The Inheritance

Two days later, runes enveloped Yun Ying, their strands shimmering like starlight, dazzling and brilliant.

Behind her, a starry sky unfurled. Countless stars shone, divine light flowed, and boundless stellar power cascaded down, gathering around Yun Ying until it engulfed her like a cocoon of light, transcendent and otherworldly.

Beside her, the old man watched in astonishment. "What extraordinary comprehension. I thought grasping even a thread of the true meaning would be impressive, yet she actually touched its source."

The old man wielded the Star Art, so what he comprehended was naturally the great Way of the Stars.

That Runes was the core Runes of the Star Art, containing a thread of the old man's insight into the Way of the Stars. The threshold for understanding it was extremely high, yet Yun Ying had actually unraveled it.

Hum!

A pulse of energy emerged. Starlight gathered behind Yun Ying, and runes coalesced as a pair of wings slowly formed, crystalline azure and composed entirely of runes, radiating boundless starlight.

The starlight was blinding. Those azure wings seemed cast from crystal, their runes vast as a sea. Stars glittered within them as they unleashed astonishing pulses of power.

Suddenly, the wings fluttered gently, and limitless starlight erupted, shooting in every direction and piercing through everything.

"Hahaha, what a remarkable little girl! She even comprehended my Star Wings!"

The old man burst into laughter, once again stunned by Yun Ying's comprehension. She had actually seized upon his technique from a mere thread of his insight. It was astounding.

Immediately afterward, a sword's ringing cry sounded. The runes on Yun Ying blazed with light and began to change, developing a keen edge.

The runes that had originally resembled stars also began transforming into swords. Even so, their starlight remained brilliant, growing fiercer still as it fused with that sharpness and became even more powerful.

Every Runes underwent a transformation, taking the shape of a sword. Before long, the change was complete.

At that moment, astonishing Sword Dao sharpness erupted from Yun Ying, tearing through the void. The Star Wings behind her also changed, resembling two heavenly swords formed from gathered starlight, their keen edges rippling with power.

Watching this transformation, the old man marveled. "Such pure Sword Dao sharpness. She is truly a born prodigy of the sword."

"On the path of the Sword Dao, that one among the Ten Fiends stood supreme. Sadly, that one... If this child does not fall along the way, perhaps she will have a chance to reach such heights."

The old man was thoroughly won over by Yun Ying's talent. Though she was still so young and her cultivation so low, her potential was immeasurably great.

Before long, the sky full of starlight dispersed. Yun Ying opened her eyes, rose, and bowed to the old man. "Thank you, senior."

Now, she also understood the truth behind this trial.

"There is no need to thank me. If I were still alive, I would truly wish to take you as my disciple. Unfortunately, I left the world of the living long ago."

The old man shook his head.

After a pause, he continued, "I cultivated the Way of the Stars, and the only thing I have worth offering is the Star Art. I know your heart is set on the Sword Dao, so you may do as you please with this Star Art. You may even pass it on to others."

As he spoke, the old man pointed a finger, sending a strand of starlight into the center of Yun Ying's brow. An imprint immediately appeared in her mind: the complete Star Art.

"Thank you, senior."

Yun Ying bowed once more.

"Very well. You have passed my trial, so the special inheritance within that palace is naturally yours as well. Go."

The old man smiled with easy grace and swept his sleeve. Light flashed before Yun Ying's eyes, and she returned to reality.

She looked over. The two stone beasts seemed to be nothing more than ordinary sculptures, without anything special about them, while the doors of the palace before her now stood open.

Yun Ying entered the palace and saw a pool of blood at its center. The blood was bright crimson and crystalline, suffused with powerful divine energy.

Beside the blood pool stood a stone platform, upon which lay an ancient beast-hide scroll.

Yun Ying walked over, picked up the scroll, and unfurled it. Surprise involuntarily surfaced on her lovely face.

"A secret method for refining the bloodline."

Without a doubt, the beast-hide scroll was the special inheritance the old man had mentioned. It recorded a secret method concerning the bloodline, one that could continually refine and transform it, fully unleashing its latent potential.

However, the stronger the bloodline, the harder it would be to refine, and the more rounds of refinement it would require. As long as one continued refining it according to the secret method, the bloodline's most fundamental power would awaken.

Putting away the beast-hide scroll, Yun Ying turned to the blood pool beside her.

The old man had left this pool behind. Its divine blood had been treated to dissolve all killing intent and even the laws of the divine path, leaving only the purest divine essence.

The old man had left this divine blood to help whoever obtained the inheritance practice the secret method of bloodline refinement.

Yun Ying considered for a moment, then slowly stepped into the blood pool and began circulating the secret method.

In an instant, the bright crimson pool began to churn, engulfing Yun Ying. A vivid red cocoon of blood formed, and vast amounts of divine essence poured into it.

Half a month later, the divine blood in the pool had vanished, leaving only a dark red blood cocoon.

Crack!

With a faint sound, cracks appeared across the dark red cocoon, spreading like a spiderweb until it shattered completely.

An exquisite figure quietly stepped out. Her purple hair gleamed, and her eyes were like jade, deep and beautiful. Her purple robes rippled softly, while her flawless body was shrouded in divine radiance, stirring the imagination.

With graceful, measured steps, Yun Ying walked outside the palace and bowed to it. Then she looked at the two pale blue bells hanging beside its doors.

She lightly raised her delicate hand. A strand of runic light bloomed, and stellar power flowed around the two bells before lifting them down.

These two bells were divine artifacts the old man had forged from heavenly star stone. Whoever received the inheritance could take them away and wield them after ritually refining them.

With the pale blue bells in hand, Yun Ying did not refine them immediately, but put them away instead.

After one final glance at the palace, Yun Ying turned and left, swiftly disappearing into the distance.

Once Yun Ying had departed, the palace rapidly dimmed, as though it had endured the scouring of countless years in a single instant, taking on an air of antiquity and decay.

Not long afterward, Yun Xi entered a passage leading to other areas.

"Yun Xi probably went to the Hundred Herb Garden. I wonder how things are going there."

Yun Ying spoke softly.

The Hundred Herb Garden was said to have been the medicinal garden of the ancient gods, planted with countless spirit herbs and even containing the Immortality Divine Spring. However, a mysterious field enveloped it. Those without powerful bodies could hardly enter, and neither runes nor treasured artifacts could be used there.

Several hundred years ago, beings from the Primordial Sacred Mountain had entered the Hundred Herb Garden and seen the pool of the Immortality Divine Spring, but they had failed to obtain any of its water, because the closer they came to the pool, the greater the pressure became.

Even for Pureblood Creatures, approaching that place was far from easy.