As soon as this willpower appeared, the divine sense tendrils that Jiang Shu extended felt as if they had collided with an invisible iron wall, instantly rebounding back. Had his soul strength not far exceeded that of an average Daoist Venerable, and if not for the protection of the World Tree Seedling, this soul-level collision could have injured him.
Demon Venerable Late Stage!
And absolutely not an ordinary Demon Venerable Late Stage, at least one of those old monsters who have touched the threshold of the Peak!
Its aura was like an ocean, with no end in sight. Just in terms of divine sense quality and quantity, it was the strongest of the Demon Race that Jiang Shu had ever encountered, even stronger than the Heaven-Burning Ancestor at Demon Venerable Peak.
What is it doing, is it in seclusion at the Abyss Core, or is it presiding over this flesh-furnace-like Great Array?
This place definitely harbors great terror!
Jiang Shu immediately severed all extended divine thoughts and completely suppressed his aura beneath the facade of the Golden Horn, not daring to probe any further.
The other party had not locked onto him; it felt more like a natural defense response after being disturbed, akin to a sleeping giant beast turning over.
But this reaction itself had already proven that the Starfall Abyss's core defense was entrenched to an alarming degree.
For the following eight days, Jiang Shu remained extremely low-key, just like a true newcomer of the Dragon Clan.
Apart from necessary exchanges with other young dragons, limited to harmless cultivation insights and information on the demon battlefield, he practically kept indoors.
The warmongering blood of the Dragon Clan seemed particularly quiet in his Golden Horn facade, as he politely declined Ao Hai's several proposals to explore the outer star pits, claiming he needed to stabilize his newly broken-through Demon Monarch Realm.
Meanwhile, he sensed that the atmosphere around the entire Starfall Abyss perimeter had become more forbidding.
An invisible Space Seal seemed to layer upon itself, making the barriers increasingly solid.
Especially near the fortress entrance, several spatial nodes discreetly added new detection runes, so subtle that they were almost undetectable, unless Jiang Shu, proficient in Space Dao, maintained utmost vigilance.
These detection runes were highly targeted, seemingly filtering out overly powerful soul waves and abnormal spatial penetration abilities.
Their targeting was very precise, guarding against possibly infiltrating, top-tier Human Clan practitioners skilled in Space Path.
The Demon Race was not completely unaware; Xuan Chi's death and the possibly leaked location of Starfall Abyss had evidently caught the highest levels of the Emperor Palace's serious attention.
They were weaving a dense net, waiting for a specific prey.
A surge of urgency filled Jiang Shu's heart.
With the Demon Race so vigilant, he had to remain calm.
The Starfall Road and the imprint resonance nine days from now were likely the true Trial Arena and ultimate trap; acting rashly now would be akin to stepping into the snare.
Within those eight days, he quietly did one thing.
In the Sleeve Universe, he carefully separated the purest Lifebound Essence Blood and a Divine Soul fragment carrying its life imprint from the true Golden Horn's Divine Soul Origin, which he had imprisoned.
The process was akin to drawing silk from cocoons, ensuring it was realistic enough without completely destroying the card in his hand.
This wisp of essence blood and fragment were prepared as a key contingency against the Star Coffin resonance.
He must fake it convincingly, making the Star Coffin believe the Golden Horn was genuine and fit for sacrifice to blend into the core.
The ninth day arrived suddenly.
The setting sun resembled blood, as the lead-gray dust haze above Starfall Abyss seemed to be torn open by an invisible force, leaving a seam through which dim starlight clearly poured for the first time.
The air was heavy as if frozen mercury, and the usual chaotic star ruins' gravity and Space Turbulence at this moment formed a bizarre regularity as if organized by invisible pipelines, pointing to the darkest center of the Abyss.
On the Starfall Platform, warriors from various clans gathered again, and a solemn atmosphere replaced previous commotion.
Tension and oppressive pressure filled the air.
Even the usually arrogant Feng Xiao clenched her lips, her eyes sharply scrutinizing the unfathomable abyss.
Huang Ya's figure silently appeared in the center of the platform, as if it had grown out of the glazed ground.
His aura was even more obscure and restrained than nine days before, akin to a piece of deadwood.
"The hour has come."
He spoke, his voice dry and flat, without the slightest ripple.
"The Starfall Road opens, and Spirit Tide approaches."
"Hold this; it can protect your soul for a moment."
His withered palm slowly opened, above which floated dozens of tiny Star Coffin shadows the size of grains, emitting a murky gray glow.
With a closer look, these coffins were ancient in shape, with countless intricate, twisted runes akin to blood vessels etched on the surface.
Each shadow floated toward a warrior, landing in their hands.
Someone immediately followed previous instructions, injecting a prepared drop of essence blood into it, creating resonance with the Spirit Coffin.
Jiang Shu calmly caught the one flying toward him. It was icy and piercing cold, with the gray light seemingly carrying a viscous adhesive force, sticking firmly to his Dragon Scale Armor.
He clearly felt that this Star Coffin shadow was not a simple protective shield; it contained profound Dao Yun of space.
Ordinary Demon Monarchs would be completely unaware.
This Star Coffin shadow should be able to connect at any time with the terrifying Great Array at the Abyss Core.
Among everyone, Jiang Shu was without hesitation.
With a powerful Demon Venerable Late Stage standing before him.
Any improper action he took would be detected.
Once suspected, even with thorough preparations, it could be seen through.
Taking out the prepared essence blood of the true Golden Horn, Jiang Shu injected it, feigning nonchalance.
"Depart."
Huang Ya uttered no excess words, stepping toward the depths of the abyss.
Crack!
The entire Starfall Platform seemingly came alive, with countless crisscrossing dark blue light patterns erupting from the surface beneath it—ground hardened by countless years of star ruin impacts, its toughness comparable to Divine Gold.
These light patterns, like stellar trajectories, carried strong spatial transmission implications, instantly enveloping every warrior holding a Spirit Coffin shadow.
A powerful sense of spatial tearing emerged, akin to being rapidly pushed through a turbulent spatial tunnel.
The scenes before his eyes blurred and distorted; countless fractured star ruins, chaotic gravitational fields, and kaleidoscopic spatial cracks sped past like a revolving lantern, with deafening gale screams and space collapses thunderous in his ears.
Were it not for the gray light from the Spirit Coffin shadow barely guarding his surroundings, this transmission process alone could tear an ordinary Demon Monarch apart.
Huang Ya's figure flickered ahead, his movement trajectory extremely bizarre, seemingly stepping on the pulse of spatial nodes. Every flash skillfully avoided the most deadly turbulence vortices and gravity traps in the path.
The warriors followed closely, each employing their own methods.
The Phoenix Clan young man's body ignited with indestructible golden flames, forcibly burning open a small segment of turbulence ahead.
The silver-haired Kunpeng youth's form became ghostly, directly melding through spatial gaps.
The giant of the True Hound Clan roared, his demonic power condensing into a massive beast shadow, enduring the impact...
Jiang Shu maneuvered his body, perfectly mimicking Ao Hai's Dragon Clan movement technique beside him, injecting some Dragon Essence into the Spirit Coffin shadow, causing the gray light to intensify as he evaded Space Turbulence repeatedly, pretending not to be adept in Space Path.
Yet in reality, he positioned several steps safely.
The injuries he sustained appeared severe, but in truth they were superficial.
His performance neither stood out nor lagged behind, steadily placed in the middle tier of the Dragon Clan's ranks.
After an unknown duration, the front suddenly cleared.
The group dashed through a narrow bottleneck-like zone of violent turbulence, arriving in an unimaginably vast space.
This was an expansive underground plain in the depths of the Abyss, wide and boundless.
Overhead was an inverted rock layer ceiling, twisted by tremendous force. Above the ceiling, countless star remains of varying sizes floated, emitting eerie glows in different colors.
These remnants rotated slowly, radiating ancient and wild energy, the source of the Spirit Tide.
And in the very center of the plain, stood a massive black stone stele, towering silently.
Chapter 1259: 670: Starfall Road! The Pitch-Black Stele! (Part 2)
7 min read