A massive Night-Luminescent Pearl hung high beneath the dome of the Council Hall on Magnetic Essence Mountain. Its cool radiance cascaded down like a waterfall, illuminating every minute detail of the star chart at the center.
The three-dimensional star chart, formed from clusters of magnetic essence crystals, rotated slowly. The contours of the Chaotic Star Sea rose and shifted within its halo, like a wheel of fate turned by an invisible, enormous hand. Silence filled the hall; even the air seemed frozen. Only the occasional faint hum of the crystal clusters broke it, like the sigh of a distant tide.
Han Li and Zi Ling stood side by side below the dais, their robes motionless in the faint currents of spiritual power as they awaited Grand Elder Xing Xuanzi's orders.
"Though the Inverse Star Alliance has withdrawn for now, its covert agents entwine the islands like vines, their roots already deep." The star patterns on Xing Xuanzi's gray robes flickered as he spoke. His gaze swept over them, still as an ancient well. "Strong as the Star Palace is, we must divide our forces to maintain control. Han Li."
Han Li stepped forward, his toes touching the bluestone paving without stirring a speck of dust. With both hands, he accepted the ice-blue Jade Slip Xing Xuanzi offered. The jade radiated a bone-piercing chill, its surface crazed with patterns like the year-round frozen earth of Cold Moon Island. A distinctive, intensely cold water-origin spiritual power flowed through those fine lines.
"You primarily cultivate the water-magnetic path, and your Life-Bound Magic Treasure, the Water-Magnetic Sword, already possesses the might of a mid-grade spirit artifact. Cold Moon Island is precisely where you should go." Xing Xuanzi tapped the Jade Slip, and a three-dimensional map of Cold Moon Island unfolded in its radiance.
The