Han Feng, observing from behind the rocks, discovered that the ruins' structure was far more complex than he had imagined. What appeared to be merely a scattered array of megaliths was actually a network of whiskers extending from the base of each blue stone, forming an intricate web beneath the seabed sand. And these networks ultimately converged towards...
"That inconspicuous rock in the northeast corner." Zero simultaneously detected an anomaly: "The energy reading is three times higher than at other locations."
Han Feng quietly approached his target. The blue stone was only the size of a basketball, its surface covered in sea anemones, and looked quite ordinary. But just as his hand was about to touch it, a moon-white "eye" suddenly opened on the stone!
\"careful!\"
Han Feng withdrew his hand with lightning speed, only to see that the "eye" merely rolled around blankly a few times before slowly closing. It turned out to be not a living thing, but a naturally formed crystal on the stone, containing a drop of silvery-blue liquid.
"The true bloodline of the Moon Demon Clan." Zero's voice was filled with shock. "They actually sealed their royal bloodline within the Nether Crystal Clan's energy stone?"
Han Feng observed carefully and discovered that the lens was surrounded by intricate runes—an interweaving of two completely different scripts. The upper part, curved like a crescent moon, was likely the script of the Moon Demon Clan; the lower part was the cluster-like engravings unique to the Dark Crystal Clan.
"This shouldn't be imprisonment..." Han Feng suddenly realized, "The Moon Demon Clan has concealed their bloodline within the Nether Crystal Clan's vessel—a clever tactic!"
He carefully released a wisp of starlight to scan the stone. As the energy seeped in, an astonishing scene appeared—the stone's interior revealed a nested structure: the outermost layer was the blue crystalline shell of the Nether Crystal Clan, the middle layer was the silver-white seal of the Moon Demon Clan, and at the core...
"There's something else." Cold sweat beaded on Han Feng's forehead. "Some kind of...living thing?"
Just then, the Star Mirror suddenly trembled violently in his dantian. All three Star Mirrors resonated simultaneously, forming an energy wave of a special frequency. Touched by this energy, the sea anemones on the surface of the blue stone instantly withered and fell off, revealing the hidden murals beneath—
It was a scene from an ancient war: the armies of the Moonwalkers and the Dark Crystals fought side by side against the Star Giants descending from the sky. In one corner of the image, a Moonwalker woman handed an infant to a Dark Crystal warrior, while a planet in the background crumbled.
"The Lord of Star Souls... the war of annihilation..." Zero stammered, a rare occurrence. "My database... doesn't have this record..."
Just as Han Feng was about to ask further, the blue stone suddenly split open. It didn't explode, but rather unfolded gracefully like a flower bud blooming, revealing an internal crystal passage. The passage was only as thick as a wrist, yet its depths were unfathomable, and a familiar yet strange spiritual fluctuation emanated from its depths.
The fluctuation contained both the Moon Queen's aloofness and the metallic texture unique to the Nether Crystal Clan, and finally even carried a trace of... the aura of the Star Soul Lord?
"Let's go down and take a look." Han Feng reached out into the passage.
"Wait!" Zero interrupted urgently, "This might be—"
Too late. Han Feng's fingertips had already touched the edge of the passage. In an instant, the world spun, his consciousness was forcibly pulled from his body, and he plunged into an endless abyss...
In his last moments of lucidity, he heard a whisper:
I've finally waited for you... my successor...
The darkness receded like a tide. Han Feng opened his eyes and found himself floating in a hazy, gray void, with no sense of up, down, left, or right, and no reference points. He tried to call out to Zero, but only received deathly silence—something he had never experienced before.
"Where is this...?" Han Feng turned his body, the power of the stars flowing through his meridians, but it seemed to be restricted by some kind of rule, unable to be released even a little bit.
Just as he was about to try more radical methods, ripples suddenly appeared in the space. The "air" in front of him began to condense and take shape, gradually outlining a familiar figure—long silver hair, a wound piercing through his chest, it was none other than the vanished Jue Li!
"The Inheritor," the illusory figure spoke, but the voice sounded like a pre-recorded message, lifeless. "It seems you've already discovered the secret of this place."
Han Feng was about to respond when he realized the illusory figure wasn't engaging in dialogue at all, but rather continuing its pre-arranged statement: "You may have even seen my remnant soul. I believe you already have some understanding of all this."
(It was just footage after all...)
The ethereal figure, with hands behind its back, made a pacing motion, even though there was no solid ground beneath its feet: "No doubt about it, the facts are as you see them. The Moon Demon Clan has parasitized the bodies of the Nether Crystal Clan, a fact that even the Nether Crystal Clan hasn't noticed."
As he narrated, corresponding images appeared in the dark space: the Moon Elves injected a silver-blue liquid into the bodies of the Crystal Warriors, while the crystalline creatures were completely unaware, and their strength increased greatly.
"Back then, I fell onto Blue Star, and extraterrestrial forces traced my whereabouts." The powerful image waved, conjuring a new scene—the starry sky shattered, and a heavily wounded figure plummeted towards the azure planet. "To prevent further devastation, I dragged them into a battle within a spatial rift."
The scene shifts to a brutal cosmic battlefield. Jue Li single-handedly fights against dozens of powerful beings from beyond the realm, the most striking of whom is a colossal, azure-blue crystalline giant—the Emperor of the Nether Crystal Clan. The aftershocks of the battle shatter nearby stars, and ultimately, Jue Li and the Nether Crystal Clan Emperor perish together, their body fragments scattered in all directions.
"Although I withstood a large number of extraterrestrial forces and even killed the Nether Crystal Clan Emperor, I ultimately failed to reach the Supreme Realm and was severely injured." Jue Li's illusory figure dimmed for a moment, "The Nether Crystal Clan Emperor's corpse split into several pieces, one of which fell here."
Han Feng's pupils contracted slightly. He recalled the "eye" in the blue stone at the bottom of the sea, and that drop of silvery-blue liquid... So that's how it is!
"Originally, I intended to destroy its remains, but I unexpectedly discovered the secrets of the Moon Demon Clan," Jue Li continued, the image beginning to flicker erratically. "So I sealed this place away. Perhaps in the future, the Moon Demon Clan will become one of your means of fighting against the Nether Crystal Clan."
At this point, the illusory figure of Jue Li suddenly turned towards Han Feng. Although he knew this was just a pre-planned action, Han Feng still felt a strange unease.
"As for the seal and secrets here, an energy stone will appear after I dissipate." Jue Li's figure grew fainter and fainter, "If you happen to be my successor, this energy stone will bring you unimaginable gains."
The moment the words left his mouth, the illusory figure vanished completely. Only Han Feng remained in the space, along with a final piece of advice lingering in the air:
"Remember... everything here is just the beginning..."
"Hey! Wait!" Han Feng shouted into the empty gray fog, "Explain clearly how to get out! And where's the energy stone?!"
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