133: Three Keys in One and the Immortal's Descent

The Mass Grave, the filthiest place on Qiyuan Island.

This place was not only the burial ground for countless Mortals' bones but also a place where many low-level Loose Cultivators were discarded after death. All year round, Yin winds wailed and ghost fires flickered. The thick corpse qi formed a natural barrier that even the sea breeze could not disperse.

"Pfft."

Mud splashed everywhere.

Three bedraggled figures, like startled marmots, burrowed their way deep into the Mass Grave, beneath an anonymous solitary tomb.

"Hold your breath! Close your pores! Drop your heart rate to once per minute!"

Zhou Wannian (Old Man Han) was deathly pale, with blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth. His hands moved like lightning as he threw out eighteen small black flags in the narrow underground space, setting up a "Little Sumeru Corpse-Obscuring Formation."

This Formation had no defensive power; its only function was to simulate a corpse.

It could perfectly convert the Life Qi of living people within the Formation into deathly, stagnant corpse qi.

"Buzz—"

In the very next instant after the Formation took shape.

A vast, sea-like, bone-chilling Divine Sense swept across the area like mercury spilling over the ground.

Ling Yunxiao and Li Feiyu lay stiffly on the rotting coffin boards, not even daring to blink. That feeling was like being stripped naked and thrown into the ice and snow; their very Souls were trembling.

That was the wrath of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.

The Divine Sense circled above the Mass Grave three times, seemingly repulsed by the heavy Yin Qi here, or perhaps deceived by Zhou Wannian's Formation. Finally, with a hint of reluctance, it swept toward the distant sea.

"Phew..."

Ling Yunxiao was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Don't move."

Zhou Wannian hissed a low warning via sound transmission, his eyes cold and sharp. "That was a feint. He's testing."

Sure enough.

In less than three breaths, that Divine Sense returned without warning, stabbing ten zhang deep into the ground!

This time, the Divine Sense almost grazed the top of Zhou Wannian's head.

Fortunately, the Little Sumeru Corpse-Obscuring Formation withstood the test. In the eyes of the Nascent Soul Old Monsters, this place was just a pile of rotten meat and dry bones, without any ripples of life.

It wasn't until the time it takes for an incense stick to burn that the terrifying pressure truly receded.

"We won the gamble."

Zhou Wannian slumped to the ground, gasping for air, cold sweat drenching his clothes.

"A Nascent Soul Old Monster... is indeed not easy to fool."

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes became exceptionally bright.

"However, as long as we weren't caught on the spot, this round is ours."

He pulled three burning hot tokens from his robe.

[Heavenly Star - Inner], [Heavenly Star - Middle], [Heavenly Star - Outer].

In this dark and damp underground tomb, the three black iron pieces seemed to sense each other's call and began to vibrate violently.

"Merge!"

Zhou Wannian did not hesitate and pieced them together in a specific order.

Click.

Click.

A perfect fit.

The moment the three fragments merged, they did not emit any earth-shattering light (as that would attract enemies); instead, they eerily collapsed and shrank, turning into a thumb-sized, completely transparent crystal.

Inside the crystal, countless star-like points of light flowed, eventually converging into a three-dimensional star map.

A message rushed directly into Zhou Wannian's mind.

[Heavenly Star Command (Complete): The sole credential to open the 'Chaotic Star Sea · Abyss Ancient City'.]

[Current Location: Qiyuan Island · Mass Grave · Underground Node.]

[Activation Condition: Inject True Essence to initiate reverse teleportation.]

"What?!"

Zhou Wannian's pupils shrank suddenly.

"The entrance is right beneath the Mass Grave?!"

This was simply the ultimate irony.

Tens of thousands of Cultivators on Qiyuan Island were searching for an Opportunity, and the big shots of the Six-Link Palace were sitting on a mountain of treasure without knowing it. The true entrance to the ancient city was actually right here, in this despised trash heap of a Mass Grave!

"The darkness beneath the lamp... this is the ultimate 'darkness beneath the lamp'!"

Zhou Wannian was ecstatic and immediately stood up.

"Quick! Dig down! The entrance is fifty zhang below here!"

The three people and one Puppet immediately turned into human tunnel boring machines.

Under Iron Pillar's indestructible claws, the hard rock shattered like tofu.

Ten zhang.

Twenty zhang.

Thirty zhang.

When they dug to a depth of fifty zhang, Iron Pillar's claws suddenly struck something.

Clang!

A crisp echo rang out.

It was a layer of bronze floor tiles covered in ancient runes. There were no gaps on the tiles, only a slightly recessed hexagonal slot.

"This is it!"

Zhou Wannian was so excited his hands were shaking.

He held the transparent Heavenly Star crystal and was about to press it into the slot.

Boom!!!

At this critical moment.

The soil above, along with the entire Mass Grave, was suddenly blown apart as if squeezed by an invisible giant hand.

Tens of thousands of catties of earth and stone were instantly vaporized.

A blinding golden light, carrying an aura of world-destroying destruction, descended from the sky, blasting straight through the ground and hovering above Zhou Wannian and the others.

The light dissipated.

Revealing an old man with white hair and beard and a distorted face.

Great Elder of the Sixth Hall.

He stood in the air, his gaze fixed on the crystal in Zhou Wannian's hand, the killing intent in his eyes almost solidifying.

"Good methods."

"Truly good methods."

The Grand Elder laughed in rage, his voice like a thunderclap, "I almost let an ant like you deceive me."

"If not for the sudden spatial fluctuation from underground, I never would have thought the dignified entrance to the ancient city was hidden beneath a cesspit!"

It was over.

They were discovered.

Ling Yunxiao and Li Feiyu's faces were ashen. Locked on by a Nascent Soul Cultivator at this distance, they couldn't even move a finger.

Zhou Wannian's body was also stiff.

But he didn't beg for mercy, nor did he waste words.

In this instant, his gaze became incredibly crazed.

"Iron Pillar! Self-destruct mode! Stop him!"

"Roar!"

Iron Pillar, who had been hiding in the shadows, erupted instantly.

The Wind and Thunder Wings on its back snapped open, and the power source in its chest—derived from a Golden Core Corpse King and a Poison Flood Dragon's inner core—instantly overloaded.

Whoosh!

It turned into a streak of black lightning, advancing instead of retreating, actually charging toward the Nascent Soul Grand Elder in the air!

"A mere Puppet dares to act so fiercely?!"

The Grand Elder's face was full of disdain as he waved his hand casually.

A giant golden palm, condensed from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, slapped toward Iron Pillar like swatting a fly.

In the eyes of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, a Core Formation stage Puppet was just a slightly tougher toy.

However.

At the very moment the giant palm was about to strike.

"Shadow Kill!"

Zhou Wannian shouted.

Iron Pillar's figure suddenly vanished eerily.

That was the innate Divine Ability granted by the Shadow Beast skin—Shadow Jump.

In the next moment.

Iron Pillar appeared behind the Grand Elder. Its claws, plated with star gold and carrying a spatial-tearing edge, struck fiercely at the protective spiritual light on the Grand Elder's back.

Screech—!!!

A tooth-aching sound of friction rang out.

That Nascent Soul shield, which even Magic Treasures could hardly damage, was actually scratched with three deep cracks by this claw!

"What?!"

The Grand Elder was shocked. How could this Puppet's attack power be so strong?!

Although it hadn't broken the defense, for a Nascent Soul Cultivator, this was already a supreme humiliation.

"Begone!"

The Grand Elder was furious and slapped Iron Pillar's chest with a backhand palm.

Bang!

Iron Pillar's body, comparable to a Golden Core Magic Treasure, dented instantly. It was sent flying like a cannonball, embedded into the rock wall with sparks flying, nearly scrapped.

But that split second of delay.

Was enough for Zhou Wannian.

"Snap."

He slammed the Heavenly Star crystal in his hand into the slot of the bronze tile.

Buzz—!!!

The ancient Formation that had slept for thousands of years was awakened.

An extremely blinding silver pillar of light shot up from underground, instantly enveloping Zhou Wannian and the others.

"Trying to run?!"

The Grand Elder's eyes were nearly bursting.

He didn't care about the scrapped Puppet anymore. His hands formed seals as he summoned his natal ancient treasure, the "mountain severing ruler," and slammed it toward the silver pillar of light.

"Stay here for me!!!"

Boom!

The ancient treasure hit the light pillar, causing the space to vibrate violently.

The teleportation channel showed a hint of unstable distortion.

"Pfft!"

The three people inside the light pillar spat out a mouthful of blood simultaneously.

"Damn it! The space is unstable! We'll be torn apart by the turbulence!" Ling Yunxiao screamed.

"Hold on to me!"

Zhou Wannian's eyes were bloodshot; at this moment, he could no longer afford to hide his trump cards.

He slapped his chest hard.

"Cloud Seal Heavenly Scripture · World Stabilizing Technique!"

Countless golden Cloud Seal runes flew out from his body like golden nails, firmly pinning the crumbling spatial channel.

This was his greatest secret, and also the overbearing nature of the "Cloud Seal Heavenly Scripture" as an Immortal Realm Cultivation Technique.

Flash!

A silver light flickered.

Before the mountain severing ruler could strike a second time.

The three of them, along with the broken Puppet embedded in the wall (swept in by the Formation's afterglow), instantly vanished.

Boom!

The mountain severing ruler hit empty air, blasting a hundred-zhang-deep crater into the ground.

But the people were gone.

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

The Grand Elder looked at the empty ground and let out a hysterical roar.

"Old Man Han!!!"

"Green Robe Tower!!!"

"No matter if you flee to the ends of the earth, or even the deepest parts of the Chaotic Star Sea!"

"I will extract your Souls, refine your spirits, and tear your bodies into ten thousand pieces!!!"

...Inside the spatial channel.

Zhou Wannian felt like he was being sliced by countless blunt knives.

The Grand Elder's final blow, though it didn't break the channel, caused severe interference that made the teleportation extremely violent.

"Hold on... I must hold on..."

He gripped the unconscious Ling Yunxiao and Li Feiyu tightly, his True Essence draining like a flood to maintain those few World Stabilizing runes.

Unsure of how much time had passed.

Perhaps it was an instant, perhaps an eternity.

A glimmer of light appeared ahead.

Bang!

The three of them crashed heavily onto the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Zhou Wannian lay on the ground, feeling like all his bones were shattered and every inch of his Meridians was throbbing with pain.

But he still forced himself to look up and survey the surroundings.

At this sight, he was stunned.

This was not the seabed.

Nor was it some gloomy Ancient Tomb.

Above was a gray sky with no sun, only nine giant stars emitting an eerie light hanging in the heavens.

Surrounding them was a field of ruins.

But not ordinary ruins.

The collapsed pillars were a hundred zhang high, carved from unknown white jade; the ground was paved with Spirit-Qi-overflowing Top-Grade Spirit Stones (though most of the Qi had dissipated); the distant palace complexes, though ruined, still exuded a divine aura that made one want to kneel.

In the center of the ruins stood a tower that pierced the clouds.

Four large ancient seal characters were carved on the tower, still exuding an overbearing aura of supremacy even after ten thousand years:

[Reverse Star Immortal Palace].

"This is..."

Zhou Wannian murmured to himself, the shock in his eyes beyond measure.

"This isn't some old site of Tianxing City."

"This is... from the ancient cultivation world, the legendary one that ruled the entire Chaotic Star Sea and even dared to rebel against the Upper Realm—"

"The Reverse Star Alliance General Headquarters!"

Who would have thought.

That the number one ancient Sect, which appeared briefly in the history of the Chaotic Star Sea and then mysteriously disappeared,

Was actually hidden in such an independent Small World!

"We're rich."

Zhou Wannian lay on the ground, looking at the nine stars, and grinned; the smile was ugly yet incredibly joyful.

"This time we're really... rich."

"But before we get rich..."

He glanced at several eerie black shadows wandering in the ruins in the distance.

"We have to find a way to survive in this place full of 'Ancient Restrictions' and 'Grave-Guarding Puppets'..."

"And lay low."