Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

In that instant, more than a dozen monsters had leaped out of the river, and many more were climbing ashore.

Ye Qingcheng handed Luo Yunyi to Shen Qingqiu: "Take her and leave first!" She drew her longsword, and the Frosty Yin Sword Qi crisscrossed, instantly freezing the two monsters.

Chu Ling'er gritted her teeth and formed hand seals, transforming her spiritual power into an invisible barrier that interfered with the monsters' perception, causing their attacks to become chaotic.

Mu Qingyao pulled out a handful of pale golden powder from her Miao embroidery backpack and sprinkled it out—it was "exorcising powder" she had made from plants unique to Luoyue Town. As soon as the powder touched the monster, its dark blue skin began to fester.

Perched on Shen Qingqiu's back, Luo Yunyi stared intently at the battle, then suddenly shouted, "The crystals on their chests! That's their core! Shatter it!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen moved with lightning speed, dodging the attack of one monster, and with his fingers like a sword, accurately struck the dark red crystal on the chest of another monster.

With a crisp "crack," the crystal shattered. The monster let out an extremely mournful howl, its entire body rapidly withering and disintegrating as if drained of all its energy, eventually turning into a pool of foul-smelling black water.

"Effective!" Ye Qingcheng's eyes lit up, and her swordsmanship became even more cunning, focusing on the crystal.

But the number of monsters is still increasing.

In the underground river, countless dark red lights rose continuously, like pairs of greedy eyes.

"We can't linger!" Lin Chen shattered the two monsters with a single palm strike and shouted to Ling Feng, "Lead the way! Retreat to the side cave Miss Luo mentioned!"

Ling Feng and two Ice Guards brought up the rear, continuously throwing out ice spikes engraved with exorcising runes to temporarily slow down the pursuers.

The team rushed into an inconspicuous crevice in the rocks upstream.

The crevice was narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways, but this effectively limited the monsters' numerical advantage.

Luo Yunyi pointed out the direction: "Turn left...go straight for twenty meters...there is a loose stone slab on your right, push it aside."

Following the instructions, Lin Chen indeed found a stone slab that appeared to be integrated with the rock wall but was actually movable.

After pushing it open, there is a small cave of only three or four square meters behind it.

The group filed in, and Ling Feng, who was the last to enter, quickly sealed the entrance with a specially made talisman—the talisman emitted a soft white light, forming a simple barrier.

The cave is finally safe for the time being.

Shen Qingqiu immediately laid Luo Yunyi flat on the emergency blanket and began to check her injuries.

She cut open the simple bandage on Luo Yunyi's right shoulder, her brows furrowed: "The wound is deep, there are foreign objects left inside, and... the color of the infection is wrong."

Luo Yunyi said weakly, "I was scratched by the claws of those monsters. At first it was just a common infection, but in the last two days, black lines have started to appear around the wound, spreading like blood vessels."

Shen Qingqiu carefully cleaned the wound with sterilized tools and sure enough, he saw several dark blue fragments embedded deep in the flesh.

At the edge of the wound, fine black lines were slowly extending towards the heart.

"It's a venomous invasion, mixed with some kind of biological toxin," Shen Qingqiu quickly determined, taking out several medicinal herbs from the medicine box.

"Qingyao, grind the 'Red Sun Grass' and 'Seven-Leaf Lotus' for me."

"Ling'er, use your psychic powers to sense the depth and path of the poison's spread."

She then looked at Luo Yunyi: "The process will be very painful, and I need to remove these fragments first. You need to stay awake and tell me your body's reaction at any time."

Luo Yunyi bit the cork that Shen Qingqiu handed her and nodded to indicate that she was ready.

Ye Qingcheng and Lin Chen stood guard at the cave entrance barrier.

The ear-piercing sound of monsters scratching at the rock walls could be heard outside, but they were unable to break through the talisman barrier for the time being.

Lin Chen's gaze fell into the cave.

This is clearly a temporary shelter that Luo Yunyi has been running for several days.

In the corner of the rock face, there were some compressed food packages piled up, and a simple water-drawing device—a hollow stalagmite dripping water.

There are even "beds" made of gravel and moss.

The most striking feature is the symbols and maps carved all over the rock face.

It was carved out bit by bit by Luo Yunyi with a short blade, recording part of the structure of the underground cave system, the areas where monsters appeared, and some strange markings.

"Are you drawing a map?" Lin Chen asked.

While Shen Qingqiu was tending to her wounds, Luo Yunyi answered with difficulty, "It's not entirely a map... I'm recording 'its' activity patterns."

"it?"

"That thing that controls these monsters." Luo Yunyi's eyes deepened. "I entered Death Valley to search for clues about my father's disappearance."

"But at the bottom of the valley, I sensed a kind of calling—very faint, but very familiar. Later I realized that it was my innate constitution's ability to sense the aura of my kind."

"You mean... the connection to the Yao Guang star position?" Chu Ling'er asked while assisting Shen Qingqiu.

Luo Yunyi glanced at her: "You know this saying too? My father mentioned it in his notes. He said that the women of our Luo family have been endowed with the 'Starry Body' for generations, corresponding to the Big Dipper's Yao Guang."

"But he didn't say what that specifically meant, only that he warned me that if I ever felt a strong call from my kind, I must stay away."

She paused for a moment: "But what I sensed wasn't the call of my own kind... but a trap."

"That aura deliberately mimicked the fluctuations of the Starry Body, luring me deeper into the valley. Then, I encountered those monsters, and—"

She suddenly groaned, and Shen Qingqiu took out a large, dark blue fragment from her wound.

"Hold on, there are still two pieces left." Sweat beaded on Shen Qingqiu's forehead, but his movements remained as steady as a rock.

Luo Yunyi took a few deep breaths and continued, "There was also a person dressed in black robes. He called me 'the last sacrifice' and said that I needed to complete some kind of 'Seven Stars Returning to Their Positions' ritual."

"I escaped with my life on the line, but I was relentlessly pursued by the monsters he raised."

"A man in black robes?" Lin Chen's eyes narrowed. "Is he gaunt and emaciated, practicing some kind of sinister technique?"

"No, he's very young, looks like he's not even thirty. But his eyes... are pure black, with no whites."

Luo Yunyi trembled involuntarily as she recalled the scene. "He called those monsters 'Servants of the Stars,' saying they were tainted fragments of starlight."

A brief silence fell over the cave, broken only by the sounds of Shen Qingqiu tending to his wounds and the scratching of the monster outside.

Chu Ling'er suddenly spoke up: "I can sense... a very large consciousness deep within this cave system."

"It was chaotic, filled with pain, anger, and...hunger."

"The black-robed man Miss Luo mentioned might be manipulating a part of that consciousness in some way."

Mu Qingyao handed the ground medicinal paste to Shen Qingqiu, adding softly, "The rocks and moss here convey a sense of despair... They say the 'Star Core' is crying."

"Star core?" Lin Chen caught this key word.

Luo Yunyi nodded: "I've seen this word in my father's notes. He said that underground in Kunlun Death Valley, there is a 'core of a calamity star' that fell in ancient times."