Chapter 600: Stars, the Dao

What is starlight?

Before, Wu Tie did not know.

Even if he had cultivated the Primeval Scripture and gained the vast knowledge repository of the Old Iron legacy, he still could not precisely tell himself what starlight was, what starlight was.

Even if he had once used stellar essence to boost his cultivation, afterward he only regarded the stellar essence he had consumed as a rare, precious, extraordinary treasure of heaven and earth, like a divine elixir.

Only today, when the heavens were completely torn open, when the starlight and moonlight across the sky fell like a heavy tide.

Only today, he stood upon the black clouds, enveloped by the immense soul power of 120,003 fellow clansmen, driven by the vast mana of billions of five-element spirits, granting him sufficient strength and qualification to gaze upon this sky.

Starlight is the Dao.

Each star corresponds to a heavenly grand Dao, to a heavenly law.

Between heaven and earth, there are three thousand grand Daos and eighty-four thousand side doors. This is the absolute, pure number of the Dao—no more, no less.

Three thousand grand Daos, eighty-four thousand side doors—these Daos and laws combine in pairs, in triples, in fours, in fives… thus giving rise to endless variations.

Each variation corresponds to a star in the sky.

Each star also corresponds to a mystery of heaven and earth.

Wu Tie cultivated the Primeval Scripture, imprinting each of the three thousand grand Daos and eighty-four thousand side doors onto his divine fetus, perfectly aligning his divine fetus with the heavenly grand Dao—ultimately to master the miraculous power of this heaven-earth universe.

And this sky full of stars is an endless 'Dao index'!

They so directly, so openly, displayed before everyone the 'power' that these Daos, side doors, and cosmic mysteries could ultimately evolve into.

Each thread of their starlight, each strand of moonlight, is the most direct, purest power.

Power that contains the primal Dao rhythm of heaven and earth.

These powers are the reproductive force of all things in heaven and earth, the source of evolution for all spirits, the origin and end of all peoples, the foundation of this universe's existence.

Suspended in the void, eternally undying, eternally enduring, eternally radiant—like the Dao itself, eternal and enduring.

"This is the Dao!" Wu Tie hehe-laughed, he spread his arms, his divine fetus emitted an ancient, primordial Dao rhythm; as his fingers lightly tapped, the black mist expelled from the Black Heaven Cauldron expanded ever more swiftly in all directions.

The Nine Provinces' skies were completely shrouded in black clouds, and the surrounding dozen or so great provinces were also completely covered.

A massive black vortex appeared near Green Hill City; in the void, streams of stellar force and moonlight surged forth, emitting a low rumble, then underwent a bewildering distortion, accompanied by brilliant, gorgeous auroras, booming as they rushed toward this black vortex.

The black canopy Wu Tie created with the Black Heaven Cauldron now covers only about twenty-five or twenty-six prefectures, yet the starlight and moonlight over the surrounding fifty or sixty prefectures all became distorted, involuntarily falling toward this place.

More cursing voices came, ever more frenzied cursing voices came, ever more hysterical cursing voices came.

Wu Tie paid them no heed—could these insults possibly make him lose even a hair?

The Black Heaven Cauldron was completely covered in starlight; dense starlight and moonlight within it rapidly collapsed and refined, the originally flowing starlight-moonlight swiftly turned into thick, pure liquid, then under the cauldron's immense pressure was directly pressed into tiny, extremely dense, astonishingly heavy starlight crystals.

Then these starlight crystals began to burn, spewing forth a flame of myriad colors coalescing into one.

This flame's temperature was astonishingly high; together with the soul power and mana Wu Tie poured in, it blazed fiercely, swiftly burning the countless rare materials inside the Black Heaven Cauldron into a cauldron of liquid in an extremely short time.

The Black Heaven Cauldron from outside in, the Seven Treasures Ruyi from inside out—these two supreme treasures began frantically devouring these extremely precious liquids.

Their radiance blazed; black light and colored light violently collided. Under Wu Tie's violent coercion, the light they emitted began to show a faint tendency to merge. Yet the two supreme treasures still madly slaughtered and entangled each other; their union was already inevitable, and they began to contend over which treasure would dominate the fusion.

In the void, within the black mist, the Canghai Daoist silently hid, standing there.

One hundred eight Canghai Divine Pearls lay ready; if the Black Heaven Cauldron and Seven Treasures Ruyi attempted any movement, the Canghai Daoist would without hesitation extinguish their spirituality, utterly erase their consciousness, then reforge a blank, complete artifact spirit.

Thus, perhaps the newly born supreme treasure would be slightly stiff and dull, but as long as Wu Tie is given enough time to nurture it with his own soul, it could likewise give birth to an artifact spirit of astonishing spirituality.

Look, the starlight and moonlight falling from the sky—each thread is a Dao rhythm, a spiritual opportunity.

Even a blade of grass that receives sufficient stellar essence could transform from mundane to divine; what more for these two supreme treasures, inherently of extraordinary quality?

Wu Tie lifted his head to behold the sky-full of brilliant stars.

These stars slowly turned, pouring down the sky's light without stint.

Wu Tie couldn't help but recall the initial black curtain that had once shrouded the entire sky.

This starlight and moonlight ought to be a heavenly blessing that all earthly beings could and should enjoy, yet now they have become the so-called gods' grace!

Really, what nonsense... but such a gorgeous, splendid starry sky is truly captivating!

Wu Tie reached out his hand to Peng Feng, smiling and saying: "Feng, come, let me show you the true wonder of this starry sky."

Peng Feng's body burned with black magic phoenix flames; she also rapidly absorbed starlight and moonlight, tempering her black phoenix feather armor, her black spear, and her body and divine fetus.

Having heard Wu Tie's words, Peng Feng reached out her hand and grasped Wu Tie's hand.

Wu Tie gave a gentle tug, and a thread of Peng Feng's soul fluctuation separated, under his guidance carefully merging with the soul aggregate of the Wu tribe youths.

In the starlight, the endless Dao rhythm surged forth; the entire starry sky instantly shifted in color and appearance in Peng Feng's eyes.

Peng Feng's inherited Primeval Ancient Phoenix legacy—darkness, deathly stillness, devouring, destruction……

That absolute, extreme power made Peng Feng's temperament become cold and desolate.

Gentle strands of starlight quietly merged into Peng Feng's body, into her divine fetus; Wu Tie guided her, gradually approaching the heavenly grand Dao's gentle, passionate, bright, vibrant forces.

Wu Tie recalled some methods of the Primeval Ancient Buddhist Sect.

Pure darkness and stillness, pure devouring and destruction—those would be rather inferior.

He recalled the 'Wither-Flourish Chan Method', which unites life and death, the cycle of life and death unceasing, life and death as one and two sides, like yin and yang, ultimately pointing straight to the chaotic taiji—a supremely exalted mental method.

The souls of the 120,000 Wu tribe youths fused into one—how mighty, how domineering, how miraculous, how…… omnipotent.

Even true deities could not possibly possess such an inconceivable soul power.

Wu Tie, aided by this power, subtly guided Peng Feng, transforming each profound Dao law into a Dao-pattern light dragon, point by point directing it toward her divine fetus.

Peng Feng's pitch-black divine fetus, like black crystal forged, began to emit a faint white light; a point of exceptionally vivid, lively vitality gestated within her divine fetus.

Just as after the universe's collapse, within the final black singularity that devours all, a point of innate vitality sprouted.

Thus, infinite possibilities, infinite changes, were born in this instant.

Peng Feng's black magic flame, over three feet tall on her surface, suddenly solidified, then swayed vigorously; the black flame that once devoured and burned everything now gave the feeling of a lively three-inch-high blade of grass dancing in the wind.

Then the hue of the black magic flame quietly changed.

From pure, deep, absolute black that devours all, it became faintly transparent, faintly endowed with countless glimmers.

The Seven Treasures Ruyi and the Heavenly Black Cauldron are items, while starlight is a generic phenomenon.

These terms—entity, substance, wondrous light, Dao rhyme, and light—are all generic, not specific names.

Wu Tie is a personal name, while wondrous light is a generic term.

Black mist is a generic term.

Void, starlight and moonlight splendour, and funnel are all generic terms.

Wu Tie is a personal name, and Canghai Daoist is a title/name.

The Canghai Daoist nodded and laughed likewise, then he pointed, and from each of the 108 Canghai Divine Pearls a thread of world origin separated, whistling as it injected into this cluster of rapidly wriggling strange light.

Each Canghai Divine Pearl contributed one-tenth of its world origin; for the pearls, such a loss would normally take hundreds of years to recover. But now the heavens are awash with starlight—just find a place to frenziedly devour, and this loss amounts to nothing.

The Canghai Daoist nodded at Wu Tie, then turned and left, disappearing in a single step.

He intended to find about a hundred places where starlight was rich enough, then nurture each Canghai Divine Pearl one by one to recover this expenditure.

Wu Tie laughed, as the cluster of strange light, bolstered by the world origin of the Canghai Divine Pearls, also had all the Dao laws within the pearls inscribed into it. Sensing the tremendous surging power within that light, Wu Tie suddenly had a brainwave.

He pointed, and the cluster of strange light flew back; Wu Tie grasped it, gave a pull and a shake, and heard a low rumble—a twenty-four-section, four-faceted whip with a slightly curved handle like a scepter, of purple-gold, now firmly in his hand.

The Purple Gold Whip is an item, while rune and magic fluctuation are generic terms.

The Heavenly Black Cauldron is an item, while boundless black clouds, purple gold clouds, and auspicious qi are generic terms.

"From today on, there will be no more Black Heaven Cauldron…… only…… strike……" Wu Tie opened his mouth.

Old Iron inheritance, ancient myth, and an extremely famous treasure are all generic terms.

The God‑slaying Whip is an item; 'god' and 'folks' are generic terms, and the Three Divine Nations is a faction name.

The name "Divine-Strike Whip" is absolutely unusable.

"What a fine name, a pity…… well, you still keep this name, of course—what heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know, that's enough…… as for the outside world, you shall be called…… the Commanding Whip."

Wu Tie chuckled, hefted the over-two-feet-long, extremely heavy Divine-Strike Whip, and casually tossed it into the sky.

Purple gold clouds, black, and vast starlight are generic; the God‑slaying Whip, Stellar Essence Crystal, and Canghai Divine Pearl are items; World Origin is a concept; and vast space is generic.

Stellar power and divine soul power are generic; the God‑slaying Whip is an item; Wu family youths form a group; the Five Elements Spirit Tribe is a faction; cultivation level and comprehending heavenly mysteries are generic.

Pei Feng, Mo Zhang Wang, Lu Ji, Yan Han Lu, and Shi Fei are personal names.

Mo Zhang Wang and his companions form a group.

Starlight essence is absolutely splendid, nearly the omnipotent, all-spirit supreme treasure of heaven and earth; nothing is more stable and reliable for boosting cultivation than using starlight essence.

Around Qingqiu City, over a hundred prefectures; nearly thirty of them had their starlight and moonlight completely seized by Wu Tie, another twenty-odd had more than half of theirs looted en route, and several dozen others saw their stellar essence affected, weakened by at least thirty percent.

Only above Qingqiu City was there not a wisp of black cloud; the stellar essence had almost solidified into crystal-like substance and poured down, completely enveloping the entire Qingqiu City.

Linghu Qingqing is a personal name, while the Imperial City is a place.

Prince An is a title, while the imperial we ('I' as used by an emperor) is a generic term.

"Good, good, good, I like clever people…… he wants to be a lone minister, excellent…… only by becoming a lone minister, making the whole world his enemies and foes, can I confidently employ and trust him."

"Hehe, at least, at least, I needn't worry about him or his descendants becoming another…… me."

The Divine Emperor's Command is an item; Linghu A is a personal name; civil and military, officials, divine grace, and heaven‑sent opportunity are all generic terms.

none new.

Stellar essence, state‑protected divine artifacts, active heavenly dao divine weapons, and various divine weapons are all generic terms.

As long as the Linghu clan's strength steadily and firmly grows, Linghu Qingqing will be too lazy to bother with anything else.

In short, this favor was sought by Linghu Qingqing; he, as the Divine Emperor, obtained the favor, while you civil and military officials failed to seize it for yourselves—so you can't blame him.

"Who did it…… go settle the score with whoever."

"If you can't even find someone to settle the score with…… hehe, Linghu Qingqing certainly shows no favoritism to anyone."

At present, this situation is really good—it couldn't be better.