0p0 Chapter 25 Drifting in the Stars
Chapter 25 Drifting in the Stars
The seventh day since leaving the Death Star.
Zhao Chen flew through the void, the gray-black planet behind him had long since shrunk into a dim point of light, and finally disappeared completely from the horizon.
This was his first space voyage.
His late-stage Golden Core cultivation level granted him astonishing speed. The Profound Yang True Fire nurtured within his body burned quietly on his skin, shielding him from the corrosive effects of cosmic rays and the absolute zero cold. Although it was still far inferior to the legendary True Sun Fire, it was sufficient to protect Zhao Chen as he traversed the void.
As Zhao Chen flew, he tried to sense the energy around him.
The essence of the sun was much denser than on the Death Star—far from the obstruction of the planet's atmosphere, the sun's rays were much more intense. Although still far away, drawing a wisp into his body was no longer as difficult as on the Death Star. However, each drawing was accompanied by a burning pain, and with his current physical body, he could only manage one wisp a day at most. With each wisp refined, the flames within his body grew stronger, and the color of the flames gradually changed from golden to incandescent white.
The moonlight was even more intense than on the Dead Star. Without the weakening effect of the atmosphere, the cool energy was clearly perceptible; a gentle tug could draw down a wisp of it, nourishing his spirit and soul.
But there is another kind of energy, even more vast and powerful than the essence of the sun and moon.
That is the energy of stars.
Countless stars are scattered throughout the universe, each radiating its own light and energy. When these lights converge, they form a boundless sea of stars. Within this sea of stars, stellar energy is omnipresent, more abundant and stable than the essence of the sun and moon.
Zhao Chen gently guided a wisp of starlight into his body using his spiritual power, merging it into his dantian. Although the increase brought by each wisp was negligible, its advantage lay in its continuous flow, allowing him to refine and absorb it at any time.
"This is the best cultivation resource in the universe."
Zhao Chen began to continuously absorb the energy of the stars. Although the essence of the sun and moon was rich, only a few strands could be absorbed each day; the energy of the stars, however, was like breathing, and could be absorbed continuously.
---
On the fifteenth day, his senses detected a meteorite belt in the distance.
The meteorite belt stretched for hundreds of thousands of feet, with meteorites of all sizes floating within it. He carefully examined it with his senses—most of them were ordinary rocks, but a few meteorites faintly showed signs of metallic activity inside.
Zhao Chen changed direction and flew towards the meteorite belt.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the meteorite fragments did indeed contain metallic components. Although it was just a common iron-nickel alloy, not even a special metal, every little bit helps. He opened his mouth, swallowed the meteorite fragments, and refined them on the spot.
Ordinary metals are refined extremely quickly, turning into strands of metallic energy in less than half an hour, which then merges into his dantian.
He searched the asteroid belt for three days and found a total of seventeen meteorites containing metal, which he devoured and refined. His cultivation level increased slightly, though negligible, it was better than nothing.
Then Zhao Chen continued on his way.
---
On the twenty-third day, he encountered his first void creature.
It was a Void Centipede in the Qi Refining stage, only about ten zhang in size, devouring a meteorite. Sensing Zhao Chen's aura, it turned and fled in fright.
Zhao Chen didn't give chase. Killing a Void creature in the Qi Refining stage wouldn't yield much spatial energy, so it was better to save his energy and continue on his way.
As Zhao Chen continued flying, he absorbed the omnipresent stellar energy.
---
On the thirty-sixth day, another void creature was encountered.
This time it was at the Foundation Establishment stage, and its size was over twenty zhang. It was a bit smarter than the Qi Refining stage; instead of fleeing, it hid far behind the meteorite, secretly probing Zhao Chen with its senses.
Zhao Chen ignored it and flew past. The Foundation Establishment stage void creature waited until he was far away before quietly emerging to continue devouring the meteorite.
---
On the forty-ninth day, the meteorite belt began to thin out, and the surrounding area became empty.
Within Zhao Chen's perception range, there were no longer any large celestial bodies, only endless void and distant starlight.
He withdrew his senses and focused on flying.
His late-stage Golden Core cultivation allowed him to go for long periods without sleep, but his spirit would still tire. Every seven days, he would find a large enough meteorite to land on, rest for a few hours, and absorb the increasingly rich moonlight to restore his spiritual energy.
He continued to absorb the stellar energy from those stars. Each wisp was weak, but its continuous flow allowed his Qi cultivation to steadily improve over time.
---
On the seventy-third day, Zhao Chen's senses suddenly detected a strong spatial fluctuation.
The source of the fluctuation was very far away, at least three million feet away, and it was moving rapidly. Judging from the intensity of the fluctuation, it was at least a void creature at the Golden Core stage or above.
Zhao Chen immediately concealed his aura, slowed down, and quietly bypassed the area.
In this vast sea of stars, there's no need to invite unnecessary trouble.
The void creature seemed unaware of him and continued moving in another direction, soon disappearing from his perception range.
---
On the 120th day, he passed through a small meteorite belt.
This meteorite belt was much smaller than the ones he had encountered before, containing only a few hundred meteorites, and most of them were just ordinary rocks. But just as he was about to leave, his senses detected something unusual.
Deep within the asteroid belt, there is a meteorite containing extremely rich energy fluctuations—not ordinary metal, nor a void crystal core, but another kind of energy never before encountered.
Zhao Chen approached the meteorite and tapped it with his claw.
The meteorite's surface was ordinary rock, but its interior faintly glowed with a reddish light. He used his Crimson Sun True Fire to burn it, and the rock peeled away layer by layer, revealing its true form—a fist-sized crimson ore.
The ore had a smooth surface, a hard texture, and emitted a fiery aura. That heat subtly echoed his golden flames.
"nice one."
Without a word, he immediately summoned the God-Slaying Spear. The spear hovered in front of him, its dark blue body now covered with dark red killing patterns.
Zhao Chen brought the crimson ore close to the tip of his spear and activated the Xuan Yang True Fire to refine it with all his might.
The ore softened slowly in the flames, transforming into wisps of crimson energy, which the God-Slaying Spear greedily absorbed. A faint golden halo began to emanate from the dark red patterns on the spear, and an even more intense aura emanated from it.
An hour later, the entire ore was completely refined. The God-Slaying Spear trembled slightly, as if in celebration.
Zhao Chen gripped the gun in his hand and casually swung it—the gun's light flashed through the void, leaving a scorching mark that slowly dissipated after several breaths.
"The fire attribute has become even stronger."
Zhao Chen put the God-Slaying Spear back into his belly and continued on his way.
---
Day 180.
Under the long-term tempering of stellar energy and various minerals, Zhao Chen's cultivation was slowly progressing towards the perfection of the Golden Core stage. The killing patterns on the God-Slaying Spear became denser, and the runes on the Chaos Bell were approaching 80%.
But he still hasn't encountered any life-bearing planets.
The coordinates on the star map are still a long way off.
"How much longer..." Zhao Chen didn't stop. He continued flying, continuing to absorb the vast stellar energy.
---
Day 240.
Zhao Chen sensed something new—a giant asteroid, about a hundred miles in diameter. It emitted faint energy fluctuations, suggesting the presence of some kind of mineral deposit.
Zhao Chen immediately changed direction and flew towards the asteroid.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the asteroid did indeed contain mineral veins—a silvery-white metal, light in texture, with faint spatial fluctuations.
After careful examination, it was discovered that although the ore contained spatial attributes, its quality was only average, far inferior to that of a void crystal core. However, it was better than nothing.
Zhao Chen immediately summoned the Immortal-Slaying Gourd. The gourd floated before him, with twenty-three transparent flying knives slowly gliding around—the culmination of his years of painstaking nurturing. Each one was as thin as a cicada's wing, almost merging with the void.
He picked up a piece of silvery-white ore, preparing to refine it as usual and feed it to one of the throwing knives.
But just as the flames touched the ore, Zhao Chen suddenly stopped.
He looked at the twenty-three throwing knives, then at the piece of ore in his hand—of ordinary quality, with meager spatial energy. If he followed the previous method, refining it and feeding it to one of the knives would at most improve the quality of that one knife by a tiny bit, which would be a drop in the ocean for the entire Immortal-Slaying Throwing Knife set.
"This is too slow."
Zhao Chen suddenly realized a problem.
His Immortal-Slaying Flying Knives are developed through a combination of quantity and strength. He currently has twenty-three knives, and this number will only increase in the future. Each knife requires individual nurturing and strengthening. With each piece of material, only one knife can be strengthened. At this rate, when will he ever truly cultivate a deadly hidden weapon capable of a single strike?
Recalling the true meaning of Lu Ya Dao Ren's "Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife" in the primordial world—it wasn't about winning through quantity, but about the ultimate skill of that one knife.
Quality, not quantity.
Zhao Chen stared at the twenty-three throwing knives, and a bold idea suddenly came to his mind.
"What if... we could fuse them together into one?"
Once the thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.
Taking a deep breath, with a thought, twenty-three throwing knives simultaneously flew out of the gourd and hovered in front of him. He activated the Profound Yang True Fire within his body, and the flames instantly enveloped all twenty-three throwing knives.
Fusing magical artifacts is extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake could destroy all the throwing knives. But he always acts on his ideas decisively and never hesitates.
Within the flames, the twenty-three throwing knives began to soften slowly. Zhao Chen channeled all his mental energy, forcibly pressing them together.
One, two, three... ten... twenty...
The twenty-three throwing knives gradually merged into a transparent liquid amidst the golden flames. A faint silvery-white light flowed within the liquid, the spatial energy they contained interacting and merging.
Zhao Chen manipulated the liquid, slowly shaping it.
It still had the shape of a throwing knife, but it was longer and thinner than before. The blade was so thin it was almost non-existent, and a faint light shone at the tip—the convergence of the sharpness of twenty-three throwing knives.
An hour later, a brand-new Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife hovered in front of him.
It was only a finger's length long, as thin as a cicada's wing, and completely transparent, almost invisible. If Zhao Chen hadn't used his mental power to lock onto it, even he himself wouldn't have been able to sense its existence.
With a thought, the throwing knife trembled slightly and vanished from sight in an instant—not flying away, but disappearing directly into the spatial folds. A moment later, it reappeared out of thin air a hundred feet away, a wisp of stone dust shaved off from the meteorite clinging to its blade.
Zhao Chen was taken aback.
Then he suddenly laughed.
"This is what you call the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife."
The twenty-three throwing knives merged into one, their quality skyrocketing. Not only did they become more transparent and sharper, but more importantly, they truly gained the ability to "disappear into space." If Zhao Chen wished, this throwing knife could completely vanish into space, undetectable to anyone.
Over seven days, Zhao Chen devoured and refined all the mineral veins he could find on the asteroid, feeding them all to the throwing knife. With each piece of ore incorporated, the throwing knife's spatial attributes increased, making it more concealed and allowing it to travel further.
Before leaving, Zhao Chen left a claw mark on the asteroid to mark the date.
Then we continued on our journey.
---
On the four hundredth day, his Qi cultivation finally crossed that hurdle. His flesh, bones, and fascia trembled simultaneously, and an even more powerful force surged from his body—he had achieved the Golden Core perfection.
Zhao Chen let out a long roar in the void, continuing to consolidate his realm and solidify his foundation.
He continued flying.
---
By the time he reached the 700th day, his Qi cultivation level could no longer increase, and he could only look for a suitable opportunity to break through.
He has already touched the window paper, and now he is just one step away from success.
Just then, Zhao Chen's senses detected something different—a planet enveloped in a pale blue atmosphere.
It was larger than any celestial body Zhao Chen had ever seen before, and its surface had oceans, land, and clouds.
It's exactly the same as the markings on the star chart.
Teda Star.
He found it.
---
Zhao Chen passed through the atmosphere, and the view suddenly opened up before him.
Azure oceans, verdant forests, rolling mountains, and rushing rivers—this is a world brimming with life.
Take a deep breath; the air is filled with the fragrance of grass and trees and a faint moisture.
He looked up at the night sky. There was no moon, only a sky full of stars. Although the starlight here was dazzling, he could clearly feel that the omnipresent stellar energy in the sky rapidly diminished after entering the atmosphere. At this moment, he could absorb only a negligible amount.
"The power of stars only exists in the starry sky, right?" Zhao Chen muttered to himself.
Expand your senses and explore the surface of the planet.
100,000 zhang, 1 million zhang, 5 million zhang...
Soon, they detected signs of life. There were ordinary wild beasts, weaker exotic creatures, and some others—
Some humans he had never seen before.
They were dressed in simple clothes, carrying tools, digging something in the mountains. Tall figures stood nearby, monitoring and patrolling—behind these figures grew pure white wings.
An angel! Zhao Chen's pupils contracted sharply.
He concealed his presence and quietly landed in a secluded valley.
"Let's see how things go first."
Zhao Chen concealed himself and secretly observed using his senses.