Chapter Sixty-Six: Stars Within the Claw (Part One)

“Open it, open it.”

Within the crystalline lake of spiritual energy, thin mists drifted, and in the heart of the white-clouded grand hall, Lu Han’s fevered whispers echoed. A vast quantity of origin pills burned furiously, transforming into surging essence that thundered toward the third portal above the divine shrine.

Upon the Celestial Gate, violet light flickered, wavering uncertainly, showing faint signs of opening.

“Not enough.”

Half an incense stick later, Lu Han’s brow furrowed.

Although the violet Celestial Gate showed traces of loosening, to fully open it would require an even greater stimulus.

He pondered briefly, hesitated for a long time, then a ruthless glint flickered in his sinister eyes. His withered palm opened, and out of thin air appeared a dark golden Oblivion Talisman.

Upon this Oblivion Talisman were inscribed twelve sharp lines—just one short of the legendary Thirteen-Seal Divine Talisman!

“If I can blast open the third Celestial Gate, I’ll have no use for this talisman! Better to sacrifice it and exchange it for the third true spirit!”

Lu Han narrowed his eyes. Flames of Rebellion surged in his hand, engulfing the twelve-seal Oblivion Talisman in fierce light, then he cast it into the violet-blue divine shrine.

A searing hiss arose as the talisman was consumed. The third Celestial Gate upon the shrine flared with violet brilliance and underwent violent transformation.

The gate’s mysterious markings seemed to come alive, spiritual power flooding forth. The dark golden talisman, as the offering, rapidly faded, its sharp lines twisting and dissolving.

At the same time, the shrine’s Celestial Gate trembled; the previously imperceptible gap between the doors slowly widened.

“It works! The Oblivion Talisman contains potent Dao marks and talisman spirit—far more stimulating than any gentle origin pill.”

Seeing this, Lu Han burst out laughing. To him, sacrificing a twelve-seal talisman for greater empowerment from the shrine was a worthy exchange.

“Hm? Still not enough?”

His laughter soon faded. He watched as the talisman was more than half-consumed, yet the third Celestial Gate had only opened a quarter of the way.

At this rate, he might need to offer up two or three more twelve-seal talismans.

At the thought, Lu Han’s face twitched with pain. He had already nearly exhausted his life’s savings to open the first two gates.

“I’ll have to refine it slowly now.”

His expression darkened. He had no more twelve-seal talismans to spare—such high-grade talismans were rare even in the entire Star Realm, possessed only by the Star Core and a handful of ancient cultivation clans.

Suddenly, the world outside shuddered.

“What’s happening?”

Lu Han’s face changed. The grand hall trembled violently. An unimaginable force swept down from the sky—not merely targeting this place, but affecting a region spanning millions of miles.

Thunder rumbled.

Heaven and earth convulsed. Fierce winds roared, overturning the surface; the very atmosphere of Old Turbid Star seemed to boil and surge.

“What’s going on?”

At that moment, the Starfiends of the Evil Bandit Crew were seized by terror.

Those enjoying their feast and wine looked up in astonishment.

When their divine sense swept out, all were dumbstruck. Across the land of Old Turbid Star, mountain peaks were blown into the sky, the solid earth torn open by gales, revealing ravines hundreds of feet deep.

Lu Han’s band of evil, forged through countless campaigns, was made up of elites. There were over two hundred Starfiends at the King level, with several thousand more at the eighth or ninth transformation of the Mortal Spirit tier—a force not to be underestimated.

But now, everyone’s scalp tingled, even the King-tier experts, as if doomsday clouds pressed down upon them.

“Lu Han! Come out!”

“Starfiend Lu Han, show yourself!”

“Come out! Come out! Come out!”

The howling winds died. A magnificent golden celestial ship, imposing in its grandeur, pierced the battered atmosphere and hovered above Old Turbid Star.

A clear, youthful voice rang out, echoing long in the air.

A formidable enemy had arrived!

Instantly, Lu Han’s face turned grim, both shocked and perplexed.

Three centuries ago, he had reported the existence of two Third Realm super-cores in this star system to that lord, who then veiled the spatial nodes here with supreme power.

Lu Han, as the super-core’s guardian, used this hidden star system as his refuge, thriving while even the Star Realm’s authority could do nothing to destroy him.

Yet today, outsiders had breached the secret!

Waves surged in Lu Han’s heart.

The spatial node’s location was extremely covert—he had never told anyone; only he knew it.

There were only two possibilities: either the intruder had stumbled upon the node by chance, or possessed vast abilities to perceive voids across a great expanse.

Cold sweat beaded on Lu Han’s brow. Instinct told this mighty Starfiend it was the latter; the former was virtually impossible.

The Frozen Furnace Ruin Belt was unimaginably vast. Finding that spatial node by luck was nearly impossible. Besides, nothing had happened here for over three centuries.

Why today?

“Let’s hope their strength doesn’t exceed the Severance-Reversal tier. Yes, I must inform the lord at once!” A cold gleam flashed in Lu Han’s eyes. He was merely the caretaker; once the super-core completed its transformation, the lord would come to reap the fruit.

During this period, should anything go awry, it was his duty to notify the lord immediately.

But after three centuries of peace, it had slipped his mind.

“Quick! Hurry!”

“Inform the lord!”

In desperate haste, Lu Han produced a jade token, and as he did, he extended his senses outside, glimpsing the splendid celestial treasure ship.

The sight nearly shattered his soul.

A celestial treasure! It was a celestial treasure!

Even the artifact spirit alone was a Severance-Reversal master—then what of the figure standing upon the deck? Lu Han trembled in terror, not daring to speculate further.

Doomed, doomed, doomed.

Destroying a Star Core’s authority had drawn forth such a powerful figure—indeed, he had grown far too ostentatious of late.

Seizing the moment before the intruder made a move, Lu Han shrank within the hall, urgently channeling spiritual energy into the jade token—far more than necessary, but fear had overwhelmed his caution.

“Xiao Han…”

After a long while, a languid voice sounded within the hall.

A phantom of an elderly man in white, haloed with radiant light, appeared. He bore a goatee, white hair, the visage of youthful immortality, and a celestial air. At the center of his brow, a golden glow shimmered indistinctly.

“Master Crane, save me!”

Lu Han’s eyes flushed red, as if seizing his last lifeline, and he cried out in desperation.

“Don’t panic. Compose yourself. You are, after all, a Severance-Reversal cultivator—how can you lose your nerve like this? Do not lose your composure in a crisis.” The goateed elder smiled faintly.

“My lord, someone has arrived in a celestial ship, crossing the spatial node in the Frozen Furnace Ruin Belt, intruding upon the star system I guard for you!” Lu Han reported tersely.

“Hmm…” The elder frowned. “A celestial ship? This visitor is no ordinary figure, I suspect. You haven’t leaked news of the super-core, have you?”

Lu Han cursed the old fox inwardly; clearly, the elder cared only for his long-awaited super-core, and as for Lu Han’s own fate—it mattered little.

Yet he dared not reveal the slightest hint of emotion.

For this elder was a Lord of Light, far surpassing Severance-Reversal, one who had comprehended the mysteries of Light and shared in the eternal lifespan of the cosmos itself! Even the lords of the major cultivation domains would show him due respect!