Inside the council hall of the Jade Void Palace, candlelight flickered, stretching everyone's shadows long and distorted. Sect Leader Xuanjizi stroked his snow-white beard, his piercing gaze fixed on the starlight circulating around Lin Wudao. "You say a Devil Master from High Antiquity was hidden within the Star Palace, and his Primordial Spirit has not been destroyed?"
Lin Wudao knelt on one knee and said gravely, "That's right. The dark red light the Devil Master left behind as he escaped resonated with the restrictions deep within the Star Palace. This disciple suspects he has already found the key to rebuilding his physical body." He opened his palm. A star-patterned fragment tainted with Devil Qi radiated faint heat on the table. "This fragment broke off during the battle. The presence within it is exactly the same as that in the Demon-Sealing Abyss."
Deathly silence fell over the hall. True Person Baixuan suddenly slammed the table and rose. "Outrageous! The immortals poured their hearts' blood into laying down a double seal back then, and now it has become a breeding ground for that devil?" Before he finished speaking, the Heavenly Mysteries Sect's communication Jade Slip suddenly vibrated, and an anxious voice rang out. "Jade Void Palace, heed this order! The Heavenly Mysteries Sect's scripture pavilion was robbed last night. The Secret Canon of High Antiquity Restrictions vanished without a trace, and the Devil Qi left at the scene is exactly the same as that in the Demon-Sealing Abyss!"
Su Yao's expression changed sharply. "It must be that Devil Master's remaining followers! They want to break the Star Palace's restrictions!" She instinctively tightened her grip on Lin Wudao's sleeve, while the gilded whip behind her gave an uneasy hum.
Xuanjizi rose and paced, the spiritual power stirred by the hem of his robe lifting the star-patterned fragment off the table. "Pass down my orders. All disciples are to enter a level-one state of alert. Lin Wudao, you and the Holy Maiden will leave for the Heavenly Mysteries Sect immediately to assist the investigation. Su Yao will remain at the sect and reinforce the mountain-protecting formation." He suddenly paused, sweeping his gaze over everyone. "Also, keep a close watch on those mysterious Ancient Witch Clan cultivators. Their actions during the battle at the Demon-Sealing Abyss were by no means a coincidence."
By the time Lin Wudao and the Holy Maiden reached the Heavenly Mysteries Sect, golden talismans already shrouded the scripture pavilion. Tianxuzi's face was grim. The Xuantian Mirror hovered above the charred remains of the bookshelves, reflecting dozens of bizarre runic trails. "These runes can evade the Heavenly Mysteries Sect's defensive formation." He cast Lin Wudao a cold glance. "They look more like witchcraft designed specifically to counter the Star Palace's restrictions."
The Holy Maiden's jade flute sounded softly. Its sound waves swept over the ground, suddenly stirring up a cloud of dark red mist in a corner. Lin Wudao's pupils abruptly contracted-what appeared within the mist was none other than the Ancient Witch Clan's Blood-Devouring Totem! "It really was them!" He circulated the Power of the Falling Star, and star patterns lit up on his fingertips as he condensed the mist into solid form. "This totem shares its origin with the Blood-Devouring Dragon-Trapping Formation. It seems the Devil Master colluded with the Ancient Witch Clan long ago."
Before he finished speaking, a piercing shriek suddenly rang out in the sky. Twelve blood-colored pillars of light shot upward, weaving together into a vast compass in midair. The phantom Star Palace within Lin Wudao's sea of consciousness trembled violently, and the runes he had once sealed actually began to loosen on their own. "This is bad! They're forcibly pinpointing the palace's coordinates!" He leaped into the air, unleashing a blade of intertwined lightning and fire from the Chaos Sword, only for it to corrode into wisps of smoke the instant it touched a pillar of light.
At the sight, Tianxuzi's Xuantian Mirror burst with ten thousand rays of golden light. "You won't succeed! Heavenly Mysteries Sect sword formation, heed my command!" Thirty-six disciples rode their swords into formation. Sword light cascaded like the Milky Way, crashing into the blood-colored pillars with a thunderous impact. Yet the Ancient Witch Clan cultivators chanted in unison, and a black hole split open at the center of the compass, devouring all the sword formation's power.
Lin Wudao felt the Power of the Falling Star within him rampage out of control. The Devil Master's remnant soul in his sea of consciousness gave a sinister laugh. "Foolish ant. Did you think a seal was so easy to maintain?" Gritting his teeth, he brought forth the Star Spirit-Guiding Formation Diagram, but it cracked inch by inch beneath the blood-colored pressure. At that critical instant, the Holy Maiden's jade flute released a clear, soaring note like a phoenix's cry. Wherever its sound waves passed, the black mist actually began to disperse.
"With my Dao heart, I shall suppress this demonic obstacle!" Immortal Qi surged around the Holy Maiden, and her jade flute became a streak of light that pierced the compass's core. Lin Wudao seized the opening to circulate the Chaos Heaven-Devouring Instruction, devouring every last trace of the dispersing blood-colored power. Amid the excruciating pain, he suddenly discovered a trace of a familiar presence mixed into that power-it was precisely the sealing power left behind by the immortal corpse!
"So the Ancient Witch Clan's witchcraft is breaking the immortal corpse's seal!" A sharp gleam flashed through Lin Wudao's eyes. The Power of the Falling Star and the power of chaos fused with a thunderous surge, condensing into a star-shaped mass of power in his palm. He hurled it at the compass and shouted, "Falling star, return to your place!"
The blood-colored compass exploded at his shout, and the Ancient Witch Clan cultivators flew backward, coughing up blood. But the instant before they vanished, Lin Wudao saw one of them clutching half a Jade Slip engraved with star patterns. The runes on the Jade Slip matched the markings on the palace doors within his sea of consciousness exactly...