Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  “Oh, it’s really marvelous.” Qin Yu hurriedly says.

  With a smile, Miss Li’er then turns around and goes back to her own room. Qin Yu smiles derisively to himself. Just now he was unexpectedly captivated by her manner when giving treatment and almost made a fool of himself, but luckily he was able to react quickly.

  “Hey, big brother Qin Yu, have another bout with me, okay?” Hou Fei says laughingly while brandishing his black stick.

  At the moment Qin Yu is in no mood to fight Hou Fei. Moreover, if he sparred with this middle Yuanying stage divine beast, would he not be seeking a beating for himself? Even though he likes fighting, he does not want to get beaten up.

  ……

  Time flies. In the blink of an eye, Qin Yu has been staying in the ravine for a half month. During this half month, he has occasionally sparred with Hou Fei when he became thirsty for a fight, but he has spent most of his time practicing the Stellar Transformations and the Xiumo secret technique Northern Darkness.

  There is also an activity he has enjoyed in his leisure time -- listening to the zither.

  He cannot help admitting that one must be extremely fortunate to be able to hear Miss Li'er’s music even once. He has been able to listen to her music for so long simply because Uncle Lan and Miss Li'er have been too nice to him. According to Hou Fei, not even Hou Fei is allowed to live in this bamboo house.

  Hou Fei does not understand why an outsider like him can stay in the house either.

  Qin Yu himself feels that Uncle Lan has treated him pretty well and Miss Li’er has been very nice to him. Of course, the latter is very nice to all demonic beasts in the ravine too so her niceness towards him does not necessarily mean anything. But Uncle Lan is different as he treats the demonic beasts in a very strict and serious manner.

  “Not even a middle Yuanying divine beast can live inside, but they allow me to. Could it be … because I’m also human?” After pondering over this matter, he can only come up with this answer.

  In fact, there is another answer at the bottom of his heart, but he does not think that Uncle Lan and Miss Li'er’s intention is so terrible.

  This answer is … they want to steal his Meteoric Tear.

  Qin Yu still does not know when he was saved and brought to this place and how much his injuries had healed when that Miss Li'er saw him. If Miss Li'er knows that he suffered fatal injuries, she can definitely figure out that he possesses some treasure based on the fact that he has now fully recovered.

  Even though other people cannot detect the Meteoric Tear because it already fused with his body, they can still guess that there is some treasure in his possession.

  “Hopefully Miss Li'er and Uncle Lan are so nice to me not because of the Meteoric Tear.” At the bottom of his heart, Qin Yu is still ice-cold and resolute. There is abundant resolution in the blood of every man of the Qin clan. And Qin Yu, who has lived alone since he was a kid and could almost never experience his mother’s love, has become even more tough-minded, and also even manlier!

  At the bottom of his heart, he has always been on guard against these 2 mysterious Xiuxianists.

  He takes a deep breath then slowly exhales. After concealing that thought at the depths of his heart, he immediately calms himself down and starts to practice the Xiumo secret technique Northern Darkness again. This technique is his top priority for the moment.

  Even if he can flee to a Xiuxian island, if that Blood-red Cave’s master Cha Hong chases to this island, he will still not be able to escape death.

  There are a few reasons why that will be the case. Firstly, underwater Xiuyaoists are far superior to Xiuxianists and Xiumoists in terms of overall power, so, what ordinary Xiuxian schools will dare to oppose someone who controls an 8 million li radius area like Cha Hong?

  Secondly, even if he can come into a Xiuxian island, the islanders will not necessarily accept him. Moreover, facing Cha Hong, how will those Xiuxianists dare to offend Cha Hong to save him?

  The conclusion from these 2 points is that he must learn the Northern Darkness. There is no other way since he has infuriated Cha Hong by killing Cha Ge.

  ……

  The space inside Qin Yu’s head is like a boundless misty area. His spiritual energy, nonphysical, is floating in it. Qin Yu can feel his spiritual energy. The outermost 10% of it is under his control and therefore is totally stable.

  However, the rest of his spiritual energy is a total mess. It either forms maelstroms, or flows extremely fast, or crashes into itself. His soul, which is in the shape of a disc, is in the center of the area. Various electric sparks are zigzagging and flashing around the soul.

  An extremely weak thread of stellar energy flows into his head.

  Qin Yu did not dare to channel too much stellar energy into his head because, after all, the more energy, the harder to control. Therefore, he tried his best to use as little stellar energy as possible, drawing out only a single thread of it. However, even though this is only a thread of stellar energy, he still cannot combine it with spiritual energy.

  Experimenting again and again.

  6 hours has passed very quickly. Qin Yu does not even know how many times he has been experimenting over the last 6 hours. He has failed continuously, as if he has been threading a needle. After 6 straight hours of repeated failures, even someone good-tempered like Qin Yu is annoyed.

  Actually, this is also a method to train his mind.

  “I’ve failed again. It’s been a half month, when will I be able to succeed in learning this Northern Darkness? Could it be unless I can succeed, I’ll have to shrink back like a turtle all the time?” There is a hint of anger in his eyes at the moment.

  Why did he leave the Qian Long continent? Can the reason possibly be anything other than to walk the endless path of practice? He wants to roam the Xiuzhen world openly in an impressive manner, and not to go into hiding to avoid the enemies.

  Ting --

  Zither strings vibrate. Zither music rises.

  Miss Li'er has begun to play her zither again. Hearing these sounds, Qin Yu brushes aside his anger at being unable to learn the Northern Darkness and closes his eyes to calmly enjoy the soul-moving music. When it has stopped, he is still immersing himself in the afterglow of listening to it.

  “Liu Xing.” Uncle Lan strides up to Qin Yu. Seeing Qin Yu acting in this way, he immediately laughs out loud: “Oh my, Li’er’s music has bewitched you like this. You really are …”

  “Uncle Lan, only Miss Li'er’s music can enthrall me like that. I won’t be entranced by ordinary zither masters.” Qin Yu says smilingly.

  Uncle Lan’s eyes brighten: “Oh … other zitherists can’t bewitch you? I see, so you’re only fascinated by Miss Li'er’s music. Tell me sincerely, son, are you interested in Li’er?” He says jokingly.

  “That’s ridiculous.” Qin Yu however does not tense up.

  Uncle Lan smiles: “I’m just kidding. Don’t take it seriously, son.”

  Qin Yu pouts with a smile but does not answer. Uncle Lan’s expression suddenly becomes solemn: “Liu Xing, you and I have chatted a lot during this period of time so you should know what kind of person I am, right?” It is rare to see him get serious like this.

  Seeing Uncle Lan like this, Qin Yu also becomes serious, saying with a nod: “Uncle Lan, if you have any matter, please tell me everything about it.”

  Uncle Lan says warningly: “I’m warning you, Liu Xing. You absolutely mustn’t hope for a relationship with Li’er. You’d best not like her. Otherwise … not only will you suffer for the rest of your life, you will also possibly die anytime.”

  Qin Yu is startled.

  He then bursts out laughing: “What were you saying, Uncle Lan? You must be joking.”

  But there is not a trace of a smile on Uncle Lan’s face: “I’m not joking. To be honest, you have a very bright future ahead of you. No one in the entire Xiuyao world will be able to keep up with you, but let me tell you one thing, if you like Li’er, you’ll be hopeless n
o matter how capable you are. In fact, I don’t have to warn you about this, but I really don’t want to see you get destroyed.”

  Qin Yu is baffled.

  “All right, I’m being meddlesome, but you best remember what I’ve said today. It’s also my advice for you.” Uncle Lan says while staring at Qin Yu.

  Qin Yu feels his heart tremble for a while.

  What Uncle Lan said just now is really shocking. At first he said that Qin Yu was very promising and that nobody in this entire Xiuyao world would be able to keep up with Qin Yu. Who does Uncle Lan think he himself is? Can he really judge people so accurately?

  “I already remember, Uncle Lan.” Qin Yu says smilingly.

  However, both Uncle Lan and Qin Yu cannot make sure that nothing will happen because it is basically impossible to control affection. Once it surges up in the heat of a certain moment, it will become unstoppable.

  “All right, you should put a lot of effort into practicing.” Uncle Lan pats his shoulder then leaves.

  As he is going away, Qin Yu watches his back thoughtfully.

  What is the actual reason why this Uncle Lan said those words? It seems if he likes Miss Li'er, he will likely be destroyed. Is there such a sure thing? Judging from Uncle Lan’s and Miss Li'er’s behaviors, it is obvious that they belong to a certain special clan.

  “Ha-ha, perhaps Uncle Lan and Miss Li'er are from a very formidable clan. But … if I like someone, even immortals won’t be able to stop me, let alone their clan or something. Also, I haven’t liked anyone yet.”

  Qin Yu gives an unconcerned smile. He has never been a fearful, submissive person.

  No one has ever been able to intimidate him with force. Even though he is going to have to deal with opponents stronger than him like the Blood-red Cave’s master Cha Hong, he is only staying here to practice in the dark. When he can conceal his identity, he will reappear without delay. Qin Yu is fearless, but he is not an idiot who is unafraid of throwing his life away.

  ……

  “My arm is broken. It was broken by Boss Hou.” The man who uses 2 daggers and a suit of armor says with an agonized look on his face. His arm is bending at a strange angle. Obviously a normal arm cannot bend like that.

  Hou Fei gives him a glare with his fiery eyes, growling: “Heh heh ~~~ you’ve even dared to complain to sis Li’er. Do you want me to smash your shrimp shell to pieces?!”

  “Fei Fei, don’t be noisy.”

  Miss Li'er, who has changed into white clothes, shouts at Hou Fei. The latter immediately lowers his head and stops saying, looking as if he has admitted his mistakes. Miss Li'er laughs playfully then turns to the man with the broken arm. She reaches out a hand, touching the broken place.

  When Qin Yu walks into the courtyard, his eyes cannot help brightening.

  Miss Li'er is being engulfed in a green light. Her face looks so pure. Her skin is glowing like jade and radiating various green rays of light. As Qin Yu watches her healing that arm, he is rather touched from the bottom of his heart.

  Qin Yu has never experienced maternal love so he has been very tough-minded since he was little. Only his father’s love has been able to enter the depths of his heart. However, at the moment, Miss Li'er’s motherly radiance has also slightly touched his heart.

  He sobers up in the blink of an eye.

  “I’m warning you, Liu Xing. You absolutely mustn’t hope for a relationship with Li’er. You’d best not like her. Otherwise …” The warning Uncle Lan gave him not long ago rises in his mind again. He immediately gets out of that state of feeling touched.

  “All right, later you shouldn’t fight Fei Fei again. If you fight him, you’ll only hurt yourself.” Miss Li'er advises.

  That man’s injury has now recovered completely. He says with frustration: “Fight him? Do you think I wanted to fight him? It’s just that Boss Hou … Ah, to me, it’s an honor to be able to spar with Boss Hou. I’m very happy and excited.” Seeing the look in Hou Fei’s eyes, he shifts his ground instantly.

  Miss Li'er gives a smile. When turning around, she sees Qin Yu on one side.

  “How are you, Mister Liu Xing?”

  Qin Yu also says very politely: “How are you, Miss Li'er? I never thought that I would be able to see your special healing technique again. It’s really wondrous.” Suddenly, a hint of happiness appears on his face as he can feel clearly that Xiao Hei is rushing in his direction extremely fast.

  “Mister Liu Xing, you seem to be delighted with something?” Miss Li'er asks curiously.

  Qin Yu says in excitement with a nod: “My brother Xiao Hei is hurrying to this place. Perhaps he can arrive in just a few days.”

  “Oh, congratulations, Mister Liu Xing. When your brother has arrived, please let me know about that. There are restrictive spells outside this ravine so it’s very difficult for outsiders to enter when they aren’t guided by someone inside.” Miss Li'er says with a smile.

  “Then I’ll have to bother you, Miss Li'er.” Qin Yu says with a nod while smiling.

  Miss Li'er smiles: “Mister Liu Xing, since you’re busy, I’m returning to my room first.” After saying, she gracefully turns around and goes back to her room at once.

  Qin Yu watches her enter the room from behind, gives a smile then turns around and goes back to his room to continue practicing. He practices the Stellar Transformations and the Xiumo secret skill Northern Darkness every day and has never slacked off.

  After several days,

  Qin Yu feels clearly that Xiao Hei has come very close to him, even within 100 li of him. However, Xiao Hei suddenly stops. Qin Yu knows that Xiao Hei is being blocked by the restrictive spells outside the ravine. He immediately stands up and gets ready to ask Miss Li'er help him.

  Chapter 18: Departure

  When Qin Yu leaves his room, he is surprised to see that Miss Li'er has already gone into the middle of the courtyard from her room. As soon as she sees him, she says with a smile: “Mister Liu Xing, I already know that your brother has arrived. Let’s go now.”

  Qin Yu smilingly goes next to Miss Li'er. Side by side, the 2 of them hurry straight to the entrance of the ravine.

  Li’er’s long hair is flowing. Qin Yu can even smell the alluring scent of her beautiful hair. A faint smile appears on the corners of his mouth.

  As he comes near the entrance, his heart is filled with excitement because he is about to meet Xiao Hei again.

  Qin Yu and Miss Li'er thus go out of the entrance directly with ease. He does not see any restrictive spells. However, if he turns around to take a look, he will be amazed to see that the mouth of the cave has become a wall of rock like the other places. This is just an illusionary technique.

  But it is so extraordinarily profound that not even Xiao Hei can see through it.

  Seeing Xiao Hei, who is not far from him and is unable to find the way, Qin Yu’s eyes immediately brighten. Since separating due to being chased by Sang Mo last time, it has been impossible for him to reunite with Xiao Hei. Some time ago, he and Xiao Hei were about to meet each other again, but then they encountered Cha Ge and Cha Po before they were able to.

  “Xiao Hei!”

  Qin Yu calls in a slightly quivering voice.

  Xiao Hei suddenly turns around. Seeing Qin Yu, he immediately lets out a resounding eagle cry in excitement. The cry even frightens off the shoals of fish in his surroundings. “Big brother.” Xiao Hei’s excited voice rises in Qin Yu’s mind.

  Qin Yu rushes very fast to Xiao Hei’s side and hugs him. Xiao Hei also wraps his wings around Qin Yu.

  Standing on one side, Miss Li'er gives a faint smile too.

  “You’ve changed, Xiao Hei. Compared to the past, you’ve got thinner by half. Even your aura has changed. What’s happened to you?” Only now does Qin Yu notice Xiao Hei’s astonishing changes. If not for the telepathy between them, he would not have been able to be so sure.

  Xiao Hei has become much thinner, his aura has become very oppressive and fierce, and his eyes have become even sh
arper and colder than before.

  “Big brother, after reaching the late Jindan stage, I prepared to go kill Sang Mo. Even though it’d be dangerous, I’d used a forbidden technique to transform my body so in theory it’d be easy for me to handle a an early Yuanying expert. Who could’ve thought that when I was about to meet you again that day, I ran into a big python. It was much stronger than Sang Mo. I estimate that it must’ve reached the middle Yuanying stage at least.” Xiao Hei is very angry.