Chapter 383: Eighth Grade Golden Toad, Entering the Fixed Star

After the sword intent broke through to the mid-stage of the Subtle Level, Murong Wan still left.

The Four Realms of martial cultivation are the True Intent Realm; true intent is paramount.

Once the problem of true intent was resolved, with Murong Wan's Exquisite Treasure Body, her cultivation speed increased.

After Murong Wan left, Lu Xun slipped into the alchemy room and refined some more pills.

The pills that Murong Wan and Chu Youqing used for cultivation, Lu Xun had prepared enough to reach the Six Realms.

However, as the alchemy materials on hand increased, Lu Xun refined some rarer pills, preparing them for Chu Youqing and the others.

When the pills were nearly finished refining, that day Lu Xun suddenly received news from Master Danyang.

Master Danyang told him that the Golden Toad had been repaired, and instructed Lu Xun to go to Xuanji City to find Caiwei.

"Finally repaired."

Lu Xun couldn't help but feel a little happy.

The Golden Toad had been under repair for so long; it was finally fixed.

After briefing Xie Yuyan on some matters, Lu Xun set off immediately.

Not long after, he entered Xuanji City again and all the way reached the Luban Building in District 49.

"Lu Xun."

Just as he entered the Luban Building, a clear voice sounded.

It was Master Danyang's disciple, the girl named Caiwei.

Lu Xun gave her a slight nod: "Hello."

"Master had me wait for you here; come with me, I'll take you to get the Golden Toad."

As soon as Caiwei saw Lu Xun, she became bright and cheerful, always wearing a crescent-moon smile.

"May I ask, where is Master Danyang?"

Lu Xun was curious.

During the process of repairing the Golden Toad, Master gained some insight; once it was fixed, he felt a breakthrough approaching, so he went into seclusion to study the Giant God Soldier, hoping to break through to the Eighth Grade.

Caiwei said.

That's how it is.

Also correct,

The Golden Toad is, after all, an Eighth Grade puppet.

For Master Danyang, it was just right.

Like the Giant God Soldier, although powerful, because it is too profound, the gain Master Danyang obtained from it was not particularly great.

Master said, the Golden Toad originally should have been Upper Eighth Grade; currently it can only be repaired to Eighth Grade. Once Master becomes an Eighth Grade Puppet Master, it should be able to return to Upper Eighth Grade. If Master can in the future break through to Ninth Grade, there is still hope to upgrade it to Ninth Grade.

Caiwei also said.

Ninth Grade!

What a fine companion, this Golden Toad is quite formidable.

Thinking about it, it's also normal.

The Golden Toad of old was, after all, a puppet of a Nine Realms powerhouse.

That Nine Realms powerhouse also preferred to study formations and side paths such as puppets.

Being powerful is also quite normal.

If it weren't for that Nine Realms powerhouse expending too much energy and time on Southern Ming Separation Fire, the Golden Toad might have been even stronger.

Under Caiwei's guidance, the two proceeded all the way into the depths of the Luban Building.

"Junior Sister."

Walking along, a person suddenly appeared.

It was Master Danyang's other disciple, Wu Wen.

Upon seeing Lu Xun and Caiwei walking together, Wu Wen's face darkened.

"Senior Brother, how did he come here?"

Wu Wen asked.

"Senior Brother, I'll take Lu Xun to fetch the Golden Toad."

Caiwei furrowed her brows.

Recently Wu Wen has been clinging ever tighter, but since he is the senior brother, she couldn't well say anything.

"Junior Sister, where did Master put the Golden Toad? Let me take him there."

Wu Wen volunteered himself.

"No need, Senior Brother; I'll take him there myself."

Caiwei refused.

"Alright."

Saying "alright" with his mouth, Wu Wen did not leave just then, but continued to follow behind the two.

Lu Xun didn't pay attention to this guy.

Just a mere Sixth Grade Puppet Master.

Not long after.

The place had been reached.

It was a dedicated room; one could not enter without a password.

The password, Master Danyang naturally told Caiwei.

After Caiwei entered the password, the door opened.

The inside is very spacious, the golden toad is placed right in the center of the room.

At this time, the golden toad is of moderate size, and when standing there its height reaches over ten meters.

Lu Xun looked and saw that the wound on the golden toad's abdomen had disappeared.

The disappearance of the wound is only superficial; Master Dangyang's repair surely involves more than just fixing the wound—it also involves the golden toad's own operation.

"Little Gold."

"Guā."

When Lu Xun called out, the golden toad responded with a 'guā'.

What a partner—the golden toad gives Lu Xun a sense of being spirited.

Is this an eighth-grade spirit puppet?

"Come."

Lu Xun stretched out his hand.

"Guā."

Little Gold shrank in size and jumped into Lu Xun's hand.

"Wow, impressive—it truly is an eighth-grade spirit shame; senior brother, no matter how you called it before, it never responded."

Cai Wei exclaimed in amazement beside him.

Upon hearing that,

Wu Wen's face grew even darker, storm clouds gathering across it.

While Master Dangyang was repairing the golden toad, he often came over on the pretext of studying, hoping to pull some small tricks.

But Master Dangyang considered this very important, never allowing Wu Wen to get involved; even when leaving, he would lock the door tightly.

This gave Wu Wen no opportunity at all.

And even after the repair was completed, Wu Wen still tried to obtain the golden toad.

Unfortunately, the golden toad paid it no heed.

As soon as Lu Xun arrived, the golden toad turned into a well-behaved little one.

This left Wu Wen feeling utterly miserable.

Lu Xun seemed to see through his thoughts and gave him a light glance.

"Cai Wei, this pill I bought for Master Dangyang—please thank him on my behalf."

Lu Xun handed a bottle of medicine to Cai Wei.

"No need, no need—the master said no gifts are necessary; his gain this time is so great it already outweighs any thanks."

Cai Wei waved her hands repeatedly.

"Keep it; I'll still need to bother him later."

Lu Xun forced the medicine into Cai Wei's hand.

This sight made Wu Wen's eyelid twitch, nearly sending him into a rage.

"Alright, I'll hand it over to the master; if he doesn't want it, I'll return it to you."

Cai Wei said.

"All right, farewell."

Lu Xun didn't plan to stay longer.

He wanted to find a place to test the golden toad's power.

Even if not fully repaired, the golden toad has already reached eighth grade, comparable to the eighth realm.

Now Lu Xun has a powerful weapon at his disposal.

Compared to the heavenly martial soul jade Fu Lao Yezi gave Lu Xun, the golden toad can be used for a longer time per activation, and its power is just as strong.

Furthermore, once the heavenly martial soul jade is expended, it must be returned to Fu Lao Yezi for processing.

Although Fu Lao Yezi said he could be visited anytime,

But just think—after using it once, Fu Lao Yezi would have to replenish the phantom, which would be costly.

That amounts to an eighth-realm expert unleashing full power for three minutes.

Don't think three minutes is insignificant,

this is the eighth realm.

even a casual strike from them is no small matter.

let alone three minutes of time.

these three minutes are at full power.

Like an eighth-grade precious garment, it would take a thousand cubic units of dark energy to block a single strike from an eighth-realm expert.

The consumption of a single strike from an eighth-realm expert cannot match that of an eighth-grade precious garment, but making up for it would still require a significant amount of dark energy.

How many strikes could be unleashed in three minutes?

So Lu Xun feels reluctant to bother Fu Lao Yezi too often.

The heavenly martial soul jade can only be used as a trump card in crucial moments.

Now that we have the golden toad, it's just perfect.

While a puppet's combat strength cannot match an eighth-realm expert, its defensive prowess is outstanding—an eighth-realm expert would find it hard to destroy easily, which suits Lu Xun perfectly.

"Hey, Lu Xun, wait—the master said the golden toad needs fire energy to run, so it can truly unleash eighth-realm power; I suggest placing it in a star to draw energy, which would cut dark energy consumption."

Cai Wei called out to Lu Xun and said,

"Fire energy?"

"That's right—originally the golden toad was always soaking in lava."

Okay, thank you.

Lu Xun thanked Caiwei, then left Luban Mansion and all the way departed from Xuanji City.

Indeed, the power is still not enough.

After leaving Xuanji City, Lu Xun released the Golden Toad to test it.

He found that although the Golden Toad's defense was outstanding, lacking energy, its attack power was still insufficient.

Puppets naturally require energy to drive them.

Just like martial cultivators, if their true qi is exhausted, their strength will greatly diminish.

Without energy, a puppet simply cannot function.

This Blue Flame Star has turned blue, its brightness so high; it should allow the Golden Toad to absorb sufficient fire-attribute energy.

After thinking, Lu Xun decided to go near the star and place the Golden Toad inside it.

To ordinary people and ordinary cultivators, a star is naturally extremely terrifying.

The Blue Flame Star System where Lan Xing currently resides contains the Blue Flame Star, which belongs to the blue giant type.

Its diameter is about twenty times that of the former solar system's sun, and its volume is over eight thousand times that of the sun.

It could fit over eight thousand suns inside.

Its mass is even more terrifying.

Its surface temperature likewise far exceeds the sun's, reaching over ten thousand degrees.

At this temperature, the vast majority of substances in the universe entering it will be melted.

Except for some spiritual substances.

For cultivators, this temperature is also extremely terrifying, not to mention other dangers besides temperature, such as the star's own gravity.

Even Six Realm cultivators dare not get too close to the star.

Seventh Realm cultivators can reach the star's surface without issue, but obtaining anything from within the star is not easy.

Generally speaking, only Eighth Realm fire cultivators can obtain something from within the star.

For example, at Fu Lao Yezi's birthday, Fu Lao Yezi introduced to Lu Xun the master of the Vermilion Bird Hall.

He is a fire-attribute martial cultivator who often enters the star to obtain some spiritual substances from within.

Even substances that the star cannot melt are only spiritual substances.

Such spiritual substances are often of high grade.

"Little Gold should be able to go in without problem."

Thinking this, Lu Xun quietly distanced himself from Lan Xing, took out the Star Sea Vessel, and headed for the Blue Flame Star.

The Star Sea Vessel's speed is extremely fast; after departing Lan Xing, it continually accelerates.

"Moon."

Not long after, Lu Xun saw the moon.

Viewed from Lan Xing, the moon is about the size of a jade disc.

Upon approaching, the moon still appears extremely large.

This is a celestial body with a diameter of several thousand kilometers.

From afar, the moon's upper surface is covered with human constructions, and even the surrounding sky is full of buildings.

Above these buildings, there are often protective shields.

One can also see lush green cities, each surrounded by a large cover.

The Star Sea Vessel sped past, throwing the moon behind it.

Soon after, both the moon and Lan Xing became mere specks of light.

After Lu Xun set the trajectory, he let the Star Sea Vessel continue onward.

After a dozen or so hours, finally, the Blue Flame Star drew near.

Up close, the Blue Flame Star is terrifyingly huge, occupying the entire forward view.

"Huh, someone."

Lu Xun, however, saw many spacecraft.

These spacecraft are huge in size, numerous in number, and have halted at a distance of one million kilometers from the Blue Flame Star.

They are linked together forming a sheet, and in front of them are large numbers of energy panels.

Around them, Lu Xun could also see some enormous formations that further gather the star's energy.

"These are for making energy blocks, right?"

Upon observing, Lu Xun realized it.

These spacecraft are certainly energy-block manufacturing vessels.

They are here to manufacture energy blocks.

Energy blocks are crucial.

The Star-Annihilation Cannon on Lan Xing uses energy blocks as its power source.

Without energy blocks, if dark energy were used to drive it, that would be too wasteful.

Whenever Lan Xing reaches a star system, it should dispatch such spacecraft to the vicinity of the star to manufacture energy blocks.

Each spacecraft is equivalent to an energy block manufacturing factory.

By gathering stellar energy, they continuously produce energy blocks.

When Lu Xun discovered these spacecraft, he was also noticed by someone.

Near the star, the brightness is extremely high and there is nothing else; for experts, it is actually not easy to hide.

A vessel quickly approached him, and shortly thereafter it arrived near Lu Xun.

There were several cultivators on the flying boat.

When they saw that Lu Xun was human, the cultivators on the flying boat relaxed their vigilance.

"You want to enter the star? This star isn't very stable; solar flares often shoot out, so you still need to be careful."

The leading cultivator gave a kind reminder.

He felt that Lu Xun was at the seventh realm.

"Thank you, I will be careful."

Lu Xun clasped his fists and continued piloting the star sea flying boat toward the Blue Flame Star.

Even though the Blue Flame Star was still over a million kilometers away, the temperature was terrifyingly high.

Not only was the temperature high, but the radiation was also astonishingly strong.

For Lu Xun, it wasn't a big problem.

But the star sea flying boat could hardly hold up.

After all, it was just a fast flying boat, and its defense naturally couldn't compare to Lu Xun's.

Thus, Lu Xun put away the flying boat and relied on his own flight.

His speed, however, kept increasing.

Because the star's gravity was pulling Lu Xun downward.

As he flew, suddenly a solar flare erupted below, instantly crossing over a million kilometers of distance and surging upward.

"How fast!"

The solar flare's speed was terrifying; it was entirely plasma, moving at nearly the speed of light.

Its range was also wide, leaving Lu Xun nowhere to dodge.

"Come on."

Lu Xun had no need to dodge.

The treasure robe on his body was, in fact, a ninth-grade treasure robe.

Without needing the treasure robe, Lu Xun protected himself with spiritual power and true qi, thus withstanding it outright.

Just a few minutes later, the solar flare subsided, and Lu Xun continued to go deeper.

After several hours, he finally approached the star's surface.

The entire star's surface appeared as a sea of countless flowing plasmas, a vast ocean of high-temperature ionized gas as far as the eye could see.

Here, the human visual system cannot function.

Even a seventh-realm Immortal Cultivator, aside from body cultivators, dare not look directly with their eyes.

A martial cultivator who has opened his eye aperture can.

But they cannot see too much information.

"Go on, Little Gold."

Lu Xun released Little Gold.

"Ribbit~"

After Little Gold let out a cry, it entered the star's interior and began frantically absorbing energy.

Lu Xun then flew upward for a distance.

On the star's surface, the consumption was enormous, so there was no need to stay long.

"Right, Little Phoenix."

Lu Xun suddenly thought of the phoenix.

The phoenix did not know whether it needed stellar energy.

Thinking this, Lu Xun released the phoenix.

To prevent any mishap, he also set up an energy shield around the phoenix.

"Chirp~"

After the phoenix came out, seeing the surrounding environment, it made a "chirp chirp" sound.

This reassured Lu Xun.

Thus, Lu Xun deactivated the energy shield.

Only then did the phoenix vibrate its wings and take flight, beginning to absorb energy.

Lu Xun discovered that the phoenix did not absorb all kinds of energy; as it flew back and forth, it took in only a portion of the energy.

Also,

Although stellar energy is terrifying, for cultivators and spiritual life forms, it is actually inferior to dark energy in terms of advancement and ease of use.

There are so many stars in the starry sky.

But how many places actually possess dark energy?

In the vast majority of star systems, there is hardly any dark energy.

Dark energy is the key to life's leap.