C324 Slash Moon Sword Sheath

Suspended a hundred feet in the air, the Fallen Star Eyes resembled a motionless range of silvery mountains.

Beneath them lay a dilapidated city, its walls in ruins and shards of white and green tiles scattered across the ground.

In one corner of this nameless city, the cracked earth revealed a pit.

The pit was shallow, cradling a massive skull that gleamed like white gold under the moon and stars, radiating a soft glow.

Within the skull's single eye socket rested a fist-sized brown orb.

Adorned with two curved horns, the skull was clearly not of human origin.

A green-black sword sheath, wrapped in sharkskin, was driven into the top center of the skull as if it were a stake.

The mouth of the sheath shimmered with light, brimming with sword intent.

Lau Ying of the Silver Moon Sect stood at the edge of the pit, her gaze fixed curiously on the city's hole and the sword sheath atop the skull.

The sword intent emanating from within the green-black sheath stirred the Fallen Star Eyes.

Without it, she might never have noticed this corner of the Absence Relic, this inconspicuous, crumbling city with its emerging pit.

Gazing at the sheath, Lau Ying felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if the sword intent it contained shared a secret connection with the Fallen Star Eyes within her own spirit.

She found herself reflecting on the origin of the Fallen Star Eyes.

This precious artifact, infused with a hundred golds and forged over decades by the Silver Moon Sect's ancestors, had come from a well-preserved meteorite in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area.

The Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, with its celestial stones, was said to be the remnants of a moon from the starry heavens, brought into existence by a supremely powerful being who had slashed the moon.

The Fallen Star Eyes, bestowed upon her by the Silver Moon Sect as a treasure bound to her very life, retained the undying sword intent of the one who had slashed the moon.

It was not so much the sword sheath that captured her attention as it was the residual sword intent within the Fallen Star Eyes that it awakened.

Lau Ying, standing alone, had left the Fallen Star Eyes hovering above, driven by fear.

She feared the familiar, yet hidden sword intent within the sheath.

"Lau Ying."

Yu Yuan's voice arrived abruptly, catching her off guard.

But as he landed firmly beside her, her eyes suddenly sparkled with brilliant starlight. "You!"

She stared at Yu Yuan's arms in astonishment, sensing the sword intent that they harbored.

It was an ancient, boundless, and powerful sword intent, unmistakably identical!

"No wonder I took an immediate liking to you when we first met, engaging in conversation deep into the night without a hint of fatigue."

Yu Yuan smiled with ease, gesturing towards the Fallen Star Eyes above and explained, "This artifact was forged by a formidable Sword Dao cultivator who clove the moon in the heavens, giving rise to the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area. That individual had kept the Forbidden Area under control for many years. The colossal meteorites that plummeted from the skies are a crucial component of the age-old Heaven Sealing Soul Transformation Formation."

Lau Ying's pretty face was a picture of bewilderment.

"In the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, I acquired a sword intent and concealed it within my arms," Yu Yuan said with a smile. "This sword intent belonged to the great sword cultivator who left his mark there. It has now become a part of your Fallen Star Eyes, and the residual sword intent within them also originates from that individual. As for this sword sheath..."

He paused there.

At the lake, something Shen Feiqing did caused his arm bones to burn fiercely, and he found himself shrouded in a dense white fog. As if aided by divine intervention, his arms were forcibly filled with spiritual energy.

He had been clueless as to why the sword aura in his bones had suddenly gathered strength.

Only with Yan Qiling's assistance, upon arriving at this dilapidated city and seeing the sword sheath embedded in the giant skull, did he begin to piece things together.

This sheath was very likely the one belonging to the Divine Sword wielded by the Chopping Moon cultivator.

Yue Fei had mentioned that the Divine Sword, along with the lunar meteorites, had descended into the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, completing the Heaven Sealing Soul Transformation Formation and amplifying its might to the heavens. Such power that even ancient beings like the Sky Shocking Emperor and the Sky Demon Green Incubus could not escape its grasp.

Yet, Yue Fei had never spoken of the sword sheath.

Yu Yuan hadn't considered that the Divine Sword capable of slaying the Moon Demon Clan might have an external sheath.

Moreover, it was located in the Absence Relic, still lodged in a massive skull.

"Is this the sheath that housed the Slash Moon Divine Sword?" Lau Ying inhaled sharply, tuning into the sword intent emanating from Yu Yuan's arm bones. Her eyes sparkled with realization.

She laughed softly, a sweet sound, and said, "Ah, so that's what it is."

Taking someone into her Fallen Star Eyes was a departure from her usual rules.

Ever since she had refined the Fallen Star Eyes, they had been her most private domain.

At times, she would use the Fallen Star Eyes to lift her fellow sect disciples, soaring beyond the skies.

But in times of peace, with no battles or emergencies, she forbade outsiders from entering.

The last intrusion by Wong Jinlin from the Spirit Void Sect had left her feeling violated. She had only tolerated it out of concern for Taoist Chongxiao and the sect's space teleportation array.

But Yu Yuan, she realized upon reflection, had been brought in by her own doing.

And it wasn't just that.

In the Fallen Star Eyes, she and Yu Yuan talked the night away as if they were in her private chambers, never growing weary. The more they spoke, the more at ease she felt, as if they had known each other for ages.

"It was just the sword intent after all," Lau Ying whispered to herself, her cheeks unexpectedly warming. "I was terrified. I thought... I thought..."

But she quickly regained her composure.

"Did you come because you sensed the sword intent within the sheath and were drawn to it?" she asked, her voice even and gentle. She gestured to the sword sheath and continued, "I've been watching it for a while but didn't dare approach. If you want to try taking it, go ahead. I won't interfere."

Yu Yuan chuckled silently.

He longed to tell her that he had hurried over not to see Lau Ying meet her end.

Whether it was Yan Qiling, Yu Zhu, or Zhou Cangmin, none had any fondness for her, the keeper of the Fallen Star Eyes.

"Whoosh!"

A lightning bolt tore through the air with ferocious speed.

The very fabric of space seemed to rip open in its wake.

Bright fissures snaked through the air, racing alongside the lightning, like eager dragons and serpents vying for the lead.

"Commander!"

Lau Ying's face paled, and she moved to summon the Fallen Star Eyes, ready to evacuate the cavern.

"Don't act so rashly."

Yu Yuan looked at her, shook his head gently, and smiled reassuringly, "Relax. I promised you a grand spectacle the moment you set foot on the mid-lake island."

"She, she..."

As the Army Commander rapidly approached, Lau Ying's nerves were on edge.

"There's nothing to worry about," Yu Yuan soothed in a soft voice.

After a brief hesitation, Lau Ying chose to stay put and, almost instinctively, moved a bit closer to him.

Shen Feiqing, masked, hit the ground with a thunderous crash.

The earth seemed to plummet just as she touched down.

Following her descent, the floating island meandered over. Yu Zhu and Xu Zixi peered into the crater with peculiar looks on their faces.

Whoosh!

Yan Qiling and the White-robed Imperial Advisor arrived almost simultaneously, landing side by side.

"Cangmin, about that member of the Cold Yin Sect..." Xu Zixi began urgently.

The White-robed Imperial Advisor responded with a nonchalant expression, "Mission accomplished."

Yan Qiling, emerging from the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, regarded the Imperial Advisor with a mix of awe and fear, having deduced his chilling nature and formidable prowess from Zou Jin's demise.

Yu Zhu and Xu Zixi descended from the sky, leaving the floating island behind.

"Aunt Xu!" Lau Ying cried out in surprise.

Xu Zixi offered a slight smile but remained silent, merely giving Lau Ying a meaningful glance to stay close to Yu Yuan and keep her words in check.

"Now that we're all here," Yu Yuan said, his playful demeanor fading as he cleared his throat and gestured towards the massive skull. He addressed the Divine Might Empire's commander, "Senior Shen, as per our agreement, should the secret realm gate open, we each get a piece of the action."

Lau Ying's eyes widened in realization, and she looked at Yu Yuan anew, as if seeing a fiend in disguise.

How on earth could Yu Yuan conspire with such a titan?

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