Inheritance

Stepping forward, Lin Ming grasped the pale gold token in his hand.

The moment he received the token, a message flooded his mind: confirmation that he had passed the second test.

He nodded slightly, put the token into his sleeve, and then the stone platform beneath his feet suddenly lit up, a beam of light surging from the center of the platform and enveloping his entire body.

As the light shifted, his figure vanished from this space.

The third deep, star-blue halo on the Altar had lit up. Zi Yan and the other two watched the changes in the light, knowing that Lin Ming had passed the second test and was about to begin the third.

Although they couldn't see what was inside from the outside, they could still sense that the third trial was probably completely different from the first two.

The Formation Patterns contained within that halo were extremely profound and condensed, like a starry sky compressed to its limit, containing some supreme Formation Patterns that far surpassed the Dao of Arrays.

The light instantly engulfed Lin Ming, and the feeling of spatial transformation was stronger and longer than the previous two times. His figure darted through the star-blue light, like a shooting star streaking across a vast Star Sea.

When he opened his eyes again, the sight before him made him pause for a moment in surprise.

It was a starry sky. A real starry sky. Above was boundless darkness, and within that darkness, countless stars were slowly rotating, emitting various colors of light, including deep blue, silver, dark red, and golden yellow.

Beneath my feet was a transparent void, as if I were standing on a giant crystal. Below the crystal was the same vast Star Sea, symmetrical from top to bottom, like a mirror perfectly replicating the entire starry sky beneath my feet.

He stood in the very center of this starry sky, surrounded by the boundless universe, with countless slowly rotating stars above and below him. The vastness and immensity made his soul tremble slightly.

Before him, deep within the starry sky, a figure slowly materialized.

It was an old man dressed in a star-blue robe, with a gaunt face, deep eyes like stars, and an extremely complex silver Spiritual Runes on his forehead.

His figure remained ethereal, like a wisp of smoke blown away by the wind, yet the wisdom and composure emanating from his very bones were clearer and more refined than the lingering remnant he had seen in the tower.

He stood with his hands behind his back in the starry sky, his gaze calmly fixed on Lin Ming. His deep, star-like eyes reflected the starlight and Lin Ming's figure.

"The fact that you've reached this point shows that your mastery of Array Dao formations and your wisdom and character far surpass those of ordinary people." The Master of the Star Residence spoke slowly, his voice ethereal and distant, as if it came from the depths of the starry sky.

"My three tests are: first, the foundation in formations; second Five Elements Balance; and third..."

He paused for a moment, a very faint glint of light flashing in his deep eyes.

"The third test is about inheritance."

"Inheritance?" Lin Ming frowned slightly.

"I have dedicated my life to the study of Array Dao, spending thousands of years progressing from beginner to grandmaster. I have walked every path and witnessed every spectacle on the Array Dao."

The Master of the Star Residence spoke slowly, his gaze shifting from Lin Ming to the vast starry sky.

"My legacy is not contained in the Jade Slip, nor in the Cultivation Method, but in this starry sky. This starry sky is the product of my lifelong understanding of the Array Dao Formations, and each star represents my interpretation of the Dao of Formations. If you can find the 'Formation Core Star' in this starry sky, you will receive my legacy. If you cannot find it, you will be trapped here forever until your Spiritual Energy is exhausted and you die."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished into the starry sky like smoke blown away by the wind, leaving only the stars slowly rotating in the darkness.

Lin Ming stood alone in the center of that vast starry sky, with an endless Star Sea above and below him. Countless stars slowly rotated around him, each emitting a cold, eerie light.

He slowly scanned the starry sky, his dark, unfathomable eyes reflecting the starlight, with Five-Colored Brilliance slowly flowing deep within his pupils.

Lin Ming took a deep breath and activated the World Power to its fullest extent.

The power of the Five Elements Origin surged and flowed through his meridians, World Power spread out from his body in all directions like an invisible tide, enveloping the starry sky within a radius of thousands of feet.

In an instant, the position, size, light, and fluctuations of every star within it became clearly visible to him.

The stars seemed to be scattered haphazardly in the void, but his World Power quickly detected a certain pattern.

The light of those stars is not constant, but flickers at an extremely slow pace, like beating hearts.

The flickering rhythms are subtly connected to each other; some are synchronized, some are staggered, and some form a complex melody, like a symphony played by countless instruments.

Lin Ming's pupils contracted slightly. He could sense that the connections between those stars were far more complex than they appeared on the surface.

They were connected to each other by some invisible lines, which were so fine and hidden that they would have been completely undetectable if he had not repeatedly explored them with the World Power.

Lin Ming focused his Soul Power on those lines and discovered that each line contained a unique Formation Patterns fluctuation. Those fluctuations were like tiny rivers, connecting the light of one star with the light of another.

Thousands of stars and tens of thousands of connecting lines intertwine, entwine, and form a nest-like network, creating an array so vast it's unimaginable.

This starry sky itself is a formation.

"The Formation Core Star," Lin Ming murmured. His gaze slowly swept over the stars, his mind racing with calculations.

The Master of the Star Residence said that each star represents an understanding of his lifelong insights into the Array Dao, and the Formation Core Star is the core of these understandings, the source and destination of all Formation Patterns.

Find it, and you will receive the inheritance of the Master of the Star Residence.

But this starry sky contains thousands of stars, each radiating a unique light and containing profound Formation Patterns. How can one discern the Formation Core Star?

Lin Ming closed his eyes and completely immersed himself in the perception of the World Power.

At this moment, the Inner World him resonated completely with him, and the entire world acted like a giant mirror, reflecting every fluctuation of the starry sky outside.

Lin Ming sensed the rhythm of the stars' flickering, the flow of Spiritual Energy in the connecting lines, and the operating rules of the entire star array.

His mind was like a small boat drifting on the Star Sea, not trying to control it, but simply quietly sensing the breath of that starry sky.

Time loses its meaning in this starry sky. Perhaps it's a fleeting moment, perhaps it's an eternity.

Lin Ming's mind wandered in that Star Sea, drifting from one star to another, from one line to another, like a traveler walking through an unfamiliar forest, carefully observing the posture of each tree, the veins of each leaf, and the direction of each root.

He gradually discovered that although the light of those stars was different, the light of seven stars was the brightest and purest. They were arranged in a near-perfect symmetry in the depths of the starry sky, connected to each other by the thickest line in the great formation, like the core of a constellation.

The Big Dipper. He recognized the arrangement of the seven stars, which was exactly the same as the structure he had sensed when he deciphered the Big Dipper Seven-Star Formation in the outside world.

Those seven stars had a more steady rhythm of flashing than any other star, like seven giant pillars supporting the entire starry sky.

Lin Ming's World Power enveloped the seven stars, carefully sensing the connections between them.

The seven stars were connected by seven thick lines, each line containing a unique Formation Patterns. These Formation Patterns intertwined, resonated, and merged to form a closed loop.

In the very center of the circle, there is a very hidden cavity, like a fruit shell with the kernel removed. Although the outer flesh is intact, it is missing the most core part.

That empty space is the location of the Formation Core Star.

But the void was empty. The Formation Core Star was no longer there. Lin Ming frowned slightly, shifting his senses away from the void and extending them towards the distant starry sky.

If the Formation Core Star is not where it should be, then it must be somewhere in the starry sky, like a star that has broken free of its orbit and is wandering in the void.

He needed to find the Formation Core Star that had left its center among thousands of stars, which was like finding a needle in a haystack.

He continued to perceive the starry sky. This time, he no longer focused on the bright stars, but instead turned his attention to the faintest ones.

The stars were scattered along the edge of the sky, their light so faint that they were almost swallowed by the darkness, like a group of forgotten orphans huddled in a corner.

His World Power swept across those dim stars, sensing their aura.

Most of the dim stars are merely the outer nodes of the formation, containing simple and shallow Formation Patterns.

But when he scanned one of the stars, his senses suddenly stopped.

That star was located in the deepest part of the starry sky, emitting an extremely faint, eerie blue light that almost blended into the surrounding darkness.

Its location is extremely remote, like a pebble abandoned at the edge of a wasteland.

But the moment Lin Ming's World Power touched that star, he felt an extremely subtle resonance.

The Formation Patterns contained within that star resonated strangely with the arrays he had encountered in the first trial, the Five Elements Sealing Array in the second trial, and even with the Five-Elements World within his own body, like a drop of ink falling into water, causing ripples to spread simultaneously in three different mediums.

Opening his eyes, Lin Ming's gaze pierced through tens of thousands of feet of darkness, locking onto that dim, pale blue star.

His figure strode forward through the starry sky, each step creating ripples that spread out from beneath his feet, as if a mortal were walking on water.

He passed over bright stars, passed through the thick lines connecting them, and walked towards the deepest darkness of the starry sky.