The heavens above the Forbidden Crescent churned like a storm of shattered constellations. Winds howled with spectral voices, and the very ground trembled with suppressed power. Within this realm, where even time walked on broken legs, Li Tianming and Mu Yuelan stood shoulder to shoulder against an entity that defied natural order: the Starbound Wraith.
The creature was a behemoth of pulsating jade, its limbs trailing celestial mist. Its eyes were twin abysses, swirling with fragments of lost stars. As it lumbered forward, each step shattered the rocks beneath it, creating glowing cracks that oozed with starlight.
Tianming's system lit up with warnings.
> [Warning: Astral Signature Level VII Detected] [Combat Viability: 43%. Host Enhancement Advised. Activating Lunar Synergy Mode...]
> [Stat Buffs Applied: Strength +12%, Reflex +17%, Astral Perception +22%]
Mu Yuelan channeled her frost essence. Her azure blade, Snowveil, hummed with energy as she cast a defensive circle of ice qi around them.
"We'll die if we try to take it head-on," she said.
"Then we don't," Tianming replied. "We break its anchor first."
He pointed to a glowing sigil embedded in the Wraith's chest—a shifting spiral of runes pulsing with power.
"Spirit Seal Core," he muttered. "Destroy it, and the creature loses cohesion."
Yuelan nodded. "Then let's make this dance a two-step."
Dance of Blades and Stars
The first clash was titanic.
Tianming dashed forward, blade blazing with his Celestial Rend. He struck at the Wraith's leg, but his sword bounced off with a deafening clang. In response, the Wraith backhanded him with a force that would have broken a lesser cultivator's spine.
> [Impact Absorbed. Internal Damage: 12%. Healing Mode Engaged.]
Yuelan capitalized on the distraction, leaping into the air and spinning mid-flight. Snowveil unleashed a barrage of frost petals—each a razor-sharp crescent of freezing energy.
They struck the sigil dead center.
The Wraith roared, its voice a deep, discordant hum that rattled the bones of the dead. Its body shifted—turning more spectral. It retaliated with a pulse of anti-light, a black nova that expanded outward.
Tianming's system responded instantly.
> [Shadow Pulse Detected. Countermeasures Initiated. Starfield Displacement in 3... 2... 1...]
A burst of silver light surrounded Tianming, dragging him into a temporary astral fold, bypassing the destructive pulse. He reappeared behind the creature and drove his sword into the Wraith's exposed back.
This time, it pierced.
The Wraith faltered. Yuelan struck again—this time with a full-body charge that shattered one of its arms.
"Now!" Tianming shouted.
They both leapt.
Tianming's sword and Yuelan's blade struck the sigil together, flooding it with opposing qi—celestial and frost. The rune cracked. Then shattered.
The Wraith let out a cry that silenced the realm for a full heartbeat.
And then it exploded into a thousand falling stars.
---
The Hall of the Forgotten
The land around them shifted. Where once there had been desolation, now lay a silver path paved with astral stones, leading to a vast gate of stardust.
> [Starbound Trial One Completed. Ascension Path Unlocked. Memory Archive Available. Host Rewards: +5% Astral Resistance, Unique Skill Unlock: "Eclipse Step"]
"Looks like we're in the right place," Tianming said, panting.
Yuelan sheathed her blade, still breathing heavily. "That thing... was guarding a path. A trial gate."
They stepped forward together.
The moment they passed through the gate, visions flooded their minds—scenes of an ancient war.
A battleground in the heavens. Starforged Guardians clashing with abominations born of forgotten constellations. Tianming recognized one face among them—his father, Li Shentao, wielding a twin-bladed crescent spear and leading a charge against beings made of anti-light.
Then a voice echoed through the chamber:
> "You seek what was lost. You must pay the price. Prove your soul against the Seven Trials. Only then shall the path open."
Seven pillars of light burst from the ground. Each held an emblem: Wrath, Resolve, Wisdom, Sacrifice, Unity, Pain, and Truth.
Yuelan turned to him. "We're not done."
"No," he agreed. "We've only just started."
---
Back in the Mortal Realm
At the Moonlit Sect, Mei'er sat cross-legged in the chamber of the Starshard, its light illuminating her face. Her aura had grown stronger—more refined. The Starshard had accepted her.
Qingxue burst into the room. "We've received a message. A flare from the Forbidden Crescent. They passed the first trial."
Mei'er nodded, but her brows remained furrowed. "Good. But the stars... they're not quiet. I had another dream. This time, it wasn't just about Tianming. It was about us. All of us."
She held up a scroll—a prophecy freshly transcribed in starlight.
> "When seven walk the path, and three become flame, the eclipse shall birth the storm that ends empires."
Shuang'er, who had silently entered, spoke from the shadows. "Then we'd better be ready when he comes back."
---
Trial Two: The Well of Sorrows
In the Starbound Realm, Tianming and Yuelan arrived at a vast basin filled with mirror-like water. The sky above was blank—a void.
"Trial of Pain," Tianming muttered. "We face our pasts."
The waters shifted.
Tianming saw himself as a child—cast out from his early sect after a failed cultivation test. Alone. Starving. Crying into an empty rice bowl.
He stepped forward.
The water rejected him, lashing out like a whip. The system chimed.
> [Psychospiritual Integrity Threatened. Warning: Regression Detected.]
But he stood firm. "That boy didn't break. I won't either."
He stepped into the pool.
Flashes of memories—his mother's death, the moment he found his father's spear broken in a cave, the countless hours of being mocked.
Then, silence.
The pool cleared.
He stood in the center.
> [Trial Passed. Skill Unlocked: "Soul Temper – Passive Damage Reduction: 18% Against Illusion and Fear-Based Attacks."]
Yuelan's turn came.
Her trial was quiet—but her scream echoed for minutes.
When she emerged, her eyes were wet, and her body shook—but her blade shimmered with a new edge.
"We keep going," she said.
---
Into the Heart of the Stars
Trial after trial followed.
In the third, they faced each other in a test of trust. In the fourth, they gave up spiritual energy to save echoes of fallen cultivators. In the fifth, they endured isolation for what felt like years in a stilled realm.
And in the sixth, they saw a glimpse of the final enemy—an entity called The Moonbane, a creature of inverted stars and seething void, shackled beneath the deepest realm of the crescent.
In each challenge, Tianming's system evolved:
> [Unlocks Acquired: Eclipse Step, Lunar Blade Bloom, Spirit Mirror Sync, Starshard Linkage: 48%]
> [New Passive: Leadership Resonance (Allies within 20 meters gain +7% Focus, +4% Spirit Qi Recovery)]
But the cost was clear. Their bodies bled. Their minds frayed. Even with his overpowered system, Tianming felt the toll.
"We're not gods," he said, resting beneath a tree of starlight.
"No," Yuelan agreed, leaning beside him. "But we're the ones they chose to fight them."
He looked at her.
"You knew my father better than you let on."
She nodded slowly. "He saved my clan once. Paid a high price for it. He was more than a warrior—he was a beacon. You're the only one who might finish what he started."
Tianming stood.
"One trial left."
She followed.
"Let's burn the stars down."
---
[End of Chapter 15: Starbound Trials]