Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  That voice falls silent.

  In a while --

  “Who are those 3?” The immortal emperor expert asks.

  Old Taoist Gan Xu says hurriedly: “Of those 3 individuals, 1 is a member of the dragon clan, 1 is an expert of the Yinyue Palace, a large Xiumo school, and 1 is an ordinary expert, only he is backed by a loose immortal, an extremely formidable loose immortal!”

  “The dragon clan, the devil world … perhaps they already reported to the demon world and the devil world as soon as they came back. This is a bit troublesome. The 3rd one is only backed by a loose immortal?” That immortal emperor expert’s tone has a tinge of disdain: “Here’s my order for you, the Qingxu Temple. You must snatch the 3rd one’s ink-wash painting, whatever the cost. We’ll compensate for all of your losses 100 times as much and even bestow more treasures upon you.”

  Their losses will be compensated for 100 times as much? Even more treasures will be bestowed upon them?

  Delighted inside, Shan Qu says immediately: “Please be at ease, Sir. My 3 brothers and sister and I will go into action and definitely snatch that ink-wash painting, whatever the cost. Even if he is a 12th tribulation loose immortal, our Qingxu Temple will try every means to snatch it.”

  For the sake of its own future, the Qingxu Temple, which has been passed down from generation to generation for a million years, has decided to go all out.

  Chapter 25: Here Comes the 4 Treasure-Robbing Loose Immortals

  In the headquarters of the dragon clan,

  Yan Mo is sitting in a black wooden chair with a solemn expression.

  “Mo’er, you’ve finally come back.” A blonde old man says smilingly while looking at him. This blonde old man is none other than an elder of the Yan family, an 8th tribulation loose demon golden dragon.

  When it comes to status in the dragon clan, the golden dragon group is ranked highest, silvery dragons and black dragons second, followed by azure dragons, red dragons, purple dragons and the other types of dragons. An 8th tribulation loose demon golden dragon has an extremely high position in the Yan family.

  Of course, the regal five-clawed golden dragons are also included in the golden dragon group. Five-clawed golden dragons are extremely rare so they cannot be considered a group on their own.

  Yan Mo takes a look at the blonde elder and suddenly says with a smile: “3rd elder, the place Yan Lang went to right after his return seems to be the holy land in the clan, right?”

  “Yes.” 3rd elder strokes his long golden beard and nods smilingly.

  “The holy land should be able to communicate with the demon world …” Yan Mo appears to have a well-thought-out plan. “As soon as Yan Lang came back and mentioned Immortal Emperor Ni Yang, all of you got so nervous and immediately let him enter the holy land. After a while, even you, the 3rd elder, personally came to talk with a stubborn junior black dragon like me.”

  Yan Mo’s eyes are fixed on 3rd elder: “If you said you don’t have any special goals, do you think I would believe it, 3rd elder?”

  “Mo’er.” 3rd elder says in a gratified manner: “It’s very hard to truly mature under the wing of seniors. Whether in terms of calculation or temperament, those youngsters who live in the dragon clan are all far inferior to you. Not bad … I indeed came looking for you with a special goal. I hope you give the entire dragon clan that ink-wash painting.”

  “This has to do with the Ni Yang Realm?” Yan Mo guesses.

  3rd elder smiles broadly right away: “This is indeed within the expectations of the demon world’s seniors. Sure enough, this ink-wash painting is related to that Ni Yang Realm. Mo’er, I’m not fooling you. This Ni Yang Realm has very serious implications. It’s already not something ordinary loose immortals and loose devils can be involved in. You’d better not get mixed up with it.”

  When Yan Mo mentioned the Ni Yang Realm, he already made a decision in his mind.

  “2 small conditions.” Yan Mo says calmly.

  “Tell me.” 3rd elder says with a smile.

  “I’m allowed to read the clan’s secret manuals and to enter the Dragon Pool to practice at any time. I believe these 2 conditions should still be far inferior to the ink-wash painting’s preciousness.” Yan Mo says calmly. He is very clear in his mind that, given his power, even if he has the painting in his body, he will not be able to keep such a treasure, so he should just give it away and get some actual benefits in return.

  He wants to be able to read the clan’s secret manuals to his heart’s content and to practice in the Dragon Pool anytime.

  Perhaps all dragons, except golden dragons, dream of these 2 privileges. Because golden dragons have hereditary memories, they simply do not need to learn from the secret manuals of the dragon clan. Golden dragons enjoy the highest status in the dragon clan so they are entitled to go into the Dragon Pool to practice too.

  Black dragons and silvery dragons, however, do not have this opportunity.

  “Okay, I accept.” 3rd elder nods his head without delay.

  Yan Mo immediately takes out the ink-wash painting and tosses it to 3rd elder. As soon as 3rd elder receives this painting, he cannot help getting slightly excited inside. In contrast, Yan Mo stands up and begins to leave the hall, heading for his own dwelling place. However, when he reaches the doorsill of the hall, he turns around all of a sudden --

  “3rd elder, let me ask you one thing. What treasures does this Ni Yang Realm actually have?” He asks 3rd elder. This question has always puzzled him in his mind.

  Having taken the ink-wash painting, 3rd elder says smilingly: “Mo’er, let me tell you something about the treasures in the Ni Yang Realm. Even the Dragon Sovereign of our clan in the demon world, one of the most powerful experts in the demon world, wants to get them very much. You think they are very precious or not?”

  “Oh.”

  Yan Mo turns around and leaves right after receiving the answer.

  “Mo’er, you don’t regret giving me this ink-wash painting? If you yourself come in for an exploration, maybe you’ll be able to find those treasures. After all, these kinds of top treasures can only be obtained by predestined ones.” 3rd elder says with a vague smile.

  “Being predestined to get them doesn’t necessarily mean being predestined to use them. Given my puny power, even if I obtained very formidable treasures, I would still be no match for you, let alone great elder. And our clan’s leader is even more fearsome than great elder. Right, that low-grade immortal weapon Yan Lang gave me to use at the time is now mine.” When Yan Mo’s voice is still being heard, he himself has already left.

  At this moment, 6 or 7 old men walk out from the back of the hall.

  The leading one is wearing a gold crown. Even his 2 eyes are golden.

  “Leader, this ink-wash painting is truly a Heaven-Sundering Diagram, one part of the map leading to the Ni Yang Realm. At the same time, with this painting, 6 individuals can go into the Ni Yang Realm. Without it, even if we can find the Ni Yang Realm, we won’t be able to come in.” 3rd elder bows and says.

  The most powerful family of the dragon clan is the Ao family. The Yan family takes the 2nd place.

  However, this leader of the dragon clan is not a member of the Ao family or the Yan family. But he is still respected by the whole clan because … he is a king among golden dragons -- a five-clawed golden dragon.

  “I remember this kid Yan Lang saying that, of the 3 ink-wash paintings, this one is ours, one is in the Yinyue Palace and one fell into the hands of a young man called Qin Yu, right?” The dragon clan leader says with an indifferent smile.

  “Leader, you mean … we’ll go to snatch Qin Yu’s Heaven-Sundering Diagram?” 3rd elder guesses.

  The dragon clan leader says with a shake of his head: “There’s no need. Having one diagram is already enough for us. As long as we’ve got a diagram, in the end we’ll be able to reach the Ni Yang Realm and go in no matter what happens. What’s the point of wasting our energy fighting for that diagram? Perhaps those w
ho want to fight for it the most are loose immortals and some loose demon experts.”

  “I wonder if obtaining that ink-wash panting is good luck or bad luck to that young man Qin Yu.” The dragon clan leader heaves a sigh. He unexpectedly sighs because of Qin Yu.

  ……

  Not only the dragon clan, even the immortal world, the demon world and the devil world also have tools to communicate with the mortal worlds under them, so naturally, the information about Immortal Emperor Ni Yang is sent to the higher worlds very quickly. Big bosses in the immortal world, the demon world and the devil world also begin to order their subordinates to dispatch experts to fight for the ink-wash paintings.

  Storm clouds are raging, but the main character of this affair, Qin Yu, is currently enjoying life to his heart’s content with Li’er.

  ……

  On the Qian Long continent,

  The autumn winds are making rustling noises and yellow leaves are falling down.

  Qin Yu and Li’er are sitting and playing the game of Go under a large tree that can only be encircled by at least 3 people.

  After succeeding in training, Qin Yu came out then started to travel the Qian Long continent with Li’er. The places they have travelled to include pure white snow-covered mountain peaks, the depths of massive pine forests, the shorelines of blue lakes, the sides of mountain streams and waterfalls …

  “Big brother Qin Yu, I’ve got news about Fei Fei and Xiao Hei.” Li’er puts a black piece down and says smilingly.

  Qin Yu’s hand stops, his face overflowing with happiness: “Really? At that time Uncle Lan said he was taking them to a mysterious place. Where’s this place? Also, when will Fei Fei and Xiao Hei return?” At the moment he wants to see his sworn brothers immediately very much.

  “I don’t know where that place is either, but Fei Fei and Xiao Hei have now become exceptionally formidable. According to Uncle Lan’s message, they should be about to reach the early Dujie stage already.” Li’er says with a vague smile. “Big brother Qin Yu, you’re the big brother so you can’t lose to them. You also have to work hard.”

  “Early Dujie stage?” Qin Yu is astonished.

  Unlike outsiders, he knows very well about Hou Fei’s and Hei Yu’s power. Considering that their soul levels improve much slower than his, how have they progressed even faster than he has during this 2-year period?

  In the beginning they were at the early Dongxu stage, but they have nearly reached the early Dujie stage after a short time. This speed is a bit too terrifying because, after all, Hei Yu and Hou Fei do not progress so abnormally fast in soul cultivation as Qin Yu, who has the Meteoric Tear. However, could Uncle Lan have told a lie?

  Doubt …

  Qin Yu’s heart is full of doubt. He is certainly delighted that his sworn brothers have become more powerful. But how have they improved so fast?

  “Li’er, they …”

  “Don’t ask me, big brother Qin Yu. I don’t know what method Uncle Lan has used either. When you see Uncle Lan, you can ask him yourself, can’t you?” Li’er says with a playful wink.

  Qin Yu gives a smile.

  What is the point of thinking too much? The more powerful his brothers are, the better it is.

  “Li’er, our next stop should be in the Ming dynasty. What place of the Ming dynasty do you intend to go to first?” Qin Yu shifts his mind back to the sight-seeing journey that the 2 of them have been going on.

  “It’s your call.”

  ……

  During this period of time after Qin Yu had come out from his closed-door training, Azure Dragon Yan Lang once exchanged information with him through transmitters. Since both the Nine Demons Hall and the Blue Water Mansion were already finished, naturally the underwater Xiuyao world would be divided between the Stellar Tower and the Azure Dragon Palace.

  After the negotiation, the number of caves under the Stellar Tower increased to 18. This was the result of the Stellar Tower annexing the entire Nine Demons Hall and nearly half of the Blue Water Mansion. Even so, there are still a bit fewer caves under the Stellar Tower than under the Azure Dragon Palace.

  Controlling 18 caves, the Stellar Tower is now a much greater power than it was in the past, and naturally it has a lot more forces too.

  At the moment, 4 beams of light are shooting north extremely fast in the sky above the ocean. Any Xiuzhenist can tell that these beams of light are actually flying experts. These 4 experts are none other than the Qingxu Temple’s real experts -- Shan Qu, his junior brothers and his junior sister.

  Shan Qu is an 8th tribulation loose immortal while his 3 brothers and sister are 7th tribulation loose immortals.

  These are an 8th tribulation loose immortal and three 7th tribulation ones. Moreover, having been practicing for over 10,000 years, they certainly have formations for executing joint attacks. Because of this, they are not even afraid of running into a 9th tribulation loose immortal.

  “Senior brother, what’s the background of this loose immortal called ‘Uncle Lan’? I already exchanged information with seniors of the Qingxu Temple in the Chaotic Astral Ocean. They seemed to have never heard of a figure with this name among the formidable loose immortals.” Shan Nian, one of Shan Qu’s junior brothers, says doubtfully.

  “Right, senior brother, according to Gan Xu, it’s very likely this ‘Uncle Lan’ loose immortal can forge middle-grade immortal weapons. The protective magic treasure on the body of that girl from the Stellar Tower Gan Xu met was simply invulnerable to the attacks of the 2 brothers Huo Lan and Huo Can. That treasure should be a middle-grade immortal item.” His junior sister Shan Ming also says.

  It is really too difficult to forge middle-grade immortal items. Even in the Chaotic Astral Ocean, the owners of middle-grade immortal items can perhaps be counted on a pair of hands.

  Of course, this does not mean those without middle-grade immortal items are not capable of forging them. 10th tribulation loose immortals already have the necessary power for forging them. However, only very few 10th tribulation loose immortals have middle-grade immortal weapons because their materials and forging methods are rare.

  “It doesn’t matter how formidable he is. Plus, we won’t necessarily encounter this loose immortal expert during this trip. Even if we run into him, he must also know the name of our Qingxu Temple and the reputations of those seniors in our temple. I believe he’ll know how he should act too!” Shan Qu says indifferently.

  The Shan-generation experts are definitely not the Qingxu Temple’s most formidable.

  After becoming a 4th tribulation loose immortal, a disciple can enter Heavenly Palace on Mount Qingxu. But … not all the disciples of the 4th tribulation stage or above have entered Heavenly Palace. Many formidable loose immortals have gone into the Chaotic Astral Ocean instead. After all, this ocean has a lot of treasures and even elemental holy rock.

  The Chaotic Astral Ocean is exactly a paradise for loose immortal, loose devil and loose demon practitioners.

  This was also the reason why Shan Qu dared to say that even if Uncle Lan was a 12th tribulation loose immortal, their Qingxu Temple would still be able to obtain the ink-wash painting.

  ……

  The Stellar Tower is now a much greater power than it was in the past. Its number of guards has even reached 200,000. Various well-disciplined guard squads are practicing at the bottom of the ocean. Some Xiuyao experts are supervising everything.

  When the water rises, the boat goes up too. The Stellar Tower’s influence has expanded so naturally now it has more experts than before.

  200,000 …

  This is such an enormous figure. Even a mere square formation arranged by them will be densely pack and seem endless. The design of this Stellar Tower contains the Great Heavenly Stellar Formation. When these 200,000 guards return to their dwelling places, they will also become part of the formation.

  Even though most of these 200,000 guards are at the Jindan stage or Yuanying stage, once they come back to their places, co
mbine their power and fuse it with the Great Heavenly Stellar Formation, they will be so powerful that perhaps not even loose immortals can defeat them easily. After all, the Great Heavenly Stellar Formation is a long-lost formation of the immortal world.

  “The Stellar Tower’s Qin Yu, quickly come out!”

  A powerful voice resounds through the area within several hundred li of the Stellar Tower. At the same time, it even echoes nonstop at the bottom of the ocean. All of the forces of the Stellar Tower immediately become vigilant, as do its numerous guardians.