Volume 1, Chapter 276 – Star

“A star?”

Following Yun Chen’s line of sight, Shi Lan looked up. When she saw that vast river of stars across the heavens, she was momentarily unable to react.

“The Imperial Court has selected a life-bearing star within the Illusory Star Domain as your reward for this war. On that star, the birds and beasts, the grasses and trees, the mountains and stones, the rivers and lakes, even the mortal cultivators, all belong to you.”

A… star…

Shi Lan’s heart gave two rather unpromising thumps. Even the smallest of those life-bearing stars likely spanned hundreds of thousands of li.

Setting aside such an enormous territory, the various cultivation resources on that star alone would already be enough for her to use for a very long time.

Perhaps she could even enter closed-door seclusion there and not emerge until her strength was sufficient to protect herself before venturing out into the world again.

Thinking of that, a trace of longing appeared in Shi Lan’s eyes.

“Shi Lan, you carry many secrets on your body, and there is much even I cannot see through. But I know that you do not belong to this world. The reason I kept you here today is only because I want to know…”

With his hands behind his back, Yun Chen stared at Shi Lan and spoke in a low voice:

“What do you think of our Lingyang human race?”

Hearing that question, Shi Lan froze. Her mind could not quite turn fast enough. She had no idea how Yun Chen had learned that she was not from this world, and for a moment she forgot to answer.

Yun Chen stared at Shi Lan. His face was calm, but beneath his eyes great waves surged. A moment later, they returned to stillness, and all the thoughts filling his heart turned into a quiet sigh.

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“Forget it.”

In the end, they were both human.

Yun Chen hid his thoughts very deeply. Just now, he had felt a trace of killing intent toward Shi Lan, yet Shi Lan had noticed nothing.

“There are still quite a few natives on that star, so there will definitely be some trouble. And the Illusory Star Domain itself is not peaceful either. You will have to resolve all those problems on your own. Whether you can keep that star and make it your own will depend on your own ability.”

“On that star, I have casually set down a sealing formation. Its power is not all that strong, but it can still hold off an ordinary Sun-Moon Realm expert for three to five days. Consider it a small favor from me.”

After speaking, Yun Chen raised a hand and offered over a point of spiritual light.

Still somewhat dazed, Shi Lan accepted it. It was a blank jade token. The instant she gripped it, a vague set of coordinates came to her from the distant starry sky.

“This is the entry token for the sealing formation. Without it, there is no way in or out.”

“May I ask what the Sun-Moon Realm is?”

Coming back to herself, Shi Lan asked curiously.

“The Sun-Moon Realm is simply the Sun-Moon Realm. Most people generally refer to it as the second heaven of the Emperor level.”

“Many thanks for your favor, High General!”

Shi Lan’s heart trembled. This single layer of formation meant far too much to her. While feeling grateful, she could not help developing a measure of awe toward Yun Chen’s terrifying strength.

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A formation laid down casually could block an expert at the second heaven of the Emperor level. One could easily imagine just how powerful he truly was.

“Take care of yourself.”

Yun Chen shook his head slightly and said no more. His figure vanished from the hall.

Watching Yun Chen disappear, Shi Lan raised her brows slightly. She had felt no spatial fluctuation at all. This was a method different from spatial traversal, something far beyond the level she could currently come into contact with.

…

…

After leaving the Battle Merit Hall, Shi Lan did not linger outside and went straight back to the Shi Residence.

It would be a lie to say she was not tempted by that star in the sky, but before going there, Shi Lan had to make thorough preparations.

Setting aside the Secret Canon of Spirit Refinement: Soul-Expansion Chapter and the piece of Heavenly Nether Jade she had received from completing the main mission earlier, she had not even taken the time to properly study the All-Heavens Samsara System, which had already had many of its functions unsealed.

There had simply been too many things to deal with. She had been busy recovering from her injuries and had not yet found the time to examine these gains, including the True Martial Undying Body, which she had also not yet cultivated. The many spirit materials she had exchanged for at the Battle Merit Hall were still lying in the corner of her Qiankun Bracelet.

Shi Lan first took out the rewards from the main mission. The Secret Canon of Spirit Refinement was a method for strengthening the soul. What she had obtained was only the introductory chapter, the Soul-Expansion Chapter. Once she achieved some success with it, she would be able to cultivate spiritual sense. Once she reached completion, she could split off three soul-fragments, allowing her to use one mind for four purposes and making cultivation far more efficient.

As for the piece of Heavenly Nether Jade, it was an item of utmost yin that was greatly beneficial to the soul and could help Shi Lan accelerate the strengthening of her soul and the development of spiritual sense.

After gaining a basic understanding of those two items, Shi Lan pulled out the long-unseen panel of the All-Heavens Samsara System.

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Host: Shi Lan

Cultivation: Initial Stage of the Fourth Rank (Heavenly Astral Realm)

Cultivation Art: ???

Items: None

Resource Points: 0

Worlds Traversed: 0

Worlds Available for Traversal: 0

Overall Evaluation: A+

The system panel had already changed somewhat from before. Aside from the mission module, which still could not be used, the lottery, store, and all-heavens traversal modules had all faintly lit up.

Shi Lan already had some guesses about the changes in the system. Perhaps it was because the Illusory Star Domain had arrived and weakened the barrier that had existed around the Lingyang Realm since the primordial era, allowing the All-Heavens Samsara System to recover part of its functionality.

She silently repeated Samsara’s name several times, but there was still no response at all, and Shi Lan could not help feeling disappointed.

If Samsara had not bought her a little time, she likely would have died at the hands of that Demon Emperor long ago. Time and again, Samsara had helped her and saved her from life-and-death situations several times. Shi Lan had always remembered that debt.

After collecting herself, Shi Lan first opened the store module, and row after row of rare treasures came into view.

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Shi Lan swept across them at a glance, ten lines at a time, and the astonishment in her eyes only deepened.

The things included there were far too miscellaneous: spirit herbs and immortal medicines, divine metals and strange ores, heaven-reaching bloodlines, and even all kinds of living beings.

Rather than a store, it looked more like a black market, except that the currency circulating within it was resource points.

For some reason, as Shi Lan looked at page after page of these “goods,” she suddenly seemed to catch a savage aura tinged with blood that made her instinctively recoil.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, she closed the store module and entered the All-Heavens Traversal interface.

The All-Heavens Traversal module was much simpler, containing only five options.

Aside from the four rank options of low, medium, high, and supreme, there was also a traversal icon faintly lit up.

Of the four ranks, only low was lit. The three higher ranks were all dark, perhaps because the conditions to unlock them had not yet been met, or because there was not enough energy.

Shi Lan let her gaze linger on the traversal option for a while, but in the end she still chose to give up for the time being. She could not afford to do things without confidence now.

That great battle had not only cost her Samsara as a support, it had also cost her several life-saving trump cards. If she encountered danger again, with the little more than twenty years of lifespan she had left, she simply could not afford to keep gambling.

Shi Lan closed the system panel, rose, and walked into the secret chamber. Her most urgent task now was to raise her strength first.

At present, the fastest way to sharply increase her battle power was the True Martial Undying Body.