111: Assassination strikes in the ancient city of Starfall.

Three days later, early morning.

In a hidden valley on the edge of the Meteor Star Ancient Domain.

Lin Fan stood by the stream, the star god token in his hand emitting a soft starlight. He activated the token, and the starlight covered his body like flowing water, rapidly changing his appearance, stature, and aura.

A moment later, the reflection in the stream was an ordinary-looking, slightly dark-skinned youth wearing coarse cloth clothes. His aura was also suppressed to around the Condensing Essence Second Layer, making him completely unremarkable.

"The disguise ability of the star god token is truly profound." Lin Fan touched his cheek; the sensation was real, and even he could hardly recognize his original appearance.

He put important items like the star pagoda and Star God Marrow into the System Space—this was a new function unlocked after the System upgrade, a ten-cubic-meter independent space that could only store items obtained through System sign-ins, but it was absolutely secure.

As for other commonly used items, they were placed in an ordinary Storage Pouch hanging at his waist.

"It's time to set off." With a movement, Lin Fan turned into a gray shadow and dashed out of the valley, heading northeast toward Starfall Ancient City.

He did not choose to fly—it was extremely taxing for a Condensing Essence Realm Martial Artist to fly through the air, and the target would be too obvious. Instead, he utilized a movement technique called "Star Chasing Steps." He had learned this from the ancient records of the Star God Clan Branch Hall; although it was only a remnant, its speed was extremely fast, and his aura blended with the surrounding environment while moving, making him very difficult to detect.

Traveling swiftly along the way, what he saw gave Lin Fan a deeper understanding of this region.

The Meteor Star Ancient Domain was located on the southwestern border of the Great Xia Dynasty. Further west was the Endless Wasteland, the territory of Yao Beasts and Foreign Races. Starfall Ancient City, a thousand-year-old city, was situated at the junction of the Ancient Domain and the wasteland.

It was said that ten thousand years ago, an extraterrestrial star fell here, creating a massive basin. Later, the Human Race built a city here and named it "Starfall." Due to its unique geographical location, the ancient city became an important hub for trade between the Human Race and the wasteland races, a place of mixed dragons and snakes with complex and intertwined forces.

Three days later, at dusk.

Lin Fan stood on a ridge, looking into the distance.

A magnificent giant city stood in the center of the basin, its walls thirty zhang high, cast entirely from dark "Starfall Iron." After a thousand years of wind and rain, it still stood tall. The walls were covered with marks from blades and axes, telling of the countless wars the ancient city had endured.

Now, as the sun set, the afterglow spilled onto the city walls, reflecting a dark red halo, as if the entire city were soaked in blood and fire.

"Starfall Ancient City truly lives up to its reputation." Lin Fan took a deep breath and could feel the dense Power of the Stars permeating the air, intertwined with a violent Blood Fiend Qi, forming a unique energy field.

He circulated the Circulating Heaven Star Formula, and the Essence Core inside his body vibrated slightly, automatically absorbing the free Power of the Stars in the air at an efficiency thirty percent higher than when he was in the Meteor Star Ancient Domain.

"This place is simply a treasure land for practitioners of star-related Cultivation Techniques." Lin Fan was secretly delighted. He restrained his aura and walked toward the city gate.

There was a long queue at the city gate, consisting of merchant caravans, Martial Artists, adventurers, and all sorts of people. The city guards wore dark red armor and held long spears, their auras fierce, with the lowest having the cultivation of the First Level of Condensing Essence.

"Entry fee, ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones," a soldier said without looking up when it was Lin Fan's turn.

Lin Fan handed over the Spirit Stones and entered the city smoothly.

The scene inside the city was completely different from the outside. The streets were wide, lined with shops on both sides, and brightly lit. The sounds of shouting, laughter, and clashing weapons mixed together, noisy and full of vitality.

Walking on the streets, besides the Human Race, many Foreign Races could be seen: the Rock Clan, two zhang tall with skin like stone; the Winged Clan, with wings on their backs and handsome faces; and the Snake-man Clan, covered in scales with vertical pupils. These races lived in the wasteland and had trade relations with the Human Race, making them common sights in Starfall Ancient City.

Lin Fan suppressed his curiosity and followed the sensation of the star god token toward the depths of the ancient city.

The further he went, the narrower the streets became and the older the buildings. Many houses were built with black Starfall Stones, their surfaces bearing natural star patterns that glowed faintly in the night.

Finally, at the end of a secluded alley, he saw a dilapidated temple.

Hanging above the temple entrance was a broken plaque. The writing was blurred, but the two characters for "Star God" could be vaguely seen. Most of the temple walls had collapsed, and the courtyard was overgrown with weeds, looking long-abandoned.

"It's here." Lin Fan could feel the star god token in his robes growing hot.

He looked around to ensure no one was watching and slipped into the temple.

The interior of the temple looked slightly better than the outside; the main hall was still intact. An idol of the Star God was enshrined in the hall, similar to the one in the Meteor Star Ancient Domain's branch hall, only much smaller and covered in cracks as if it would collapse at any moment.

In front of the statue was a stone incense burner, filled with dust.

Lin Fan walked to the incense burner and, following the method recorded in the star god token, bit his fingertip to drip three drops of blood while pressing the star god token onto the surface of the burner.

Buzz! The incense burner vibrated slightly, and the dust on the surface fell away, revealing complex Star Chart patterns underneath. The moment the star god token touched the patterns, the statue's eyes suddenly lit up, shooting out two beams of starlight that intertwined in the center of the hall to form a three-dimensional Star Chart.

The Star Chart rotated slowly, with one star marker being particularly bright.

"That's the true entrance to the branch hall." Lin Fan memorized the position and was about to move forward when a warning sign suddenly flared in his heart!

Swish! A faint sound of breaking air attacked from behind, fast as a lightning bolt!

Without thinking, Lin Fan's body instinctively moved three feet to the left.

Squelch! A pin-sized hole appeared on the ground where he had been standing, deep and bottomless. Around the hole, the stone slab quickly turned black and corroded, emitting a pungent, foul stench.

"Poison needle!" Lin Fan's pupils constricted as he turned around abruptly.

At some point, a hunched figure had appeared at the temple entrance.

It was "Ghost Hand" Old Mo! He still had that drowsy look, his eyelids drooping, but his right hand held a three-inch-long black needle. The tip glowed with an eerie green light, clearly coated in lethal poison.

"Good reaction," Old Mo's voice was raspy. "Unfortunately, you still have to die."

Before his voice fell, he flicked his right hand.

Swish, swish, swish! Dozens of black glints shot out from his sleeve, sealing off all of Lin Fan's escape routes. Every black glint was a poison needle, their angles tricky and trajectories bizarre, twisting and changing direction in the air like living things.

"Divine Power Realm!" Lin Fan's heart felt heavy, but his movements weren't slow at all.

The Eternal Indestructible Body operated at full power, a jade-like luster covering his entire body. Simultaneously, he stepped with the Star Chasing Steps, his figure weaving through the rain of needles like a phantom, forcefully slipping through the gaps.

Clang, clang, clang! Seven or eight poison needles still hit his body, but they were all blocked by the Indestructible Body, leaving only faint white marks on his skin before being bounced away.

"Hmm?" A flicker of surprise crossed Old Mo's cloudy eyes. "What a strong Physical Body. No wonder the Third Prince specifically named you to die. However, a Physical Body alone cannot stop my 'Thousand Spider Myriad Poison Hand'."

He slowly raised his left hand.

That hand was withered like a chicken claw, its skin dark purple, and its nails black and sharp. As he raised it, the entire palm suddenly expanded, and countless fine purple patterns appeared on the surface, spreading like a spider web.

A cloying, sweet scent began to permeate the air.

Just by inhaling a trace of it, Lin Fan felt dizzy, and the circulation of the Yuan Qi in his body became sluggish.

"Poison technique!" He quickly held his breath while activating the Indestructible Body. The jade luster flared, forcing the toxic gas out of his body.

"It's useless," Old Mo grinned, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth. "My poison is all-pervading. If you hold your breath, the poison enters through your pores; if you seal your pores, the poison invades through your Divine Soul. Unless you have cultivated a 'Leakless Body,' otherwise..."

Before he finished speaking, his left hand clawed through the air.

Five purple-black claw shadows tore through the air, arriving in an instant with a piercing shriek. Everywhere the claw shadows passed, the air made a "sizzling" corrosive sound, clearly containing lethal poison.

"I can't take this head-on!" Lin Fan's figure retreated rapidly while his hands formed seals.

"Star Body Protection!" The Circulating Heaven Star Formula operated at full power, drawing upon the remaining Power of the Stars in the temple. Countless starlights fell from the Void Realm, condensing into a starlight barrier in front of him.

Boom! The claw shadows collided with the barrier, resulting in a dull thud.

The starlight barrier vibrated violently, and cracks appeared on its surface, but it ultimately blocked the strike. However, the poison mist formed after the claw shadows dissipated penetrated the gaps in the barrier and spread toward Lin Fan.

"Troublesome." Lin Fan frowned, flipped his right hand, and took out a silver Talisman.

This was the "Gale Talisman" given to him by the Second Elder before his departure. It could summon a hurricane and was originally intended for clearing obstacles or escaping, but now it was perfect for dispersing the poison mist.

The Talisman was activated, and a fierce wind suddenly rose.

Sand and stones flew within the temple as the poison mist was blown away. Old Mo's figure swayed slightly but soon steadied himself, the coldness in his eyes intensifying: "Junior, you have quite a few tricks. Unfortunately, in the face of absolute strength, these are all futile."

He no longer held back, his figure flickering as he closed in like a ghost.

The speed of the Divine Power Realm far exceeded that of the Condensing Essence Realm. Lin Fan only felt a blur before his eyes, and Old Mo was already in front of him, those purple-black poison hands reaching straight for his throat.

There was no way to dodge!

In the moment of crisis, a look of determination flashed in Lin Fan's eyes.

"star pagoda!" A light flashed between his brows, and a three-inch small pagoda flew out, swelling to three feet high in the wind and hovering above his head. The pagoda body shed curtains of starlight, protecting him within.

Clang! The poison hand struck the light curtain, producing the sound of clashing metal.

The light curtain vibrated intensely but ultimately did not break. The star pagoda was a supreme treasure of the Star God Clan; although it was only at the initial stage, its defensive power was astonishing. Even against a Divine Power Realm attack, it could hold out for a moment.

"What kind of treasure is this?" Greed flashed in Old Mo's eyes. "It can actually block my full-strength strike! Good, once I kill you, this treasure will be mine!"

He struck with both palms, and the purple-black toxic gas surged out like a tide, turning into a giant poison claw that slammed fiercely toward the star pagoda.

Lin Fan's face turned pale.

Activating the star pagoda was extremely taxing. With his cultivation at the Condensing Origin Third Layer, he could only hold on for ten breaths at most. After ten breaths, his Yuan Qi would be exhausted, and it would be a dead end.

"I must find a way..." His gaze swept over the Star Chart in the center of the hall, and an idea struck him.

Just as Old Mo's poison claw was about to fall, Lin Fan suddenly withdrew the star pagoda's defense and shot toward the Star Chart like an arrow.

"Courting death!" Old Mo sneered, the direction of his poison claw changing to follow closely. However, Lin Fan's target was not the Star Chart at all, but the cracked Star God Statue beneath it!

He rushed to the statue and threw a punch at its chest!

Crack! The statue, already on the verge of collapse, shattered completely under this punch. Amidst the flying rubble, a fist-sized purple crystal was exposed, hovering in mid-air, emitting a dense Power of the Stars and... an aura of destruction!

"A star core fragment!" Old Mo's face changed drastically, and he turned to flee. But it was already too late.

Lin Fan had already retreated while activating the star god token to trigger the power within the crystal.

Buzz! The purple crystal burst with brilliant light, its internal star patterns lighting up before it exploded with a bang!

A terrifying shockwave swept through the entire temple, and the main hall collapsed instantly. Purple starlight and violent Power of the Stars rampaged, grinding everything in their path into powder.

A moment before the explosion, Lin Fan had already escaped into the System Space.

Ten breaths later, he emerged from the space to find a scene of ruins before him.

Old Mo lay at the edge of the ruins, covered in blood, his left arm severed at the shoulder, his aura weakened to the extreme. He barely raised his head and stared fixedly at Lin Fan, his eyes full of resentment: "You actually dared to detonate a star core fragment..."

"Why wouldn't I dare?" Lin Fan walked up to him. "This fragment was a fallback left by the Star God Clan specifically to deal with powerful enemies. Being able to force me to use this item, you can consider your death well-deserved."

"Don't kill me..." Old Mo finally showed fear. "I am one of the Third Prince's men. If you kill me, His Highness will not let you go..."

"If I don't kill you, will he let me go?" Lin Fan shook his head and struck down with a palm.

Thud! Old Mo's skull shattered, and he died on the spot.

Lin Fan took the Storage Pouch from his body and found the black poison needle and some bottles and jars in the ruins, collecting them all.

Having done this, he looked at where the Star Chart had been—there, due to the explosion, a downward staircase entrance had been revealed, Deep and bottomless.

"I finally found it."

Lin Fan took several Medicinal Pills to recover his Yuan Qi, adjusted his breathing, and then stepped onto the stairs without hesitation.

Behind him, above the ruins, the stars in the night sky seemed a bit brighter. Meanwhile, far away in Tianyang City, at the Third Prince's mansion...

The teacup in Xia Yuanhao's hand suddenly shattered. He looked toward the southwest with a grim face: "Old Mo's Soul Lamp has gone out."

"Lin Fan," murderous intent boiled in his eyes, "this Prince would like to see just how much longer you can live!"

The night grew even deeper.