Starfall Nine Heavens

Now it shines because of this young man's arrival.

Lu Xiuyuan's hands, clasped behind his back, trembled slightly. It was him... it really was him... the person his ancestors had waited for thousands of years, the person he had finally found.

But why such a young and seemingly ordinary child? Can he truly bring a ray of light into the inevitable storm to come?

"Uncle Lu, this stone..." Lin Fan's voice was somewhat bewildered, carrying a feeling he himself couldn't quite explain. There was clearly some connection between the heat of the jade pendant and the faint glow of the star stone.

Lu Xiuyuan forced himself to pull himself out of the shock. His voice was low and restrained, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth: "Lin Fan...it resonated with you. Don't be afraid, put your hand on it, feel it."

This doesn't feel like a test; it feels more like some kind of ritual.

Lin Fan followed his instructions and stepped forward. The closer he got to the stone platform, the hotter the jade pendant became, and the brighter the starstone's light grew. When he stood in front of the stone platform and stretched out his hand, he could even feel a tingling sensation flowing in the air, like a faint electric current.

He took a deep breath and gently placed his palm on the rough surface of the star stone.

The moment of touch—

boom!

A deep rumble echoed throughout the secret chamber! It didn't travel through the air, but directly shook the soul! The dusty starstone, like a beast awakening from millennia of slumber, burst forth with dazzling light! Seven-colored starlight surged forth, instantly filling the entire secret chamber. The streams of light swirled and converged, forming a hazy and sacred halo around Lin Fan, enveloping him completely.

Lu Xiuyuan's pupils contracted sharply, his reaction as fast as lightning. His hands moved rapidly in front of his chest, forming hand seals, his fingers flashing and creating afterimages. A surge of immense spiritual power erupted from his body, erecting layer upon layer of invisible barriers on the walls, ceiling, and floor. He had to isolate the aura here.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. It wasn't the fatigue from setting up the barrier, but the tension—the Star Stone had caused such a commotion; if the spiritual energy fluctuations leaked out and were sensed by certain forces, it would be a huge problem.

Although the Watchers are a civilian organization, the government has maintained a policy of both using and guarding against them over the years. On the surface, they cooperate amicably, but covert surveillance has never ceased. Not to mention the reclusive ancient martial arts families and Taoist sects, all keeping a close eye on them.

Lu Xiuyuan didn't want various groups of people to come to Chenyuan Pavilion under the guise of "visiting" to investigate the truth of the matter first thing tomorrow morning.

Only after the barrier was set up did he dare to take a closer look at Lin Fan in the center of the light.

Lin Fan was enveloped in a hazy, faint light. The light was strange, neither entirely white nor entirely silver, and contained specks of light. Lu Xiuyuan's pupils contracted—what kind of spiritual power was this? He had never seen it before. It wasn't any of the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth), nor was it a rare variant like ice, wind, or lightning.

Is it attributeless? Or does it possess some kind of special attribute?

Lin Fan's experience was completely different.

The moment his hand touched the starstone, the jade pendant on his chest floated up, hovering before him, emitting a soft, milky-white halo that merged with the starstone's light. Then, as if pulled abruptly by a hand—

My vision went dark for a moment, then brightened again.

He found himself suspended in an endless starry sky. There was no ground beneath his feet, no sky above him, and all around him flowed the Milky Way, swirling nebulae, and flickering stars. It was so vast and ancient. He was like a speck of dust, cast into the depths of the universe.

Then, a voice exploded in his soul.

"Bloodline...finally..."

The voice was so distant, as if it came from tens of thousands of years ago; it was weary, sorrowful, yet carried a sense of relief, as if something had finally been waited for. Lin Fan's eyes welled up with tears; he didn't even know why.

Immediately afterwards, several images were forcibly crammed into his mind—

A large, bony hand, its back covered in old scars and fresh wounds, smeared with blood. The hand trembled as it carefully placed a smooth, white jade pendant—the same one around his neck—into the swaddling clothes of an infant. The background was a burnt-down house and a howling wind.

Lin Fan had initially been passively "watching" these scenes, as if observing someone else's story. But the moment he clearly saw the jade pendant—

He felt as if his heart had been suddenly gripped by a hand, and his breath caught in his throat.

The jade pendant's patterns, its warm luster, the distinctive pale blue vein in its center… he knew it all too well. Every morning when he opened his eyes, he would look down and see it pressed against his chest. He held it in his hand while showering, and tucked it under his pillow while sleeping. Since his father passed it down to him so many years ago, he had touched it countless times, and could draw its image with his eyes closed.

That was his jade pendant.

It's not just similar, it's not just alike. It's the same one!

The hand in the picture is stuffing something he's worn around his neck since he was a baby into another baby's swaddling clothes.

Lin Fan's mind went blank, as if something had exploded. He tried to see the baby's face clearly, but the image was too blurry, only a pinkish outline. Who was the owner of that hand—that figure from behind—? Wasn't this jade pendant an heirloom? Wasn't it passed down from his grandfather to his father, and then from his father to him?

However, in the scene, the jade pendant was handed over from a bloodied hand.

It wasn't "passed down." It was "delivered."

Lin Fan's breathing became rapid and shallow, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest. He wanted to shout, to stop and see clearly, but the scene didn't give him any time—

A flash.

In the boundless, dark starry sky, a solitary figure walked step by step toward the rift at the edge of deep space that swallowed all light. He did not turn back, but that resolute determination to protect something, even across countless years, still struck Lin Fan's heart.

The last image is of a pair of eyes.

Those eyes, piercing through endless time, are now fixed on Lin Fan. The gaze is so complex—guilt, relief, entrustment, and a faint, lingering hope. His lips are moving, as if trying to say something, but the sound has long been worn away by time.

"Ugh—!"

Lin Fan groaned, his head feeling like it was about to explode. Images and emotions flooded in like a torrent, overwhelming him. But even more intense than the headache was the tangled mess in his mind—the jade pendant, the baby, the bloodied hand, that figure walking towards the abyss…

So who exactly is it?

He looked down and subconsciously reached for the jade pendant on his chest, only to find it floating outside.

Just when he felt he was about to give up, a cool sensation suddenly surged from the floating jade pendant.

The coolness was like a mother's hand, gently stroking his forehead. The tearing pain slowly subsided, the starry illusion began to fade, and those shattered images were sealed deep within his memory. The places where his soul was torn apart were gradually repaired and soothed by that coolness.

The coolness has subsided.

The jade pendant floating on his chest dimmed, silently falling back into his collar and settling against his skin. The temperature returned to normal, becoming warm, and the faint light surrounding Lin Fan also dissipated, as if nothing had happened.

Lin Fan suddenly opened his eyes.

He found himself kneeling before the stone platform, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath as if he had just been pulled from the water while drowning. Before him was still the same secret chamber, the starstone still glowing, but not as intensely as before.