Starfall Inscriptions, the Hall Spirit Appears

The instant they stepped onto the dark-gold platform, an ancient stellar aura washed over them, far richer and purer than anything outside. The stone slabs beneath their feet were riddled with cracks, yet remained incredibly hard. As the Primordial Chaos Purple Qi naturally radiating from Ye Chen touched their engraved patterns, a faint glow stirred within them, as though they had been activated.

The platform was vast. Surviving stone pillars rose like a giant's ribs, supporting a ruined vault. Everywhere they looked lay collapsed palace walls and shattered statues, offering glimpses of its former grandeur. Time had left deep scars here, yet its solemn, majestic air, as though it bore some great mission, had endured through countless ages.

"Dong..."

The uncanny bell rang again, much clearer than before. Its source seemed to lie beneath the best-preserved cluster of palace ruins at the platform's center. The lingering toll carried a power that cleansed the soul, yet closer scrutiny revealed a trace of ineffable sorrow and... warning?

Lin Qingxue's delicate brows drew together as she focused her senses. "This bell... seems to soothe the mind, yet it also makes me uneasy."

Mo Yu silently pointed toward a broken stele half buried in the ground. The stone had fractured, its inscriptions blurred, but several ancient characters remained barely legible. Their meanings were roughly "observe," "record," "warn," and "great calamity"...

Ye Chen approached and brushed his fingertips over the cold inscription. Light flowed through his Dual Pupils as he tried to read more of the lingering fragments of information. After a moment, he slowly spoke:

"This place wasn't simply a site for worship or passing down a legacy. It was more like... an outpost for observing the stars, divining heaven's secrets, and recording upheavals in the cosmos."

He reached that conclusion from the fragmented inscriptions, the layout, and the atmosphere of the place. Perhaps "Starfall" did not mean stars had fallen here, but that this place had once observed and recorded a "great calamity" that brought countless stars crashing down.

At his words, surprise flashed in Lin Qingxue's beautiful eyes. "Observing upheavals in the cosmos? Recording a great calamity? Did a disaster affecting countless stars really occur in ancient times?" This lay beyond anything recorded in the Heavenly Sword Pavilion's texts.

Ye Chen did not answer. His gaze turned toward the platform's center, where a relatively intact circular altar stood. It was built from a strange stone as dark as the backdrop of the starry sky, its surface smooth as a mirror. Now it was giving off faint fluctuations from the same source as the Star Map in Ye Chen's sea of consciousness.

The three fragments tucked against his chest also pulsed more distinctly.

"The key lies there."

The three headed toward the central altar. The closer they came, the richer the ancient stellar aura became, and the bell seemed to echo right beside their ears.

But just as they came within a hundred zhang of the altar, another sudden change struck!

Starlight gathered above the altar, and a hazy humanoid apparition formed from pure starlight slowly appeared. Its face was indistinct, with only a rough outline visible. Vast stellar power flowed around its body, and its aura was ethereal and ancient, as though it had existed alongside Starfall Hall for countless ages.

"Halt."

A ripple of intent devoid of all emotion, as though composed of the sounds of countless stars revolving, passed directly into their seas of consciousness.

"Starfall is a restricted sanctum. None may approach the core altar unless they bear a 'Star Key.'"

Star Key?

Something stirred in Ye Chen's mind. It seemed the "key" held by the Sacred Emperor Palace and the fragments he had collected might all be called "Star Keys"—credentials for unlocking this place's deepest secrets.

Lin Qingxue stepped forward and tried to communicate. "Senior, we mean no harm. We came only to seek the truth of ancient times. What is a 'Star Key'? And what does it mean to 'bear' one?"

The starlight apparition—perhaps it could be called the "Hall Spirit"—did not answer Lin Qingxue's questions. Its hollow "gaze" swept over the three before finally settling on Ye Chen.

"You carry... its aura... but it is incomplete... nor is it... an orthodox inheritance..."

Its intent came in broken fragments. Its condition seemed unstable, or rather, its intelligence had been severely worn down over the long ages.

"Intruders... leave... otherwise... according to... established protocol... annihilation..."

As the final word fell, the Hall Spirit's apparition blazed with light! Stellar power across the entire platform surged madly toward it, and a terrifying pressure descended with a crash, enough to make even a mid-stage Void Insight cultivator blanch! The surrounding space began to twist. Countless motes of starlight condensed like sharp blades, locking onto Ye Chen and his companions!

It was about to fulfill its duty as this place's guardian, expelling or even exterminating unauthorized intruders!

Lin Qingxue and Mo Yu turned deathly pale at once. Under that terrifying pressure, even moving became unbearably difficult!

Ye Chen's gaze cooled slightly. The Hall Spirit seemed to be in poor condition, but with the stellar power accumulated here over countless ages, the strength it could unleash was not to be underestimated. Even if he could win a direct clash, it would likely cause an enormous disturbance and might damage these ancient ruins. That was not what he wanted.

Thoughts flashed through his mind. Rather than strike immediately, he slowly raised his right hand.

He neither attacked with Primordial Chaos Purple Qi nor took out the three fragments. Instead, he held two fingers together like a brush, used his spiritual sense as ink, and drew upon a sliver of his understanding of stellar laws to sketch in midair.

What he traced was not an offensive rune, but... a map!

A simplified diagram formed from countless lines of starlight, closely resembling part of the trajectories in the incomplete Star Map within his sea of consciousness! The lines flowed ceaselessly, embodying profound truths of the stars' movements.

This was part of the insight he had gained from studying and extrapolating the Star Map!

The instant that simplified starlight diagram appeared, the Hall Spirit, poised to unleash a thunderous strike, abruptly froze!

Its body of condensed starlight rippled faintly. Its hollow "gaze" fixed on the flowing diagram, as though it had seen something inconceivable.

"...That trajectory... is... the 'Sky-Patrolling Path'... how... do you know it?!"

Its fluctuations of intent grew violent, filled with shock and... a trace of bewilderment.

Ye Chen understood. Just as he had suspected, the Star Map was closely connected to Starfall Hall. It might even be one of the cores of its legacy!

He dispersed the starlight diagram at his fingertips and looked calmly at the Hall Spirit. "Can we talk now?"

The Hall Spirit remained silent for a moment. The terrifying stellar power gathered around it slowly receded, and its icy killing intent faded with it. It "looked" at Ye Chen, a complex emotion threading through its intent:

"You possess part of a 'Star Key' and know the 'Sky-Patrolling Path'... are you... an heir to the 'Observers'? Or... a new 'variable'?"

It seemed to be trying to confirm something.

Ye Chen neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, he asked, "Who were the 'Observers'? What were you observing here? And what was the 'great calamity' you recorded?"

The Hall Spirit fell silent again. Its starlight body flickered, as though it were searching a vast and chaotic store of memories.

Only after a long while did its fragmented intent sound again:

"Memories... severely... missing... know only... observe stellar trajectories across myriad realms... record anomalous fluctuations... provide warning... of the 'Return to Ruins Tide'..."

"The Return to Ruins Tide?" Ye Chen caught the unfamiliar term.

"...The end of everything... the final destination of all things... where the tide reaches... stars perish... worlds collapse..."

The Hall Spirit's voice carried an instinctive fear.

"The last 'tide'... in distant antiquity... most Observers... perished... Starfall Hall... damaged... records... interrupted..."

Ye Chen and Lin Qingxue exchanged a glance, each seeing the gravity in the other's eyes. This "Return to Ruins Tide" sounded like a periodic, destructive cosmic catastrophe! And Starfall Hall had been established by mighty figures of antiquity to observe it and provide warning!

The revelation was utterly horrifying!

"The Sacred Emperor Palace is searching for Star Keys to open Starfall Hall. What exactly are they after?" Lin Qingxue could not help asking.

The Hall Spirit turned toward her. "...An orthodox 'Star Key'... can open the core... obtain... what our predecessors left behind... methods to resist the 'tide'... or... an inheritance..."

It paused, its intent sweeping over Ye Chen. "...An unorthodox 'Star Key'... similar aura... but... different in essence... access... restricted..."

Ye Chen understood. What the Sacred Emperor Palace held might be an orthodox key or token left behind by the ancient "Observers." The Nameless Fragment pieces he had collected shared the same origin, but their provenance might be more complicated. They were not the "orthodox" key recognized by this hall, so his access was insufficient.

"How can I obtain full access? Or how can I open the core?" Ye Chen asked directly.

The Hall Spirit pointed toward an inconspicuous recess in the center of the altar.

"...Gather... the fragments... complete the 'Star Map'... or... use force... break the restrictions..."

It had given him two paths. Either find all the fragments and complete the Star Map to gain full access, or use absolute strength to forcibly break this place's core restrictions!

Ye Chen's gaze swept over the recess, and he sensed the still-incomplete Star Map in his sea of consciousness. He had yet to gather all the fragments. Forcing his way through the restrictions was not what he wanted; it would cause too much commotion and might destroy important information within.

It seemed finding the remaining fragments was still his most urgent task.

"Besides this place, are there other 'observation stations,' or locations where fragments might be found?" Ye Chen changed his question.

The Hall Spirit fell silent again, seemingly struggling to remember. Starlight churned violently within its body. After a long while, it finally transmitted an extremely blurred, incomplete mental image in broken pulses.

In that image, several points of light seemed to flicker in boundless darkness. One of the brighter points faintly outlined an immense tree, radiating a tremendous aura of life. Another displayed a pure, cold metallic quality...

"...Our fellows... have all... fallen silent... coordinates... lost... only... the Ancient Land of Life... eternal divine gold... may hold... clues..."

The image shattered, and the Hall Spirit's light dimmed considerably. Clearly, recalling it had consumed a great deal of its power.

"The Ancient Land of Life... eternal divine gold..." Ye Chen silently committed those two key terms to memory. They might be crucial clues to finding the next fragment.

"Thank you." Ye Chen nodded to the Hall Spirit. Though the information remained incomplete, he now had a clear direction.

The Hall Spirit swayed faintly, and one final message came through its intent:

"...The 'Return to Ruins Tide'... its cycle... draws near... time... is short..."

"...Beware... the 'Keepers'... they... dislike... variables..."

As its words faded, the Hall Spirit slowly dissolved, turning back into pure starlight and merging into the altar. The platform returned to its former silence. Only the lingering, mournful bell continued to echo tirelessly.

Ye Chen stood where he was, digesting the information he had just received.

The Return to Ruins Tide—a periodic catastrophe that destroyed the cosmos?

The Observers—ancient pioneers who fought against that catastrophe?

The Keepers—mysterious beings who obstructed the search for truth?

The Ancient Land of Life, eternal divine gold—clues to the next fragment?

All of it pointed toward a far greater, far more dangerous truth.

He glanced at the central altar. Now was not the time to force it open.

"Let's go."

He turned and led Lin Qingxue, her heart surging with emotion, and the silent Mo Yu away from the platform of Starfall Hall, which bore secrets spanning countless ages.

Their journey through the Fallen Star Sea seemed to have reached its end, but in truth, it had lifted the curtain on something far more sweeping and tumultuous. The road ahead was growing clearer—and more perilous.