From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 459 The Core Secret Begins to Be Revealed

The soft glow of the jade bricks seeped up from the tips of the shoes, like a living stream.

I gripped the scorching bronze fragment tightly, feeling the subtle spiritual energy seeping from its patterns, seeping into my palm through my fingers.

Xiao Tao's hands were sweaty in my palms, and Wang Erniu's breastplate made a soft clanging sound at his waist—we followed the lingering notes of the zither, moving step by step into the hall, until the jade beneath our feet suddenly vibrated with a "hum".

When I looked up, I almost bumped into a snow-white wide sleeve.

He was a man dressed in a moon-white Taoist robe, with a jade crown tied in his hair. His features were like distant mountains washed by morning mist. He was staring at me with his eyes downcast, his gaze like the moonlight in a deep pool.

His appearance was so sudden that Ling Feng didn't even have time to draw his sword—the once empty center of the hall now had a white jade platform. He stood on the platform with his hands behind his back, and seven bronze lamps floated at his feet, their wicks alive, spitting out eerie blue flames.

“You are…” I took a half step back, blocking Xiao Tao behind me.

“Ethereal.” As he spoke, the seven lamps flickered on and off simultaneously. “At the heart of this hall lies the true meaning left behind when an ancient star fell.”

Over the past century, 803 people have tried, and you are the seventeenth to reach this point.

Ling Feng's sword rang out: "Since you are guarding this ruin, you should know that we are not here to destroy it."

"Destruction?" The ethereal immortal's fingertip brushed across the lamps, and the leftmost one suddenly exploded into a cloud of black mist. "They want the inheritance, you want the secret—essentially, it's all greed." Half a human face emerged from the black mist; it was the rogue cultivator who had died in the trap, grinning at me with bloodied lips. "But what can truly uncover the secret is not greed, but one's true nature."

Before he finished speaking, the jade bricks beneath my feet suddenly collapsed.

It wasn't a physical collapse; it was an illusion.

Wang Erniu suddenly transformed into the Blood Demon Old Man before me, brandishing a blood-stained dagger and lunging at Xiao Tao; blood seeped from Zhou Xianzi's handkerchief, dripping onto the ground and transforming into a blue-faced, ghostly hand; even Ling Feng's sword changed direction, its tip pressed against my throat, his eyes bloodshot: "Hand over the bronze fragment, or I'll kill you."

"This is an illusion!" I bit my tongue, and the taste of blood exploded in my mouth.

The pain blurred her vision for a moment, but when she opened her eyes again, Wang Erniu was punching the air with a flushed face, Xiao Tao was screaming while holding her head, and Zhou Xianzi was clutching her handkerchief tightly in her hand, but her nails were almost digging into her palm.

Ling Feng's sword was still in its sheath. At this moment, he was kneeling on one knee, blood seeping from his forehead, clearly fighting against the illusion.

“If you have an obsession, you will be trapped by it.” The ethereal immortal’s voice came from all directions. “The rain of arrows tested the ruthlessness to break the deadlock, while this illusion tested the composure to guard the heart.”

If one cannot even uphold one's own Dao heart, how can one bear the true meaning of Starfall?

I gripped the bronze fragment tightly, so hot I almost let go.

The star map patterns on the fragment suddenly lit up, casting a pale golden light into my palm, like a fine needle piercing my chaotic mind—memories suddenly surged: the cold nights I spent copying ancient books in the library before my transmigration, the tears I shed in the woodshed when I was ridiculed as a "good-for-nothing" after arriving in the cultivation world, and Wen Chen's soft "Here you go" when he first handed me the healing pill.

“What I want is not inheritance,” I shouted into the void, my voice shattered by the wails and howls of the illusion. “What I want is to understand why I, who transmigrated here, am carrying this fragment; why the star map of this ruin is exactly the same as the star map I saw in my previous life; what I want… is the truth.”

The bronze fragments suddenly burst forth with a scorching light.

The Bloodthirsty Old Man, the Green-Faced Ghost Hand, and Ling Feng's "killing moves" in the illusion vanished simultaneously. Xiao Tao threw herself into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Wang Erniu wiped his face, the breastplate clattering loudly in his arms: "Damn it, I just saw my mother, and she said I stole the eggs she boiled..."

"Your Dao heart is evident." The ethereal immortal's voice finally warmed as he raised his hand to recall the seven lamps. "You have passed the first test—"

Wait!

The shout was like a thunderclap splitting the roof of the palace.

As I turned my head, the Blood Demon Elder emerged from the shadows of the palace gate. Half of his face was wrapped in blood-stained gauze, while the other half was covered with bluish-black veins. He carried a bone knife dripping with black blood in his hand. Behind him followed a man in a black cloak, his face hidden in the shadows, except for a pair of eyes that were as red as burning coals—it was the Netherworld Ghost King. I had seen his portrait in ancient books, and I was certain of the skull mark on his forehead.

"What a cunning old man guarding this treasure." The Blood Fiend Elder licked his bone knife. "I've been chasing these ruins for three hundred years; how can I let a little girl reap the rewards?"

The Netherworld King's cloak billowed without wind, and with a wave of his hand, a vast expanse of ghostly mist surged into the hall: "The true meaning of Starfall can help me break through to the Ghost Immortal realm; no one can stop me."

The ethereal immortal's robes billowed without wind. He made a hand seal, and seven bronze lamps suddenly rose, transforming into seven swords of light hovering above his head: "This is a sacred place; how dare you act so recklessly?"

Amidst the deafening roar of the lightsaber colliding with the ghostly mist, I saw the Blood Fiend Elder's bone blade slash towards the back of the Ethereal Immortal—he had actually used the Soul Splitting Technique!

Meanwhile, the ghostly mist of the Netherworld King had already enveloped the base of the white jade platform and was gnawing at the ancient runes on the pillars.

"Senior sister!" Xiao Tao's hand trembled as she tugged at my sleeve. "What do we do?"

I looked at the bronze fragments still burning hot in my palm, and then at my companions who were entangled in the ghostly mist—Ling Feng was swinging his sword to cut through the ghostly mist, but was being forced to retreat by the Blood Fiend Elder's Soul Splitting Technique; Wang Erniu was holding up his breastplate to smash the ghostly hand, and a crack had already appeared on the breastplate; Fairy Zhou was chanting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, but her handkerchief had long been stained gray-black by the ghostly mist.

To make matters worse, the spiritual energy I had used up when breaking the illusion hadn't recovered yet. I tried to form a spirit-gathering spell, but my dantian felt painfully empty.

"Step back behind me." I pulled Xiaotao closer to my chest, the bronze fragments pressed against my skin, burning it. "Hold on, there's always a way..."

"Miss Xiao!"

The voice of the Azure Lotus Fairy suddenly came from the ghostly mist.

I looked up and saw her standing at the palace gate, holding the jade bracelet with fine cracks in her arms.

Her hair was mostly disheveled, and her skirt was stained with blood, but her eyes were surprisingly bright—she raised her hand and pressed it on the jade bracelet, and a pale blue light seeped out from the cracks in the bracelet, like a thin snake slithering into the ghostly mist.

The ghostly mist paused, showing signs of dissipating.

"I...my master said this jade bracelet is a remnant of the spirit-guiding array's core." The Azure Lotus Fairy's voice trembled. She pressed the bracelet again, and the light within the cracks brightened slightly. "Perhaps it...it can help you..."

Before she could finish speaking, the ghostly mist of the Netherworld King suddenly surged and enveloped her ankles.

She gasped and fell, the jade bracelet rolling to my feet—the light in the crack dimmed, as if extinguished by something.

I bent down to pick up the jade bracelet, and I could feel the residual spiritual energy inside flowing away from my palm.

When he looked up, the Blood Fiend Elder's bone knife had already cleaved in front of the Void Immortal, and the Netherworld Ghost King's ghostly mist was gnawing at the last pillar.

And we are still trapped in this ever-thickening ghost fog.

The exclamation of the Azure Lotus Fairy was like a fine needle piercing my eardrum.

I saw the ghost claws gleaming with a bluish-black light, no more than three inches from her throat—blood beads were already seeping from her neck, like a string of broken coral adorning her collarbone.

"Xiao Qing!" I called her by her nickname, which she had asked me to call her by the campfire the day before yesterday.

The jade bracelet throbbed violently in my palm, the remaining spiritual energy rushing along the veins to my fingertips. I remembered her saying when she handed me the jade bracelet, "My master said this is the eye of the spirit-guiding array," and I remembered the warmth of her fingers when she bandaged Xiao Tao.

A sweet jasmine scent suddenly wafted from the ghostly mist; it was from the sachet on her wrist. I tightened my grip on the jade bracelet.

The bronze fragment burned a red mark on his chest, and the heat suddenly seeped into the crack of the jade bracelet.

With a "crack," the jade bracelet burst forth with a blinding blue light from its crack, like a sharp blade cleaving through the ghostly mist.

The Ghost King's claws sizzled as they were burned by the azure light. He screamed and withdrew his hand, and the ghostly mist was torn open, creating a passage wide enough for one person.

"Grab me!" I lunged forward and grabbed Qinglian Fairy's wrist. Her hand was as cold as ice, and her wrist bones hurt me terribly.

A muffled roar came from behind: "Damn it, look at Grandpa's protective mirror!" He raised the cracked protective mirror and smashed it at the Blood Fiend Elder's divided soul. The protective mirror hit the bone knife and sparks flew. The divided soul was shaken and became a little weaker.

Xiao Tao huddled behind a pillar, stuffing the Spirit Gathering Pill I gave her into her mouth. Tears streamed down her face, but she kept chanting, "Go, Senior Sister! Senior Sister is the best!"

Ling Feng's sword finally pierced through the ghostly mist.

His robes were stained gray-black by ghostly energy, and a drop of blood from his forehead dripped onto the sword blade, only intensifying its light: "Miss Xiao, I'll hold off that old Blood Fiend!" Before he finished speaking, he spun around and thrust at the Blood Fiend's throat—the gauze on half of the old man's face was ripped off by the sword energy, revealing the rotting flesh beneath, yet he still laughed: "Little brat, didn't your master teach you that the Soul Splitting Technique is most afraid of..."

"It's fire!" Fairy Qinglian suddenly grabbed my arm.

She pulled out a glass bottle at some point, filled with a dark red liquid. "This is the Crimson Flame Dew that my master refined!" She uncorked the bottle, and the liquid splashed onto the ghostly mist, causing orange flames to rise. The ghostly mist dissipated upon contact with the fire, and even burned a hole in the Netherworld Ghost King's black cloak.

He clutched his chest and stepped back. The skull mark dimmed slightly, finally revealing his true face: a man with sunken eyes, bluish lips, and lividity covering his left cheek.

Before we could even breathe a sigh of relief, a muffled sound came from the direction of the ethereal immortal.

When I turned my head, three of his seven bronze lamps were broken, and the remaining four lightsabers were barely holding off the ghostly mist of the Netherworld King.

The Blood Fiend Elder's true form had somehow appeared behind him, dripping black blood from his bone blade onto the white jade platform, corroding a charred pit: "Old man, this treasure you've guarded for hundreds of years, today I'll untie you!"

"Watch out!" I shouted, but it was too late.

The Blood Demon Elder's bone knife struck the star map in the center of the white jade platform, and the star map suddenly emitted a blinding white light, as if someone had struck a thunderclap from behind the clouds.

The ghostly mist of the Netherworld Ghost King was dispersed by the white light. He staggered and crashed into a pillar in the palace, spitting out black blood. The Blood Fiend Elder's divided soul howled in agony, and his main body was backfired, spitting out purple blood.

Taking advantage of the moment, the ethereal immortal recalled his lightsaber. His robe was torn at the hem, but he managed to regain his footing: "The core seal has been triggered; the protection mechanism has activated."

I stared at the star map in the center of the white jade platform—the spot where I had just been struck by the bone knife. A rotating light array emerged, with a crystal ball floating at the array's core, its interior swirling with starlight.

The light made the bronze fragments in my palm burn, so hot that I could barely hold them.

The fragment of the book "The Book of Fallen Stars" from the library of my past life suddenly became clear in my mind: "The true meaning of fallen stars is hidden in crystals; those who hold the fragments will see their true nature."

"It's a core secret!" Xiao Tao's voice trembled as she pointed to the crystal ball, "Inside...there are so many stars flying around inside!"

Wang Erniu rubbed his eyes: "Damn it, those stars look just like the night sky back home!"

The Azure Lotus Fairy gently touched the back of my hand with her fingers: "Miss Xiao, your fragment..."

I looked down at my palm—the patterns on the bronze fragments were flashing in sync with the star trails inside the crystal ball, like two torn maps finally being pieced together.

The ethereal immortal approached, his moon-white Daoist robe stained with blood, yet he smiled gently: "It seems you are the one who holds the fragment."

"The senior said before that 803 people had tried." My throat tightened. "Why me?"

“Because what you want is not inheritance.” He raised his hand, and the light from the crystal ball fell into his palm. “Those people before wanted cultivation techniques, magic treasures, and immortality.”

Only you want the truth.

The Blood Demon Elder suddenly let out a roar like a trapped beast.

He clutched his chest wound, his bone knife planted in the ground for support, black blood dripping from the blade into the cracks between the bricks: "Impossible... I've been chasing her for three hundred years, how could I possibly lose to a little girl!"

The Netherworld Ghost King wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth, and the skull mark lit up again: "How dare you lay a finger on my opportunity to break through to the Ghost Immortal realm?"

They pounced at the same time.

Ling Feng's sword met Blood Fiend Elder's bone knife, and the sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the hall; Fairy Qinglian threw out the remaining Crimson Flame Dew, which exploded into a wall of fire at the feet of the Netherworld Ghost King; Wang Erniu raised the Heart-Protecting Mirror and crashed it into the ghostly mist, and golden light seeped out from the cracks on the Heart-Protecting Mirror—it turned out that it was made of Evil-Repelling Iron, which I had not noticed before.

I gripped the bronze fragment tightly and took a step toward the crystal ball.

The resonance between the fragments and the crystal ball made my fingertips go numb. The scratching sound of the pen on paper when I copied star charts in my past life, the musty smell mixed with the salty taste of tears in the woodshed when I was ridiculed in the cultivation world, the warmth of Wen Chen's knuckles when he handed me the healing pills, all flooded into my mind like a tide.

These fragments pieced together a complete shape in my mind: it turns out that I traveled through time to help this fragment find its place.

"Go!" I let go of her hand.

The bronze fragments transformed into golden rays that shot towards the crystal ball, embedding themselves into the array's core with a "ding".

The crystal ball suddenly burst forth with light brighter than the sun. I instinctively closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, an image appeared inside the crystal ball:

On the night of the ancient starfall, an immortal dressed in a moon-white Taoist robe stood amidst the star rain, holding in his hand a bronze fragment identical to mine.

He chuckled softly at the sky: "So, what transcends time and space isn't just the stars, but also the heart that seeks the truth."

As the image faded, I heard the ethereal immortal sigh: "These are the memories left behind by the Starfall Immortal."

It turns out, he had been waiting for someone... who wanted to know 'why'.

The attacks from the Blood Fiend Elder and the Netherworld Ghost King suddenly weakened.

Their spells collided with the light array like pebbles hitting a lake, only creating ripples.

The Netherworld Ghost King's skull mark went completely dark. He glared at me venomously before vanishing into ghostly mist. The Blood Fiend Old Man spat out blood, cursing as he dragged his bone knife away, kicking Wang Erniu's breastplate before he left: "Little girl, I'll be back!"

"Let them go." The ethereal immortal stopped Ling Feng, who was about to give chase. "Now that the core secret has been revealed, they will have no courage to attack again."

I reached out and touched the crystal ball.

A chill crept into his veins from his fingertips, and countless pieces of information flooded his mind: the legacy of the Starfall Immortal, the mission of the transmigrator, the origin of the bronze fragments... But the clearest of all was the sentence: "At the end of the truth lies an even greater truth."

Xiao Tao tugged at my sleeve: "Senior sister, why are you crying?"

That's when I realized my face was all wet.

It turns out that knowing "why" brings more peace of mind than obtaining any magic weapon.

The Fairy Qinglian handed me a handkerchief, her new one embroidered with jasmine; Wang Erniu patted his breastplate, the golden light within its cracks still shimmering; Ling Feng sheathed his sword and smiled at me: "Miss Xiao, shouldn't we go and explore the deeper secrets now?"

The ethereal immortal resuspended the seven bronze lamps beside the platform, their pale blue flames gently licking the lamp walls: "The seal on the Starfall True Meaning has only just opened a crack for you."

I gazed at the galaxy flowing within the crystal ball and gripped the hand of the Azure Lotus Fairy tightly.

Xiao Tao rested her head on my shoulder, Wang Erniu's breastplate clinked softly against my waist, and Ling Feng's sword sheath brushed against my sleeve—these warmth and sounds were more precious than any secret.

“Then let’s keep going,” I said to the starlight in the crystal ball. “Whatever lies ahead, I’ll find out.”

(The curses of the Blood Fiend Elder, mixed with the shrieks of the Netherworld Ghost King, came from afar and gradually disappeared outside the palace.)

The crystal ball shone even brighter, as if in response to my words.