Chapter 633: The Secret of the Star Palace

So... the Aquarius secret art is hopeless, but the Taurus secret art might actually work?

Hearing the Taurus Director's promise, Li Ang couldn't help feeling a surge of joy in his heart—the Taurus secret art seemed far more precious than the Aquarius one.

He remembered the Bureau Chief saying that the Cleansing Bureau's twelve secret arts were ranked; the Aries secret art, hailed as "Aberration Annihilation," was first, the Taurus Director's "Aberration Forging" was second, and the Aquarius Director's "Aberreation Genesis" was only eleventh.

However, this ranking didn't seem to be based on combat power, but on significance to the Cleansing Bureau as a whole. The Aquarius secret art ranked so low mainly because its methods were extreme, its material requirements too high, and it was too luck-dependent with low controllability—massive amounts of materials might be invested for nothing in return.

The Taurus secret art, on the other hand, was not only stable and controllable, but after more than a dozen generations of simplification and weakening, could even be used to train craftsmen who forged anomalous objects, producing large quantities of stable anomalous items usable by mid- and low-level Cleansers. Its significance to the entire Cleansing Bureau was extraordinary, which was why it ranked second.

Still, even if the ranking was a bit inflated, it was a genuine second secret art!

Setting aside the ability to forge anomalous objects—if he truly mastered this secret art and became a so-called "reserve Taurus Director," his standing within the entire Cleansing Bureau would rise with the tide. Even while still holding the title of Level-3 Incident Handler, he'd probably have a say in many matters!

Sure enough, fortune truly had to be sought through risk! He'd braved the danger of being killed outright, trash-talking solo face-to-face with the Aquarius Director—and now was the time to reap the rewards?

……

Amid Li Ang's excited expression, the Taurus Director on the Director's seat slightly closed his eyes. Then, just like when the Eye of the Sun had appeared earlier, the Cleansing Bureau's main hall dimmed once more, and the outer walls became transparent again.

However, the top of the main hall didn't split open again. This time, the change occurred at the "waistline" section where the Taurus seat was. Built on a base of over a hundred star-points and connected by copious meteor-like arcs of light, the illusory image of a great bull was rapidly taking form from nothing.

"This is the full appearance of the Taurus Star Palace."

Looking back at the illusory Star Palace behind him, gazing at the massive bull with its spine lowered and head bowed in a stance ready to charge, the Taurus Director spoke with a touch of nostalgia:

"The Taurus constellation lies between Aries and Gemini, and among the zodiac constellations it has the most stars—a total of 125. But it doesn't have many bright stars: only one first-magnitude bright star and two fourth-magnitude ones. The rest are rather dim, and their positions aren't easy to identify.

So when the previous Taurus Director taught me to sense the Star Palace, he specifically told me—if you can't find Taurus's direction, look for the constellation pierced through by the ecliptic line, the celestial equator, and the galactic plane together... I pass that same tip to you today; I hope this little trick will serve you well in the future."

After briefly explaining how to identify Taurus's position—indirectly revealing his expectations for Li Ang—the Taurus Director beckoned slightly behind him, and the vigorous great-bull illusion "leaped" out from the main hall's wall, transforming into an archaic compass taller than a person.

"Just touch this area here."

Pointing to the section from the compass's center outward, roughly between the one o'clock and two o'clock positions, the Taurus Director said with expectant eyes:

"The portion of the Star Palace I can summon is only this part. The other positions are illusory images of other Star Palaces—you won't be able to touch them... Give it your best shot, Li Ang. I hope you can give me a surprise, and give everyone a surprise too.

But don't put too much pressure on yourself. Even if nothing comes of it, it's fine—I can still give you a different reward... Go on, give it a try!"

"……"

Lord Taurus really is kind, like a warm and generous elder. No wonder the Bureau Chief, usually so reckless and brash, behaved so meekly in front of her—getting scolded and obediently listening without causing trouble...

Watching the Taurus Director, who bore none of a superior's arrogance, first patiently explaining without weariness, then encouraging him with a kindly expression, Li Ang felt a faint warmth in his heart. Setting aside some of his little schemes, he nodded and reached out to touch the Taurus Star Palace.

【Name: Star Dome Luo Pan Fragment—Ecliptic—Taurus (Star Palace, Solar Disk, Law)】 【Appearance: An archaic compass crafted from semi-transparent obsidian. The front bears an eighty-eight-constellation star map drawn by someone's finger; the back is covered with subtle damage—knife-cuts, axe-chops, wind erosion, buried grime, frost-burn sintering—and even bizarre bite-marks from sharp teeth.】

【Abilities: Star Palace Shift, Radiance of the Ecliptic, Law Bestowal】

【Cost: The holder's divinity will continuously drain away】

【Archive: A secret treasure relied upon by the first generation of Cleansing Bureau members when they escorted humanity's seedlings and fled from the Old Earth. It was shattered by a strike from one of the Supreme Four Pillar Gods.

The fragments of the Star Dome Luo Pan were later gathered by the first Taurus Director, reforged into eighty-eight Star Palaces, and placed upon the solar orbit, nourished and refined by the power of the Solar Disk in hopes of restoring it to its original state—a process that continues to this day.】

【Evaluation: One of the Cleansing Bureau's most important trump cards, an ark of doomsday usable only by humans born of the Old Earth. If some catastrophe of extinction-level threat ever arrives, and even the Watcher Palace's protection is destroyed, then it is the last hope of the human race.】

【Corruption Value: Indeterminate; increases with the user's own level】

"……"

Holy shit!

Even though he knew before reaching out that this thing must be extraordinary—after all, both the eighty-eight branch bureaus and the twelve Directors were named after the Star Palaces, so the Star Palaces must be extremely important to the Cleansing Bureau—

After personally... physically witnessing the Star Palace's "true face," Li Ang's mind still buzzed, jolted hard by the information he'd obtained.

Escorting humanity's seedlings... fleeing from the Old Earth... the Cleansing Bureau's trump card... an ark of doomsday usable only by humans...

Once these pieces of information were strung together, rather than calling the Star Palace an anomalous object, it was more like a spaceship—and a damn solar-powered one at that!

And humanity was the outsider in this world. After running out from that place called the Old Earth, they probably had their spaceship—the Star Palace—damaged by some "Supreme Four Pillar Gods," forcing an emergency landing on the current world... What the hell...

This is insane!

I just wanted to touch the Star Palace and see if I could loophole my way into learning the Aberration Forging secret art—how did the plot suddenly turn into sci-fi?

……

"Hm?"

Seeing Li Ang's utterly shocked expression, the Taurus Director couldn't help but look over in surprise, asking with some puzzlement:

"Li Ang? What did you get from touching it? Why such a strange expression?"

(End of this chapter)