Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

113: Chapter 113: The Sacred Shrine in the Deep Mountains and the Legacy of the Star OathThe brief commotion in the village and the faint glimmer of hope in the villagers’ eyes acted like an invisible whip, preventing Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue from resting in peace.

That ”shrine” hidden deep within the Black Stone Mountain Range had to be explored as soon as possible.

They briefly explained to Granny Zhang and Er Niu that they were heading into the mountains to search for some ”ancient artifacts” that might benefit the village. They didn’t mention the Night Watchmen to avoid causing unnecessary panic or expectation. Although Granny Zhang worried for their health, she had seen their extraordinary abilities and had Er Niu prepare plenty of dry rations and fresh water, as well as drawing a crude map of the mountain terrain.

”Children, the depths of the mountains are very eerie. Especially past Black Wind Ravine, the old folks never let anyone go there, saying it’s a place of no return. You must be extremely careful,” Granny Zhang urged repeatedly, her eyes full of worry.

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue thanked her solemnly. Their current state was still extremely poor; Nangong Xuan had a refined Divine Soul but lacked the corresponding power in his Physical Body, while Su Muxue had recovered a bit of Taiyin Star Power but was far from being a true Cultivator, merely slightly stronger than a Mortal. This journey into the deep mountains held unknown dangers.

Before leaving, the two returned to the ancient well once more. Nangong Xuan slowly infused a portion of his tempered Divine Soul power into the star Core, leaving an imprint to inform it of their destination. Su Muxue communicated through the starlight imprint on her forehead, conveying thoughts of comfort and farewell.

The star Core remained silent, but as they turned to leave, the Starlight screen covering the well’s mouth seemed to flicker extremely faintly, like a silent response and blessing.

Relying on the phantom map branded in their minds and the terrain map provided by Er Niu, the two supported each other as they stepped into the Black Stone Mountain Range.

The depths of the mountain range were even more deathly silent and desolate than imagined. The trees were withered, the rocks pitch black, and the air was permeated with a faint scent of decay; even the sounds of birds, beasts, and insects were rarely heard. That uncomfortable sense of inert Spiritual Qi and deep-seated deathliness was even more concentrated than in the village.

The path was difficult, covered in thorns and jagged rocks. Nangong Xuan’s powerful Divine Soul allowed him to perceive danger in advance and avoid poisonous insects and miasma, but his Physical Body was weak, making walking difficult. Su Muxue used her slightly recovered Taiyin Star Power to dispel the chill and steady herself, occasionally drawing upon thin Starlight to light the way forward.

Along the way, they saw many strange sights: massive, unnaturally formed circular craters; fractured cliffs that looked as if they had been split by a giant force; and even a valley where they found a patch of ground completely turned to glass, shimmering with an eerie spectral light and carrying the lingering, heart-palpitating energy fluctuations of a past battle.

All of this indicated that this mountain range had surely experienced an unimaginably tragic and fierce war in the distant past.

The route indicated by the phantom map was winding and circuitous, seemingly intentionally avoiding certain dangerous areas. Even after ten thousand years, remnant Formation force fields or spatial cracks could still threaten living beings.

After walking for two full days and crossing several perilous peaks, following the map’s guidance, they finally arrived at an extremely well-hidden mountain hollow.

The hollow was concealed by thick, withered vines and black strange rocks; without the map’s guidance, it would have been nearly impossible to find. Pushing aside the vines, a narrow cave entrance just large enough for one person appeared. Around the edges of the entrance were traces of manual excavation and several blurred Star Runes that had been nearly worn away by wind and rain.

This is it!

The two exchanged a glance, took a deep breath, and entered the cave one after the other.

The cave was initially extremely narrow, barely wide enough for a person, but after walking dozens of steps, it suddenly opened up.

Unexpectedly, the cave was not pitch black. Embedded in the ceiling were several strange stones that had long since grown dim but still emitted a faint fluorescent glow, providing meager illumination. By this dim light, they could see that this was a massive grotto, cavernous and simple inside.

In the center of the grotto was a crude altar built from massive black stones. The altar was empty, with no statues or tablets, but was covered in dense Star Runes and unknown scripts that were even more ancient and complex than those at the well’s mouth.

On the surrounding stone walls were murals, crude yet full of power!

The content of the murals corroborated the fragmented information they had seen before:

There were giants standing tall between heaven and earth, wielding spears of stars to fight against twisted, terrifying black shadows emerging from cracks in the starry sky; there were towering Star Palaces emitting endless radiance to suppress demons on the earth; there were also countless Cultivators and Mortals, one after another, infusing their own power and even their lives into massive stele-shaped Formations; the final few murals depicted scenes of stars shattering, palaces collapsing, and the earth withering, while the survivors, their faces full of sorrow yet their eyes resolute, built a small altar amidst the ruins and knelt to swear an oath... The style of the murals was ancient and simple, yet it contained a heart-shaking sense of tragic heroism and unyielding perseverance.

”Is this... the final sacrificial site of the Night Watchmen?” Su Muxue lightly touched the cold altar, feeling the lingering, nearly dissipated traces of devout faith and Star Power upon it, her voice somewhat choked.

Nangong Xuan’s gaze swept across the murals, finally landing on the most Core and profound runes in the center of the altar. He tried to use his Divine Sense to perceive them, only to find that these runes were protected by a strange power, making it difficult for his Divine Sense to penetrate.

”It needs... specific conditions, or... a token?” Nangong Xuan pondered.

Hearing this, Su Muxue’s heart stirred. She closed her eyes again, the starlight imprint on her forehead lighting up. Her Taiyin power and the sliver of nirvana starlight within her body flowed slowly as she attempted to infuse this mixed power into the altar like an offering.

At the same time, following the most primal instinct in her Bloodline, she softly recited the fragmented oath she had obtained from the previous information shards:

”...The Starlight shall not end... The night watch... is eternal...”

Hum—!

The moment she uttered the word ”eternal,” the entire altar jolted violently!

Every rune upon it lit up one by one! Although the light was dim, they were truly and surely activated!

The fluorescent stones on the ceiling also brightened a bit, making the entire grotto clearly visible.

In the center of the altar, those Core runes intertwined and rotated, eventually projecting a hazy light screen composed of Starlight. Within the light screen, a blurry phantom of an old man dressed in tattered star robes emerged.

The old man’s face was weathered, but his eyes were as deep as the stars, carrying endless exhaustion yet containing an unquenchable will.

He looked at Su Muxue and then at Nangong Xuan, as if peering through ten thousand years of time.

”Latecomers...” The old man’s voice rang directly in their Sea of Consciousness, raspy and ethereal. ”To be able to reach this place, trigger the Star Vow Altar, and awaken this final wisp of my remnant soul... You actually possess the powers of ’Star Pith’ and ’Nirvanic Source’... Could it be... that destiny has not ended?”

The old man’s phantom seemed extremely surprised by the attributes of Su Muxue and Nangong Xuan’s powers.

”Senior...” Nangong Xuan cupped his hands, attempting to ask a question.

The old man’s phantom raised a hand to interrupt him, his speaking speed increasing as if time were short: ”I do not have much time, listen well!”

”This place is the ’Black Stone Watchpoint,’ and I am the last Watcher, ’Star Scar.’ The catastrophe descended, heaven and earth collapsed, the main star stele was tarnished, and the Seals everywhere are in jeopardy. Our Night Watchmen lineage is but one-tenth of what it was, the Starlight scattered.”

”The well you saw contains the Seal of a fragment of the ’Jiuyou Abyss Demon.’ You must never let it escape, otherwise ten thousand miles of land will turn into a dead zone, and it will further accelerate the collapse of the main star stele!”

”To completely stabilize the Seal and even reshape the order of heaven and earth, the ’main star stele’ must shine again! However, the ’Guixu Star Origin’ where the main star stele is located has long been blockaded by chaotic space-time and endless demons, the path cut off...”

At this point, the old man’s phantom became even dimmer, but his tone grew more urgent:

”Only by... finding the scattered ’nine luminaries star keys’ can one locate and open the ’Ancient Starry Path’ leading to the ’Guixu Star Origin’! The world key fragment in your hands is a part of one of them, the ’jiyun star key’!”

”You must... you must find the other star keys... reignite the Starlight... the night watch... the night watch...”

The old man’s voice grew weaker and weaker, and the phantom began to dissipate.

”Senior! Where are the other star keys? And where is the Guixu Star Origin?” Nangong Xuan asked hurriedly.

The old man’s phantom finally raised a hand, pointing toward an inconspicuous stone wall deep in the grotto. On that wall was carved a crude star map, in which several stars were exceptionally bright.

”...The star map... will guide... beware of... the dark side...”

Finally, the old man’s phantom completely vanished, and the altar’s light quickly dimmed, returning to a deathly silence.

Inside the grotto, only Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue remained, their hearts churning with turbulent waves.

Jiuyou Abyss Demon! nine luminaries star keys! Ancient Starry Path! Guixu Star Origin! the dark side!

The amount of information was massive, making it difficult for them to digest for a moment.

But they at least had a clear next goal: find the other star keys! And the clues were on that star map!

The two quickly walked to that stone wall. The star map was very ancient, and the positions of the stars differed significantly from current astronomical observations, but those few specifically highlighted stars emitted faint Star Power fluctuations, seemingly an eternal marker.

The light of one star resonated faintly with the world key fragment (jiyun star key) in their hands. Meanwhile, the others pointed toward distant and unknown directions.

”It seems the road ahead of us is still very long,” Nangong Xuan said, his gaze deep as he looked at the star map.

Su Muxue nodded slightly, stroking the star marker that resonated with the world key: ”No matter how long it is, we must walk it.”

They carefully branded the star map into their Sea of Consciousness. Having finished this, the two gave a deep bow toward the altar and turned to walk out of the grotto.

Outside the cave, the daylight had already broken. Although the path ahead was still difficult, the goal was now clear.

When they returned to Black Stone Village, they found all the villagers gathered at the entrance, led by Granny Zhang and Er Niu, waiting expectantly.

Seeing them return, an unprecedented brilliance erupted in the villagers’ eyes, and they all knelt down together.

”Immortal Masters... did you... did you really find the ancestral land and receive the revelation of the Mountain God?” one of the oldest men asked with a trembling voice. They seemed to have sensed something through a faint resonance in their Bloodlines.

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue were slightly taken aback, then understood. They helped the villagers up.

”We found the sacrificial site of your ancestors,” Nangong Xuan said slowly. ”They were true heroes. You are the descendants of heroes.”

He didn’t say much about the specific mission of the Night Watchmen, as it was too heavy for the current villagers. But he passed on that sense of respect.

Hearing this, tears welled up in the villagers’ cloudy eyes. It was a glory and sorrow originating from the depths of their Bloodlines, sealed for ten thousand years, quietly awakening at this moment.

Hope had already sown its seeds in this land of despair.