Yellow Court Daoist

There was no heaven, no earth.

In the midst of chaos, one could only see streams of starlight crisscrossing in every direction, as if countless resplendent stars were shimmering above and below. In an instant, Lu Qingfeng felt as though he was standing in the cosmic starry skies, returning to the Black Star Realm.

Upon closer inspection.

In the distance, stars converged, forming ancient, earth-shattering steles amidst the cosmic universe. The steles bore innumerable characters brimming with endless mystery.

As one became entranced by the viewing, the characters on the stele seemed to evolve, as if falling into a corner of the cosmos.

If one could not decipher them, they would gain nothing.

Even the rotation of the celestial bodies could draw upon his own life force, potentially causing it to become chaotic and inflicting serious injuries.

"Star Constellation Tablet!"

Lu Qingfeng glanced at it and felt an infinite mystery right before his eyes, yet shrouded in thick fog. The characters transformed into stars, each following their own paths. As Lu Qingfeng watched, he felt lost in mist and clouds, unable to grasp the intricacies.

His Divine Soul swelled.

It was because the speed at which he comprehended the Star Constellation Tablet couldn't keep up with the changes of the Heavenly Mechanism.

"If one's Dao ability is profound and one's understanding of the Heavenly Mechanism is clear, then understanding one thing leads to understanding everything. The speed of comprehending the Star Constellation Tablet could then keep up with the rotation of the stars, and the mystery within could be unraveled."

"I still have a long way to go in terms of Dao ability."

Lu Qingfeng was self-aware.

With his own power, he was dominant in the Nourishing God Realm. Yet in terms of Dao ability, at best he was at the level of the Divinity Transformation Realm. Far from matching those in the Third or Fourth Realm of Primordial Spirit.

Throughout the aeons of Three Mountains and Nine Waters, even the most brilliant talents comprehending the Star Constellation Tablet had only managed to decipher twenty-four tablets.

To fully understand the sixty-four Star Constellation Tablets, perhaps only those whose Dao ability matched a Mahayana True Immortal could accomplish it.

Lu Qingfeng was clearly still far from reaching that level.

However—

"The Star Constellation Tablet subtly contains Heavenly Mechanism; the inscriptions are Ancient Erosion Writings, profound and obscure. They might be the very existence of Heavenly Book Jade Characters, reciting the words of the Great Dao. If I grasp enough Postnatal Scattered Characters, or even Innate Scattered Characters, the speed at which I can decipher the inscriptions will certainly surge."

"This is a shortcut."

Lu Qingfeng focused on the sixty-four Star Constellation Tablets, and a plan formed in his mind.

So mysterious were the sixty-four Star Constellation Tablets that they must contain great secrets. If Lu Qingfeng could fully comprehend them, perhaps an unexpected windfall awaited him.

"First, cultivate on Bai Geng Star."

"Cultivate while contemplating the Star Constellation Tablet."

With a thought, the Bai Geng Ring on his finger, composed of thousands of swords, gleamed as Lu Qingfeng transformed his shape and plummeted down. It was as if he stood at the peak of the universe and suddenly fell into a world of stars.

In a trance.

He found himself standing on the ground, with the sun, moon, and stars above his head, having arrived in the human realm.

Except, this 'human realm' was akin to purgatory.

Boom!

As soon as Lu Qingfeng landed, infinite mighty pressure fell upon him.

Immediately, it pressed him down to his knees on the ground.

"Grit, grit, grit!"

His teeth clenched tightly; there was no part of his body not under pressure. Every hair, every drop of blood, every bone was being squeezed.

As if his whole body were clad in iron armor weighing hundreds or thousands of pounds, the pressure caused Lu Qingfeng's bones to creak, and even the circulation of his True Yuan faced obstruction and became increasingly difficult.

He tried to rise.

But moving was as hard as scaling the heavens.

"To comprehend the Star Constellation Tablet, deciphering the Ancient Erosion Text requires great wisdom and great perseverance."

"Such individuals are rare in this world."

"Most cultivators from the Seven Gorges Immortal Sect enter the Heavenly Stele Secret Realm to cultivate with the 'Dark Stars' found there."

Lu Qingfeng understood Daoist Bing Yi's words at last, why the Heavenly Stele Secret Realm was considered a premier cultivation sanctuary.

These Dark Stars were formed from the extinction of constant stars, their gravity different from that of Three Mountains and Nine Waters. Cultivating here, both True Essence Power and the physical body could be tempered constantly, making it an exceptional place for cultivation.

Combined with an external force, one would naturally progress with Divine Speed.

Only too bad.

To enter a Dark Star, one needed one of the rings: 'Red Flame Ring', 'Black Mysterious Ring', 'Bai Geng Ring', 'Green Abyss Ring', 'Yellow Sand Ring.' There were five types of rings, but only the cultivator who was the first to fully comprehend a Star Constellation Tablet could obtain one. With sixty-four Star Constellation Tablets, there were only sixty-four rings.

Throughout the Seven Gorges Immortal Sect's history, the most anyone had comprehended was twenty-four Star Constellation Tablets, which meant there were only twenty-four rings in total.

"The further one goes, the harder it is to obtain the Five Elements Rings."

"The vast Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Mountain only has a single 'Bai Geng Ring', after all."

Lu Qingfeng knelt on the ground, struggling to move, and finally managed to sit cross-legged.

Blood pressured his veins.

True Yuan pressured his meridians.

The Void Core realm diminished.

His flesh vibrated violently.

Lu Qingfeng quickly circulated the Twelve Heavenly Demon God Skill, with the Twelve Demon Gods' support, and his own body contained the profound mysteries of the Luofu Sword Scripture, Yellow Robe True Skill, and Five Thunder Heart Sutra.

His physical body was strong, True Yuan solidified.

His adaptability was far beyond that of ordinary cultivators.

After nine rotations of the exercise.

He began to adapt initially.

With a sudden effort, his bones erupted with popping sounds, his veins and meridians all burst, and he nearly stumbled and fell to the ground. Thankfully, he was prepared and barely managed to steady himself.

Walking was more challenging than ascending to the heavens.

But rather than frustration, Lu Qingfeng felt elated.

"Cultivation with the aid of external forces can indeed double the efficiency!"

Within just half an hour of entering the Bai Geng Dark Star, Lu Qingfeng clearly felt his physical body improving, his True Yuan being tempered. The Cultivation Technique he practiced was profound, and although he had not yet progressed to the Solid Pill Realm nor begun to cultivate the 'Nine Revolutions True Body', his physical body was already unparalleled among all Jiedan True Men of the Three Mountains and Nine Waters.

His True Yuan was of extremely high quality, condensed to the utmost.

But upon reaching this level, the only way to further strengthen his physical body and enhance his True Yuan was to first increase his cultivation level.

The gravity environment of the Heavenly Stele Secret Realm and the Dark Star, however, allowed Lu Qingfeng to continue to enhance his physical body and True Yuan without changing his cultivation level.

With the mysterious nature of the 'Twelve Heavenly Demon God Skill,' this improvement was even far greater than that of other cultivators in the Dark Star.

As soon as Lu Qingfeng stood up, Sword Qi approached him from below his feet and from all directions.

"Bai Geng Sword Qi."

Lu Qingfeng was initially startled but soon recalled what Bing Yi Daoist had mentioned about the 'Bai Geng Sword Qi' one would face after entering the Bai Geng Dark Star.

It varied from person to person.

Those who practiced the Sword Dao faced Sword Qi.

Those who practiced knife techniques faced Sword Qi.

For those following other paths, it was different.

Lu Qingfeng, who walked the path of the Sword Dao, naturally faced 'Bai Geng Sword Qi'.

Standing upon the earth, Sword Qi silently slashed towards him from beneath his feet and all around, silently merging into his body and rampaging within.

While operating his Cultivation Technique and resisting gravity, Lu Qingfeng also had to divert his attention to deal with these Sword Qi invading his body. Capturing and dispersing each Sword Qi not only refined his True Yuan and physical body further, making it even more pure.

In combination with the gravity, it was more than twice as fast!

"Brilliant!"

Lu Qingfeng rejoiced in his heart.

In the Cultivation World, any increment in strength was a cause for joy.

"Coming to Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Mountain was indeed the right decision!"

Lu Qingfeng stroked the Bai Geng Ring on his finger.

From within the Bai Geng Ring surged a torrent of Spiritual Energy, like a spirit stone vein, constantly providing energy to sustain the operation of Lu Qingfeng's Cultivation Technique.

Although the Bai Geng Dark Star was a sacred cultivation ground, the Spiritual Energy was thin.

Unable to maintain the basic cultivation of a Primordial Spirit Practitioner, let alone during such oppressive conditions, the demand for Spiritual Energy was ten to a hundred times more than in the outside world!

Only with abundant Spiritual Energy, and occasionally consuming Spiritual Medicine or Spirit Pills that warm and nourish the veins, Dantian, and physical body, could one persist in cultivating on the Bai Geng Dark Star. Otherwise, if the Cultivation Technique couldn't be sustained and the veins, Dantian, or physical body kept being damaged without nourishment, it would only be a matter of time before one couldn't carry on, ultimately leading to concealed injuries from forced cultivation.

"The Spiritual Energy in the Bai Geng Ring doesn't come from nowhere; it had spirit stones and Spiritual Pearls stored in advance."

Lu Qingfeng looked into the Bai Geng Ring and saw piles of spirit stones and Spiritual Pearls like mountains.

Mountains of spirit stones and Spiritual Pearls visibly shrank at a visible rate, crushed and absorbed entirely by Lu Qingfeng.

One should know, a single spirit stone was enough for a Foundation Establishment Qi Introduction Realm cultivator to practice for three months.

Lu Qingfeng's consumption was more than ten times that of an ordinary cultivator.

When reaching the Void Core Realm, primarily absorbing nature's Spiritual Energy and supplementing with the energy of spirit stones, one would consume six to seven thousand spirit stones over a year.

On average, about twenty spirit stones a day.

Ordinary Void Core Cultivators didn't have the luxury of Lu Qingfeng, nor did they have as much consumption, approximately one or two spirit stones a day were enough.

Over a year, that would be around seven to eight hundred spirit stones.

But at this moment, Lu Qingfeng had refined over a hundred spirit stones in just half an hour. At this rate, his yearly consumption would reach over a million spirit stones!

By this calculation, an ordinary Void Core Cultivator entering here would burn through a hundred thousand spirit stones in a year.

Yet, the entire Xuanyuan Sect's annual surplus of spirit stones did not exceed twenty thousand.

"There are about two million spirit stones stored in the Bai Geng Ring."

"That's only enough for two years of cultivation."

"However, I have recently acquired nineteen treasure mountains from the Cold Jade Turtle, enough to sustain my cultivation for twenty to thirty years."

With this thought.

Lu Qingfeng paused, looked out into the sky, and couldn't help but smile wryly, "The Cold Jade Turtle obeys Ancestor Master Guyue. Bing Yi Daoist indeed never told the Cold Jade Turtle about the Snow Soul Pearl, all of this might have been within Ancestor Master Guyue's calculations long ago."

The Cold Jade Turtle sought the Snow Soul Pearl.

And Lu Qingfeng immediately received the Bai Geng Ring.

Even if Lu Qingfeng had disagreed at that time, he might have ended up seeking out the Cold Jade Turtle after entering the Bai Geng Dark Star.

Shaking his head.

He didn't care much about such scheming that didn't endanger his fortune or safety.

"The Bai Geng Ring will be mine for a hundred years."

"In Ancestor Master Guyue's opinion, I'm probably going to cultivate on the Bai Geng Dark Star for at most twenty to thirty years."

Lu Qingfeng, bearing the gravity, strained to look up at the sky.

Watching the star constellations move, he pondered, "It's not good to sit idly by. Alchemy and Artifact Refining are too time-consuming and labor-intensive. Besides Alcohol Liquid and Refining Crystals, I need to open up another revenue stream."

Killing and arson make for a golden belt.

But for Lu Qingfeng as he was now, the fastest way to accumulate wealth was still the 'Five Ghosts Transfer Skill'!

...

With his decision made.

He immediately calmed his mind, running his Cultivation Technique and perceiving the changes in his body and True Yuan.

In addition to cultivating.

He would occasionally look up, observing the changes in the constellations in the vast sky.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, thirty years had gone by.

...