Outside Yanhe City, the bright moon hung high, and thousands of stars scattered across the sky like shards of diamonds, coating the walls of the millennia-old city with a layer of silvery frost. The surging waves of the moat battered the stone banks, their dull roar tearing open a rift in the dead silence of night, startling countless splinters of silvery light on the water's surface.
The outskirts of Yanhe City.
This is the tallest mountain outside the city. Because its rugged contours resemble the graceful curves of a maiden, the townsfolk call it Virgo Peak.
From Virgo Peak, the sound of the moat's river can no longer be heard.
At this moment, halfway up the mountain, a gnarled ancient pine grew crookedly, and amid its branches hid a slight figure.
The young Liou Yuan was half-obscured in shadow, only the upper half of his body bathed in starlight, like a pale silhouette seeping out from an ink-dark painting.
He crouched low, those calm and steady eyes staring unblinkingly at the object before him, barely the size of a palm.
It was a compass, brass-colored, its surface covered in a thick patina—only the central pointer gleamed with scattered silvery light, like trapped stardust struggling to break free. As time passed, the glimmer became more dazzling, throwing flickering patches of light across the sharp lines of the boy's face, deepening the sorrow in his brows and eyes.
"It's already the twenty-seventh day. In three days, the Star Rotation will shift, and the time of the Auspicious Star will be over."
"If the Evil Star comes into position, danger will surge out there, and it'll be impossible to go out. Who knows how long it'll take for this Fixed Star Compass to finally 'be full'."
Thinking of this, the boy lifted his handsome face, gazing at the sea of stars overhead, a look of worry growing deeper on his face.
His name was Liou Yuan, a person not belonging to this world.
Two months ago, as he followed his grandfather out to conduct feng shui for a family's departed elder, he slipped and fell into a deep pit—thus, he crossed over into this strange world.
Luckily, Liou Yuan wasn't one to dwell on things. He still had a younger brother in his previous life. Even if he was gone, the Liou Family wouldn't lose its lineage.
So, after a period of gloom, Liou Yuan was able to accept reality.
He started pondering how to find his footing in this world.
After two months of investigation, he now had a vague sense of this world.
If summed up in one word, it would be 'perilous'.
Unlike the Lawless World of his former life, where mountain ghosts and demons rarely showed themselves.
This world truly had real ghosts and sinister entities.
When the Evil Star rose in the sky, those things lurking in the darkness, called Star Evil, would come forth and plague the world.
If one didn't find a safe shelter, ordinary people couldn't survive a night outside.
Of course, humans had ways to fight back against those things.
For example, the moat flowing outside Yanhe City, which seemed like just an ordinary river.
A month ago, Liou Yuan witnessed hundreds of water soldiers and officers leap from the river and wrestle with a pitch-black, nameless evil trying to enter Yanhe City, eventually driving it away.
Aside from that, the body he crossed into had an elder brother, who also possessed such powers.
Some years ago, he was taken away by a powerful force and only returned once every few years.
Though the original owner never witnessed his brother's abilities, from the way neighbors spoke of him, Liou Yuan could guess a bit.
People called his brother 'the Real Man'.
They possessed power to contend against those Star Evil things hidden in the darkness.
For instance, the legend goes that Yanhe City's moat was created by a Real Man who came from the city.
Every time Liou Yuan heard the term Real Man, his first thought was 'cultivator'.
Combined with everything he's experienced in this world, he now realized what an unbelievable, bizarre Cultivation World he'd entered.
"This world is too dangerous." Thinking of all he'd seen these two months, worry once again overtook Liou Yuan's gaze.
He had witnessed, more than once, residents of Yanhe City being devoured by darkness when the heavenly stars shifted suddenly from auspicious to evil, failing to escape back into the city in time.
He'd also seen broad daylight, clearly the time of the Auspicious Star, yet a fierce wind blew, clouds obscured the heavens, and all people and animals vanished where it passed.
Liou Yuan even strongly suspected the original owner of this body died for this very reason.
This feeling of urgency grew in Liou Yuan's heart—he knew that to survive in this terrifying world, he must gain the power to resist the dangers beyond.
Unfortunately, the original owner lacked his brother's aptitudes.
Two years ago, the brother returned once.
He specially examined his just-turned-fourteen-year-old sibling, then left in silence.
That was also the brother's last return.
From his expression then, it was clear the original owner was just an ordinary person.
Liou Yuan no longer held any hope for this.
But heaven never fully blocks one's path. Luckily, what crossed over with Liou Yuan was the Fixed Star Compass, once used by his grandfather for deception.
When Liou Yuan fell into the pit, that compass was clutched in his hand, crossing worlds with him.
The Fixed Star Compass, in his old world, was just an ornament, really nothing more than his grandfather's prop for earning a living.
Now in this world, it showed a touch of the supernatural.
It could absorb the starlight of heaven and earth.
The spiritual light that drifted in the compass's center was proof enough.
Since this body had no cultivation aptitude,
the Fixed Star Compass thus became Liou Yuan's last lifeline.
Even though he still didn't know what miraculous properties it held, or how it would benefit him,
since it was no ordinary thing, it must have its use.
But the rate it absorbed starlight was painfully slow.
Liou Yuan had been here two months; from discovering its supernatural aspect till now, it still didn't seem 'full'.
This kept Liou Yuan frowning,
for among all Yanhe City, Virgo Peak had the brightest starlight, but he couldn't leave the city every night.
After all, once the Evil Star appeared, even during daytime, it was risky to step outside.
"If I miss this window, I won't be able to come again for at least a month."
The rotation of Evil and Auspicious Stars is utterly erratic—a month is just one cycle of the Star Rotation.
It's possible after Evil Star comes another Evil Star period.
Nearly a hundred years ago, the world had a record of eighteen consecutive Evil Star rotations.
Eighteen months—a year and a half—darkness without end.
When the Evil Star rises, even with the moat's shelter, Yanhe City isn't truly safe.
Some always slip through the cracks and infiltrate the city.
If they get in, for ordinary folk it's certain death.
Liou Yuan had already lived through an Evil Star rotation.
Thinking back to that time, Liou Yuan's body shuddered slightly.
"For a whole month, I didn't dare sleep deeply, afraid to die for nothing."
The natives of this world grew up in such an atmosphere and are somewhat used to it.
But Liou Yuan was someone who crossed over.
To suddenly face such upheaval, the fact he didn't piss himself in fear showed his heart was strong.
At this thought, Liou Yuan once again stooped, eyes fixed on the Fixed Star Compass before him.
This was his only reliance in this world.
No matter how insignificant the power, he would grasp it tightly.
Whoosh! The mountain wind blew past.
Having lain atop Virgo Peak for over three hours, Liou Yuan was jolted by the cold, shivering instantly.
The wind was laced with icy chill, pouring through the collar of his bleached long robe straight into his body.
Making Liou Yuan's already weak body feel plunged into ice-cold water.
"Cold!" Liou Yuan shrank his neck; his teeth chattered so much his words quivered.
He glanced warily around his surroundings.
Tonight the starlight was fairly brilliant, faintly illuminating the area, so it didn't feel too creepy.
But after all, this was outside the city—even in the safe period, it wasn't absolutely safe.
And dawn was already creeping across the horizon.
Liou Yuan calculated: less than half an hour till sunrise.
"Looks like this is all I can do for today."
No matter how reluctant, Liou Yuan had to leave.
In this world, his family included more than just his brother.
Within Yanhe City, he had a mother.
If she knew he'd spent the night outside, atop Virgo Peak,
he'd surely get scolded something fierce.
So Liou Yuan had to get home before she woke.
Rising slowly from the spot where he'd lain all night, his legs and knees numb from the posture,
when he stood, his body staggered and nearly toppled.
After steadying himself, Liou Yuan carefully picked up the Fixed Star Compass, chose his direction, and strode off.
Intent only on returning home quickly, Liou Yuan never noticed
that when he stowed the Fixed Star Compass into his robe,
the bulge in his clothes caused by the compass was silently smoothed away.