Gou Zai Fei Men made up myths

The content of the mural corresponds to the fragments, but is more complete. The starry sky, the colossal city, the figure holding the weapon... the face of the figure is still blurred, but its figure and posture are ethereal and otherworldly, as if it has merged with the stars in the sky.

The object in his hand became much clearer—it was a ruler about three feet long, its entire body resembling a galaxy formed from condensed stars. The ruler was crystal clear, and within it seemed as if countless stars were born and died, flowing and turning. On the ruler, seven bright star points could be vaguely seen, arranged according to some mysterious trajectory.

One end of the ruler is slightly curved, like a hook reaching for the moon.

"Star River Ruler..." A barely audible, trembling voice murmured from the less injured female cultivator from the Xuanbing Pavilion beside her. She seemed to be proficient in some ancient scripts, pointing to the inscription on the stele next to the mural, struggling to decipher it.

"The inscription records...this city is called 'Starfall'...it was a sacred site built by the ancient great being 'Star River True Lord'...his personal treasure was called 'Star River Ruler,' which had the power to measure the starry sky and stabilize the universe...later...the city was destroyed in a great calamity...the ruler vanished...its whereabouts are unknown..."

Star River True Lord! Star River Ruler!

Every word was like a heavy hammer, striking Shen Mo's heart! It shook him to his core, making his ears ring and even causing him to momentarily lose focus.

The murals, the inscriptions, the shape and name of the artifacts... everything overlapped perfectly with a fictional existence that he himself had "created" long ago and had long been buried in his memory!

That was when he had just taken over as the head of the Qingyun Sect, and the sect was in dire need of rebuilding, with its reputation at rock bottom. In order to boost morale, unite the people, and add some legendary color to the pitifully thin history of the Qingyun Sect, he read through countless tattered ancient books and local chronicles, racking his brains to compile a book called "The Travels of Ancestor Liuyun".

In the book, he describes how the Flowing Cloud Ancestor traveled around the world in his youth, making friends with heroes from all over the world. Among them was a close friend, a mysterious rogue cultivator with the Taoist name "Star River", who was ethereal and otherworldly and proficient in the Tao of Stars.

He even fabricated the magic weapon of this "Star River Taoist" based on some ancient star legends and incomplete magic weapon diagrams. It was a "Star River Ruler" that could draw upon the power of the stars in the heavens and was infinitely mysterious!

The book describes in detail the shape of the Star River Ruler: it is three feet and three inches long, and its entire body is cast like a starry river. It contains seven stars and can measure the heavens and the earth and stabilize the eight directions... It is exactly the same as the one described in the murals and inscriptions in front of us!

At the time, he regarded it as a playful piece, a "creation" to add to the history of the sect and increase its mystique.

He even recalled that, in order to make the details more "realistic", he also referenced a few tattered jade slips about ancient constellations that had been abandoned in a corner of the Qingyun Sect's Sutra Pavilion, as well as a blurred and unknown ancient ruler pattern, and combined his imagination to sketch out the appearance of the "Star River Ruler".

He casually placed that book on the first floor of the library. Occasionally, lower-ranking disciples would flip through it, but they only took it as a legendary story of their patriarch and no one took it seriously.

But... but why do these murals and inscriptions from ancient ruins, buried by time for countless millennia, record a character and artifact whose name, characteristics, and even details perfectly match those in his fabricated story?!

Coincidence? What kind of absurd coincidence could there be? Even the details of the arrangement of the seven stars on the "Star Ruler" are exactly the same?

If it's not a coincidence... then what does it mean?

Does this mean that the story he casually fabricated actually existed countless years ago? Does this mean that the legend of the founder of his Qingyun Sect has an incredible connection with a lost ancient power?

Or perhaps... some incomprehensible force "projected" or "influenced" his fabricated story onto reality, or even... traced it back to ancient times?

Absurd! Bizarre! Inconceivable!

Shen Mo felt a chill creeping up from the depths of his soul. This was more unsettling than any powerful enemy he had faced or any perilous situation he had ever experienced.

This defies common sense and subverts our understanding!

"Sect Leader? What's wrong?" Han Lin was the first to notice Shen Mo's unusual behavior. In his memory, the Sect Leader was always wise and composed, as steady as a mountain. When had he ever lost his composure like this?

Although Shen Mo remained calm on the surface, Han Lin, who had followed him for a long time, keenly noticed a slight, almost imperceptible tremor in the fingers holding the jade slip, and a hint of extreme shock and... bewilderment flashed in the depths of his usually deep and unfathomable eyes.

Shi Tie, Jin Hao, Mu Qingqing, and the others also looked at Shen Mo in surprise. They had never seen their sect leader show such an expression before.

Shen Mo suddenly snapped out of his daze, instantly suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart, and his face returned to its usual calm. However, beneath that calm, it seemed as if an glacier was silently cracking.

He slowly put down the jade slip, his gaze sweeping over everyone, lingering for a moment on the inquisitive and suspicious faces of Huoyun Daoist and Jian Wuhen, before speaking in a tone devoid of any emotion:

"The inscription is incomplete and vague. However, it is known that this place is indeed the ancient site of 'Starfall Ancient City,' which is related to an ancient powerful being known as 'Star River.'"

"His magical artifact, the 'Star River Ruler,' may have been left behind in the city. The city is heavily fortified, and the dangers far exceed expectations. Anyone below the Golden Core stage who enters will surely die."

He paused, then continued, "The information brought back by Jin Hao and the others is of paramount importance. Elder Han, make copies of the jade slip's contents and the rubbing of the inscription, and distribute them to all fellow Daoists for reference. As for further exploration..."

His gaze swept over Huo Yun Dao Ren and Jian Wuhen, whose faces were ashen: "The ruins are dangerous, and only Golden Core cultivators can venture deep into them. I propose that Golden Core cultivators from each sect form elite teams to explore further."

"The results of our exploration will still be distributed according to contribution and effort. What do you all think?"

His proposal was reasonable; the danger to the ruins had escalated, naturally requiring greater combat power.

But at this moment, Huoyun Daoren and Jian Wuhen's minds were mostly not on exploring solutions.

They stared intently at Shen Mo, trying to glean something from his face. Shen Mo's brief moment of distraction, though extremely quick, couldn't possibly escape the notice of these old foxes.

Why was Shen Mo shocked? Was it because of the preciousness of the "Star River Ruler"? Or... did he know something? The Qingyun Sect has an ancient heritage; could there be records about this ruler?

"The Star River Ruler...measuring the starry sky, establishing the order of the universe..." Jian Wuhen chewed on these words, his eyes filled with a mixture of greed and killing intent. If they could obtain this treasure, the Heavenly Sword Sect might be able to turn the tide, perhaps even...surpass the Azure Cloud Sect!

He stared intently at Shen Mo, as if trying to extract a secret from his eyes.

Huoyun Daoren's mind raced, but he was thinking about something else entirely. Shen Mo's shock just now didn't seem fake.

Could this "Star River Ruler" be involved in some great secret? Perhaps it's even related to the founder of the Qingyun Sect? If so... then the water here is very deep.

"Alliance Leader Shen is quite right," Fairy Ling Shuang spoke first, breaking the silence. "The ruins are dangerous and require careful consideration. My Xuanbing Pavilion agrees to this proposal."

Chen Hao nodded hastily, "Baibaoge agrees! Agrees!"

His small eyes darted around as he calculated how many spirit stones the "Star River Ruler" would be worth if it were ever unearthed, and how to use it.

The smaller sects and independent cultivators naturally had no objections; they were almost out of qualifications to even enter, so being able to get a share of the spoils was already a good thing.

After a brief period of shock and commotion, all parties fell into an eerie silence. Shen Mo's proposal to form elite teams of Golden Core cultivators from various sects to conduct in-depth investigations received superficial approval.

But everyone knows this is just the calm before the storm. Golden Core cultivators are the backbone of any sect and would not easily risk their lives.

The Blazing Sun Sect and the Heavenly Sword Sect have just suffered heavy losses and are feeling the pinch and paranoid, so it will be difficult for them to send Golden Core cultivators on adventures in the short term.

The Xuanbing Pavilion has always been cautious, and the Baibao Pavilion would never let its own Golden Core cultivators risk their lives.

Smaller and medium-sized forces simply did not qualify. Thus, the exploration was temporarily stalled, with all parties secretly calculating, accumulating strength, waiting, or rather, observing.