143: Chapter 143 The Perilous Land Where the Fallen Star Hides Danger

At midnight, deep within the Luoxia Sect, on the teleportation array platform.

The starlight was dim, and mist permeated the air.

Lin Yue and Star Radiance stood side-by-side in the center of the array platform, surrounded by twenty Void Realm Crystals emitting a faint blue light.

"The teleportation array has been set up, and the coordinates are locked ten li outside the Falling Star Valley."

Haotian reported in Lin Yue's Sea of Consciousness:

"However, strong energy interference has been detected within the valley, and the teleportation landing point might have a deviation. It is recommended that Master prepare for unexpected situations."

"Understood."

Lin Yue responded in his mind, turning to look at Star Radiance at the same time:

"Fellow Daoist Star Radiance, there will be spatial tremors during Void Realm teleportation, please circulate your Qi to protect yourself."

Star Radiance nodded, and a faint silver glow appeared around her.

Outside the array platform, Star Dust, Immortal Master Qingluan, and others stood solemnly.

"Sect Master Lin, please be careful."

Star Dust said gravely:

"If you encounter danger, immediately activate this 'Space-Breaking Talisman,' and we will try to provide remote support."

He handed over a jade talisman inscribed with complex spatial patterns.

"Thank you."

Lin Yue took the jade talisman and put it into his embrace.

"It's time."

He looked at Immortal Master Cloud Crane, who was presiding over the array.

Immortal Master Cloud Crane nodded, forming a hand seal, and the twenty Void Realm Crystals lit up simultaneously!

Buzz—!

The space vibrated violently, and the Void Realm above the array platform twisted like water ripples.

The next moment, Lin Yue and Star Radiance's figures suddenly blurred, transforming into two streaks of light, disappearing into the Void Realmcrack... The world spun.

The experience of Void Realm teleportation was more uncomfortable than imagined.

Even with his Nascent Soul Cultivation protecting him, Lin Yue still felt as if his internal organs were being gripped and kneaded by an invisible hand.

Fortunately, it didn't last long.

After about three breaths, a solid feeling came from under his feet.

They had arrived!

Lin Yue opened his eyes immediately, and his Divine Sense spread out like a tide.

What met his eyes was a world covered in a grayish haze.

The sky was shrouded in thick gray mist, with no sun, moon, or stars visible. Mountains undulated all around, but they all appeared a strange dark gray, as if corroded by some force.

A faint sweet, fishy scent permeated the air, the unique smell of Star Miasma Demons.

"Is this the periphery of Falling Star Valley?"

Star Radiance's voice came from beside him.

Her face was a bit pale, but her aura was stable.

"It should be."

Lin Yue looked around, his gaze falling forward:

"According to the coordinates, Falling Star Valley should be in that direction."

He pointed to a darker valley about ten li away.

There, the gray mist was almost solidified, and even with the eyesight of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, one could not see more than ten zhang away.

Even more unsettling was the faint, continuous hissing sounds coming from the valley, sharp and piercing, as if countless insects were gnawing on something.

"The number of Star Miasma Demons is greater than three years ago."

Star Radiance's expression was solemn:

"And... they seem even more agitated."

Lin Yue nodded, remaining silent.

His Divine Sense had already detected it.

In the valley ahead, there were at least a thousand auras, most of them at the Foundation Establishment stage, but mixed with dozens of Golden Core-level auras.

Deeper within, there seemed to be a few more obscure and powerful presences.

"Haotian, can you sense the exact location of the starfall iron?"

"Still trying... the interference in the valley is too strong, and the Star Power fluctuations are obscured by the aura of the Star Miasma Demons. However, about five li to the northeast, there are slight traces of artificial activity."

"Artificial activity?"

"Yes, it looks like... a mine entrance."

Lin Yue's eyes narrowed.

Indeed!

The Black Lotus Cult really did mine here!

"Let's go, let's check it out first."

He concealed his aura, his figure transforming into a faint, ethereal shadow, and stealthily moved towards the northeast.

Star Radiance followed closely behind.

Both of them were Cultivators above the Golden Core stage and possessed concealment techniques, so they moved silently and quickly approached the area.

Ahead, there was indeed a dark, black cave entrance on the mountain wall.

The entrance was about three zhang high and two zhang wide, with clear excavation marks on the edges. Faint silver powder, unique to starfall iron Ore, remained on the cave walls.

But scattered around the entrance were more than a dozen skeletons.

Most of the skeletons were incomplete, some gnawed down to just bone, others still retaining some fragments of tattered clothing.

From their attire, these people appeared to be miners, and their deaths occurred no more than three months ago.

"They were killed by Star Miasma Demons."

Star Radiance knelt down to examine a relatively complete skeleton:

"The wounds show traces of Star Power corrosion, and the bones inside have turned dark gray... This is the result of having their Power of the Stars sucked dry, then being corroded by miasma poison."

"What about the Black Lotus Cult members?"

Lin Yue frowned:

"Since they were mining here, it's impossible for them not to have left guards."

"Perhaps..."

Star Radiance stood up and looked into the cave:

"Something happened inside."

The two exchanged glances and simultaneously stepped into the mine.

The cave was wider than expected.

It was very neatly excavated, with clear support structures on the cave walls, and illuminating moonstones embedded every ten zhang.

But the further they went, the stronger the smell of blood became.

Along the way, dozens more bodies were discovered, including miners and Cultivators wearing Black Lotus Cult attire.

"This one was killed by Sword Qi."

Lin Yue stopped in front of a body.

This person had a penetrating wound on their chest, with smooth edges and lingering sharp Sword Intent.

"It's a Black Lotus Cult Cultivation Technique, but more refined and domineering... like it was done by a high-ranking member of the cult."

His eyes darkened slightly:

"The Black Lotus Cult had an internal conflict?"

"Not quite."

Star Radiance pointed to the wall on the other side:

"Look there."

Lin Yue followed her gaze.

On the cave wall, there were several deep claw marks.

The claw marks were dark gray, with Star Power remnants on the edges, clearly left by Star Miasma Demons.

But strangely, around the claw marks, there was also a circle of charred traces, as if burned by fire.

"Star Miasma Demons... fought with some kind of fire-attribute power?"

Lin Yue knelt down, carefully examining the charred marks.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted.

Within the marks, there was a trace of extremely faint... Dragon Qi!

Although it was so faint as to be almost imperceptible, Lin Yue, possessing a dragon soul crystal core, was extremely sensitive to Dragon Qi.

"This is... Dragon Flame?!"

He stood up abruptly:

"Besides Star Miasma Demons, are there Dragon Clan creatures in the valley?!"

"Impossible."

Star Radiance shook her head:

"True Dragons have long been extinct, and flood dragons are rarely seen. Moreover, most of the Dragon Clan resides in deep seas or Secret Realms, so how could they appear in such a miasma-filled place?"

"But this is undoubtedly Dragon Flame."

Lin Yue's tone was firm:

"Although it's very weak, its essence cannot be wrong."

An ominous premonition rose in his heart.

If there really were Dragon Clan creatures in the valley, things would become complicated.

The Dragon Clan is powerful and arrogant, with a strong sense of territory. Star Miasma Demons feed on Power of the Stars, and the Dragon Clan respects Dragon Qi; the two should inherently not interfere with each other.

Unless... "Unless something is attracting both of them simultaneously."

Lin Yue murmured.

"Like... high-grade starfall iron?"

Star Radiance finished his sentence.

The two looked at each other, seeing the solemnity in each other's eyes.

Ore that could make Dragon Clan creatures and Star Miasma Demons contend for it must be of unimaginable quality!

"Let's continue deeper."

Lin Yue made a decisive decision.

The two accelerated, delving deeper into the mine.

The further they went, the denser the battle traces became.

Claw marks, sword marks, and charred marks crisscrossed on the cave walls, and more and more bodies were scattered on the ground.

One particular body caught Lin Yue's attention.

It was an Elder wearing Black Lotus Cult Elder attire, whose cultivation was at least at the Late Golden Core Stage, but he had died a terrible death—half his body was charred, and the other half was covered in dark gray corrosive marks.

"Attacked by both Dragon Flame and Star Miasma..."

Lin Yue examined the body and found a token on the Elder's waist.

The token was entirely black, with an eerie black lotus carved on the front and the character 'mine' (kuàng, meaning 'mine') on the back.

"Black Lotus Cult Mine Supervisor's Token."

Star Radiance recognized the item:

"This person should have been the person in charge here."

"The person in charge is dead, the miners are dead, and the guards are dead..."

Lin Yue stood up and looked into the depths of the mine:

"It seems that a major change occurred here three months ago. The Black Lotus Cult lost control of the mine, which is why they stopped mining."

"But the starfall iron is still here."

Star Radiance sensed the increasingly dense Star Power fluctuations in the air:

"It's just ahead, not far."

The two continued forward.

After walking about another half li, the path suddenly opened up.

A huge underground cavern appeared before their eyes.

The cavern was a hundred zhang in circumference, with a dome about thirty zhang high, embedded with countless naturally formed star crystals, emitting a soft silver light that illuminated the entire space like a starry night.

And in the center of the cavern, stood a... small mountain!

It was a small mountain piled high with countless silver-white Ores, their surfaces shimmering with starlight, emitting extremely pure Power of the Stars.

starfall iron!

And it was the top-grade 'Star Core Meteor Iron'!

Lin Yue roughly estimated that this small mountain contained at least twenty tons!

Enough to set up two Star Dragon Evil-Breaking Grand Arrays and still have some left over!

"Found it..."

Excitement flashed in Star Radiance's eyes.

But Lin Yue raised a hand, signaling her to be silent.

His gaze fell on the top of the small mountain of Ore.

There, coiled was a... creature.

The creature was about three zhang long, lizard-shaped, but with four claws and short horns on its head, its entire body covered in dark silver scales.

At this moment, it was sleeping with its eyes closed, faint gray mist—precisely Star Miasma—spraying from its nostrils!

And beside it, another smaller, pale golden-scaled kin was curled up.

Around the two creatures, dozens of Star Miasma Demon corpses were scattered, each burned to a crisp.

"This is..."

Star Radiance covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock:

"Star Miasma Dragon Lizard?!"

"Dragon Lizard?"

Lin Yue looked at her.

"A rare beast with a thin Dragon Clan Bloodline, feeding on Power of the Stars, capable of spewing Star Miasma Dragon Flame."

Star Radiance explained in a low voice:

"An adult Dragon Lizard is comparable to an Early Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, and its intelligence is not low. Judging by this one's size and scale color, it has lived for at least five hundred years, and its cultivation is probably close to the Mid Nascent Soul Stage."

She looked at the pale golden Dragon Lizard:

"That one should be its mate, slightly weaker in cultivation, but also at the Peak Golden Core Stage."

Lin Yue's face darkened.

Two Nascent Soul-level Dragon Lizards, plus hundreds of Star Miasma Demons outside... this was much more troublesome than the Black Lotus Cult's guards.

No wonder the Black Lotus Cult abandoned this place—the cost and reward were not proportional.

"What do we do now?"

Star Radiance looked at Lin Yue:

"Directly taking it by force won't work, we're not their match."

Lin Yue didn't speak.

He stared at the sleeping Star Miasma Dragon Lizard, his eyes flickering.

A moment later, he suddenly spoke:

"Perhaps... we don't need to take it by force."

"Hmm?"

"Although Dragon Lizards are powerful, they are not invincible. They need Power of the Stars to maintain their vitality, and they also need starfall iron to build nests and reproduce."

Lin Yue analyzed:

"Three months ago, the Black Lotus Cult had an internal conflict and suffered heavy casualties, and the Dragon Lizards took the opportunity to occupy this place. But with their intelligence, they should understand—since this place could be discovered by the Black Lotus Cult, it could also be discovered by other forces in the future."

"So, they won't guard this mine forever."

"You mean..."

Star Radiance's eyes lit up:

"We can... negotiate with them?"

"Not negotiate."

Lin Yue shook his head:

"It's a trade."

He took a deep breath and pulled something from his storage ring.

It was a fist-sized crystal, entirely silver-white, with a galaxy swirling within.

star origin crystal!

A supreme treasure from the Star Lords Palace!

"Dragon Lizards need Power of the Stars; we give them a more refined Star Origin. In exchange, they let us take some starfall iron."

Lin Yue slowly said:

"This is beneficial to both sides."

"But..."

Star Radiance worried:

"Although Dragon Lizards are highly intelligent, their nature is ferocious. What if it takes the crystal and then turns hostile...?"

"So we need leverage."

Lin Yue looked at the pale golden Dragon Lizard:

"That female lizard seems to be... pregnant."

Star Radiance was startled and looked closely.

Indeed, the female lizard's abdomen was slightly distended, and faint life fluctuations emanated from between its scales.

"Dragon Lizards need a large amount of Power of the Stars to conceive offspring. Otherwise, the hatchlings will be Innate deficient, or even die in the womb."

Lin Yue's eyes were profound:

"This is our leverage."

He paused:

"Fellow Daoist Star Radiance, you stay here as backup. I'll go talk to it."

"That's too dangerous!"

Star Radiance grabbed him:

"What if it suddenly attacks...?"

"It won't."

Lin Yue smiled:

"I can sense that the male lizard's aura is somewhat weak; it likely suffered internal injuries during the great battle with the Black Lotus Cult three months ago. Otherwise, with its cultivation, it would have discovered us long ago."

"And..."

He shook the star origin crystal in his hand:

"This thing is too tempting for it."

With that, Lin Yue no longer hesitated.

He restrained his Killing Intent and slowly walked towards the small mountain of Ore.

With each step, the Star Power aura on his body grew stronger.

When he reached ten zhang in front of the small mountain, the sleeping Star Miasma Dragon Lizard suddenly opened its eyes!

They were a pair of dark silver vertical pupils, cold, cruel, and full of vigilance.

"Roar—!"

A deep Dragon roar echoed in the cavern.

The Dragon Lizard slowly rose, its four claws gripping the ground, its scales bristling, adopting an attacking posture.

But Lin Yue did not retreat.

He raised the star origin crystal in his hand, his voice calm and clear:

"How about a trade?"