Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  Old Freak Three-Eyed and Azure Dragon exchange a look then bow at once and say in unison: “We were foolish at that time, senior. We hope you could have mercy on us.”

  Uncle Lan ponders, not saying a word.

  Azure Dragon’s and Old Freak Three-Eyed’s hearts are trembling in fear. They know that this mysterious expert is considering. Uncle Lan ponders for just a short time, but to them, every second of it feels like a year.

  “Um, you wanted to kill my disciple so you should be killed, but considering that you saved Xiao Yu, I spare your lives this time. If you commit this kind of offense again later, then don’t blame me for being merciless.” Uncle Lan says indifferently.

  Old Freak Three-Eyed and Azure Dragon feel the whole world come alive, as if they have returned from Hell.

  “Thank you for your mercy, senior.”

  They hurriedly bow and say.

  “Remember my master’s words. If you recommit this offense later, humph …” Hou Fei says with a cold humph. Hearing this, Azure Dragon immediately curses in his mind: “Only an idiot would try to kill you again after knowing you’re backed by an expert at least as strong as a 6th tribulation loose immortal. Do I look like I have a death wish?”

  As both Azure Dragon and Old Freak Three-Eyed are smart, they give him their word.

  “Nine Demons Hall’s 4 brats, you have something to tell me, right? Feel free to tell me now.” Uncle Lan looks at the 4 Di brothers.

  Di Long takes a deep breath. Now he is under a very great pressure because what he says will determine his and his brothers’ lives.

  “Tell him everything, big brother. Even if we have to die, we’ll die together.” Di Jian looks at him and says. Di Nai and Di Xu also nod at him. When there is a glimmer of hope, Xiuyaoists will stoop to compromise, for example, Azure Dragon and Old Freak Three-Eyed. But when there is no hope of surviving, they will try to die with some integrity.

  The 4 Di brothers basically think that there is no hope left for them. In their opinion, if someone did to them what they did to Qin Yu, they would kill the offender quickly.

  “Things were very simple, senior. My 8th brother was killed so I wanted to investigate who the killer was and Qin Yu was the one who had information. So, I captured him and prepared to have a terror jellyfish absorb him and get his memories, thus finding out the killer’s identity. Afterwards, Qin Yu escaped and took our Nine Demons Hall’s Treasure Storing Palace away. We chased him all the way to this palace. What happened later has been told by Overlord Azure Dragon and Grand Founder Three-Eyed so I’m not going to talk about it again.”

  Di Long gives his account straightforwardly using just several sentences.

  Di Jian also says: “We had to avenge our brothers’ deaths, senior. If you want to kill us then feel free to kill us.” Di Nai and Di Xu look at Uncle Lan too.

  “Ha-ha …”

  Uncle Lan suddenly laughs out loud: “Juniors, I don’t like to argue with you so at first I was ready to give you a way out, but you’re unexpectedly seeking death, then I’ll fulfill your wish, sending you off to the Underworld.”

  After saying so, he is about to wave his sleeve.

  “Hold it.”

  Di Long immediately shouts. Uncle Lan stops and looks at him with a seemingly smiling expression. He kneels down at once, saying respectfully: “Senior, it was stupid of the 4 of us to behave disrespectfully. Our dream is to one day overcome the 9-From-9th Heaven Tribulation and achieve ascension. Since you are magnanimous, I hope you could give us a chance to fulfill it. If you want to kill someone, please kill me alone. What my brother said just now, he did not really mean it.”

  Uncle Lan gives a smile.

  “Di Long,” says he.

  Di Long immediately shows that he is ready to listen with respect.

  “Di Long, the affection you and your brothers in the Nine Demons Hall have for each other is pretty good, but you treat outsiders like trash and kill them at will. Take Xiao Yu for example. You hadn’t found out if there were any feuds between him and you, but you already prepared to kill him right away. Such an act is fairly cruel,” Uncle Lan reprimands.

  The 4 Di brothers bow and listen to him. They simply do not dare to disagree.

  Uncle Lan continues: “Even though the path of Xiuzhen goes against Heaven and most Xiuzhenists are selfish, when you first knew about your 8th brother’s death, you immediately prepared to massacre all possible killers. You would rather kill 1000 wrongly than release a suspect. An action like that has gone beyond the boundary of selfishness.”

  He says smilingly: “Today I can tell you something. Xiao Yu is the one who killed your 8th brother. What are you going to do now?” When the Di brothers hear this, their faces change color.

  Qin Yu says with a nod: “It’s true. That day Di Tong killed Cha Hong and wanted to seize the 8th jade sword. I then took an opportunity to get into action, killed him and obtained the jade sword.” Qin Yu turns his hand over. A jade sword appears on it.

  Azure Dragon’s and Old Freak Three-Eyed’s eyes brighten for a while.

  The Di brothers take a look at the sword. Di Long says respectfully without delay: “You are really formidable, brother Qin Yu. We brothers are not fools either. Fighting for treasures is a matter of life and death. My 8th brother died because he was not as good as you. There is nothing we can do about it, and we have to keep on living.”

  Now Di Long has lost the will to seek revenge.

  Revenge? If he kept seeking it, perhaps he would lose his life without being able to touch a hair of the enemy.

  ……

  After talking for some time, eventually Uncle Lan does not kill anyone.

  “I have a suggestion, senior.” Azure Dragon suddenly says.

  Old Freak Three-Eyed immediately tells him via holy sense communication: “Have you become stupid, Azure Dragon? This senior hasn’t killed us, so we better go as soon as possible. If he changes his mind, we’ll be in big trouble.” He is selfish so naturally he cares about his little life the most.

  “Speak.” Uncle Lan looks at Azure Dragon and says.

  Azure Dragon says smilingly: “Now 5 of the Nine Demons Hall’s brothers are gone and there are only 4 of them left. The Nine Demons Hall basically cannot rank alongside the Azure Dragon Palace and the Blue Water Mansion anymore. Today they do not have enough power to occupy that 90 million radius area of water.”

  “What do you mean, Overlord Azure Dragon?” Di Long’s face changes color.

  In the past, when all of his brothers were still alive, they could deal with Azure Dragon or Old Freak Three-Eyed by setting up formations together, but now 5 of them are dead. Despite the living being the strongest among them, there are only 4 of them remaining so they simply cannot set up formidable formations and are indeed no longer comparable to the Blue Water Mansion and the Azure Dragon Palace.

  “What do I mean?” Azure Dragon gives a smile. “Majesty Di Long, could it be you still think that you are powerful enough to occupy that 90 million li radius area? Now I suggest that you cede the half of the Nine Demons Hall’s territory next to the Qian Long continent to the Blood-red Cave. Given brother Qin Yu’s and brother Hou Fei’s power, they should have no difficulties managing it.”

  “That’s a good idea!”

  Old Freak Three-Eyed agrees instantly. But he curses Azure Dragon for being a bootlicker in his mind.

  Hou Fei’s eyes brighten: “Good, there are 8 caves under the Nine Demons Hall. Well, there’s no need to take exact measurements and we don’t want much either, so just give us the 2 caves next to the Blood-red Cave. All in all, we’ll have 3 caves.” When this matter is brought up, Hou Fei is excited the most.

  “What’s your opinion, majesty Di Long?” Azure Dragon looks at Di Long.

  Hou Fei also looks frowningly at Di Long.

  He has no choice but to say: “Everybody already knows how powerful brother Hou Fei is. He and brother Qin Yu are surely good enough to control the territories of 3 caves, so
we’ll give the Blood-red Cave a 30 million li radius area of water.”

  Azure Dragon suddenly says again: “Brother Qin Yu, brother Hou Fei, my Azure Dragon Palace’s territory is next to the western boundary of the Blood-red Cave. I’ll also give the Blood-red Cave 2 caves of my subordinates, what do you think?”

  “Ha-ha, you’re really generous, Overlord Azure Dragon. Di Long gives us 2 caves and you also give us 2 caves’ territories.” Hou Fei deliberately emphasizes the word ‘generous.’

  Azure Dragon gives a few hollow laughs.

  The Azure Dragon Palace and the Blue Water Mansion control extremely large territories, much larger than the Nine Demons Hall’s, so they do not suffer a big loss when giving Qin Yu the territories of 2 caves.

  Hou Fei immediately casts his glittering eyes on Old Freak Three-Eyed, who forces a smile and says at once: “My Blue Water Mansion will also give you the 2 caves next to the eastern boundary of the Blood-red Cave.”

  Thus, Qin Yu and Hou Fei have obtained 6 caves in a short while. With the addition of their original cave, they now control 7 caves, outnumbering the 5 caves under the Nine Demons Hall.

  Hou Fei says with a frown: “Hmm, at any rate we’ve become the no. 3 underwater power.” When the Di brothers hear this, there is even more bitterness on their faces. Hou Fei continues: “But are we still going to be called Blood-red Cave? This is just the name given by Cha Hong in the beginning. It must be changed, completely changed.”

  Qin Yu also nods.

  The name has to be changed indeed. When the other powers are called Nine Demons Hall, Blue Water Mansion and Azure Dragon Palace, how could he possibly use ‘Blood-red Cave’?

  Azure Dragon immediately laughs out loud and proposes: “Ha-ha, I think not only must the name be changed, the original cave must also undergo a big redesigning and reconstruction process. Its size must be expanded at least 10 times. When you have 7 caves, you should at least have a mansion that matches their scale, right?”

  “Uncle Lan, could you help us think of a name?”

  Qin Yu thought for a long time but was unable to come up with a good name. Hearing that, Uncle Lan gives him a look and says: “Xiao Yu, there are close affinities between you and stars so let’s use the name Stellar Tower. As for the new design, it doesn’t have to be too luxurious and too big. Being small and delicate will do.”

  “All right, then the new name is Stellar Tower.”

  Qin Yu makes up his mind. In fact, he does not want to build a big, luxurious palace either because he dislikes showiness.

  “Stellar Tower, this name is nothing special.” Hou Fei winks a couple of times and grimaces. “We can only sound impressive if we use the name Lord Hou’s Mansion. My mansion, Lord Hou’s Mansion, kaka, not bad, not bad …”

  Pa!

  Uncle Lan gives him a tap in the head. Hou Fei immediately stops talking.

  “Overlord Azure Dragon, please help me spread a message that this day 3 years later will be the official opening ceremony of my Stellar Tower.” Qin Yu salutes Azure Dragon and says.

  Overlord Azure Dragon says smilingly with a nod: “Don’t worry, brother Qin Yu. I’ll definitely help you spread the message.”

  “Let’s go. This place is pretty far from the Blood-red Cave so I’m taking you back.” Uncle Lan holds Qin Yu’s and Hou Fei’s arms then the 3 of them disappear into thin air.

  “Teleportation?”

  The heart of everybody present trembles. According to legend, this is a technique that only immortals can use. Moreover, Uncle Lan has teleported 2 other individuals with him. What level of power is this?

  “Azure Dragon, how powerful is he to be able to teleport 2 others with him?” Old Freak Three-Eyed looks at Azure Dragon.

  Azure Dragon secretly lets out a sigh. After calming down, he says: “I don’t know. To my knowledge, you have to be a 4th tribulation loose immortal at least to teleport. This senior can teleport 2 others with him, this power level … I can only know what it is after asking the seniors in my clan. Right, I’ll have to tell the Penglai Immortal Region and the Purple Flame Devilish Dungeon about the Stellar Tower too.”

  Old Freak Three-Eyed nods his head.

  Qin Yu and Hou Fei are fairly powerful and they are supported by that mysterious Uncle Lan so, in reality, there are 6 major powers in the overseas Xiuzhen world from now on instead of 5.

  Chapter 11: Spatial Collapse

  Most inhabitants of the Qian Long continents are mortals. Next to the southern boundary of the Qian Long continent, there is a seemingly boundless area of water, which has a number of immortal islands. Several hundred proximate islands hundreds of millions of li to the south of the Qian Long continent form a region -- the Penglai Immortal Region. This is the center for overseas Xiuxianists.

  The Penglai Immortal Region has a great number of schools and its several hundred islands are all extremely large. In general, each island has millions of mortal humans and over 1000 Xiuxianists. Therefore, Xiuxianists in the Penglai Immortal Region are counted by the hundred thousand.

  Even though there are very many schools in the Penglai Immortal Region, the Qingxu Temple is the leading one.

  This Qingxu Temple does not have many students. Compared to the other schools in the Penglai Immortal Region, it has an average number of members. However, it has a grand elder called Reverend Yan Xu, who has reached the late Kongming stage and is only one step away from the Dujie stage. This person is none other than the top figure of the Penglai Immortal Region.

  On the Qingxu Island in the Penglai Immortal Region,

  Thanks to the several tens holy-energy-gathering formations that have been set up on the island, the density of holy energy on the island is 10 times higher than that of a normal area of water. The closer it is to the center of the Qingxu Island, the thicker holy energy is. Beyond certain points, holy energy is even so thick that it looks like mists. Various Xiuxianists are flying on their swords, or on air currents, or on clouds, or using photic escaping arts.

  In an ancient pavilion, there is a silver-haired old man whose face is ruddy like a child’s. Sitting beside this silver-haired old man is the abbot of the Qingxu Temple, Reverend Yan Lan. And that silver-haired old man is none other than the grand elder of the Qingxu Temple, Reverend Yan Xu.

  “Senior brother, only the Ziyang school has this Hundred Dewdrops Tea and they often give it to you only. If not for you, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this kind of tea every day.” Reverend Yan Lan savors a sip of tea with great enjoyment.

  Reverend Yan Xu, however, gives an indifferent smile: “That Ziyang school is very ambitious. They want to become the no. 1 in all respects. Our Qingxu Temple isn’t ambitious but we’ve got real power so it’s no wonder they’ve been toadying to me like that.”

  Reverend Yan Xu is the most powerful and the no. 1 figure in the Penglai Immortal Region.

  “Senior brother, the Ziyang school has several tens thousand disciples in this Penglai Immortal Region while we only have several thousand. In fact, if not for the instructions given by our school’s founder in the past, the Qingxu Temple’s disciples would have greatly outnumbered theirs long ago. Though we have a small number of disciples, our experts are stronger than theirs both at this place and on the Teng Long continent.” Reverend Yan Lan appears somewhat haughty when talking to this point.

  “Junior brother, our Qingxu Temple’s practice techniques attach great importance to states of mind. To achieve great success, you have to be calm and stay away from fame and wealth. If we took in a lot of disciples and participated in factional conflicts, there’d be a foul atmosphere in the entire Qingxu Temple and our disciples wouldn’t be able to achieve great things.” Reverend Yan Xu says smilingly.

  Reverend Yan Lan nods his head.

  “If not for my dislike of the fact that the Teng Long continent is much more chaotic than this place because its schools have too many experts and its Xiuzhenists fight each other all the time for treasures, why would I have stayed here
instead of going there?”

  After saying so, Reverend Yan Lan lets out a sigh.

  Suddenly, Reverend Yan Xu turns his hand over, taking out a transmitter. After making a sweep with his holy sense, he says smilingly: “Junior brother, I never thought that azure dragon of the Azure Dragon Palace would send me a message.”

  “Azure Dragon? The one who also hasn’t returned to the dragon clan?” Reverend Yan Lan asks smilingly.

  Reverend Yan Xu says with a nod: “Why would he want to return to the dragon clan? He’s only a junior so it’s better for him to stay here, where he can do what he wants without being controlled. Oh, the Stellar Tower …” He stops abruptly and focuses on talking with Azure Dragon through his transmitter.