes.
"Awake?" Her voice was hoarse, yet it could not hide her joy. "Elder Xuan Jin said you were heavily injured this time; your Spiritual Vein was even cracked, so you must recuperate well."
Liu Shan wanted to sit up, but she pressed down on his shoulder.
He looked down at the back of his hand; the circle intertwined with cyan, gold, and black colors was still clear, but at this moment it was emitting a soft light, resonating with the ointment on Lin Qingxue's fingertips, and the itching sensation in his wounds immediately eased significantly.
"Your Spiritual Vein..." He had just opened his mouth when Lin Qingxue blocked it with a biye flower.
The petal carried sweet juice, and her fingertips brushed past the corner of his lips with a hint of reproach: "My Spiritual Vein is fine; it is you, your back was almost torn open, yet you still insisted on bearing it all."
Her eyes turned red again, and her fingertips traced the circle on his arm, her voice as light as the wind: "Elder Xuan Jin said that this mark has connected our Spiritual Veins; as your wounds heal, my power is also recovering."
Liu Shan held her hand and indeed felt a warm current of Qi flowing along the circle, circulating back and forth between their Spiritual Veins like an invisible bond.
The new green of the spiritual fields had grown to knee-height, and the star patterns flickered in the sunlight, brighter than before.
Shi Yan had built a new Pill Furnace at the end of the spiritual fields; the furnace fire was blazing, and the fragrance of medicine mixed with the scent of the biye flower filled the valley; Liu Zhi was grinding a new short blade under the Huai Ancient Tree, the blade reflecting the shadows of the star patterns and shining with a cold light.
Everything was developing in a good direction, yet everywhere there was a hint of an unusual calm.
This calm was broken on the seventh day.
That morning, Liu Shan was practicing a new Light and Darkness Power Move by the spiritual fields—ever since absorbing half of the power, his control over the Light and Darkness Power had become more proficient, and his Moves had gained a bit more sharpness, yet they still retained the gentleness of protection.
Lin Qingxue sat on the ridge of the field, watching his figure, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the star patterns on the grass leaves.
Suddenly, the Huai Ancient Tree emitted a rapid rustling sound.
It was not the wind; it was a tremor coming from inside the tree trunk, more violent than any time before.
Elder Xuan Jin lunged out from the tree hole, its golden vertical pupils staring fixedly at the sky above Luoxia Valley, emitting an unprecedentedly grave roar from its throat.
Liu Shan and Lin Qingxue looked up at the same time.
In the azure sky, a tiny crack was slowly opening.
It was not the hideous, jagged shape of the Purple Abyss remnants, but a smooth fissure emitting a faint silver light; the aura seeping from the fissure was neither Chaos nor void, but carried a hint of... distant and unfamiliar vitality, as if it came from another star sea that had never been set foot in.
"Is this... a new Gate of Realms?" Lin Qingxue stood up, her soft sword subconsciously gripped in her hand.
Liu Shan's brows, however, furrowed.
He could feel that although the aura of this fissure was unfamiliar, it carried a purity similar to the Source Core, only more... ancient, as if it came from the end of time.
"It doesn't look like an enemy." He said in a deep voice, the Light and Darkness Power condensing in his palm, but he did not attack, "It looks more like... a messenger."
Before he finished speaking, countless silver feathers suddenly drifted out from the fissure.
The feathers were as light as butterflies, circling in the air for a moment before finally landing in every corner of Luoxia Valley.
The biye flowers in the spiritual fields came into contact with the feathers, and the star patterns instantly became bright; the new buds of the Huai Ancient Tree absorbed the aura of the feathers and grew at a speed visible to the naked eye; even the scales of Elder Xuan Jin glowed with a faint layer of silver light.
"There is no malice." Lin Qingxue breathed a sigh of relief, catching a feather with her fingertips; the feather turned into a stream of silver light in her palm, merging into her Spiritual Vein and bringing a comfortable warmth.
Liu Shan's gaze, however, fell on the last feather.
That feather did not fall but hovered in the air at the entrance of the valley, slowly unfolding and turning into a curtain of silver light.
On the light curtain, a line of ancient runes appeared—the same origin as the runes he had seen in the stone pillar group that recorded star patterns, yet simpler, like a greeting, and also like a warning.
Elder Xuan Jin's golden vertical pupils shrank violently, its huge body trembling slightly, as if it recognized these runes.
It lowered its head and let out a respectful low cry toward the light curtain.
"Elder Xuan Jin recognizes these runes?" Liu Zhi leaned over and curiously poked the light curtain; his finger passed through the light curtain without encountering any resistance.
Shi Yan also walked over, looking at the runes on the light curtain, his brows tightly locked: "It looks like... the text of the 'Guardian'. It was recorded in ancient books that they were beings who guarded the realms even earlier than the Xuan Jin Snake, and it is said that they have existed since the beginning of the star sea."
The runes on the light curtain suddenly flickered, turning into a flowing picture:
Chains made of countless stars were breaking; at the end of the chains, a huge vortex emitting a dark aura was devouring the stars; in the center of the vortex, one could vaguely see a tightly closed eye, its eyelashes were countless withered star tracks.
At the end of the picture, a wrinkled hand was reaching out towards the direction of Luoxia Valley, holding a gray crystal in its palm that was similar to the Source Core, yet more ancient.
The picture disappeared, and the light curtain turned back into a feather, drifting into Liu Shan's palm.
The feather turned into a stream of gray light in his palm, merging into the circle on his arm.
The circle flickered violently, the cyan, gold, and black lights intertwined with the silver light stream, projecting the last line of runes in mid-air:
"The eye of ending is about to awaken, the Guardian invites you to go to the Summit of the Star Core together."
The light curtain dissipated completely, and the fissure in the sky also slowly closed, as if it had never appeared.
Luoxia Valley returned to calm once again, but the aura in the air had become different.
The star patterns of the biye flowers flickered with silver, cyan, gold, and black colors; among the branches and leaves of the Huai Ancient Tree, marks similar to the runes on the light curtain appeared; in Elder Xuan Jin's throat, a low whimper, as if in reminiscence, was emitted.
Liu Shan clenched his palm, where the temperature of the gray light stream still remained.
He could feel that there was a brand new power in the circle—ancient, vast, and carrying a heavy sense of responsibility.
"The eye of ending..." He whispered these four words, and the tightly closed eye from the picture involuntarily appeared in his mind, and an inexplicable chill crawled up his spine.
Lin Qingxue walked to his side, held his hand, and the temperature of her palm was transmitted over, carrying a firm power: "No matter what it is, we will go and see together."
Liu Shan looked at her, then looked at Shi Yan and Liu Zhi, looked at Elder Xuan Jin, and finally looked at the most lush patch of biye flowers in the center of the spiritual fields.
Deep in the flower cluster, a new leaf was slowly unfolding, and on the leaf surface, silver, cyan, gold, and black star patterns were intertwined, forming a tiny, rotating star core pattern.
The wind blew across Luoxia Valley again, the biye flowers swayed gently, emitting a very light sound that seemed like an answer and also like setting off.
In the distant sky, the last trace of silver light silently faded away, but Liu Shan knew that this was not the end.
A new invitation had been delivered, and a new journey was about to begin.
And this time, behind them were the Spiritual Veins of the entire Luoxia Valley, the intertwined star patterns, the hands tightly held together, and the heart beating in sync with the star sea.