Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

After Lin Xiaoman finished speaking, the chamber remained quiet for a long time.

The only sounds were the soft rustling of the white mist churning behind them, and the occasional cracking sound, like bones breaking, that came from within the mist.

Dongfang Weiwo looked at the white jade skeleton, about the size of a child. It sat upright, as if it had been carefully arranged. The crack on the top of its skull was dark and gloomy, not letting in a sliver of light, like an eye that had been closed for many years.

"This infant is the child of an ancient god and demon," Lin Xiaoman whispered. "It died in its mother's womb, its resentment lingering. Before its death, the god and demon forged its own tailbone into a corridor, burying the infant deep within it. The gate to the Ruins of Return is the unclosed celestial spirit of this infant. That's why the map of the Demon God Lü says 'Bury Me.' The Ruins of Return is originally a place for burying infants. The Demon God Lü also buried himself here, waiting for those who come after."

"What's the point of waiting for newcomers?" Chuan Ying asked.

"To fulfill the promise of burying the bones," Lin Xiaoman said, "to return the bones to the homeland, to the gods in heaven, and to preserve the blood in the earth."

She paused, then looked at Dongfang Weiwo: "But it's also possible that Demon God Lü had no choice. If he didn't bury himself here, the resentment of the young god-demon child would rush out along the corridor and drag the entire southeast of Tianwu into the Myriad Star Domain. He's suppressing this gate."

"Then is this infant skeleton alive?" Wu Wudi lowered his voice slightly, the tip of his knife unconsciously pointing at the white jade skeleton.

"It's hard to say," Lin Xiaoman shook her head. "It's just been sitting there for who knows how many years. But it doesn't have any murderous aura. It's much cleaner than those corrosive entities in the main marrow passage."

Dongfang Weiwo stepped forward and stopped in front of the small skeleton. He crouched down and scanned it inch by inch with his bone domain perception.

The interior of the white jade skeleton was extremely unique. Its bone density surpassed that of any divine or demonic remains he had ever seen, even exceeding the density of the highly complete divine or demonic skeleton within his own body. Although this little thing was only the size of a three- or four-year-old child, in terms of bone strength alone, it could probably withstand a full-force strike from Chuan Ying.

Its left arm was loosely clenched, as if it had been holding something between its finger bones. Dongfang Weiwo looked closer and found extremely fine marks between the finger bones—dents from holding a cylindrical object for many years.

"Map," he suddenly said.

Lin Xiaoman handed over the map. Dongfang Weiwo unfolded the map and compared it. The thickness of the indentation was similar to that of the rolled-up scroll.

"The Demon God Lü hid the map here," Dongfang Weiwo said. "The imprint left between the child's finger bones is about the same thickness as this scroll. He came here and placed the map in the child's hand. Later, someone took the map and took it out."

"Who will take it?"

"Me," Lin Xiaoman said. She raised her left hand blankly, and the wound on her palm reopened, blood seeping out and dripping onto the ground. The dark golden cushion on the ground suddenly lit up, and the little finger of the infant's skeleton twitched slightly.

The movement was so subtle that it would have been invisible to everyone who wasn't watching closely. It moved. The joints clicked together, making a sound even softer than the wind.

Wu Wudi swept his broken sword horizontally, as if to strike, but Dongfang Weiwo reached out and stopped him.

"It's pointing," said Dongfang Weiwo.

The little finger of the infant skeleton's right hand stopped moving. But that tremor just now was clearly directed—pointing to the door behind it. Outside the door, the two bone flaps were slightly parted.

A sliver of light shone through the crack. The light was extremely cold, carrying the unique gray-blue hue of the Myriad Star Domain, mixed with the verdant green of the Tianwu Continent after the rain. The two colors blended together, like the dawn of another world seeping in through the crack.

"It started by itself?" Chuan Ying frowned.

"No." Dongfang Weiwo's gaze returned to the finger bones of his youngest son's right hand. At the tip of that little finger was an extremely fine hole, as if it had been pricked by a needle. Around the hole were faint, bluish-gold bloodstains, like old stains from many years ago. It wasn't Lin Xiaoman's blood, but it wasn't hers either. It was the blood of another guardian, dripped into the hole. The guardian of Lu Moshen's token.

"It's what made us want to go in," Dongfang Weiwo said.

He drew the bone key from his waist. The bone key emitted a soft, dark golden light in the chamber, the patterns on the tip of his coccyx perfectly matching the keyhole on the door. Dongfang Wei did not hesitate and inserted the bone key into the keyhole.

"Click."

A very soft sound. Like a baby's knuckles being straightened. The bone flaps slowly opened outwards, without a sound. There was no surging airflow behind the door, no shattered laws of the Myriad Star Domain, and no earthy stench of Tianwu. Only silence.

The silence was so profound, it felt like stepping into thin air.

"Keep up close," Dongfang Weiwo whispered, holding Lin Xiaoman's hand with his left and sword in his right, before stepping in first.

My legs went weak.

It was neither solid ground nor emptiness. It felt like walking on fog, yet it was also weightless. All around was a grayish-white light, making it difficult to distinguish near from far. Lin Xiaoman's hands tightened; her left palm was glowing, a bluish-gold blood-red light like a small lamp, barely illuminating three inches beneath her feet.

Wu Wudi, Chuan Ying, and Yan Fei followed closely behind. Their auras were also suppressed to an extremely low level in this gray and white atmosphere. Wu Wudi spat and said, "This place is even more eerie than outside. I can't even breathe properly."

"There is no way back to the Ruins; we must enter from the old place," Lin Xiaoman said softly. "This is the Ruins. The crevice between two realms. On one side is the end of the Myriad Star Domain, and on the other side is the back of Tianwu. There is no up or down, no front or back, only 'living people' and 'dead bones'."

Dongfang Weiwo closed his eyes. His Bone Domain perception was completely unresponsive here; he was surrounded by bones, yet none of them were bones. It was like falling into an ocean of bone dust, where even direction was lost. He could only rely on the faint blood light emanating from Lin Xiaoman and the wisp of marrow fire on his sword.

The marrow fire, though grayish-white, was not weak; on the contrary, it burned brighter and brighter. As if it had smelled something, it spread inch by inch upward from the tip of the sword, burning over the hilt and reaching Dongfang Weiwo's wrist, yet he felt no burning pain.

"It's still here," Dongfang Wei said.

"Who?" Lin Xiaoman asked.

"Lu the Demon God," Dongfang Weiwo said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried far in the silence.

As the words fell, a sigh suddenly came from the depths of the gray-white space.

The sigh was long and deep, like a breath rising from a dry well, carrying the dampness of decades without seeing the sun.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. In the gray-white fog, a small, dark golden light appeared. The light gradually drew closer; it was a lamp.

A lamp carved from half an arm bone rested on a blue stone. Something burned inside, its flame a dark golden color, and it burned steadily. Behind the lamp was a very simple bone couch, on which sat a human figure.

It was described as humanoid, for it was indeed human. But from a distance, all that could be seen was that his robes had long since rotted away, and his exposed skin was grayish-white, as if it had blended into the grayish-white mist. He remained seated quietly, his left hand resting on his knee, and his right hand flat on his chest.

Left arm intact. Right arm intact.

Dongfang Weiwo stopped. He recognized the man's posture. He had seen the figure of the Demon God Lü in the image of the Wangchuan Bridge. Now, before the lamp, that figure was facing them.

"Lu the Demon God," Dongfang Weiwo said.

The person did not move.

"Junior Dongfang Weiwo, having inherited your shattered bones, has entered this Void of Return." Dongfang Weiwo's clear voice echoed far and wide in the gray-white space, "I have come for the ninth fragment."

The dark golden flame in the arm bone lamp flickered gently, as if bent by the wind. Lu Moshen's silhouette remained motionless within that light.

Lin Xiaoman suddenly broke free from Dongfang Weiwo's hand and took a few steps forward. The blood-red light on her left palm grew brighter and brighter, the bluish-gold color making half of her face glow. She walked to a point three steps away from the bone bed, knelt down, and placed her left hand on her chest.

"Lin Xiaoman, the guardian of the sign, greets Demon God Lü."

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear. Blood seeped from between her fingers on her left palm, dripping onto the grayish-white ground with a hissing sound, like water falling on a red-hot stone.

Lu Moshen's body moved.

His head turned very, very slowly. His face was almost withered, his eyes sunken, but a strange smile lingered at the corner of his mouth. He didn't open his eyes.

"How many did you bring?" His voice squeezed out from his dry throat, hoarse like two withered leaves rubbing together.

"Eight pieces," Dongfang Weiwo said.

"Eight pieces...that's enough." Lu Moshen's voice suddenly softened, as if he had waited too long and finally received it. "The ninth piece is in my right hand."

Everyone looked at his right hand. His hand was placed flat on his chest, his fingers slightly curled up, as if he were holding something in his palm.

Through the grayish-white leather, you can see a faint, dark golden light flowing beneath your fingertips.