Chapter 0335: Bone-Dissolving Star Dread

Chapter 0335: Bone-Dissolving Star Dread

After Qin Yun completed the safe stretch of the path, he was confronted by a shimmering golden barrier.

He glanced to the side, where a few neat, large characters were inscribed: "Bone-Dissolving Path."

"Bone-Dissolving?"

Qin Yun looked at the barrier ahead and inwardly gasped.

It was clear that passing through the golden barrier would lead to the so-called Bone-Dissolving Path.

In the Martial Body Realm, the Diamond Bone was the most crucial.

And this Bone-Dissolving Path was obviously targeting the Diamond Bone!

Qin Yun didn't dare to enter, as he didn't know how terrifying the path behind the golden barrier might be.

"I need to investigate thoroughly!"

He couldn't enter, and his mental energy couldn't penetrate either, so he wasn't sure how to investigate.

After some thought, he took out a few beads and began carving spirit patterns on them.

He intended to craft a few eye-like devices.

Once the beads were refined, he took out the tendons of a Demon Beast, refined and hammered them until they were extremely fine, and connected them to one of the beads.

He threw the bead into the barrier, linking his mental energy to the bead through the attached tendon.

This way, he could see inside through the bead.

The bead hovered once it entered the golden light.

Through the bead, he saw a light golden liquid behind the barrier, which allowed the lightweight bead to float!

Behind the golden barrier was actually a lot of water!

In other words, it was an aquatic tunnel!

Next, he threw in a thigh of a Demon Beast.

As soon as the thigh entered, the internal bones slowly melted away, while the flesh remained unharmed!

"An unusual liquid—it only dissolves bones!"

Qin Yun secretly took a cold breath. The bones of the Demon Beast were so strong, yet they were dissolved. The Bone-Dissolving Path was utterly terrifying!

If he hadn't prepared and gone in, his internal Diamond Bone would have been completely dissolved.

The mere thought sent shivers down his spine.

He furrowed his brow in deep thought, sat down on the ground, and contemplated his options.

Qin Yun thought of several methods but found them all unreliable.

For example, refining a powerful shell to encase himself, or crafting protective garments to resist the liquid...

"Wait, Water-Avoiding Spirit Patterns!"

He suddenly remembered that when he had previously entered the Demon Beast oil pool, the water-avoiding spirit talisman had played a significant role.

It enabled him to avoid contact with the beast oil and dive deep into the pool.

Qin Yun threw a water-avoiding bone spirit talisman into the golden light screen.

After the water-avoiding bone spirit talisman entered, the space within two to three meters around the talisman was free of liquid!

"It's working!" Qin Yun secretly rejoiced, then started crafting water-avoiding gear.

Of course, he wasn't just making a simple talisman now.

He planned to craft a set of clothes from the skin of a spirit Demon Beast, etched with multiple water-avoiding spirit patterns.

"Alright, to ensure absolute safety, I'll craft it to the level of a top-tier spirit artifact!"

Qin Yun took out beast skins and various materials, and started hammering away in the passage with a series of loud bangs.

After an entire day, he finally finished crafting a set of clothes, a top-tier spirit artifact, etched with multiple water-avoiding spirit patterns!

"Fingers crossed it works!"

He took a deep breath, triggered the water-avoiding spirit patterns on the clothes, and rushed into the golden light screen.

Once inside, the surrounding liquid actually pulled back on its own!

"With the inner energy from my three martial cores at the martial realm, I can sustain this water-avoiding equipment for several days. I refuse to believe I can't finish this bone-melting path in a few days!"

Qin Yun swam quickly along the bone-melting path, continuing upwards.

As long as he reached the peak, he could pass the trial of the Mystic Pattern Sect and become a disciple of the Mystic Pattern Sect!

The Mystic Pattern Sect doesn't have inner disciples, so whoever passes the trial becomes the sect leader!

"Who cares about being a chief disciple? I want to be the leader of the Mystic Pattern Sect—now that's what I call cool!"

Qin Yun felt that he was not far from the position of sect leader and secretly looked forward to it.

This 'water path' was pretty lengthy; it took him three days to get through.

Along the way, he didn't find any corpses. He couldn't shake the suspicion that those corpses had been absorbed as energy...

Qin Yun emerged from the golden light screen, completing the bone-melting path trial, and arrived at a passage with walls so dark they were pitch-black!

This darkness was impenetrable!

Qin Yun pulled out a luminous pearl, but only the pearl itself shone, and the light that hit the walls was swallowed up.

With his heart racing, he carefully scanned the pitch-black walls around him and spotted some faint light dots!

"No mystic patterns here!"

Qin Yun couldn't see any mystic patterns, nor did he sense any power attacking him.

He let Mo Mo come out to also sense the mystic patterns.

Mo Mo carefully investigated but also didn't sense any fluctuations of mystic patterns.

"I must be pretty high up now, almost at the mountain's peak!"

Qin Yun guessed that this pitch-black passage must be the final stage of the trial.

After resting for a moment, he mustered his courage and pressed on.

After walking for a short while, he was surprised to find that those dim specks of light were actually stars!

The further he walked, the brighter and more plentiful the stars became!

Soon, he realized everything around him was very familiar!

This reminded him of the massive array on Star Soul Peak!

Back then, when he immersed himself in that array, he had deeply felt the overwhelming expanse of the starry sea.

In the vast starry sea, there were countless enormous stars, daunting and terrifying, making one feel small and powerless in the immense expanse.

As Qin Yun walked through this passage, that unexplainable dread surged within him, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

"Steady the heart!"

He quickly recited the Star Refining God's mantra to stabilize his mind, preventing himself from getting lost in the vast starry sea.

He kept reciting the mantra, and gradually, his anxious heart was soothed and calmed down.

As Qin Yun walked, he also understood why, over the years, no one had been able to complete the trial and leave!

The first stage had many terrifying killing formations, requiring a deep understanding of mystical arrays to break through one by one.

The second stage was the Path of Bone Dissolution.

Without thorough preparation and meticulous investigation, even those in the Spirit Martial realm would have their bones dissolved upon entering.

The third stage required a certain level of spiritual fortitude.

Qin Yun figured that only those who practiced the Star Yang Heart Sutra could overcome their fear and pass the third stage, the "Star Awe Path."

It was only because he had mastered the Star Refining God that he could smoothly navigate this path.

Several days passed, and Qin Yun was still walking on the Star Awe Path, his speed picking up significantly.

"This path is never-ending!"

Qin Yun glanced at Mo Mo in his storage space and asked, "Mo Mo, how many days have passed since I entered this starry trail?"

"Five days, why? Haven't you made it out yet?" Mo Mo asked.

Qin Yun thought he was imagining it, but it turned out that five days had indeed passed.

"Yes! Fortunately, walking on this path doesn't take much out of me."

By his reckoning, the distance he had traveled should have brought him close to the mountaintop.

The Star Awe Path was free of dangers, and he had been walking quickly, so he should have arrived by now.

With no other choice, he could only continue walking.

A few more days passed, and Qin Yun was still on the Star Awe Path!

He began to feel a little panicked because he didn't know if he could make it to the end!

In these past few days, he had been running forward, resting only for one or two *shichen* each day.

Not just one mountain, but even dozens—he could have crossed them all.

Yet, he remained trapped in this star-filled passage.

Several more days passed.

Qin Yun sat on the ground, rested for a while, then got up and continued running.

He also understood why Lan Chen, a warrior of the Spirit Martial realm, had not pursued him inside.

Even if someone of the Spirit Martial realm entered, they might not necessarily survive to get out.

"The killing formation passage couldn't stop me, the bone-dissolving path failed to dissolve me, and the star-intimidating path didn't scare me to death, but it might just bore me to death!"

Qin Yun, running wildly inside the star-intimidating path, was almost going crazy. After more than ten days of relentless running, he still hadn’t found the end!

He suspected that the star-intimidating path had a highly sophisticated spatial *qiwen*, extending this path very, very long.

...

Time slipped away, and in the blink of an eye, Qin Yun had been running wildly in the star-intimidating path for half a year!

The monotony nearly brought him to tears.

Suddenly, he saw a bronze gate ahead and was so excited that he shed tears!

"Hahaha... I’ve finally made it to the end!" Qin Yun couldn't suppress his joy and laughed out loud.

Although he was very happy, he didn’t lower his guard and approached the gate very cautiously.

"Spirit Lion King puppet, sorry, but I have to trouble you again!"

Qin Yun released the lion puppet and had it touch the bronze gate.

He had to be very careful; after all the hardship to get here, he couldn't die on this last stretch!

The Spirit Lion King puppet touched the bronze gate a few times, only producing noise, with no other reaction.

Originally, he intended to have the Spirit Lion King puppet open the gate, but since it couldn't push it open, he had no choice but to do it himself.

Qin Yun put away the Spirit Lion King puppet and checked the Runes Equipment, water-repelling gear, and the Blue Spirit Mystical Robe he was wearing.

He was protected by layers of various equipment, making him appear bulky and somewhat ridiculous.

After confirming there were no issues, he approached, placing his hands on the gate, and applied gentle force to push it open.

The gate slowly opened, and a beam of white light seeped through the crack, illuminating the dark star-intimidating path.

After the bronze gate opened, Qin Yun stepped into a hall!

It was a modest, circular hall, not very large, about twenty meters wide.

Above hung a plaque with the words "Runes Sect" written on it.

"Is this the front hall of the Runes Sect? It’s so shabby!" Qin Yun pursed his lips in disdain.

In the circular hall, over twenty chairs lined the walls, and the chair at the forefront was notably larger, presumably the seat of the *sect leader*.

Qin Yun had encountered numerous terrifying traps set by the Strange Rune Sect on his journey, so he stayed on high alert even after stepping inside.

He thoroughly scanned the area before moving forward, making his way to the large chair up ahead.

"Did I make it through the trial?"

Qin Yun carefully took a seat on the chair, his heart racing as he glanced around.

He realized the Strange Rune Sect's space was limited to just this hall, with no hidden rooms or additional spaces.

All of a sudden, a circular stone table began to rise from the center of the hall, and resting on the table was a box!

At the sight of these items, Qin Yun's excitement surged. He approached the box and lifted its lid.

Inside lay a white jade pendant, its form resembling a swirling vortex, like a spiral galaxy.

Alongside the jade pendant were two slim, leather-bound booklets.

One booklet was titled *Star Rune*, and the other *Moon Rune*.