Chapter 1017

Beneath the three major powers, there were subordinate factions—for example, the Nine Fiend Sect controlled waters spanning ninety million li, with eight subordinate forces under its command, and the Crimson Blood Cave was the foremost of these eight, ruling over eight million li of sea territory in the northernmost region of the Nine Fiend Sect's domain.

This resembled the geopolitical layout of the Submerged Dragon Continent: the Azure Dragon Palace, the Nine Fiend Sect, and the Azure Water Mansion were like the Ming, Qin, and Han dynasties, while the Crimson Blood Cave was akin to a single commandery under the Nine Fiend Sect.

Now Qin Yu had directly slain the Cave Lord of the Crimson Blood Cave and declared himself its new Cave Lord—this matter was far from over. It was like someone bursting into the Qin Dynasty, killing its commandery governor, and then appointing himself in his place; once the Emperor of the Qin Dynasty learned of it, he would surely send forces to punish him.

Of course, in the world of demonic cultivation, things were slightly different—if Qin Yu showed submission to the Nine Fiend Sect, he might, through his own strength, truly become the Crimson Blood Cave's new Cave Lord.

In the overseas world, there were no elaborate intrigues—only strength ruled; if one's strength was sufficient, one could be courted.

"Then I should congratulate you on becoming the new Cave Lord of the Crimson Blood Cave."

Beneath the sea, Fang Yu and "Uncle Lan" were still cultivating and contemplating, when Qin Yu returned and informed Fang Yu and "Uncle Lan" of what had transpired above—most importantly, he told Miss Jiang Lier.

He had ventured out for a while and established a small foundation of his own.

Though unstable, he now controlled a sea territory spanning eight million li.

"This was all accidental—I still have much to do."

Qin Yu, upon hearing the Immortal Fang Yu speak, respectfully replied.

"Indeed, quite impressive. Since you've returned, stay here and cultivate for a while longer. I've sensed several of the Nine Fiend Sect's Lords heading your way to demand an explanation. If you can advance the Starry Transformation to the Late Meteor Stage, you might just weather this crisis."

Fang Yu gazed at Qin Yu and saw within the youth's body countless silver starlight forces. If these myriad silver starlight forces were continuously refined, until a single golden essence emerged, he would reach the Meteor Stage—then, the concentration of energy would drastically enhance his combat power, increasing his offensive strength by at least tenfold.

It was like advancing from the 1st Stage of Divine Abilities, Magical Power Realm, to the 2nd Stage of Divine Abilities, True Qi Realm—where one thread of true qi could defeat ten threads of magical power; energy concentration greatly amplified a cultivator's combat power.

"Yes, Immortal. I will train diligently here for a time."

Qin Yu nodded and began cultivating near Fang Yu the Immortal.

He felt that cultivating here seemed to yield double—or even twentyfold—the results.

He always had the sensation that cultivating near Fang Yu the Immortal instantly calmed his spirit, and that the celestial starlight forces were far denser around him—vastly more potent than those outside. Merely a short time of cultivation here granted him tremendous power gains.

As soon as he sat cross-legged, countless starlight forces entered his body, merging into his starcloud, turning its color to golden radiance.

Countless starlight forces spun rapidly, while scorching energies flowed in from outside his body, then out again, forming continuous cycles.

In this cycle, Qin Yu's tendons, bones, and muscles underwent drastic transformations—his tendons, bones, and internal organs all changed rapidly, his body's resilience rising with each iteration.

Within his body, Starfire also continuously refined his flesh.

It was a painful process.

After all, starlight forces acting directly on the flesh were exceedingly brutal.

Yet streams of pure energy flowed from the Meteor Tear, spreading through every part of Qin Yu's body, accelerating his recovery—but just as he healed, the brutal starlight refinement forces shattered him anew.

The Meteor Tear repaired again; the refinement forces destroyed again. In this endless cycle of destruction and repair, Qin Yu's bodily resilience surged rapidly.

Even if others cultivated the Starry Transformation, their speed would be many times slower—without the Meteor Tear, they must rest, for the starlight forces were too brutal; prolonged cultivation would backfire, inflicting severe damage to the flesh.

"This is truly top-tier."

Fang Yu murmured in amazement.

"Uncle Lan" glanced at Qin Yu once but said nothing—yet his eyes held a hint of approval.

Both beings were in contemplation, yet they sensed Qin Yu's transformation—until finally, all could see within his dantian, a tiny golden speck forming inside the Starfire: the so-called Meteor. This golden speck remained perpetually scorched by starlight, surrounded by sparse silver stars.

Though far sparser than before, it now occupied vastly more space within the dantian.

Qin Yu paid no heed to the two elders and immediately swallowed a Nascent Soul—immediately, the Nascent Soul was refined by Starfire, and the silver stars grew larger, further refining the golden stars.

The Meteor Stage meant refining starlight forces until silver starlight condensed into countless golden starlight specks—each golden speck could unleash power and speed tenfold greater than silver starlight.

The Meteor Stage had thus been reached.

Advancing from Starcloud Stage to Meteor Stage was a process of refining and elevating energy; advancing from early Meteor Stage to late Meteor Stage was an even greater enhancement of energy.

Around Fang Yu, Qin Yu cultivated—within his dantian, the golden specks multiplied from one to three, each growing larger, while every ring of the vast starcloud's silver specks also swelled, resembling countless stars.

Eventually, the three golden specks grew to the size of quail eggs, then split into three parts each—suddenly becoming nine golden specks.

The nine golden specks continued rotating along spherical trajectories.

Countless silver specks split again, doubling their number.

Cultivating thus, cultivating thus, he advanced from early Meteor Stage to mid-Meteor Stage, then to late Meteor Stage.

Late Meteor Stage!

As the nine golden specks rotated, they formed a mysterious resonance—within their center, threads of lightning-like light emerged: an attraction. When this attraction reached its peak, the immense force would fully absorb the nine stars, merging them into one—then, the next stage, Star Core Stage, would be achieved.

This stage was another elevation of energy level—like true qi in the 2nd Stage of Divine Abilities ascending to Daoist Gang Qi in the 3rd Stage of Divine Abilities, where each thread of Gang Qi possessed dozens of times the power of true qi.

But in the Eternal Life Realm, after true qi transformed into Gang Qi, the strength of Gang Qi depended on the power of the Great Dao Art cultivated—true qi refined through a great technique might only gain tenfold power, while true qi refined through the Three Thousand Great Dao Arts could increase Gang Qi's power by twenty or thirtyfold.

In this world, the merging of nine stars into a Star Core carried no such distinctions.

Regardless, Qin Yu's strength had reached late Meteor Stage—once he accumulated further and braved the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, he could ascend to the Star Core Stage.

"Tribulation Crossing, Tribulation Crossing—it's time to cross. Too bad my avatar, even if it survives the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, will likely only form a Star Core no bigger than an egg—not a treasure like the Dragon Wood Star Core, nor a Star Core like the Panlong Star."

While Fang Yu contemplated the Time Law, his avatar also cultivated casually.

As he cultivated, he neared the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.

Fang Yu directly sent his avatar out of Uncle Lan's cave and into the open sea.

From afar, the sky darkened, clouds blanketed the heavens, and above the sea, the entire sky turned a strange crimson, as if the heavens had become a colossal furnace. A purple tribulation cloud floated beneath, countless lightning serpents flickering.

"Friend, you've condensed an avatar—and it's about to cross the Lei Jie? Such a tribulation shouldn't affect your original body, right?"

Uncle Lan paused his cultivation, curious.

"No issue—it should be fine."

Fang Yu remained calm, watching his avatar cross the tribulation.

"Boom!"

A purple heavenly thunder crashed down, wielding destructive power, striking the avatar below—but Fang Yu merely reached out, seized the thunder in his palm, and swallowed it whole.

"Tastes decent."

The avatar said calmly.

"……"

Shock appeared on Qin Yu's face. This Immortal's avatar could actually undergo Tribulation Crossing, and the tribulation was a Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation — this was truly unheard of.

In the cultivation history of the Hidden Dragon Continent, such a thing had never been heard of. Of course, throughout the entire Hidden Dragon Continent, the supreme divine ability of creating an avatar was something basically no one could master — it belonged to the highest tier of divine abilities.

But now, Immortal Great Dao Fang Yu had not only condensed an avatar, he had also let the avatar undergo the Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation.

It was truly inconceivable.

Boom!

Just as Qin Yu was pondering, another bolt of heavenly thunder crashed down, its pressure terrifyingly great. Yet Fang Yu, as always, simply reached out with a great hand and directly devoured that heavenly thunder.

Three Thousand Great Daos — the Great Devouring Art.

Devouring a small Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation was not particularly difficult.

Bolts of heavenly thunder descended one after another. Soon, all five bolts of heavenly thunder were devoured by Fang Yu's avatar, and then the next moment — rumble rumble.

The entire heaven and earth rumbled with sound. At the same time, countless electric serpents appeared once again from the dark red sky, madly gathering toward the tribulation cloud, as if a swarm of snakes were under someone's control — electric serpents across the sky continuously converged.

It seemed as if even the heavens sensed that Fang Yu did not respect the Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation, so countless purple lightning tribulation clouds from the mortal realm gathered with crackling sounds, several hundred times more intense than the fifth heavenly thunder from before.

The next moment, a dark purple bolt of lightning as thick as an arm ruthlessly descended to suppress and slay Fang Yu. As this purple heavenly thunder arrived, heavenly might filled the entire void overhead, as if it would make all living beings tremble and quake in fear.

Fang Yu remained calm and unhurried. He once again reached out with a great hand, and the Great Devouring Art of the Three Thousand Great Daos directly devoured this final bolt of heavenly thunder, converting it into energy within his physical body.

The Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation was overcome just like that.

In this world, the Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation consisted of six bolts — forty-eight fewer than other worlds that had a Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation — so one could say there was far less danger.

As long as one could endure that final strike, basically the Six-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation posed no real difficulty.

Fang Yu followed the Tribulation Crossing principles of this world, and thus his avatar cultivated to the early stage of the Star Core realm.

Within his avatar's dantian, the nine golden stars vanished, leaving only a single golden orb about the size of a fist. The stellar force of this golden orb was far more refined than the golden stars from before, and at the same time far more abundant.

This was the "Star Core" that Fang Yu had cultivated.

"It's still too small. It simply cannot compare to the Coiling Dragon Star Core, the Star Cores atop the Star Emperor Dragon Bed…"