The rainbow of Shandora had not yet dissipated, and the lingering echoes of the golden bell still reverberated through the sea of clouds.

Bai Cheng stood with her companions at the edge of the Holy Vault ruins, gazing at the seven-colored light bridge connecting heaven and earth.

The end of the light bridge vanished into the depths of the star sea, where an airspace composed of shattered starships and ancient ruins was faintly visible.

"Forgotten Corridor: The Final Legacy of the Sky Federation."

This was the first clear coordinate transmitted to everyone after the spirit of the golden bell awakened.

"The legacy of the Sky Federation..." High Priest Aurora tapped his wooden staff lightly on the ground, and golden runes poured from the tip, sketching a rough star map of the corridor in the air.

"That place was sealed after the federation split. Legend has it that it houses the Sky Federation High Council's unfinished blueprint for sky island unification, and... some memory fragments of the first Lord of the Sky."

"Memory fragments?" Bai Cheng's silver eyes narrowed slightly.

"The Lord of the Sky did not fall naturally," Garel interjected, his lightning-filled right eye reflecting the star map.

"Part of Lord Rego's memories show that the Lord of the Sky had foreseen the betrayal of the Observer Council before the War of the Divine Kingdom."

"He split and hid parts of His authority and memories, one of which is in the Forgotten Corridor."

Leng Ningxue pulled up the scanning data from her tactical eyepiece: "The resonance waves of the golden bell are continuously analyzing the coordinates of the corridor."

"Based on the wave frequency calculations, space-time faults exist on the periphery of the corridor. Normal navigation requires passing through seven layers of Dimensional Folds."

"Dimensional Folds?" Qingniao flexed her wrists. "Sounds even more troublesome than the mirror maze."

"But we have the dawn," Elune's voice rang out. Her light wings had recovered to four pairs, and her divine radiance was gentle yet firm.

"The guardian spirit of the Life Pillar has a natural affinity for space-time structures. I can navigate."

Zi Yuan sheathed her long blade and looked at Bai Cheng. "Are we going?"

Bai Cheng did not answer immediately.

She looked around at her companions.

Zi Yuan, Qingniao, Leng Ningxue, Lu Duo, Yu Nian, Garel, Aurora, Elune.

In everyone's eyes, the light of the rainbow was reflected, along with exhaustion, but even more so, the flames of exploration.

The battle of the golden bell had exhausted everyone's strength: the Sword of Conviction was shattered, Elune's divinity had not fully recovered, Garel's lightning lineage was overdrawn, and Lu Duo and Yu Nian's Life and Pure Heart Domains both needed time to recover.

But...

"Although the Observer Council has temporarily retreated, the collapse of the Absolute Rationality Barrier is only superficial," Bai Cheng said, her voice calm.

"When the spirit of the golden bell transmitted the coordinates, it also included a warning message: the cradle has awakened."

"the cradle?" Yu Nian repeated softly.

"the cradle of the Observer Council," Aurora said with a solemn expression.

"The Council's true place of origin. If that place has awakened, it means the Council's high-ranking members—those true Original Observers—may have ended their long slumber."

Among the three coordinates on the star map, "Far Side of the Star Sea: the cradle of the Observer Council" was flashing with an ominous dark red halo.

"So we must go to the Forgotten Corridor first."

Leng Ningxue understood the logical chain. "To obtain the memory fragments of the Lord of the Sky, to understand the true nature of the Observer Council, and... why the Lord of the Sky chose to split His authority back then instead of facing them head-on."

"The time window is limited," Garel pointed to the star map. "The Rainbow Bridge is a stable passage temporarily opened by the golden bell, lasting seventy-two hours at most."

"After that, the corridor will fall back into space-time turbulence, and if we want to enter again, we'll have to wait for the next thousand-year resonance cycle."

Bai Cheng made her decision.

"Everyone, rest for six hours. In six hours, the dawn will set sail, destination: the Forgotten Corridor."

She looked toward the end of the Rainbow Bridge, the galaxy swirling in her silver eyes.

"But before we depart, we need to clarify one thing."

Her gaze fell upon Aurora.

"Your Eminence the High Priest, after Shandora's sun core connected with the golden bell, did you sense any... anomalies?"

Aurora was silent for a moment.

Then, with a light wave of his staff, a real-time projection of the sun core appeared on the ground of the Holy Vault ruins.

In the projection, a tiny silver light point appeared in the center of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) that eternally rotating golden orb.

"When the bell chimed in resonance, the sun core received an active signal from the Forgotten Corridor."

Aurora's voice was deep. "It wasn't a distress call or warning automatically sent by the ruins, but... an invitation."

"An invitation?" Confusion flashed in Lu Duo's emerald eyes. "Who sent it?"

The projection changed, the silver light point enlarging to become a line of ancient sky island script, with an insignia below the text: two wings encircling a broken crown.

"Sky Federation High Council, 79th Speaker, Starlight Watcher Elvia."

Garel sucked in a breath of cold air. "She's still alive? Impossible! Two thousand years have passed since the federation split..."

"Not alive," Aurora shook his head. "It's a residual consciousness, or rather, an obsession. She is inviting the'successor holding the Seal of Judgment' to the corridor to complete the Lord of the Sky's unfinished mandate."

The insignia of judgment on Bai Cheng's forehead warmed slightly.

She reached out to touch the insignia in the projection.

The moment her fingertip made contact, a fragmented memory flooded into her mind—

In the endless star sea, a female figure with twelve pairs of light wings on her back stood before a shattered throne, holding a crown fragment split into three pieces, her eyes filled with tears and determination.

"Successor of the future... if you hear this message, it means the Observer's cradle has begun to turn."

"Please come to the Forgotten Corridor and retrieve oath of starlight."

"That is the final spark of hope... left by the Lord of the Sky for the sky island civilization."

The image came to an abrupt end.

Bai Cheng withdrew her finger, her silver eyes looking at her companions.

"It seems this trip is unavoidable."

Six hours later.

The dawn sailed at full speed along the Rainbow Bridge.

The cracks on the ship's hull had mostly been repaired under Shandora's halo, Elune's divine navigation system stabilized the surrounding space-time structure, and the atmosphere in the bridge was solemn and focused.

"About to pass through the first layer of Dimensional Folds," Leng Ningxue stared at the navigation screen.

"Residual space-time turbulence detected ahead, presumed to be the energy aftermath from when the federation split."

Zi Yuan's long blade was unsheathed by half an inch, her Tide-Breaking Blade Intent enveloping the bow. "Are there any life signs?"

"None," Lu Duo's Emerald Network extended outside the ship.

"But I sense a vast amount of... sorrowful energy.

This airspace is filled with intense regret and resentment."

As they passed the seventh node of the Rainbow Bridge, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was not a starry sky in the usual sense, but a vast graveyard composed of countless shattered buildings, broken star tracks, and floating civilization ruins.

The ruins were of various styles.

There were remains of Shandora-style golden temples, fragments of Jaya-style Thunder Spires, cross-sections of the mirror corridors from the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors, and even early embryonic structures of the Emerald Sea's star track network.

All the ruins maintained their posture from the moment they were shattered, as if time had frozen here.

And in the center of the graveyard floated a relatively intact building.

It was a pure white spire that spiraled upward, its surface covered in star patterns, and at the top floated a dim crystal shaped like a broken crown.

At the entrance of the spire stood a phantom female figure.

She had a phantom of twelve pairs of light wings on her back, wore speaker's robes, and held a broken Stellar Scepter in her hand.

It was indeed the Starlight Watcher Elvia from the memory.

When the dawn docked at the platform in front of the spire, the phantom figure slowly looked up.

Her gaze pierced through the ship's hull, landing precisely on Bai Cheng.

"You have finally come... successor of judgment."

The voice echoed directly in everyone's hearts, gentle and weary.

"I have been here, waiting for two thousand years."