Chapter 3163 – Refining the Star Field
Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Half a day later, the commotion gradually subsided. Abandoned Lair was in ruins, and the corpses were piled up like mountains. This sin-filled location, which had existed for thousands of years, was finally swept clean today. Heaven-shaking cheers resounded through the sky as everybody let out the joy within their hearts.
Ever since the invasion of Grand Desolation Star Field, it was the first time in more than 10 years that they achieved such a large-scale victory. Moreover, it was such a one-sided and crushing battle. They only destroyed Abandoned Lair so far, which was still very far from their objective of ruthlessly killing all the cultivators of Grand Desolation Star Field; however, today’s battle was like a little spark, illuminating the entire Star Field. It was the single spark that could start a great fire.
“I’ll leave the rest to you.” Yang Kai smiled at everyone around him and leisurely flew off. This time around, he didn’t even bring Liu Yan with him.
The Embodiment, Liu Yan, Ruan Bi Ting, and Su Yan were all existences that surpassed the limits of a Star Field, so combined with the many Masters on their side within this Star Field, their lineup was enough to solve all the problems they might face. All they needed was some time.
Hence, there was no need for Yang Kai to hang around. Besides, he had something more important to do.
“Where is he going?” Ruan Bi Ting asked Liu Yan, who looked upset.
“He went to refine the Star Field.”
Everybody was shocked by those words. [The Star Field can be refined?!] They had only heard of people refining a Star Source to become a Star Master. They were unaware that even the Star Field could be refined. What an amazing thing it would be if the refinement process was successful. Would that make him the Master of the entire Star Field?
Nobody dared to imagine what changes Yang Kai would bring to the Star Field. They did not dare to imagine how strong Yang Kai would be at that point either.
…
Yang Kai drifted aimlessly across the vast Starry Sky, going with the flow without any direction in mind. He flew off quickly after leaving Abandoned Lair, releasing a constant stream of his Qi as he travelled and leaving a path of aura behind him.
The previous experiment had proven that the idea in his head was feasible. In that case, he might as well go all out in doing it. It might be a little troublesome and time-consuming, but it still showed results. Who knows? He might even be able to figure out a better solution during the refinement process.
Ten days later, he successfully refined a large piece of Starry Sky around Abandoned Lair. Concurrently, the colour of the position corresponding to this piece of Starry Sky on the Star Chart in his Knowledge Sea changed a little. It also seemed to be brighter. This lighter area might not even make up a fraction of the Star Chart as a whole, but it was still a good Start.
Yang Kai immediately aimed for the next piece of Starry Sky after successfully refining this piece of Starry Sky. Day after day, the same process repeated over and over again; however, he was not bored by the monotony of it. Instead, he immersed himself in it. As piece after piece of the Star Field was refined and spot by spot on the Star Chart in his Knowledge Sea lit up, Yang Kai began to develop a weak connection with the entire Star Field while he had full control over all the places that he had successfully refined with just a mere thought.
If this connection had existed when he was in the Ancestral Domain before, he was certain he could accurately locate Heng Luo Star Field without referring to the Star Chart.
The Star Field was vast and untouched. It gave birth to untold millions of creatures every day. There were places filled with death and dangers, as well as places filled with life and opportunity. During the refinement process, Yang Kai could sense and experience all of these things and as a result, they brought out a host of different feelings in him.
One month… Two months… Six months… One year… Two years… Yang Kai was like a leaf, drifting about the Star Field. As he refined more and more of the Starry Sky, the illuminated areas in the Star Chart became larger and larger. His refining speed increased too. That wasn’t all; he also figured out a method of refining that was faster than before. Navigating his way around an endless Asteroid Sea, jumping from one asteroid to the next, Yang Kai left his aura on each of them.
He brushed past the Asteroid Sea half a day later and looking behind him, he saw what looked like a large Dragon that wandered around aimlessly in the Star Field. His aura was now deeply ingrained in this Asteroid Sea, so wherever it passed, his aura would be deposited, helping to greatly reduce the time he had to spend covering different regions with his aura.
This was one of the methods Yang Kai had discovered over the course of the past few years. He borrowed the power of the Asteroid Sea to refine the Starry Sky along the path of its travel. It turned out to be pretty effective. Aside from that, he found another method as well, one that was a little more overbearing and straightforward.
Yellow sand swept across the skies of one particular Star. The clouds reflected this yellow light, obscuring the view of the Sun and Moon. The environment on this Star was extremely harsh, and large storms occasionally brewed in this land.
Yang Kai descended from the sky and looked around. He discovered that this Star was not a Dead Star in the true sense. Although the surface of the Star was mostly sand, there were occasional spots of greenery scattered around. Strange birds and beasts lived on this Star but they quickly fled in all directions when they noticed him coming.
This was not a Dead Star as Dead Stars did not contain any vitality whatsoever. It was not an ageing Star either. On the contrary, it was a Star that was growing vigorously and slowly radiating vitality. Although nothing could be seen for the time being, this Star would surely be brimming with life if one were to return tens of thousands of years in the future. Even if it could not compare with Shadowed Star at that time, it wouldn’t be inferior to the current Tong Xuan Realm.
Naturally, Yang Kai had no plans to wait for tens of thousands of years. He immediately leapt into the air before plunging headfirst into the ground, spinning like a top. The ground rumbled in response, and a path leading underground immediately opened up.
A short time later, Yang Kai appeared in a certain place deep underground.
A ball of grey-white energy floated in front of him, pulsing unsteadily. It looked like a candle flower at first glance. It was dim and unclear, but teeming with obscure World Principles. This was the Star Source of this Star. It was not as good as the Star Source of Yang Kai’s Shadowed Star or Xia Ning Chang’s Tong Xuan Realm of course, more like a fetus of Source Strength still in the process of gestation.
The Star Field was so large that it was hard to imagine just how vast it was; therefore, it was not strange to see some of the recovering or growing Stars producing a Source like this. Even so, most cultivators would not choose to refine something like this because it was not beneficial. It might even bring harm to the cultivator if they tried; after all, who knew whether such a Star could truly grow and develop? What if the situation changed one day, causing the Star to weaken and the Source to die? The cultivator who refined this Source would be affected too if that were to happen.
However, Yang Kai was not afraid at all. It could also be said that he dived so deep underground just to obtain this ball of growing Source Strength. If his plan succeeded, there was no possibility of suffering a backlash. If he failed… Well, he wasn’t afraid of a little backlash at his current cultivation realm.
Reaching out, he touched the ball of Source Strength. The Star Source seemed to have a trace of its own consciousness already, so it tried to float away and avoid him, but in the end, it wasn’t a sentient creature so this little bit of reaction was all it could muster up.
Yang Kai smiled and tried to coax it, “Come with me. There will be endless benefits for you!”
Regardless of whether the Star Source could understand the meaning behind his words, Yang Kai grabbed at it and activated the Star Refining Art, only taking a short while to refine it.
Inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, the spot of light on the Star Chart representing this Cultivation Star flickered suddenly and became extremely bright. The effect only lasted for a moment before it returned to normal. Comparatively, it was only a little brighter than before.
Yang Kai then studied the Star Chart and determined where his next goal was before his figure soared upward.
….
Yang Kai stood in the skies above Fire Cloud Star, looking down on its bright lights. The major cities were peaceful, and the people lived in contentment as cultivators came and went freely.
The invasion of Grand Desolation Star Field did not seem to have any particular impact on Fire Cloud Star. It remained unchanged from before, bustling with life everywhere. It wasn’t that the cultivators of Fire Cloud Star were extremely powerful, their overall strength only slightly above average for the Star Field while still a far cry compared to the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s Home Star. There was only one reason for it to remain untouched; this Star had a Star Master guarding it!
Although Xia Ning Chang was overseeing it as its Star Master, Tong Xuan Realm was fundamentally weak and could not withstand great disturbances. Even the cleverest woman could not cook a meal without rice, which was why Netherworld Sect could barge right in and set up the Eight Desolation Binding Spirit Array to putrefy the land.
In comparison, Fire Cloud Star was more than just a little bit stronger than Tong Xuan Realm. Thanks to the Star Master here, Netherworld Sect would have to pay a certain price to invade this Star, which was why Fire Cloud Star was spared from the wars that ravaged the Star Field for more than ten years.
Existences like Fire Cloud Star were not that special across the Star Field. There were as many as six other places with similar circumstances. Netherworld Sect and those from Grand Desolation Star Field originally planned to fortify their defences and cut off supplies to the enemy by laying waste to the other Cultivation Stars that were easier to deal with before gathering their strength to deal with the Cultivation Stars that had Star Masters overseeing them.
It was a pity that their plans were thwarted by the Heavens. Yang Kai’s return had eventually led to their downfall.
“May I know who has honoured us with their presence? I, Chi Huo, apologize for not greeting you immediately. Honoured Guest, please come this way.” A majestic voice rang out from the world. In the midst of that grand display, the entire Fire Cloud Star seemed to fall silent as all people looked up. Even more of them fell on their knees in reverent worship and chanted, “Long live Sir Chi Huo!”
The voice thundered in Yang Kai’s ears deafeningly. It was as if the lightning had struck right beside him while a faint trace of rejection also emerged in the World Principles around him. Any ordinary Third-Order Origin King would have suffered some internal injury upon encountering such a situation; however, Yang Kai simply used his little finger to dig at his ear while grinning, glancing in a certain direction with a flashing gaze.
[Is this a show of intimidation?] Smiling, Yang Kai replied casually, “Good.”
His figure transformed into a stream of light and flew in that direction.
Three thousand kilometres away, lava flowed around Blazing Mountain. Craters of various shapes and sizes in the volcano sprayed black smoke into the air like a huge Dragon flying through the skies. The air was scorching to the point where it was nearly unbearable. Anybody with lower cultivation would not be able to come close to this place at all.
Chi Huo’s Blazing Palace was built on one of the largest craters here. The palace was majestic, grand, and as scarlet as flames. At first glance, it looked like the entire palace was made of lava and it was easy to tell that the owner’s personality was equally explosive.
A moment ago, the rustling sounds of silk and bamboo rang out amidst singing and dancing inside Blazing Palace. The Star Master of Fire Cloud Star, Chi Huo, was entertaining many of the Star’s local Masters. Today was the day he took in a new concubine, his wedding day. It was only natural for the people living on Fire Cloud Star to visit and congratulate him. There was nothing more important than the Star Master on Fire Cloud Star after all. Therefore, everyone of even some importance rushed to Blazing Mountain, whether or not they wanted to or could afford to.