Wind poured in through the hole in the roof, scattering the scattered gold pieces wildly. I sat in the corner of the room, still clutching the Pendant Fragment, a sharp edge digging into my palm, the pain bringing me to my senses. Lu Jiuxuan stood beside me, his back to me, a tear in the back of his Battle Robe revealing the Seal on his Heart Area—gold patterns entwined with Blood Filaments, the halo faint, like a dying fire.
He didn't speak again, but I knew he hadn't left.
I looked down at my hand. The Scar on my palm, caused by the burn from the Forbidden Book, had formed a thin scab, but now it had split open, oozing Blood Filaments. The blood wasn't red, but dark, as if mixed with ink. Stranger still, words floated within the wound, dense and twisted, coiling like a Star Track.
I recognized this pattern. I had seen it last night in the Forbidden Book Pavilion when it burned into my flesh.
Only then it was moving, crawling, drilling toward my Heart Meridian. Now it was still, as if paused in place after being Awakened, waiting for me to read it.
I bit my fingertip and smeared the blood around the edge of the wound. As the blood touched the pattern, the entire Star Script suddenly lit up, as if ignited. A "boom" echoed in my mind, and a sentence surfaced:
**"Twin Star Disks can only be opened by Pure Yang Blood."**
I froze.
This wasn't something I thought up, nor something I recalled. It simply appeared directly in my mind, as if someone had recited it right beside my ear, word for word.
I looked up at Lu Jiuxuan. He was still standing, his posture rigid, his right hand gripping the Sword Hilt, his knuckles white.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
He didn't turn around. "Hear what?"
"A sentence." I held up my hand for him to see my palm. "It said the Twin Star Disks can only be opened by Pure Yang Blood."
His shoulder twitched.
Without waiting for his reaction, I pushed off the ground and stood up. My legs were still shaking, and my Meridians felt hollow and panicked, but my mind was clearer than ever. I pulled out the Torn Page of the Xuanmen Secret Art from my sleeve—I had snuck it out of the Forbidden Book Pavilion last night; the edges were scorched, but the text was still legible.
I unfolded the paper, my gaze landing on a line of small annotation:
"The Pure Yang one is born on the day of Tribulation Break, their blood containing Star Fire, capable of igniting the Star Track."
"This blood is not heaven-bestowed, but exchanged with a life sacrifice, Sealed within the soul, awakening once every thirty years."
I stared at that line, my Heartbeat quickening.
The day of Tribulation Break... thirty years... blood sealed in the soul.
I looked up sharply and rushed in front of Lu Jiuxuan, grabbing his wrist.
"Is this about you?" I pressed the Star Script on my palm close to his eyes. "Tell me! Is this you?"
He looked at me, his gaze deep as a well. After a moment, he didn't pull away, nor did he answer. He slowly raised his hand and undid his collar.
The Chest Seal was revealed.
The gold patterns flowed slowly, the halo rippling outward, actually pulsing in sync with the Star Script on my palm. The brighter the pattern glowed, the clearer the sentence in my mind became, repeating over and over:
**"Twin Star Disks can only be opened by Pure Yang Blood."**
"You knew all along." My voice tightened. "You always knew."
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his voice was hoarse: "Thirty years ago, my Father sacrificed his life to obtain this drop of blood. He carved out his heart to extract the fire and sealed it in my soul, saying it was waiting for someone—waiting for someone who could receive the Star Disk."
My fingers trembled.
"So this Seal on your Heart Area isn't just locking my soul?"
"It locks the blood too." He nodded. "Pure Yang Blood is too fierce; ordinary people burn upon contact. Only the Star Gazing Clan Bloodline can bear it, but without the Seal suppressing it, it would burn through my Five Viscera."
I suddenly remembered something and violently pulled up my sleeve.
On the inside of my wrist, the Demonic Power Talisman Seal drawn by Situ Mo had long vanished, but a Purple Mark remained beneath the skin, like a bruise, like a Brand. Now, that Purple Mark was moving, crawling inch by inch toward his Heart Area, as if drawn by something.
I looked up at him: "The Pendant is broken, and Situ Mo said it was the Key... Is the Pure Yang Blood also looking for it?"
Lu Jiuxuan didn't speak, but his expression changed.
I knew I had guessed correctly.
Just then, the Star Script on my palm suddenly grew hot.
It wasn't burning, but hot enough to numb, as if an electric current passed through it. I looked down; blood seeped from the Fissure and followed the pattern, converging in my palm to form an extremely small Talisman Seal—identical to the pattern of the Seal on his Heart Area.
"It's copying it," I murmured.
Lu Jiuxuan reached out to touch it, but as his fingertip brushed the edge of my palm, the Seal shuddered violently.
He grunted and stepped back slightly, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
I panicked: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He raised his hand to wipe the blood away. "It's just... it recognizes you. The Seal is responding to you."
I stared at his Heart Area. The gold patterns were still flashing, but the rhythm was chaotic, as if disturbed by something. I suddenly realized—it wasn't responding to me; I was influencing it.
My blood, my wound, my soul.
They were all pulling it.
I gritted my teeth and slashed my palm again with my hand.
Blood surged out, and I pressed it directly onto the Seal on his Heart Area.
"What are you doing!" He tried to dodge, but I held him fast.
As the blood touched the Seal, the gold patterns burst open in a ring of light. The floor of the entire Side Room shook, and broken bricks jumped half an inch into the air. A "boom" sounded in my mind, and another sentence flashed:
**"Blood opens the Star Disk, the soul returns to its place."**
It wasn't a sound, but words carved into my bones.
I let go and staggered back two steps.
Lu Jiuxuan leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, but he looked at me, his expression changed: "What... what did you do?"
"I don't know." I looked down at my hand. "But I feel... it was mine to begin with."
Before the words faded, a light swept past the window.
It wasn't sunlight, nor moonlight.
It was blue, with a red core, like ghost fire.
I spun around abruptly.
On the window paper, a Shadow was reflected.
Half the face was a Bronze Ghost Mask, the other half covered in charred Scars. In its hand, it held a lamp, the Lamp Flame twisting as if laughing.
Situ Lie.
He had arrived.
I immediately lunged toward the table, snatched the Torn Page of the Xuanmen Secret Art, tore it into Fragments, and stuffed it into the Lamp Flame. The fire roared up, the paper edges curling and blackening. That annotation about "Pure Yang Blood" flashed in the Firelight, then turned to Ashes.
Lu Jiuxuan was already standing in front of me, the Ancient Sword drawn halfway; the cracks on the Sword Body were still visible, but the words "Protect Master" were still glowing.
He didn't turn back, only whispering, "Don't make a sound."
I held my breath; my palm was still hot, the Star Script hadn't faded, but had become clearer. I quietly tucked a Pendant Fragment into my sleeve, pressing it with my fingertip.
Outside the window, the light from the Soul Devouring Lamp moved slowly, sweeping across the wall, sweeping across the hole in the roof, finally stopping where we had just been standing.
No one.
The light paused.
Then, it slowly moved downward, illuminating the ground.
Ashes were still drifting.
A corner of paper that hadn't completely burned was slowly drifting to the floor.
The Lamp Flame jumped violently.
Just then, Lu Jiuxuan moved.
He pushed me back toward the corner with his backhand and stood across me, holding his Ancient Sword horizontally, the Sword Tip pointing directly at the Shadow in the window.
"You've come at the perfect time—"
Before he finished speaking, the window paper burst open with a "snap."
The Lamp Flame surged, reflecting half a Ghost Mask.
I saw that hand lift, fingers spread, reaching toward us.
Lu Jiuxuan's sword also lifted.
A flash of Golden Light erupted from the cracks in the Sword Body.