5: The raging tide surged, but the tower held the world in its place.

The world of the Meteor Star Ancient Domain was oppressively monotonous in color. A gloomy sky, black earth, and that ubiquitous, mind-eroding greyish Evil Qi.

Lin Fan led Lin Xuan and the other two, advancing steadily toward the depths where the Evil Qi was denser. With a clear leader, most of Lin Xuan and the others' original panic had dissipated, replaced by a sense of security from finding a pillar of support. They consciously spread out slightly behind Lin Fan, acting as both guards and students, their gazes occasionally sweeping over that upright back in awe.

"Divine Son, the area ahead is known as 'Bone Burial Slope.' It's said that ancient mighty experts once perished here. Baleful Soul Beasts are exceptionally dense, but there might also be powerful weapon fragments or Legacy Bone Inscriptions left behind." Lin Xuan stepped forward and whispered, pointing toward an area of undulating terrain filled with various bizarre, giant skeletons. He had clearly done his homework on the Ancient Domain.

Lin Fan nodded, his Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils shimmering with light as his vision pierced through the thin black baleful mist ahead. In his "vision," the energy flow of Bone Burial Slope was extremely chaotic. Countless cold light clusters representing Baleful Soul Beasts drifted like ghost fires, their numbers far exceeding those on the periphery. Deep within the slope, he vaguely sensed several more obscure yet more powerful Auras, reaching at least the Peak Spiritual Sea Realm, perhaps even touching the threshold of the Divine Power Realm.

"It's a good place to sign in," Lin Fan thought to himself, though he remained expressionless. "Be careful, stay close to me."

The four stepped onto Bone Burial Slope, the shattered bones beneath their feet making a crisp "crack" that sounded exceptionally clear in the deathly silence. Heavy Evil Qi surged like a cold tide; Lin Xuan and the others had to circulate their spiritual power for protection, their faces turning slightly pale. In contrast, Lin Fan seemed to have an invisible barrier around him; the Evil Qi naturally slid away when it came within a foot of him, unable to taint him in the slightest.

Before they had gone far, rustling sounds echoed from the bone piles in all directions. Pairs of ghostly blue soul fires lit up, dense and numerous. In an instant, over twenty Baleful Soul Beasts surrounded them, with a few being exceptionally large, their bone armor shimmering with a metallic luster and their Auras reaching the Late Stage Spiritual Sea Realm.

"So many!" the disciple who had just recovered from his injuries said with a trembling voice.

"Form a formation! Protect the Divine Son's flanks!" Though startled, Lin Xuan did not panic. With a low shout, the three immediately stood back-to-back, forming a simple triangular defensive formation. Their spiritual power linked, light flickering as they nervously watched the approaching beast tide.

However, Lin Fan waved his hand. "No need to be nervous."

His gaze swept over the surging beast tide, his eyes calm and rippleless. Just right, he could test the area-of-effect capabilities of the star pagoda.

With a thought, the star pagoda in his Sea of Consciousness vibrated slightly.

"Buzz!" The dark gold pagoda phantom emerged once more, but this time it didn't appear in the sky. Instead, it hovered above Lin Fan's head, spinning rapidly and shedding paths of clear radiance that enveloped the four of them. The pouncing Baleful Soul Beasts slammed into the radiant light screen as if hitting a wall of bronze and iron, making dull thuds but being firmly kept out.

The star pagoda's first layer basic ability—Guardian Light Screen.

"This..." Lin Xuan and the others watched the Baleful Soul Beasts baring their fangs and claws but unable to advance an inch, shocked once again. The defensive power of this pagoda was simply appalling. But this was only the beginning.

Lin Fan felt the fusion of the star pagoda with his own spiritual power, his control over this supreme treasure becoming increasingly proficient. He pointed his fingers like a sword and tapped lightly forward.

"Star Domain, open!" As his voice fell, the star pagoda phantom above his head shone brilliantly. The star patterns on the pagoda seemed to come alive, as countless tiny fragments of starlight spread outward from the pagoda like spilled mercury, instantly covering a radius of a hundred zhang!

Inside the Domain, the scene changed drastically. The gloomy Evil Qi was pushed aside, replaced by a hazy phantom of the starry sky. Lin Xuan and the others felt their bodies lighten as the suffocating pressure of the Evil Qi vanished. Instead, a surge of pure Power of the Stars flowed into their bodies, refreshing their spirits and making their spiritual power flow more smoothly.

As for the Baleful Soul Beasts trapped in the Domain, they let out terrified screeches. They seemed to have fallen into a quagmire, their movements becoming incredibly sluggish, and the soul fires in their eye sockets flickered violently as if suppressed by something fundamental. To them, the Power of the Stars within the Domain was like poisonous sunlight, constantly eroding their bodies formed from Evil Qi, producing a "sizzling" burning sound.

"Suppress and kill!" Lin Fan's cold voice sounded like a judgment.

The star pagoda phantom shook violently, and the countless tiny fragments of starlight within the Domain instantly condensed, transforming into peerlessly sharp star light arrows. Like a torrential storm, they covered all the Baleful Soul Beasts within range!

"Puff, puff, puff, puff!" Densely packed piercing sounds rang out. Those Middle Stage Spiritual Sea Realm Baleful Soul Beasts were like paper before the star light arrows, instantly riddled with holes. Their soul fires extinguished, and they dissipated into pure Evil Qi energy. Even the few powerful Late Stage Spiritual Sea Realm Baleful Soul Beasts, after struggling for a moment, were submerged by more light arrows, their bone armor shattering as they crashed to the ground.

In just a few breaths, the twenty-plus Baleful Soul Beasts that had been so aggressive a moment ago were completely wiped out, leaving behind only a ground full of slowly dissipating remains and pure Evil Qi energy.

The Star Domain slowly retracted, and the pagoda phantom shrank, merging back into Lin Fan's body.

The scene was dead silent, with only the faint hum of dissipating energy.

Lin Xuan and the others stood with their mouths agape, looking at the empty battlefield before them, their minds blank. They hadn't even clearly seen how Lin Fan had acted; they only saw a flash of starlight, and the despair-inducing beast tide was gone?

What kind of divine method was this?! Was this truly a power that someone in the Spiritual Sea Realm could possess?

Lin Fan closed his eyes slightly, sensing his earlier consumption. Driving the star pagoda to deploy the Domain and suppress-kill was indeed a significant burden on his spiritual power and Divine Soul power, but it was still within an acceptable range. The massive spiritual power and formidable Divine Soul provided by the Eternal Indestructible Body were enough to support him through long-duration, high-intensity combat.

"Clean up the battlefield and collect any useful Materials," Lin Fan instructed indifferently, as if he had just done something trivial.

"Yes! Yes!" Lin Xuan and the others snapped out of their daze, hurriedly responding with respect. They began to nimbly collect the relatively intact bone armor cores and soul fire crystals left by the Baleful Soul Beasts. These items were also precious Materials for refining Spiritual Artifacts and Medicinal Pills outside.

After this battle, the trio's awe of Lin Fan had reached their very marrow. They no longer had any other thoughts, only complete submission.

Lin Fan stepped forward toward the depths of Bone Burial Slope. His Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils scanned the ground and those giant skeletons. Suddenly, in the eye socket of a mountain-like skull of an unknown giant beast, he discovered several plants shaped like orchids that emitted a faint starlight.

"Star-Shattering Grass?" Lin Fan recognized this Spiritual Plant. It was one of the main ingredients for refining Divine Soul-enhancing Medicinal Pills and was quite rare. He carefully picked them and stored them in the space on the first floor of the star pagoda. The pagoda's internal space was not only safe but also filled with the Power of the Stars, which offered extra benefits for preserving such Spirit Medicines.

Just as he finished picking the Star-Shattering Grass and was about to go deeper, his Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils suddenly caught an extremely obscure but malicious sense of being watched from afar.

The feeling vanished in a flash, hidden behind the thick Evil Qi and skeletons. Had it not been for his sharp spiritual senses and Divine Pupils, he wouldn't have discovered it at all.

Lin Fan's footsteps paused, a barely perceptible cold smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"Finally can't hold back anymore?" He pretended not to notice and continued walking forward with the excited Lin Xuan and the others, who had finished collecting the spoils. However, his direction imperceptibly shifted toward where the sensation of being watched had come from.

He knew that the "surprises" arranged by the Grand Elder, or rather, the first batch of decent "surprises," had arrived. Meanwhile, several li away on a heavily weathered spinal skeleton of a giant beast, the grim-faced Lin Sha slowly withdrew his gaze. He held a bone talisman flickering with an eerie red light, his eyes filled with shock and greed.

"That pagoda is at least Earth Rank, maybe even a Heaven Rank Spirit Treasure! And that Domain power... the secrets on this kid are even more astonishing than what the Grand Elder said!" He licked his lips, revealing a cruel smile. "However, no matter how good the treasure is, one must have the life to enjoy it. Send the word out to act according to plan. Lure the 'big fellow' in that area; I want him to end up in a beast's belly!"

Behind him, two ghost-like figures quietly merged into the Evil Qi and vanished.

In the depths of Bone Burial Slope, a denser darkness was quietly gathering. The broken star in the sky, always dim, seemed to be veiled in an ominous blood-red hue.