From the bequeathed memories of the Ancient God Tu Si, there existed lore of the Moon Gazers. Within these celestial behemoths resided a substance known as Moon Bloom, a virulent poison that defied all but the very blood of an Ancient God.

The Bloom’s terrible purpose was to activate upon the Moon Gazer’s demise. Its entire being would then swell with this deadly essence, culminating in a cataclysmic self-destruction. The ensuing blast would scour entire star-fields, leaving naught but oblivion for all save the Ancient Gods themselves!

The greater the Moon Gazer’s size, the more devastating the Bloom’s explosion. Thus, no trace of a fallen Moon Gazer was ever found.

This Moon Bloom was also the creature’s most cherished possession. Any perceived threat to its sanctity would unleash the Moon Gazer’s unbridled fury, an obliteration of any and all dangers.

“It was said this Greed Wolf does not frequent places of honest trade,” muttered Wang Lin, his face shadowed with suspicion. “Could it be that he holds the Moon Bloom as some kind of treasure?”

The memories of the Ancient God Tu Si were clear. The Moon Bloom could not be extracted without triggering its immediate, apocalyptic detonation.

“If that is truly the case, the explosion of such a massive Moon Bloom could engulf half the Northern Domain of Luo Tian!” Wang Lin felt a cold dread creep into his heart.

Left undisturbed, the Moon Gazer could persist for countless millennia, enduring in its second form until a natural, eventual demise. But that time was beyond reckoning.

Even if someone dared trespass, the Moon Gazer’s sheer might would make stealing the Bloom an impossibility. They would merely add another tormented soul to its collection.

“If this Greed Wolf courts death, it is of no concern to me!” Wang Lin’s eyes flashed with a cold resolve. He surged forward, resuming his relentless search.

Time drifted onward. Wang Lin scoured nearly every corner of the Moon Gazer’s interior, save for those places utterly inaccessible. He encountered no further instances of the creatures.

“If not slain by another Moon Gazer, then it was swallowed. Whatever the Moon Gazer devours coalesces within its place of waste and absorption. That area, too, must be investigated,” Wang Lin declared, his speed quickening as he charted a course towards the Moon Gazer’s excretory and assimilative organ, guided by his memories.

This creature possessed its own internal cycle, its waste not vented to the outside but rather re-processed, its essence returned to the whole.

Days later, with meticulous caution, Wang Lin ventured into the deepest recesses of the Moon Gazer’s bone structure, drawing near the location where it purged and assimilated. The very soil here reeked with a fetid stench.

Wang Lin frowned, but held his ground. He scanned the periphery, probing with his divine sense. Suddenly, from within the Moon Gazer’s refuse pit, came a faint mental cry.

“Is there a fellow Daoist abroad? Save me! Salvation will be richly rewarded!”

Wang Lin’s gaze sharpened. He knew that voice, that desperate plea. It was the Greed Wolf.

“Daoist, save me! I possess a vast hoard of magical treasures, accumulated over a lifetime. Rescue me, and they are all yours!”

Within the Moon Gazer’s pit of desolation, Greed Wolf was but a gaunt husk of his former self. The essence of his blood, flesh, and even his celestial power had drained away over nearly a century of resisting the pit’s insidious pull. Had it not been for his great cauldron, he would have long since become a stain, dissolved into the filth.

Years ago, he had sensed a profound treasure on the planet Yunxia. The strength of that sensation matched only the time when he had first seized the mystical cauldron. His greed ignited, he had ventured into this place.

Yunxia was eerily silent then. He had successfully burrowed beneath the surface, drawn straight to the treasure. That prize, as he saw it, was the Moon Gazer’s Bloom! He had glimpsed the golden flame ore veins along the way, paused but a moment before he had thrust mountain rock into the veins. He sought to pry up the entire trove in one fell swoop, intending to break it apart later piece by piece. His greed was vast.

But alas, he had triggered the Moon Gazer’s agonizing awakening. Had he not reacted quickly, deploying his cauldron, he would have been obliterated.

Startled, Greed Wolf had hidden for years, biding his time until the Moon Gazer had calmed. He dared not meddle with the ore veins again. Instead, he pursued the source of his initial premonition.

He realized the strangeness of this place. He determined to steal one glance at the treasure. If he could take it, he would; if he could not, he would turn and leave at once.

With a lifetime’s experience in treasure hunting, he had successfully reached the place in the Moon Gazer’s body where the Bloom resided. One glimpse was all it took for Greed Wolf to gasp, his eyes ablaze with avarice.

He did not recognize the Moon Bloom, but he clearly felt its raw, world-ending power. Even a being as mighty as Ling Tianhou would be turned to dust by it, he thought!

His greed overwhelming caution, Greed Wolf had forsaken his plans to flee. He would have the prize! But the moment his fingers brushed the Moon Bloom, the entire planet of Yunxia seemed to shudder awake.

At that very moment, the Moon Gazer began its transition to the third form. Greed Wolf could only spare enough will to insert a fragment of his soul into the Bloom as the monster’s gaping maw materialized before him, engulfing him whole.

He had been cast into this place of waste.

The strangeness of this place was clear to him. In his mind, the planet Yunxia was nothing more than a colossal, bestial creature. Terror seized him. He abandoned all thoughts of seizing the treasure and sought only to escape.

But by shifting his position using the cauldron’s power, he failed again and again. Each time he escaped, he was swallowed and cast back into this fetid place. In the last attempt, tendrils had ensnared his cauldron. Its power seemed to be absorbed, and it no longer functioned.

Greed Wolf’s cunning mind had long deduced that he was in the bowels of a giant beast. Yet he could not understand why the monster did not kill him, instead constantly depositing him here.

Now, after nearly a century, he sensed another being. His agitation knew no bounds.

“Daoist! Save me! I swear, I will make it worth your while!” Greed Wolf’s mental voice wailed.

Wang Lin remained silent, unmoved. He turned and walked away.
Within the Gullet of the Star-Devourer, a place of grim digestion, Wang Lin knew his mortal form could enter, yet escape was an impossibility. The truth dawned: Greed Wolf was imprisoned here, forsaken by allies, left to languish. With his shrewd mind, Wang Lin deduced that Greed Wolf was the sole emissary from the Star Alliance to this forsaken realm.

Unburdened by doubt, Wang Lin cast aside any lingering hesitations. To dally with Greed Wolf in idle chatter was not his way.

He turned and fled, without a backward glance. The alluring promise of ancient artifacts held no sway. He knew when to seize opportunity, but now was not the time. To succumb to greed would squander the fruits of nine centuries of arduous cultivation.

He recalled his journey to Cloud Haze Star, where he wisely retreated, choosing to gather Ascending Immortal Fruit before challenging its perils. Now, he moved like the wind, weaving through the earthen depths. After what felt like an eternity, he reached the passage blocked by rock. He observed the area, ensuring the Star-Devourer did not pursue, and then seated himself in meditation, expelling a weary breath.

Though his physical form remained still, the Immortal Guard construct materialized behind him, its watchful gaze sweeping the surroundings. The encounter with the Star-Devourer had instilled caution.

Wang Lin’s hands formed intricate seals, his mind reaching out to the countless Ascending Immortal Fruit infused within the tendrils of the beast. At that instant, the marks upon them shattered!

From the heavens, a spectacle unfolded: upon the surface of Cloud Haze Star, the countless tendrils pulsed, scarlet light erupting from their roots as the Ascending Immortal Fruit’s essence, freed from its binding, was unleashed.

The release of a single tendril’s fruit was a mere mote in the maw of the Star-Devourer, akin to a gnat’s bite, unnoticed and inconsequential. Were the absorption staggered, the beast’s colossal form would purge the toxin. But this was no mere sip; this was the simultaneous release of power from nearly every tendril.

A tempest of potency arose. The tendrils faltered, their relentless sway halting, replaced by violent convulsions as the Ascending Immortal Fruit’s power emanated from their roots.

The alien energy surged through the tendrils, flooding the Star-Devourer’s colossal form. Like countless streams merging into a river, and rivers into a sea, the accumulated power cascaded through the beast’s veins.

The earth trembled as a sensation, akin to joyous fervor, emanated from the depths. The tendrils, robbed of their aggression, swayed languidly like drunken limbs.

Had Wang Lin lacked the experience of controlling a scattered soul or the raw power he now possessed, he would have merely sensed the tremors. But he perceived the elation emanating from the Star-Devourer’s very soul.

His eyes gleaming, Wang Lin spread his arms wide, reaching towards the severed fragments of the Star-Devourer’s bone, as if to fuse them with his very being.

“The Third Stance of Dao-Forged Underworld: Power of the Yellow Springs!” he intoned, his gaze burning with celestial light. The Yellow Springs manifested, its source anchored to Wang Lin.

From his outstretched arms, like twin yellow dragons unsheathed, it plunged along the shattered bone, clinging to its surface like a blade, a spectral shroud consuming all in its path.

“Bone Rend!” Wang Lin roared!

The Yellow Springs unleashed a potent vortex of suction, an ability drawn from the depths of the Abyssal Tide of the Demon Spirit Land, from the power formed by the confluence of inter-stellar forces.

Its strength was limitless, growing with Wang Lin’s own enlightenment. Now, with his late-stage Soul Formation cultivation, he unleashed it, and Cloud Haze Star shuddered. Even the swirling mists surrounding it pulsed violently outward.

Muffled roars, filled with eons of sorrow, echoed from the depths of the earth, carrying far beyond.