Chapter 548: Ninth-Tier Star Pattern

Great Hong Imperial Capital, Chang Le City.

Tianyang Star Palace Great Elder Wang Kan felt the hostile and hateful gazes from all directions, and the shock in his heart became increasingly severe.

The eighth-tier star domain opened in the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Capital asked the Tianyang Star Palace for help, and then very coincidentally, the explosion inside the Star-Plucking Tower of Great Hong's Chang Le City was caused by a Star Jade Scepter, causing temporary damage, so they could not rush over.

After hearing this series of news, Great Elder Wang Kan, with eyes like torches, knew there was a conspiracy.

It was absolutely the Great Hong Emperor who had been dormant for fifty or sixty years who was making trouble.

But he was not clear about what specific trouble he was making.

There was definitely a conspiracy.

So although he was anxious, he was not too anxious.

Waiting until the main building of the Great Hong Star-Plucking Tower was repaired, he then brought the eighth-tier elders of the Tianyang Star Palace to kill their way over.

Conspiracy?

Under the strongest power, all conspiracies would be crushed.

The Great Hong Emperor Yang Yun, who had been acting like a grandson for fifty years, could not turn the sky!

Could not seize power!

But when he brought the eighth-tier and seventh-tier elites of the Star Palace to arrive, preparing to suppress everything, he found that things were not right!

It was completely different from what he had expected!

That Great Hong Emperor was not seizing power or doing anything!

Instead, he entered the game with his own body!

In front of millions of people, he fought heroically until death, directly casting a golden body after death!

Looking at the gazes of the Great Hong people that wanted to eat him, Great Elder Wang Kan knew very well that if he dared to say a word that this was a trap set by the Great Hong Emperor, those people, even if they could not kill him, could spit all over him.

From his perspective as a bystander, the Great Hong Emperor's death definitely had problems.

There were six eighth-tier experts in total, and the Great Hong Emperor died in battle?

Or was he accidentally blasted into the eighth-tier star domain by aliens? This method of death had countless possibilities.

Unfortunately, even as strong as the Tianyang Star Palace, it needed to pay attention to the hearts of the people.

If they were completely hated by the Great Hong people, he dared to guarantee that the number of teenagers joining the Tianyang Star Palace next year would be reduced by more than half.

Teenagers are the most hot-blooded.

What was even more coincidental was that the Great Hong Second Imperial Prince, Shou Wang Yang Shao, was also killed by aliens.

Shou Wang Yang Shao had already been accepted as a disciple by Tianyang Xingjun and was the Great Hong Emperor chosen by Tianyang Xingjun.

The original plan was that in another ten years, Tianyang Xingjun would ask the Great Hong Emperor to abdicate and retreat to cultivate, letting the new emperor ascend the throne.

He did not expect Shou Wang Yang Shao to die first.

This was no longer an ordinary conspiracy, but a series of conspiracies and tricks.

Continuing the investigation, Great Elder Wang Kan found that the severity of the situation far exceeded his imagination; this matter was no longer something he could handle.

If handled poorly, even he would be suspected by Tianyang Xingjun.

Because the Great Hong Emperor left a last word before he died: Fourth Imperial Prince Jian can inherit the great unification.

This was equivalent to a deathbed imperial edict.

Legal principles and righteousness all belonged to the Fourth Imperial Prince Jian.

And the Fourth Imperial Prince Yang Jian had always been taught by the Great Hong Emperor himself and did not have a good relationship with the Second Imperial Prince Yang Shao.

What made Wang Kan even more shocked was that most of the important ministers belonging to the Star Palace side in the imperial court had died in battle!

Even if he wanted to find someone with weight to express dissent, he could not find one for a while.

Suddenly, Wang Kan realized that over these years, both he and Tianyang Xingjun had somewhat underestimated this Great Hong Emperor.

Just this arrangement alone made him sigh at his own inferiority.

Under this series of arrangements, the choices left for the Tianyang Star Palace were already few.

It could even be said that even if Tianyang Xingjun came in person, he would probably have to recognize the Great Hong Emperor Yang Yun's golden body of death in battle and support this Fourth Imperial Prince Yang Jian to ascend the throne.

And at this very moment, the Great Hong people's opinion of the Tianyang Star Palace's slow arrival was very large, and some even thought it was the Star Palace's deliberate...

As for the Star Palace disciples saying that the main building of the Star-Plucking Tower was suddenly damaged, no one believed it!

Instead, they were mocked that the Star-Plucking Tower broke at such a time!

Ten thousand mouths would not be able to explain it clearly.

Now, he could only wait for Tianyang Xingjun to come out of seclusion to handle it; he did not dare to act rashly anymore.

Four days ago, Tianyang Xingjun left the small star domain where the Tianyang Star Palace was located to find a place in the present world to go into death seclusion.

Wang Kan knew that Tianyang Xingjun was about to break through.

He did not expect such a big event to happen.

"Rescue the injured, all investigations must leave traces, the Imperial Palace battlefield must not be cleaned, everything must be kept as it is, waiting for the Star Lord to come and check."

"Immediately order the Sixth Elder to arrange for three eighth-tier experts to protect the Fourth Imperial Prince Yang Jian, and there must not be any negligence. If the Fourth Imperial Prince has any more mishaps, I will execute his entire clan."

After Great Elder Wang Kan issued several orders, he could only record everything in the Star Jade Scepter, waiting for Tianyang Xingjun to check it in the future; he did not dare to handle this matter anymore.

February 5th, Zi hour.

Inside the Great Chen State Dao Academy,

In the firmament, a star shone to the extreme at this very instant.

Its brightness even eclipsed that crescent moon for a moment.

The starlight was so brilliant it shamed the moon.

And this star was in the direction of the Great Hong Empire.

"This is... a breakthrough..." Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao was instantly filled with melancholy.

Deep within the Nine Hong Mountains of the Great Hong Empire, a brilliant beam of starlight descended instantly from the sky, falling into a void.

The starlight exploded, and the figure of Star Lord Tianyang appeared; the Zhai Xing Lou emerged behind him, drawing this brilliant starlight into his body. The next instant, the star power from all directions rushed into Star Lord Tianyang's body as if being siphoned.

A certain layer within Star Lord Tianyang's Zhai Xing Lou suddenly seemed to come alive, transforming into a seven-pointed star.

Zhai Xing Lou, Zhai Xing Lou—at this moment, it had materialized.

This layer of the Zhai Xing Lou felt just like a real, genuine star.

Star Lord Tianyang's aura began to soar crazily at this instant.

The star power within a radius of ten thousand meters was swept clean by Star Lord Tianyang in an instant, but it was not enough.

A Sixth-Tier Star Gathering Array appeared, and the moment six Eighth-Tier Star Jade Tablets were embedded, Star Lord Tianyang absorbed the star power from the array disk and the heavens and earth like a whale, his aura rising at a flying speed!

Ninth Tier!

After cultivating bitterly for so long, he had finally broken through to the Ninth Tier.

Although it was achieved with the help of the Ancestor, he had ultimately stepped onto the path of the Ninth Tier.

Suddenly, Star Lord Tianyang frowned.

Only now did he notice that one of his warning jade tablets had shattered at some unknown time.

This meant that something major had happened.

The next instant, Star Lord Tianyang took out his Star-Plucking Token.

In a flash, his Star-Plucking Token flashed incessantly with urgent starlight transmissions.

"Cheng Yuexiao"

"Yang Yun seeking aid?"

"What?"

As he flipped through them one by one, upon seeing the end, even with Star Lord Tianyang's composure, his expression changed drastically.

He had never expected that after just five or six days of closed-door cultivation, that scoundrel Yang Yun would have caused such a massive mess for him.

A Golden Body of Posthumous Righteousness!

The heir to the throne he had designated had died.

Yang Yun had even designated a successor!

Even Star Lord Tianyang felt quite a headache looking at it.

No matter what, the Great Hong Empire was the foundation of their Star Palace of Tianyang.

Absolutely nothing major could go wrong.

The next instant, Star Lord Tianyang, who had just broken through to the Ninth Tier, interrupted his cultivation and instantly transformed into a stream of light, flying toward the Great Hong Imperial Capital.

The moment he soared into the sky, Star Lord Tianyang felt incomparably refreshed.

Previously, when his cultivation was at the Eighth-Tier peak, he always felt limited by the heavens and earth.

Now that he had broken through to the Ninth Tier, he had directly refined a law of the celestial stars into his body; although he was still limited by the heavens and earth, the restrictions had already lessened.

Flying at this moment felt incomparably smooth.

His speed had increased by at least twenty percent compared to when he was at the Eighth-Tier peak.

His combat power had increased even more!

Ninth Tier!

He was the number one Ninth-Tier expert in the current world!

Although he faced the sudden mess in the Great Hong Empire.

Star Lord Tianyang's mood was still so happy he could fly.

Since he was not far from the Great Hong Imperial Capital, Star Lord Tianyang arrived in just two quarter-hours. As the people of the Star Palace welcomed him, the cheers were like a tide.

However, the gazes of the millions of commoners in the city of Changle gave him a feeling of needles pricking his back.

It was very uncomfortable.

In the past, the gazes these commoners held for him were full of worship and reverence.

How had they turned into hostility in just a few days!

After a few breaths, Star Lord Tianyang waved his hand, and the people of the Star Palace stopped their congratulations.

"What exactly is the situation?" Star Lord Tianyang demanded.

"Your Lordship, I have already compiled everything into a volume; please take a look." Great Elder Wang Kan handed over a Star Jade Tablet.

Star Lord Tianyang took it, and his divine sense swept across it instantly; Great Elder Wang Kan had compiled over a hundred thousand words on the entire event, which was extremely detailed.

With one sweep of his divine sense, he understood everything.

But Star Lord Tianyang's expression turned ugly in an instant.

He understood why Great Elder Wang Kan had been so cautious!

This Golden Body of Posthumous Righteousness that scoundrel Yang Yun had created this time was truly something that could not be touched!

At least not for several years!

There were other things, such as the heir to the throne he had designated dying in battle, most of the high-ranking officials from the Star Palace dying in battle, and Yang Yun designating a successor.

It was a posthumous edict that had even forged a Golden Body of Posthumous Righteousness!

Even Star Lord Tianyang dared not, and could not, change it now.

Once forced to change, Great Hong would surely fall into chaos!

In an instant, the good mood Star Lord Tianyang had just gained from his breakthrough was not so good anymore; it had diminished by several points.

Just as he was frowning and pondering how to deal with the aftermath, Star Lord Tianyang suddenly raised his head and looked toward the southwest.

At the same time, several other powerful Eighth-Tier experts also felt something and looked toward the southwest.

That was the direction of the Star Palace of Zhen'e.

In the southwestern sky, a star also became incomparably brilliant, just like before, illuminating the heavens and earth.

"This is... Star Lord Zhen'e has broken through..."

Another person had broken through to the Ninth Tier.

Star Lord Tianyang's already not-so-beautiful mood diminished by a few more points.

The title of the absolute strongest in the current world hadn't even been firmly established yet, and it was already unstable.

He had broken through from the Eighth-Tier peak, so he would surely crush other Eighth-Tier peaks!

But it was hard to say when other Eighth-Tier peaks broke through to the Ninth Tier.

He would only know after they had a fight.

The next instant, Star Lord Tianyang turned his head abruptly; in the southeast, a star suddenly became incomparably brilliant—that was the sky above the Great Chu Empire.

Without a doubt, Star Lord Cangming had also broken through to the Ninth Tier!

This old rival of his had also broken through.

Star Lord Tianyang's mood instantly turned sour.

These old rivals of his were all breaking through.

The next instant, Star Lord Tianyang looked abruptly toward the northwest; would that scoundrel Cheng Yuexiao also break through?

If that scoundrel broke through, that would be terrible!

He had cultivated bitterly for over a hundred years before breaking through.

How many years had Cheng Yuexiao even been cultivating!

The key was that Star Lord Tianyang knew his own situation; the reason the three of them could break through was mainly because their Ancestor, Emperor Jidao, had previously bestowed five Divine Dao True Intents in succession.

He had consumed four full Divine Dao True Intents just to break through to the Ninth Tier.

He figured Cangming and Zhen'e should be about the same.

Cheng Yuexiao definitely didn't have the Ancestor's treasures; he only had one Divine Dao True Intent obtained within the Seven-Kill Star Domain.

If he really relied on that to break through, that would be too terrifying!

Fortunately, the situation Star Lord Tianyang least wanted to see did not occur.

Above the territory of Great Chen, no strange phenomena had occurred.

Cheng Yuexiao had not broken through.

He could be considered to have breathed a sigh of relief.

It was just that his mood was not very good.

Especially looking at the mess in the Great Hong Imperial Capital before him, he felt even more depressed.

The Golden Body of Posthumous Righteousness that Great Hong Emperor Yang Yun had forged by dying in battle was something even he could not touch; he had to worship it!

Depressed energy.

Inside the Great Chen National Academy, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, Elder Peng, and Commander-in-Chief Pei Ze watched as one Ninth-Tier breakthrough after another occurred in the current world; finally, Elder Peng turned his gaze toward Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao.

"Grand Master, Tianyang and Cangming didn't obtain Divine Dao True Intents, so how did they break through?" This was the point Elder Peng found most puzzling.

Actually, this was also the point Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao was confused about.

Previously, Xu Jin had explained to him the usage of the Divine Dao True Intent, and he had understood the reason Star Lord Zhen'e had been slow to break through.

But he hadn't expected that within half a day today, these three would break through one after another.

It was truly puzzling.

After thinking for a while, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao directly sent a starlight transmission to Star Lord Zhen'e, congratulating him while asking for the reason for his breakthrough.

Because of various reasons, the relationship between Cheng Yuexiao and Star Lord Zhen'e was actually quite good.

A few breaths later, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao received a reply from Star Lord Zhen'e.

After reading it, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao gave a bitter smile.

To think that even at his level, he still needed to have someone above him!

The breakthrough of Zhen'e, Tianyang, and Cangming was because their Ancestor, Emperor Jidao, had directly bestowed five Divine Dao True Intents upon them previously.

Star Lord Zhen'e had used four and a half Divine Dao True Intents just to break through to the Ninth Tier!

This was truly...

For a moment, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao's smile was incomparably bitter.

Of the four giants in the current world, the other three sides had all broken through, and only he hadn't; the days ahead would likely be difficult!

In the Eight Desolations Continent, after contemplating for a long time, Xu Jin suddenly understood the fundamental difference between the Divine Dao True Intent and the Golden Stars of the Star-Plucking Tower.

The Golden Stars of the Star-Plucking Tower were a bit like textbooks—just a curriculum; how much you could learn and what you could learn depended on your own research direction and comprehension.

Whereas the Divine Dao True Intent was a summary of the experiences and insights of predecessors.

For example, the Thunder-type Divine Dao True Intent Xu Jin was using now—if Xu Jin hadn't learned Thunder-type star arts, it would be useless.

Because of this, Xu Jin discovered the true mystery within the Limit-Breaking Secret Realm.

The combination of Divine Dao True Intent and Law Stars was a bit like the experience of predecessors plus study guidance; the effect was even more extraordinary!

With the two working in tandem, his progress was rapid!

In just three hours, Xu Jin completely filled in the remaining one-third of the Ninth-Tier Low-Grade Lei Yuan star pattern.

And this Thunder-type Divine Dao True Intent had not yet been exhausted; only less than half had been consumed.

Subsequently, Xu Jin directly used the remaining Thunder-type Divine Dao True Intent to trigger the Law Stars, sank his mind into the Lei Xiang star pattern, and continued to contemplate the Thunder-type Lei Xiang star pattern.

During this time, every two hours, Xu Jin would activate the Mingji star pattern and the Eye of Oversight to remain vigilant.

Ju Zhang finding him without any warning last time had made Xu Jin incomparably cautious!

Four hours later, the Thunder-type Divine Dao True Intent within Xu Jin's body was completely exhausted.

The Ninth-Tier Low-Grade Lei Xiang star pattern was three-quarters complete.

It was still missing a little bit.

Xu Jin tried not using the Divine Dao True Intent, only using the Law Stars to shroud himself, to contemplate the Ninth-Tier Low-Grade Lei Xiang star pattern.

After trying for a quarter of an hour, he slowly opened his eyes.

Without the guidance of the Divine Dao True Intent, he could also use the Law Stars of his current Arena Lamp Domain to assist himself in deducing the Ninth-Tier star patterns.

Compared to before the Law Stars had grown strong, the improvement effect was extremely obvious.

But compared to the situation with the guidance of the Divine Dao True Intent, this speed was more than a hundred or two hundred times slower.

For the remaining one-quarter of the Ninth-Tier Low-Grade Lei Xiang star pattern, if he had the guidance of the Divine Dao True Intent, plus the Law Stars, with his current accumulation, he could finish deducing it in at most two or three hours.

But if there were no Divine Dao True Intent, Xu Jin estimated that he would have to contemplate bitterly for at least two months before he could completely fill it in.

However, if he really had leisure time, spending half a year or even a year to contemplate a Ninth-Tier Low-Grade star pattern was also extremely worthwhile.

What's more, Xu Jin had other ways to improve his contemplation efficiency.

For example, strengthening the Law Stars!

Sweeping through the Sixth-Tier Star Domains already needed to be put on the agenda!

Subsequently, Xu Jin slowly opened his eyes; after activating the Mingji star pattern and the Eye of Oversight to confirm safety, he began to engrave the new Ninth-Tier Low-Grade Lei Yuan star pattern onto his Star Core.

The moment the engraving was completed, Xu Jin sank his mind into the Ninth-Tier Low-Grade Lei Yuan star pattern.

In an instant, he had an epiphany!

A stronger star art had arrived!

(End of chapter)