Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  Xiao Hei has been following Qin Yu since he was little so if Xiao Hei dies, it will simply be an unbearable blow to him.

  The sky has now regained its calmness and changed back to its former blue color. Except for that area of the ground which has been scorched and blackened by the tribulation, no places have been affected. But that mass of darkness is boiling and twisting nonstop.

  After a long time, the darkness gradually calms down then immediately turns into an eagle-headed man. As soon as Qin Yu feels his aura, he knows that this is none other than Xiao Hei, whose body is slightly thin like that of a juvenile.

  “Big brother.” Xiao Hei looks at Qin Yu and says.

  “Are you okay?” Qin Yu feels that his whole body is sweating. Just now he was really on tenterhooks.

  Xiao Hei says smilingly: “Somehow the last thunderbolt of that 6-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation became much more powerful. If I hadn’t gone all out, perhaps I really would’ve been destroyed by it, but I did. Even though now I’m pretty weak, some hidden troubles caused by using that forbidden technique in the past seem to have been removed completely.”

  Qin Yu’s heart is filled with joy.

  After Xiao Hei had used that forbidden technique, Qin Yu felt that Xiao Hei had changed. Originally Xiao Hei had an ice-cold air about him but after using that forbidden technique, he had a ‘frighteningly chaotic’ air.

  However, now Qin Yu feels that the air about Xiao Hei has become pure again, or to be exact, purely dark and ice-cold.

  “Big brother Qin Yu, I have to warn you about something.” Li’er tells Qin Yu with no traces of a smile on her face.

  At the moment Qin Yu is in a very good mood because his brother Xiao Hei has overcome the tribulation. He says with a smile: “Feel free to tell me about it, Li’er. Ha-ha … don’t put on such sad a face … ha-ha … Xiao Hei passing the 6-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation is an exciting event.”

  Li’er says with a sigh: “Brother Qin Yu, if the calculation I did using my clan’s secret method is correct, your tribulation later will be exceptionally powerful. I hope you’ll be cautious.”

  Qin Yu is startled.

  “What do you mean?” He finds what she said somewhat mysterious.

  Li’er says with a shake of her head: “I can’t explain this secret to you. By telling you so much I’ve already broken my clan’s rules. I can only warn you that you have to improve your power as much as possible. Don’t be anxious about the tribulation. Before taking it on, you have to do your best to power up and make yourself ready.”

  Seeing her current expression, Qin Yu knows that she does not want to say much so he nods gently and takes her words to heart.

  ……

  Because there is quite a distance between the Nine Demons Hall and the Qian Long continent, it takes Di Nai’s forces a very long time to arrive. A half year after Xiao Hei’s tribulation, the long-lasting calmness in the Qin dynasty finally starts to be disturbed.

  Poof ~~

  Blood spatters. Heads roll.

  Several hundred grim-faced Xiuyaoists charge directly at some other Xiuyaoists.

  “Di Nai’s troops, you even dare to infiltrate into the Qin dynasty. Looks like you all have a death wish.” The leading Xiuyaoist says with a cold laugh. “Could it be you don’t know that any Xiuyaoists entering the Qin dynasty without permission shall be killed?”

  Those other 7 Xiuyaoists look at each other.

  Now they have been surrounded so naturally they cannot run.

  “Sir.”

  A short-haired Xiuyaoist suddenly kneels down and says: “Sir, even though I have been following Di Nai, there was nothing that I could do. Because he took our transmitters away, none of us was able to contact outsiders. We have been forced into doing this.”

  “Shan Ling, how dare you betray our lord?” Another Xiuyaoist on Di Nai’s side stares at that Xiuyaoist furiously.

  The short-haired Xiuyaoist, however, rebukes angrily: “Betray? That Di Nai fella uses collective punishment to limit our freedom and even set up an illusionary formation around the base so that we can’t go out. We didn’t even know where we were staying. All we could do was obey his orders. I’m already sick of living like that.”

  The leading Xiuyaoist says with glittering eyes: “Tell me where Di Nai is. If you do, not only will your life be spared, you’ll even be rewarded handsomely.”

  “Di Nai is very cautious. The Xiuyaoists like us usually stay inside a huge illusionary formation. When we come out, we have to follow the guardians. After several turns, we have already gone several hundred thousand li so it’s simply impossible for us to find out where Di Nai’s base is.”

  “Only Di Nai and the several guardians know the location of his base, right?”

  “That is true, Sir.” The short-haired Xiuyaoist says respectfully.

  The leading Xiuyaoist of the Stellar Tower frowns for a while then says: “Spare this surrendering Xiuyaoist. Kill all the others.”

  “Ah, please spare me.”

  2 other Xiuyaoists, who just now were very adamant, immediately kneel down and beg.

  The leading Xiuyaoist from the Stellar Tower says with a cold laugh: “Do you two know where Di Nai’s base is?”

  The 2 of them are startled then shake their heads.

  “You 2 waited until the last moment to surrender instead of doing it in the beginning. Besides, you’re totally useless. You’re the worst kind of trash.” The leading Xiuyaoist utters a cold humph. The flying sword under his feet takes the lives of these 2 Xiuyaoists immediately. Several other hundred Xiuyaoists then shoot their flying swords together.

  Countless flying swords soar into the sky and pierce through the bodies of those several Xiuyaoists in an instant. Their blood is scattered all over the air. Only the short-haired Xiuyaoist is still living.

  …

  During this night, fighting breaks out at a good several places on the border of the Qin dynasty with 10 hostile Xiuyaoists appearing at every place, who are all killed. However, Di Nai dispatched far more Xiuyaoists in his first attack than that and quite a few of them have already entered the Qin dynasty.

  The retaliatory killing is about to start!

  Chapter 7: Massacre

  In a certain underwater mountain range belonging to the Black Aquatic Dragon Cave under the Stellar Tower,

  Nobody knows that this underwater mountain range is the current base of Di Nai, the only majesty of the Nine Demons Hall who was lucky to survive. There is a large formation set up around the base so Di Nai and the 2 vice masters of the valley, Yan Mou and Yan Xin, are the only ones who know the way to get out of the base.

  Holding a jade cup, Di Nai is enjoying the savor of fine wine.

  “Yan Xin, what’s the current situation of the 10 squads we sent out?” He asks indifferently.

  The 2 below him, Yan Xin and Yan Mou, are his most trusted subordinates. Yan Xin says immediately: “Valley master, this time we dispatched 10 squads to infiltrate into the Qin dynasty through various places. However, the Stellar Tower is defending with really too many troops so 4 squads have still been killed.”

  “Oh? 4 squads have still been killed?” Di Nai slightly frowns.

  The 10 squads sent by him this time entered the Qin dynasty via 10 different directions. They either went through city gates directly in broad daylight, or came in through out-of-the-way corners of obscure mountain ranges, or took a large detour by going into the Wilderness from the ocean before entering the Qin dynasty.

  Even so, 4 of the 10 squads have been wiped out.

  Di Nai gives several cold laughs: “Looks like that Qin Yu fella has gone to a lot of trouble to protect his relatives.”

  Yan Xin chimes in: “Valley master, we can see from this that Qin Yu values his clan’s members. Only in this case can you torment his heart by killing his relatives, thereby venting your fury a little bit.”

  “That’s right.”

  Di Nai gives a smile: “If he didn’t value his family, killing h
is relatives wouldn’t affect him so it’d be useless for me to do it. I must torment his heart and make him suffer mentally. The more he grieves and suffers, the happier I’ll be.”

  “6 squads, 60 troops, after entering the capital, they’ll divide into 12 small groups. I wonder how many people they’ll be able to kill.” Di Nai drinks up the wine in his cup then stands up and leaves.

  The 2 brothers Yan Xin and Yan Mou bow to bid farewell to him.

  “Big brother, valley master hates Qin Yu to the bone. His hatred is already near the point of obsession. But the Stellar Tower is much more powerful than us and the Azure Dragon Palace and the Blue Water Mansion are also supporting Qin Yu. If things go on this way …” Yan Mou says frowningly via holy sense communication.

  Even though the 2 of them are loyal to Di Nai, they are still somewhat unsure about their future. However, they can only discuss this matter using their holy senses because they do not dare to let Di Nai know.

  Yan Xin gives a cold laugh then says via his holy sense: “2nd brother, both of us were brought up by valley master. When the other majesties are already dead, how can we possibly betray him? Besides, the ones who’ll go carry out the task are all ordinary troops. The 2 of us and the 6 guardians won’t have to leave the valley so we won’t encounter any dangers …”

  After pondering for a while, Yan Xin continues: “2nd brother, you only need to put your effort into training. It doesn’t matter how many Qin Yu’s relatives they can kill, just don’t pay attention to anything else. Considering valley master is lying so low like this, I don’t think Qin Yu can find us.”

  Yan Mou nods his head.

  After all, anyone with some brains can see that Di Nai is at a disadvantage, but he also has an advantage, that is, he is in the dark whereas Qin Yu is in the light.

  Therefore, Di Nai can attack Qin Yu, but Qin Yu cannot attack him despite being powerful because it is difficult to find out his location.

  ……

  Inside a garret of a city gate tower of the Qin dynasty’s capital, 2 Xiuyaoists are talking to each other.

  “Hey, brother Yan, we’ve been here for more than a half year but the remaining thugs of the Nine Demons Hall just don’t show up. We’re even forced to keep watch using our holy senses. This is really …” A short man says.

  The other, a strongly-built man who is sitting with legs crossed, now opens his eyes, saying: “Be careful. If what you said is leaked out, tower master will get furious. Don’t play with your life.”

  At this moment, the strongly-built man’s face changes color.

  “Xiuyaoists detected!”

  10 Xiuyaoists have appeared within 1 km of this city gate tower. The strongly-built man immediately tells the nearby Xiuyaoists under him via holy sense communication. Various silhouettes then rush out from the many small garrets of the city gate towers like lightning.

  They all use holy sense communication and nearly 100 Xiuyaoists within several km of them charge towards the same location instantly.

  “It’s daytime now. Move faster, so that those mortals can’t see us.”

  The leader of the 100-strong squad immediately shouts to his subordinates using his holy sense. Those 100 troops reach their top speeds at once. They move like strong wind and in the blink of an eye they have already gone 100 m.

  At such speeds, only some Xiantian experts can manage to see them, but how many Xiantian experts are there on the whole Qian Long continent? And how many Xiantian experts are there within such a short distance?

  Poof ~~

  Bloods spatters!

  Bang!

  Flesh is torn apart violently!

  “You’re killing the wrong guys. I’m the Stellar Tower’s guard.” A member of the attacked group of 5, a green-haired thin man, says to the attacking Xiuyaoists via holy sense communication without delay. When Xiuyaoists kill each other, they basically have no time to talk with their mouths and therefore can only communicate via their holy senses.

  “Wrong guys? Stellar Tower’s guard?”

  That squad leader stands in front of the green-haired Xiuyaoist, who is lucky to be alive, and says with a cold laugh.

  4 of the 5 strange Xiuyaoists have been killed instantly and this is the only one of them left.

  “Sir, I’m really the Stellar Tower’s member. If you don’t believe me, you can check my jade identity card out.” The green-haired Xiuyaoist hurriedly says in terror at once.

  The squad leader says with a cold laugh: “Your jade identity card belongs to the Stellar Tower indeed. But … tower master ordered long ago that any Xiuyaoists entering the Qin dynasty be killed.”

  “I’m …” The green-haired Xiuyaoist still wants to quibble.

  There is a tinge of mockery and amusement on the squad leader’s face: “Brat, quit lying. Let me tell you something. Tower master has already told Manager Zhuang Zhong that not even the Stellar Tower’s forces are allowed to enter the Qin dynasty.”

  The green-haired Xiuyaoist moves his eyes in a circle and says: “Sir, I’m one of the 10,000 Xiuyaoists who came here in the beginning. I was sent to guard the Qin dynasty’s border.”

  “Oh …” The squad leader is stupefied.

  This is a possibility. 5000 Xiuyaoists are indeed guarding various places on the border of the Qin dynasty.

  “Didn’t tower master give you an order? Why did you guys leave without permission?” The squad leader asks doubtfully. He has not loosened his vigilance yet.

  The green-haired Xiuyaoist is delighted to see some hope.

  “Well … sir, those Xiuyaoists you killed just now were with me. You killed the wrong targets. They were our comrades.” The green-haired Xiuyaoist says with grief.

  “Ah.” The squad leader appears totally stunned.

  At this moment, the green-haired Xiuyaoist has already come up with a way to escape, however --

  Poof!

  A sharp sword penetrates his stomach. The green-haired Xiuyaoist looks at the squad leader before him with popping eyes and says in disbelief: “You … why did you …?”

  “Brother, you’re really smart. Unfortunately, tower master already took this simple flaw into account. The jade identity cards of us 10,000 guards were already altered. So, as soon as we sensed you, we knew that … you’re not one of us.”

  The squad leader smiles broadly.

  “Then why did you … still talk with me so much …?” Because a vital body part of his was pierced through, the green-haired Xiuyaoist, who has merely reached the Jindan stage, is wounded very badly. But he still wants to know the answer.

  The squad leader says solemnly: “Well, this … is because you didn’t show up until now. We’ve been waiting here for more than a half year without seeing anything. We were bored so naturally we wanted to toy with you a bit!”

  “Ha-ha …”

  Those nearly 100 Xiuyaoists all laugh out loud. Some mortals in the surroundings become doubtful as to why that group of men is laughing. But seeing that those men are muscular, nobody dares to approach them.

  “Brothers, clean it up and leave.”

  After destroying the corpses, the 100 members of this squad slowly enter the city gate with no worries then return to their respective posts on the city wall.

  ……

  At almost the same time, 5 other small groups attempt to secretly intrude into the capital through different places.

  However --

  It can be said that the capital’s defense is almost watertight as one group after another is totally annihilated. The Stellar Tower’s guards, who have not killed for more than a half year, take the opportunity to toy with these Xiuyaoists at will.

  But these guards are too careless.

  Right after they killed the first batch of groups, another batch of groups appears and intrudes into the capital through the same places. Because the original guards of these places have already left to kill the first groups, the later groups are able to sneak in safely.

  If the Stellar Tower
’s guards were vigilant and kept watch all the time with their holy senses, they would very likely have detected the 2nd batch of groups of 5.

  But obviously not many guards are vigilant.

  Among the 12 small groups of 5, 5 groups succeed in entering the capital with this method.

  As for going in through the sky, this method simply does not work because the airspace of the capital has been sealed up with restrictive spells and not even a birdie can dream of flying in.