Stellar Transformations

When they all saw the blades of wind cut across the path before them like knives, along with the spatial cracks that occasionally appeared, no one in that group of people dared to let down their guard. Including Qin Yu.

A flowing blade of wind was swiftly shot towards Qin Yu and the group of people.

Immediately —

All the nine people who were present individually performed their various own methods, and not even a single person dared to take that thread-like blade of wind lightly. That was because they had all seen how those kind of wind blades could even cut open space.

*Pului* There was a crisp sound, similar to how a keen knife split open a block of wood.

Fresh blood splattered everywhere.

“Second Brother.” Transform Into Stone looked worriedly at his own younger brother Change Into Stone. The speed of that wind blade was simply too fast. Even when everyone dodged, Change Into Stone was still struck since he was closer to that wind blade, and more than half of his right arm had been cut off.

Change Into Stone momentarily frowned. “Nothing much, it’s only that I will need to exhaust quite an amount of energy to assemble my body.”

As a Loose Demon, so long as the Yuanying was not destroyed, that physical body could naturally be reassembled. It was only that assembling a physical body would require an extremely large amount of energy.

“Change Into Stone, do not assemble your right arm for the time being. After all, it will be better to have a smaller body in this place.” Zong Jue voiced out.

“Senior Zong, you are more familiar than me about this place. It will be better if you are to lead everyone for our journey ahead,” said Qin Yu while smiling.

Since Qin Yu had the map, as well as the method to bring everyone into Ni Yang’s Realm, he had been the person to give the commands throughout the journey.

Zong Jue did not reject.

“Everyone, the powers of these wind blades consist of both strong ones and weak ones. For example, when two wind blades converge, it is possible that they might instead form a single strong wind blade. The weak wind blades are not able to cut open space, but instead, the strong converged wind blades can. That is why everyone cannot afford to be careless.”

Zong Jue recounted his previous experiences. “Also, even for wind blades that are not able to cut open space, the powers of their attacks are also not far away from cutting space open. That is why, it is best for everyone not to come into contact with any wind blades. Of course, stay very far away from those spatial cracks.”

“Luckily, these spatial cracks are all extremely small, which is why their swallowing radius is also very small and weak. Unless you come into contact with those spatial cracks, the devouring capabilities of those spatial cracks should still not be able to swallow all of you.”

Zong Jue smiled while summarising some of his past experiences by saying them out.

The people who were present strived to remember those information.

“To summarise everything — Do not touch any wind blades. Similarly, also avoid touching any spatial cracks. Once you do come into contact, for wind blades, you might break an arm or lose a leg. However, for spatial cracks, you will definitely die without any doubt.” Zong Jue said while giving a faint smile.

Qin Yu, Hou Fei, and the others all began to smile.

They all understood what Zong Jue meant. Wind blades and spatial cracks were both dangerous, while spatial cracks were the most dangerous of those two kinds.

Coming into contact with spatial cracks would mean death.

If there were some distance away from those spatial cracks, then the weak capabilities of those small spatial cracks would also not be sufficient to devour the people who were present.

“Good, now let us all set off. However, everyone will need to remember that each and everyone of us has to only rely on ourselves. That is because, in an environment such as this, if you are to lose your concentration and care about others, it is very possible that you, yourself, will also be finished,” bellowed Zong Jue.

Immediately, that party of nine people began to set off.

It was just as they had expected. The speed of their progress was extremely slow. To mortal men, the speed of those nine people could be said to be extremely fast, but in the eyes of those nine men, the speed of progress at that point of time was really too slow.

They could only advance around fifty thousand kilometers in a day.

At that point of time, even Qin Yu, who had reached the Dacheng stage, could only slow down his speed by more than a hundred times. If it were under normal circumstances, he would have controlled his Middle Grade Immortal Sword and rode on it, easily crossing more than five million kilometers in a day.

The main reason was — Being careful, and careful, and even more careful.

Not even a single person dared to be a little negligent. After all, those winds did not have any shape nor colour, and there were times where they appeared in bizarre ways. Moreover, there were also times where two wind blades clearly did not possess much strength, but instead met and converged into a single blade that possessed horrifying strength, even tearing open space.

In short, no one could let their guard down at all times.

“I finally understand why Fang Tian and Zong Jue had initially not persevered onwards.” Qin Yu mentally gave a bitter smile. “Having such a high level of mental concentration all times, even for a single day, the mind will also become very fatigued. Meanwhile, all of us will instead be required to maintain this state for an entire three years!”

“Not good.”

Having just been mentally distracted, a wind blade slid across one side of Qin Yu’s abdomen, and a wound that was three inches long appeared. However, the Elemental Life Force within Qin Yu’s body swiftly restored everything to how it once was.

Instantly, Qin Yu did not dare to let his thoughts run wild again, and instead focused all his attention on moving ahead.

When Xiuzhen Practitioners went behind closed doors, although the duration was long, in reality, the Practitioners themselves instead felt that the time spent was short. That was why they did not have feelings of fatigue.

However, for Qin Yu and the others who, at that point of time, had to agonise and worriedly maintain high levels of concentration for three years, it was a lot more tiring compared to being behind closed doors for thirty thousand years, or even three hundred thousand years.

*****

The days passed by, one at a time, but the long and arduous days still did not end. In one day, they covered fifty thousand kilometers. A journey of about fifty million kilometers would, at the very least, require three years. Meanwhile, at that point of time, Qin Yu and his party had only spent a year.

Amongst Qin Yu’s party of nine people, there were very large differences between their conditions.

If it was to be said whose condition was the best, that would undoubtedly be Qin Yu!

No matter if it was Man Gan or Zong Jue, or even the other people, everyone found that very strange. According to reason, to continuously maintain that state of high concentration, and constantly hover between life and death for an entire year, that would simply wear the mind down to a frightening stage.

However, Qin Yu’s entire person was instead in a better condition than before he had stepped into the Land of Extreme Peril’s Domain of Chill.

Other people might not have known, but Qin Yu did.

Within that short period of one year, Qin Yu knew just how much continuously maintaining a high level of concentration had helped in his own cultivation.

On the first month.

Qin Yu could completely control about forty percent of the Spiritual Energy within his mind’s consciousness. Following the second month, third month, fourth month...... Qin Yu’s control over the Spiritual Energy within his mind’s consciousness became stronger.

Currently, at that point of time, Qin Yu had actually, completely gained control of the Spiritual Energy.

Regarding the cultivation of his soul, at the very moment when Qin Yu had completely gained control of the Spiritual Energy, his soul had directly broken through the Dacheng stage and achieved a new domain level.

Meanwhile, Qin Yu also discovered a single point. When the domain level of his soul achieved a new domain level, all the Spiritual Energy completely accumulated into his soul and transformed into a physical body. At the same time, within his body, the percentage of the sun’s nucleus occupying the planet also grew rapidly.

“Ah, if it continues like this, I estimate that I will completely arrive at the Stellar stage within a year.” Qin Yu was secretly very excited.

Whenever his concentration had been exhausted to its peak, the Meteoric Tear would then completely restore Qin Yu to his peak condition. As each cycle of exhaustion followed by recovery continued, Qin Yu’s degree of control over his Spiritual Energy rapidly soared.

Due to the Meteoric Tear, within that entire year, not only did Qin Yu never experience extreme fatigue, his concentration instead became better.

It was just that...... outsiders absolutely could not figure that out.

Within that quiet world of cold ice, the party of nine people continued ahead at an extreme speed. It had only appeared to be peaceful on the surface of that world of cold ice, and careful observations would reveal blades of wind cutting across their paths. Occasionally, several spatial cracks would also appear.

The methods of advance for that party of nine people were also completely different.

If it was to be said whose method was the most elegant and most relaxed, that would be Zong Jue as well as Hei Yu.

Zong Jue and Hei Yu were like catkins, swaying about easily. Whenever a wind blade hacked towards them, both of those catkins would slide with the wind and easily avoided that wind blade.

The exact same movements.

Zong Jue and Hei Yu’s methods of avoidance were simply identical.

That made everyone unable to not make a guess, on what exactly could the relationship between that Hei Yu and Zong Jue be.

That had once made Man Gan inquire Zong Jue as to whether he knew Hei Yu’s true form, to which Zong Jue also replied that he did not know. The only thing that definitely could not be wrong, was that Hei Yu was an Avian Divine Beast.

Of course...... it also could not be said that merely from Zong Jue and Hei Yu’s movements did they not have any danger.

They could only easily avoid wind blades, and had to instead be careful of spatial cracks.

That was because...... whenever wind blades hacked towards them, their body movements could enable them to easily avoid the attack. However, the spatial cracks instead contained an absorbing force, and would instead suck Zong Jue and Hei Yu towards them.

That was why Zong Jue and Hei Yu also had to be careful at all times. Whenever they felt an absorbing force, Zong Jue and Hei Yu would immediately stop using those catkin-like body movements and dodged away.

However, compared to the other people, Zong Jue and Hei Yu could be considered to be the most relaxed.

Second only to both Zong Jue and Hei Yu, was Yu Liang.

Yu Liang had actually transformed into his true form — a vague little mouse. The legendary High Class Divine Beast — Heavenly Mouse! The Heavenly Mouse’s degree of agility had simply reached a shocking stage. Before he encountered any danger, Yu Liang could use his extreme flexibility to dodge. That ‘Heavenly Escape‘ body technique was indeed extremely shocking.

Meanwhile, Kong Cao, as well as Man Gan, came after Yu Liang.

Kong Cao’s true form was that of a Nine-Headed Snake. He had actually transformed into a half human, half snake appearance, and had all nine snake heads observing every single direction. Kong Cao could discover danger from any direction.

Man Gan was instead, the opposite. Although he only had a pair of eyes, those pair of purple pupils could instead discern the many dangers early.

It was just that both Man Gan and Kong Cao required to focus their concentration at all times, which was extremely tiring.

After Kong Cao and Man Gan, was Hou Fei.

There were countless flowing water floating around Hou Fei’s body. Whenever danger approached the areas that had those flowing water spread throughout them, Hou Fei would discover it one step ahead. At the same time, that pair of fiery eyes was also taking notice of everything at all times.

Fiery-Eyed Water Ape — Hou Fei, although firstly, he had flowing water spread around him, and secondly, had a pair of fiery eyes to observe, his capabilities were weaker. The areas covered by the flowing water were not that wide, so even if Hou Fei could feel a wind blade, the time that he had to react was too few.

That was why, Hou Fei had to be ranked after Man Gan and Kong Cao.

Although Hei Yu had similarly weak martial powers, the Catkin body technique was only drifting along with the wind, and did not demand high levels of martial power.

The people ranked last were Change Into Stone, Transform Into Stone, and Qin Yu.

That was because...... the bodies of those three people were always bloody. When ranked according to how relaxed they were, first was Zong Jue and Hei Yu. Second, Yu Liang. Third, Kong Cao and Man Gan. Fourth, Hou Fei. Fifth, Transform Into Stone, Change Into Stone, as well as Qin Yu.

Why were the bodies of Qin Yu and the other two people always bloody huh?

That was because those three people were constantly hurt by wind blades. Although the other people came close to being hurt, they had at least not suffered any injuries.

The true forms of both Transform Into Stone and Change Into Stone were ‘Petrification Beasts’. Although they also had several special skills, they instead did not have any special methods to avoid those dangerous wind blades, and naturally suffered a disadvantage. However, they had instead relied on their slightly faster reaction speed due to their high martial powers to preserve their little lives.

What about Qin Yu huh?

In actual fact, amongst those nine people, in terms of presence during that moment, Qin Yu dazzled the most.

That was because...... Qin Yu performed ‘Stellar Field‘.

At that moment, the energy within Qin Yu’s body was energy from the True Flame of the Sun. Within that world of cold ice, Qin Yu had actually formed a region similar to a large stellar cloud with him at the very center — Stellar Field.

Since, at that point of time, the Stellar Energy was a blazing gold colour, Qin Yu’s entire person was similar to a god of war bathed in golden light. It was just that, that god of war’s body was constantly bloody.

When Stellar Field was performed, Qin Yu was able to control everything within its region.

Qin Yu could ascertain in advance if there was an incoming attack from a wind blade, or if a spatial crack was formed. The functionality of that Stellar Field, was more or less similar to Hou Fei’s flowing water that was spread around his surrounding areas.

However, the Stellar Field could only be that large, and the speed of those wind blades were too fast, so Qin Yu often could not dodge in time. He could only try his best to avoid being struck at the vital areas.

That was why Qin Yu had been frequently made bloody.

However, within the blink of an eye, Qin Yu’s wounds would disappear.

“Although my body might appear to be covered in fresh blood, in actual fact there is instead not even a single scratch.” Qin Yu was secretly helpless. “Looking at my physical appearance, I might seem to be in a terrible condition. In actual fact, I should be the most relaxed person.”

Who was the most relaxed?

The truth of the situation, was absolutely Qin Yu.

Qin Yu, himself, was very clear. His Stellar Field could discover several dangers. Additionally, he also did not need to desperately dodge like the others, and only needed to avoid getting hit at his vital areas.

As for simply avoiding getting hit at the vital areas, given Qin Yu’s speed, that could still be done. In actual fact, Qin Yu had thought to avoid getting his entire body hit, but that was slightly difficult given his capabilities.

However, even if he was hurt by wind blades, the Elemental Life Force within Qin Yu’s body would also restore his body instantly.

Even at that moment, Qin Yu’s condition remained at the peak, and was not that fatigued as compared to the others.

*****

It was only because of Ni Yang’s Realm that no one gave up.

The powers of those wind blades increased as everyone got nearer to the Abyss of Death, and the spatial cracks’ frequency of appearance also increased respectively. Meanwhile, the number of people who had fresh blood on their bodies were no longer simply just Change Into Stone, Transform Into Stone, and Qin Yu.

At that moment, Qin Yu and the others were completely unaware.

They were not simply the only people who were undergoing those punishments at that place. The people at the side of the Dragon Clan, Loose Devils, and Loose Immortals, were also suffering similar abuse.

It was because Fang Tian had the experience, which was why they all knew that the Land of Extreme Peril’s Domain of Flame was even more dangerous as compared to the Land of Extreme Peril’s Domain of Chill. That was why they had also chosen that place.

Since the dates which both parties had set off were not far from each other, the speed of their advances were also close.

That was why the people from both parties were absolutely only half of several tens of thousands of kilometers to meeting each other. However, those two parties of people had actually not come into contact with each other all along. That was still really weird.

*****

Onwards, continuing onwards.

No one in the party of nine people spoke. All of them had their attentions focused and were moving forwards. The density of the wind blades in the middle of the sky had obviously increased greatly, such that even Zong Jue and Hei Yu were also no longer that relaxed.

Meanwhile, Man Gan’s purple pupils were instead carefully observing every direction.

Suddenly —

The purple rays of light emanated by Man Gan’s pupils increased in intensity, and directly shot forth afar at a distance of several tens of feet. Meanwhile, in that direction, there were a group of vague silhouettes that seemed to also have difficulties moving forward.

“Du Zhong Jun!”

Man Gan suddenly gave a violent shout. The loud shout that came out of the blue not only startled Qin Yu and the others, even Ao Feng, Hua Yan, and the other people in the other group afar also got a shock.

“It’s Man Gan!” Du Zhong Jun turned his head back for a look, and his facial expression immediately changed drastically.

“Why have they come?” Hua Yan, Ao Feng, and the other people all had unbelievable expressions on their faces.

“Ah!” Lady Lian Yue, who had her concentration distracted, actually touched a spatial crack that had suddenly appeared. A blood-curdling scream could only be heard, and Lady Lian Yue was actually, entirely swallowed up by that spatial crack.

Merely from a single shout.

More than half the people who were present got injured from having their concentration distracted. Meanwhile, due to that single loud shout, Ao Feng’s party also lost their very first person.

“Du Zhong Jun, let me see where can you escape this time!”

Man Gan was extremely furious. His body flashed in a ray of light, and a purple coloured battle armor appeared over his body, which radiated a piercing purple light. That strong presence seemed to startle even the surrounding space.