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

122: Chapter 122: The Tragedy of the Dome and the Rekindling of the Star TorchThe moment the zhenyu star key merged into the Dantian, Nangong Xuan felt his Divine Soul sink suddenly, as if cast into a vast, heavy expanse of stardust. No longer fragmented images or noise, but a majestic, tragic, almost solidified epic—like memories etched into a star’s Core—crashed into his Sea of Consciousness. Su Muxue, through their close Dao resonance and the chaos star core, shared this mountain-heavy ancient memory.

The scene shifted abruptly.

They ”saw,” not through eyes, but through direct Soul Perception.

It was an infinite, dazzling sea of stars, with countless stars moving along ancient trajectories, emitting vigorous vitality. In the center of this sea, a silver palace of indescribable grandeur and brilliance floated silently. It was not built of stone, but woven from pure Stellar Laws and radiance—the Star Palace. Nine pillars of Starlight, each a different color yet equally vast, shot out from the palace like pillars supporting the sky, maintaining the balance and prosperity of the entire star sea. That was the manifestation of the Origin of the nine luminaries star keys’ power.

However, this brilliance and balance did not last forever.

At the edge of the star sea, beyond the boundary that should have been void Chaos, without warning, a pure, all-consuming ”darkness” began to spread. It wasn’t just darkness—darkness is merely the absence of light—but a living ”nothingness” with a cold will. Wherever it passed, the brilliance of stars was devoured, Laws were twisted, and space itself seemed ”erased,” leaving only an absolute, despairing silence.

—”the dark side.”

The information flow in the memory provided this heart-stopping name. It came from beyond the realm, its purpose unknown. Its very existence seemed to be for devouring and assimilating all ordered energy and matter, including stars, Laws, and life.

The Star Palace sounded the alarm, and the ancient Night Watchmen clan was the first to face the enemy. Harnessing Stellar Power, they laid out a ten-thousand-mile Star Torch Array, attempting to illuminate and block the encroachment of the dark side. A war spanning untold ages, tragic beyond imagination, broke out.

They ”saw” powerful Night Watchmen Elders burning their star Souls, turning into meteor showers crashing into the churning the dark side, yet like mud entering the sea, they could only stir up insignificant ripples. They ”saw” massive Starship Fleets forming battle arrays, their main cannons firing Starlight spears capable of piercing continents, yet only opening brief passages in the dark side before being submerged and devoured by more ”darkness.” They ”saw” stars nurturing life being touched by the dark side, their light quickly dimming and extinguishing, finally collapsing and vanishing as if they had never existed.

The war continued, the Night Watchmen fighting and retreating, but the dark side seemed endless, constantly approaching the Core of the star sea. Finally, the site of the decisive battle was the very airspace where Nangong Xuan and the others were now—at that time, it was still a prosperous Star Domain with dozens of life-bearing stars.

The memory’s image froze on an incredibly tragic final ceremony.

Tens of thousands of heavily injured Night Watchmen with depleted Star Power gathered around the Star Palace sub-palace (the predecessor of this ancient battlefield). They gave up on escaping, gave up on Reincarnation. Led by a burly old man holding the zhenyu star key and wearing stellar armor (whose image gradually overlapped with the skeleton on the peak), they chanted the ancient Star Prayer Secret Incantation. Using their remaining star Souls and lives as sacrifices, they connected with the Origin power of the nine luminaries star keys!

”With our star Souls as the flame!” ”With our bones as the wick!” ”Light this Star Torch!” ”Suppress this territory!” ”Protect our star vault!” ”Never to be extinguished!”

The sorrowful oath echoed through the star sea. Countless Night Watchmen turned into the purest light, pouring into the ultimate Seal led by the zhenyu star key and combined with the projections of the other eight star keys—the Nine Luminaries Zhenyu Sealing Boundary!

A vast explosion of Star Power temporarily repelled the vanguard of the dark side. But the cost was immense. The Night Watchmen who participated in the ceremony were completely wiped out. Their will and Battle Intent merged with the Evil Qi of this place, forming this ancient battlefield ruin and the immortal Tomb-Guarding Spirit. The Star Palace sub-palace disintegrated, and the physical bodies of the nine luminaries star keys were also severely damaged, flying off in all directions and falling into various realms. That powerful Seal, while failing to completely expel the dark side, successfully blocked its main body outside this Star Domain, creating a temporary balance.

The memory images gradually blurred and dissipated.

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue slowly opened their eyes and looked at each other, both seeing the shock, grief, and unprecedented solemnity in the other’s eyes.

”Sorrow of the Firmament...” Nangong Xuan whispered the name from the memory. That blocking action, paid for with the self-sacrifice of countless Night Watchmen, was far more tragic than imagined.

”So, the dark side is such an existence...” Su Muxue’s voice trembled slightly. It was a fear rooted in biological instinct—the fear of absolute nothingness and devouring. ”It’s not a demon, yet it’s more terrifying than any demon... it’s devouring the entire world!”

Nangong Xuan looked into his Dantian. The zhenyu star key was slowly rotating around the nirvana golden core, emitting a steady, heavy power. It was not just a key, but a heavy responsibility, the entrustment of countless Night Watchmen spirits.

”The gathering of the star keys isn’t just to open a path, but to... rekindle the Star Torch, reinforce or even repair the Seal from back then, and completely stop the dark side.” Nangong Xuan’s tone was extremely certain. Having received this memory, their goal was clearer and its significance even greater.

Just then, the Night Watchman skeleton on the peak, which had maintained its key-pressing posture, seemed to have finally completed its final mission. In a breeze, it quietly turned into a cloud of crystalline stardust, scattering and slowly merging into the bone mountain beneath. Only the broken bronze halberd remained standing lonely in its place.

At the foot of the mountain, the hundred-foot-tall phantom of the Tomb-Guarding Spirit turned toward the peak, toward the direction where the stardust scattered, and slowly and solemnly knelt on one knee, performing an ancient and majestic military salute. In its amber eyes, the flames gradually subsided, replaced by a deep sense of solace and liberation.

Its body began to become transparent, and the vast Battle Intent and Stellar Power that composed it flowed back toward the bone mountain like a receding tide.

”Successor... Star Torch... Rekindled...”

A final faint but clear thought entered the minds of Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue, filled with entrustment and expectation.

The Tomb-Guarding Spirit completely dissipated, returning to the land it had guarded for ages. The suffocating, solemn pressure in the basin also vanished. Though still desolate, it lost some of its cold, forbidding air, gaining a bit of quiet sorrow and waiting.

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue bowed deeply once more toward where the skeleton had dissipated and where the Tomb-Guarding Spirit had vanished.

At that moment, the chaos star core suddenly flew out of Su Muxue’s arms of its own accord, hovering in the air. The light on its surface flickered, and the powers of the four star keys—ji yun, corrosive dark, mars, and zhenyu—intertwined and flowed within it. It seemed that with the integration of the zhenyu star key, it had reached a certain critical point.

Inside the star Core, that speck of Guixu intent fluctuated violently. Lin Mo’s long-dormant consciousness, belonging to an adult Soul, seemed to break through some shackles, transmitting a thought clearer than ever before, yet still carrying extreme exhaustion!

”Brother... Xuan... Mu Xue...”

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue both shuddered and looked sharply at the star Core!

”Senior Brother Lin Mo?!” Su Muxue was filled with surprise and joy.

”You’re awake?” Nangong Xuan’s heart was also racing.

”...Temporarily... Four star keys... gathered... I can... briefly... slow the devouring... stay conscious... for a moment...” Lin Mo’s thoughts were intermittent, yet every word was clear. ”Zhenyu... memory... you... already know...”

”Yes, we already know about the dark side matters,” Nangong Xuan said in a deep voice.

”...Worse... than the memory... the dark side... has adapted... to the Seal... is infiltrating... searching for... weak points... The star keys scattered... not just because... of the damage... but to... avoid... being... wiped out all at once...”

Lin Mo’s words made their hearts sink further. So there was this deeper meaning behind the scattering of the star keys?

”...Quickly... gather... all nine keys... not just... for the path... but to... restart... the Star Palace... Core... Only when... the nine luminaries are gathered... can the... Star Torch... truly be driven... to completely... purify... Dark Erosion...”

”Where is the Star Palace Core?” Nangong Xuan immediately asked.

”...Don’t know... When the star keys... regroup... they will... naturally guide...” Lin Mo’s thoughts began to become unstable; clearly, maintaining consciousness was a huge burden for him. ”The next... sensing... is strong... in the... East... a place... full of life... yet... deathly silent... a place of... contradiction...”

”The East? Full of life yet deathly silent?” Su Muxue frowned in thought.

”...Seems like... ’Yimu’... yet also like... ’Netherworld’... Be careful... there... feels... very... wrong...” Lin Mo’s warning carried deep dread.

”...Energy... exhausted... back to... sleep... take care...”

The final thought faded, and the light of the chaos star core completely withdrew, becoming silent once again, as if the conversation just now had been an illusion. But Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue knew it was real. Lin Mo’s consciousness, supported by the power of the four star keys, had finally been able to wake up briefly and provide crucial information!

The East! The next star key’s attribute might be related to Yimu (Life) or the Netherworld (Death), and it was extremely dangerous!

Nangong Xuan took a deep breath and took back the chaos star core. He felt that the zhenyu star key brought more than just memories and Lin Mo’s brief awakening; there were also practical benefits. His nirvana golden core was more solidified, and his Perception and control of Earth Power had reached a new height. He even vaguely felt that if he were on the ground, his defense and power would be almost infinite.

Su Muxue also found that her Taiyin Star Power, under the influence of the zhenyu star key’s heavy and steady aura, had become more condensed and stable, losing some of its etherealness and gaining more solidity.

”We must set off for the East immediately,” Nangong Xuan decided. Time was more pressing than they had imagined. ”the dark side” was infiltrating; they had to gather the star keys before it was too late.

”Yes.” Su Muxue nodded, her gaze fixed on the eastern horizon. That was the direction of their next journey, and where unknown dangers lay.

The two took one last look at this silent ancient battlefield, bowed slightly to the broken halberd, and then turned into two streaks of light, leaving the basin without hesitation and speeding toward the East.

Shortly after they left, the broken bronze halberd that had stood at the peak of the bone mountain, silent for ages, suddenly trembled very slightly. A speck of rust on the blade quietly peeled off, revealing a tiny, almost imperceptible glimmer of ghostly light that flashed and vanished.

It was as if some mechanism, sealed away by long ages, was quietly triggered because the star key had been taken, the Tomb-Guarding Spirit had dissipated, and the successors had departed.

In the far-off, indescribable depths beyond the realm, that all-consuming the dark side seemed to fluctuate as well. More cold ”gazes” were cast toward this world, toward the zhenyu star key that had just changed hands, and toward... the successors who were rapidly moving and collecting the keys.

The hunting had already begun.