Chapter 20: 19. Star Soul

19. Star Soul

"Who wrote this?"

Zoe had also finished reading the words on the paper and was looking at Li Ang.

Judging by her expression, she likely had an answer, but was waiting for Li Ang to confirm it for her.

"It should be your father."

"What do the words above mean?"

"I don't know either."

Li Ang had no understanding of the "Star Soul" mentioned in the text.

It sounded like something absolutely extraordinary, and it was closely linked to the young girl's Star Soul constitution.

The world was truly vast; there were things even members of the Heavenly Group didn't know about.

Li Ang flipped to the next page and discovered that although dates were written, it wasn't a diary, but rather a record of important matters.

"Guild Calendar, Year 291, November 17th

"This island is indeed too remote. The islanders are like a different species; it's hard to communicate regardless of what language is spoken, and even when speaking using their way of thinking, they take a long time to understand. Lily felt bored, so she dragged me to a market on a nearby island, where we bought all sorts of strange books. On the way, we discovered people from the Organization; to think they could track us to the Floss airspace.

"I am summarizing my life's work in swordsmanship and conceiving a set of sword techniques suitable for Zoe. It would be best if, after learning them, she could understand how to use her own power. With a constitution like hers, her life is destined to never be peaceful."

Year 291 was also the time when Li Ang had transmigrated; he had likely saved up his first sum of money for professional training in October.

Zoe blinked: "My constitution?"

"Keep reading," Li Ang said.

"Guild Calendar, Year 292, January 14th

"Although Lily is sometimes more troublesome than Zoe, she is always concerned about Zoe's future. I often see her gazing toward the end of the sea of clouds, and I have confirmed this.

"Neither she nor I expected our child to be so special. What is the principle behind it? We have no way of knowing; we can only speculate that it is the result of the interaction between the Star Power within my body and the divine power of that great god she once served.

"Today, we talked about this matter for a long time."

Zoe looked at Li Ang and asked: "What does their 'something-something power' mean?"

I haven't heard of it either. Li Ang pondered to himself.

Now, he was certain that this girl's parents were not ordinary Sky Knights; being a Sky Knight was just one identity, and it could not define everything about them.

Among the many airspaces, there were individuals and factions that even the Heavenly Group and the Guild found mysterious. Zoe's parents appeared to be members of that group.

"Guild Calendar, Year 292, August 9th

"Cha Ain sent me a message. He found a new ruin. Unlike the old sites abandoned by the God-folk like the Ancient City of Dark Night, many of the mechanisms in that ruin are still operating. Perhaps a lot of information can be obtained. The bad news is that the Organization has also set its sights on it.

"However, today, there is even worse news. Our basement has cracked open on the floor due to an earthquake. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the Island Core Passage.

"The location of our home was chosen by Zoe. She took a fancy to this place at first glance, as if it were a curse of fate. I have a bad premonition in my heart that it might become reality."

Li Ang looked up at the water well weighed down by the giant boulder; needless to say, that was the passage. Or rather, it wasn't a water well; the stone bricks were built just to make it easier to enter.

The name Cha Ain... it sounds a bit familiar.

"Did I choose the location of our home? I don't even remember," Zoe said from the side.

Perhaps it was some kind of instinct, Li Ang thought as he looked at her exquisite profile.

People of unknown races often possessed special talents; some could even predict the occurrence of natural disasters after communing with nature. Zoe might have been in some kind of communion at the time.

"What is an Island Core Passage?" Zoe asked.

Li Ang actually knew this.

"The various floating islands in the clouds all have many minerals inside them. These minerals are rich in various energies. Sometimes, this causes the center of the island to become hollow. Occasionally, the energy inside dissipates to the surface, opening up a passage that leads into the center of the island."

"Are there pretty stones in the center of the island?" Zoe's eyes lit up.

"That is certain."

It was more than just having them; one could say that the most precious minerals in this world were all produced in the island cores.

"Then can we go take a look?"

"Not yet, let's see if your father recorded anything else." Li Ang glanced at the giant boulder; he also had a bad premonition.

Li Ang flipped to the following pages.

"292, October 4th

"After excavation and exploration, Lily and I reached the island core of Satus Island.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Lily and I only knew this was a remote and barren island, but we never imagined that there would be fragments of God-folk ruins between the mountain rocks and mineral veins at its center.

"Its power still gave birth to a Star Soul. Even though Satus Island is so barren, over countless ages, it still hatched. No wonder Zoe has been sleeping for long periods recently.

"Lily and I destroyed the Star Soul. It might take seven or eight years for it to accumulate enough power to be reborn."

Li Ang rubbed his temples. Zoe beside him wore a look of confusion, but he knew that she was truly the genuine female lead of this world.

He might have really gotten himself into big trouble this time.

He still couldn't figure out exactly what a Star Soul was, but the notes left by Zoe's father were very similar to what Sky Knights understood as an "Island King."

They were super monsters that ruled the floating islands, and they were qualitatively different from ordinary monsters.

Monsters were not animals that evolved naturally; they were monster species created by magic power interfering with the material world.

Some monsters were created by intelligent life, but generally speaking, they were born from occasional magical disasters, such as spatial distortions or dimensional intermingling, because only at those times could atmospheric magic power interfere with the material world without the guidance of a spirit.

As for the Island Kings, their origins and ecology were a mystery. They did not reproduce in groups; they seemed to be the embodiment of the floating island, existing eternally on the island.

Hundreds of years ago, someone killed an Island King, which caused the island to remain barren for a long time. After the Sky Knight Guild was established, adventurers were forbidden from harassing Island Kings.

But Li Ang had heard that on some islands, there existed a type of Island King capable of rebirth. This description was very similar to what Zoe's father had written.

The more bountiful an island was, the more likely it was to have an Island King.

Satus Island certainly didn't look like it would have an Island King, and her father's notes said it was born from some ruin fragments; this was Li Ang's unknown territory.

Zoe beside him also fell silent, perhaps trying to digest information she couldn't understand at all.

Li Ang was just about to speak to her when he felt the ground begin to shake.

A large amount of dust fell from the wooden boards above the basement. The entire house—no, perhaps the entire Satus Island—had begun to vibrate.

"What is this? What's happening!" Zoe grabbed Li Ang's arm in a panic.

"It's an earthquake. Let's go over there."

Taking Zoe to the load-bearing pillar in the corner of the basement, Li Ang protected her while reaching out to sense the Earth Spirit. If the earthquake were too intense, he hoped to summon an Earth Giant to protect them.

However, the Earth Spirit still did not respond.

During an earthquake, it should have been the time when the Earth Spirit was most active.

ROAR—!

That giant roar, as if coming from the abyss, sounded once again. It was like the long wail of a bone flute, and even more like the blowing of a war horn. Its sound waves lingered endlessly, even faintly transmitting the tremors to every tangible object.

"What... what should we do... My, my head hurts so much..."

Zoe curled up helplessly in the corner.

The roaring sound suddenly began to contract and cease. The young girl opened her misty, teary eyes.

"Is it over?"

"Don't move."

Li Ang told Zoe to maintain her defense with extreme seriousness.

He stared fixedly at the deep well in the basement. In his spiritual perception, at the very moment the roaring sound ended, the wellhead violently spewed out a massive amount of Earth Spirit.

They could not be seen by the naked eye, but they were so dense that the seal patterns on the surface of the giant boulder began to decompose, and even the boulder itself was about to return to the earth.

BOOM!

A violent explosion resounded through the basement in an instant. The giant boulder was pulverized, and the dust and dirt blasted from the wellhead shot straight toward the ceiling, turning into a sky full of dust.

Something was about to come out of the well!

At the moment before the boulder was pulverized, Li Ang had already mobilized his entire magic power reserve and unleashed it in one go.