Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

330th year of the Gregorian calendar.

Starfall Continent.

On the snow-capped slopes of the Qunxing Mountains, sunlight filters through the thin air, illuminating the year-round snow-covered peaks.

Melted snow gathers into streams, cascading down the mountainside and converging into a small river on the snowfield.

The Starfall River originates from the Star Mountain Range in the central part of the Starfall Continent, flows through rugged rocks, crosses mountain streams under ice and snow, and overflows the permafrost, heading eastward.

Crossing thousands of mountains and gathering countless streams, from towering peaks to secluded valleys, the dripping water transforms into rushing rivers as it travels eastward.

From the streams in the snow-capped mountains to the vast, misty river, the Xingluo River stretches for more than 30,000 li from west to east.

At its narrowest point, it is no more than shoulder width, but at its widest point, it stretches for thousands of miles.

With wind and rain as its companions, and with overwhelming force, it surges into the boundless ocean.

At the junction with the Meteorite Sea, a vast freshwater sea was formed.

The water and sky meet at the horizon, stretching endlessly.

……

Even a powerful empire like the Great Spirit Empire, which has been developing the Starfall Continent for hundreds of years, has failed to establish a civilization belonging to the human race in the lower reaches of the Starfall River.

For centuries, the city's location has tended to be near tributaries of the Xingluo River, or other gentler rivers.

Only a few outposts are scattered along the banks of the Starfall River to monitor changes in the river and guard against the birth of powerful demons.

Despite being called surveillance posts, these outposts can only serve as early warning systems at best.

Rushing down from the snow-capped mountains and plateaus, apart from the eight-thousand-mile waterway upstream, the entire Xingluo River is covered by lush rainforests on both banks.

Along the banks of Xingluo River, ancient trees hundreds of feet tall can be seen everywhere, and insects the size of human heads are scattered throughout the rainforest.

Every now and then you can see giant pythons, dozens of meters long, slithering through the forest, and tigers with two heads roaring in the forest...

This is a forbidden land for humans, a paradise for demons and ghosts, a haven for strange creatures, and a sacred place bestowed upon all spirits by the Great True Lord.

Even though the Xingluo Riverbank has abundant resources, few people dare to set foot there.

Over the course of centuries, the Great Spirit Empire has built more than 800 cities in the Starfall Domain.

Today, nearly 400 million people live on the entire Starfall Continent.

Although it seems like a lot, on the vast and boundless Starfall Continent, the traces of human activity do not even account for one-tenth of the entire continent.

The places that have actually been transformed to be suitable for human habitation are extremely rare, and are almost negligible on a map.

Against this backdrop, the shortage of manpower and labor force remains an unsolvable problem.

If it weren't for the fact that there were about a hundred cities distributed along the lower reaches of the Xingluo River, located on both sides of a tributary a thousand miles away from the Xingluo River, and that they were constantly at risk of being affected by the Xingluo River, the Great Ling Empire would never have been able to establish outposts within the Xingluo River basin.

At least in the present era, this vast and boundless river does not belong to humankind.

Thirty-five years ago, the great True Lord plucked stars and grasped the moon, re-establishing the Starfall Domain.

Seventy-two stars descended from the sky and transformed into seventy-two star islands.

Centered on the Starfall Continent, the concentration of spiritual energy in heaven and earth continues to rise, creating excellent conditions for the birth of demons, ghosts, and spirits of nature.

Such spiritual veins as Xingluo River are cradles for the birth of demons, ghosts, and spirits of nature.

Over the course of thirty-five years, more and more demons, ghosts, and spirits of nature have been born.

Although the strongest among them is only at the Refining Spirit Returning to Emptiness realm, they can still cause fatal disasters to ordinary humans.

In order to deal with the possible calamity of demons and ghosts, the 10th Legion of the Great Spirit Empire was transferred to the Starfall Continent to guard the vicinity of human cities.

A small section of the lower reaches of the Starfall River, near the human settlements, is also under surveillance.

……

At this very moment, deep in the rainforest.

Inside a sentry post made of amethyst and covered by a wood-elemental array, several soldiers were chatting idly.

"I didn't jump! Don't you believe me? There really is a dragon in this river! I saw it last night!"

Beside the campfire, a young soldier suddenly stood up and shouted at his comrades.

The soldier looked to be in his early twenties, with flushed cheeks and a strong smell of alcohol on his breath.

His drunken appearance was hardly convincing.

Including himself, there were only five people guarding the outpost. Three of them were not much older than him and were all young people. Only the leader was a middle-aged man who looked to be about forty or fifty years old.

Perhaps because they had a really good relationship, when the young soldier was making a fuss, his companion naturally picked up the wine jug and filled the young soldier's cup again.

"Yes, yes, yes!!! There's a dragon! The Starfall River is so wide, how could there not be a dragon?"

"Come on! Drink!"

"I'll do it, you can do whatever you want!"

The teasing tone immediately energized the drunken young soldier. His already dizzy brain completely lost its ability to think, and regardless of how much he had drunk, he raised his glass and downed it in one gulp.

The liquor, with its slight spiciness, made the soldier's already groggy mind even more confused.

"Do you believe me or not? I really saw a dragon! I couldn't see it clearly at night, but it seemed to be a light blue dragon!"

His explanation was ignored; the others, already quite drunk, simply assumed the young soldier was talking nonsense.

People who drink frequently know that when they drink a lot, they become more talkative.

If you talk too much, you'll often speak without thinking, with three parts truth, four parts boasting, and three parts nonsense.

Many people, after drinking to a certain extent, not only do not know how to restrain themselves, but will also actively ask for more alcohol, completely disregarding whether their bodies can handle it, focusing solely on having fun.

This was the case for several soldiers inside the outpost.

Seeing the young soldier arguing heatedly, they immediately drank another cup.

"You're talking too much! Come on! Let's do it!"

"Forget about dragons, let's just do it!"

"Dry!"

"Fill it up! Fill it up!"

"Yes, that's it! Fill it up!"

Watching his colleagues raise their glasses one after another, the young soldier, whose mind was already wandering, also got excited.

His colleagues were all heavy drinkers, so why should he show weakness?

In a moment of impulsiveness, the young soldier disregarded the blurry shadow he had seen the previous night, raised his glass, and continued drinking with the others.

Ultimately, he himself wasn't entirely sure whether what he saw last night was a real dragon.

The night was dark, and the Xingluo River was wide and boundless. The river basin was full of enormous creatures, so it was normal to mistake one for another.

More importantly, the True Dragon Clan has never been active in the Starfall Domain. They can't even be seen in the Starfall Sea, let alone inside the Starfall Continent where they live.

If life here weren't so incredibly boring, the young soldier wouldn't have brought this up at the dinner table.

"Dry!"

……

The bonfire blazed brightly, illuminating an area within a mile radius.

Outside the formation, a woman with vertical pupils and dragon horns was staring intently in the direction of the five people.