Stellar Transformations

Looting the dead bodies of the five golden immortals, Qin Yu quickly hid away in the jade immortal mansion to resume refining yuanyings to reach the late dark star stage. Upon opening the second layer world of the Atlas, he learnt many things about the lives and history of the beasts within, and taken with him the top three experts from that world. Bestowing them with good equips, he led them to face the dangers of the outside world – the immortal plane...

...

The Great hall of the jade sword school.

Five second generation jade sword school practitioners were currently pacing about the main hall like stalking tigers, each showed a face of irritation. The mood and atmosphere in the hall was very tense, none of them were at all calm.

Every one of the second generation of the jade sword school are elders of their school, of the eight, five was already assembled, which meant the matter this time is of utmost importance.

“Eldest martial brother, we’ve heard of martial brother Yu Dian’s death, but our school master is currently with senior Qian Qi, refining immortal pills in the Pill Creation Hall. He has yet to hear of this, what should we do now?” A middle-aged man dressed in yellowy robe voiced his thoughts. The man was the third eldest brother of the eight second generation brothers.

“Third brother, you’re asking me what we should do, but I should be asking you that instead, how do I know what we should do?” A fair headed young man shook his head repeatedly. “This matter also involved my disciple ‘Heng Yu’s’ death as well. I, also, am extremely infuriated, don’t think I wouldn’t be tasting bile in my mouth at this as well?? I also have a belly full of fire, which I want to spit at the killer.”

The other three’s shoulders slacked helplessly, none of them had any idea what to do.

If the death was of another similar generation’s martial practitioner, they may be infuriated, but they could just resolve it all by getting revenge. They would definitely be short of their current worrisome predicament.

Now that Yu Dian is dead, not only the five closest and same generation martial brothers were assembling, the two brothers far from home are also hurrying back. This matter regards to Yu Dian’s identity – their brother was a valued asset of Emperor Yu!

Allowing Yu Dian to meet his end could incur the wrath of Emperor Yu, which would rain hell upon the heads of all in the jade sword school.

“We can only wait for now, until Senior Qian Qi and our master has finished their immortal pill refinement.” A middle-aged elder sitting at one corner muttered, “Even our master is respectful to the senior and needless to say, alchemy and pill refinement requires utmost attention, even the slightest distraction could result in a failure, and that is a responsibility we cannot bear. So voice transfer messages to our master is definitely out of the question, say if the refinement fails, senior Qian Qi will be very angry.”

The other four chuckled bitterly at that prospect.

What can the four of them do now?

“Prior to Lu Cao death, he had explicit said that the opponent was a lone wolf capable to take down their five man ‘Five Point Chain sword formation. Most likely, the opponent’s strength is no less than our master’s, I fear that even with us five, the results would still be the same; we would all perish without fail.” Their eldest martial brother rubbed his solar plexus at the rising headache that was threatening to break out.

Just thinking about that ominous message was enough to the people in the hall on edge.

No doubt about it; they would die just as easily.

The people present all shrunk visibly, thinking about the scene that would have played out from Lu Cao’s message.

‘Five men stood in the air at five primary points of the “five point chain sword formation”, each formidable in their own right. One was at the head of star, a level 9 golden immortal of high pedigree, a compatriot of Yu Dian – the man who assembled the team, the rest of the vertices was filled with three level 8s and one level 7, completing the formation. It was a last resort as well as an ultimate technique, one which was sure to grant them victory. They could imagine the amount of power of formation would channel to their collective target.’

Breaking the thoughts of the others, a, previously silent, middle-aged man, who was sitting at the foot of a pillar, opened his mouth, “Unless we had the help of the school master and other level 9 golden immortals of our school, including other experts belong to emperor Yu’s faction, which were currently in this Silver Stream galaxy, we would be hard pressed to fight this opponent. Only with their help, will be have any certainty to erase the enemy.”

The other four didn’t utter a squeak.

To convene the masters within the jade sword school as well as the experts outside its doors, would require someone with greater authority than people like themselves.

One who has the authority to command and gather all of the experts in Emperor Yu’s faction within the silver stream galaxy......and that someone is their master – Yu Qing Zi. He is someone who was sent here to the silver stream galaxy as per emperor Yu’s direct orders.

“Even if master was to act, I’m afraid out losses will still be large.” The elder brother, who was standing the furthest inwards from the hall’s gateway, contemplated.

The same middle-aged man at the pillar, mused, “If...if Senior Qian Qi would not mind acting with us, then the confrontation would not be so difficult.” He looked up and into the eyes of the other, who all had a literal light flicker within their eyes.

This senior, immortal emperor Qian Qi is no joke. Under the directives of Emperor Yu are thirty-six rulers, within which Qian Qi is a member of, whose strength far exceeds Yu Qing Zi.

...

Liu Feng city of Amber Moon.

In a quiet corner of the city was the manor of the Liu clan patriarch’s remote home away from home. This manor was usually rarely used by the patriarch, as he was much too busy with the clan’s matters and rarely spent time here, however recently, he had come to frequent its rooms.

A lone man within of the manor’s rooms, sighed quietly, muttering to himself. “Hah, for our small clan to mix with the conflicts of great powers is like riding a wooden raft amidst a typhoon. At any one time, the boat caught capsize and its passengers would drown.”

During these coming days since the great battle above the city, between the jade sword school and Qin Yu’s martial uncle, had led the patriarch to worry, day and night, about the consequences. Within that turbulent mind storm, traces of ambition was present, what did this present?

If the clan was to operate and proceed as normal, they would still be a small clan, on a small planet, and at the mercy of far too many others. With the recent development, if nurtured well, they could gain either the backing of the Qin Yu’s faction or the jade sword school. Gaining either one allow a puny clan like theirs to advance in leaps and bounds.

“Mister Liu.” An insipid voice rang about the manor grounds.

The previously silent patriarch made a start.

He knew this voice; it was the voice of his clan’s honoured guest by the name of Qin Yu.

“Welcome, Mister Qin, why not come and join me for a cup of tea?” Liu Han smiled faintly to no one in particular, whilst flickering his gaze from the door way to the air space above.

As soon as he blinked, and opened his eyelids again for the third time that moment, Qin Yu strode into the courtyard of the manor, with three other attendants in tow.

The moment the patriarch – Liu Ming Han, laid his eyes on the three following Qin Yu, a step behind, his iris contracted with surprise.

“This mister Qin Yu already has a new group of subordinates......whose strength cannot be perceived by me!” Ming Han hand froze for a moment before putting his tea cup back down. A while ago, he could still be able to perceive the power levels of Qin Yu’s previous group of subordinates, but now he can’t.

“Mister Qin, I’m glad you are alright. In the aerial battle above the bamboo garden, I feared for the worst, but fortunately, I see you weren’t too hurt.” Ming Han stood up to received his guest and show his concern.

“Come, come, please sit with me.” Ming Han showed Qin Yu to the seat opposite himself, then sat down promptly.

That short pause did not escape Qin Yu observant gaze, though his expression did not change during this entire scene. A touch of a smile was constant on his lips.

The patriarch looked quizzically at Qin Yu’s companions then at Qin Yu, “Mister Qin, these people are......?”

“Mister Liu, you are aware that the five golden immortals assault, if it weren’t for my martial uncle’s help, I would have lost my life. My clan is quite worried about my safety, so they sent three experts to oversee my protection me.”

He knew he could not leak any hint about the Atlas being in his possession, the clue itself would sway hordes of men to kill him for it. If it gotten out, not only men, but the immortal emperor factions such as Yu and Xuan, as well as other demon and devil emperors would also rob and kill him for it. The third layer world of the Atlas has demon emperors, whose are valued companions of Emperor Ni Yang himself! Imagine commanding such formidable force with a single gesture of his thoughts.

“I’m curious to know: where Mister Qin’s clan is.”

“Well.” Annoyance furrowed his brow, as he looked coldly at the patriarch. “Mister Liu, are perhaps aware you are prying a little too much into my business?”

Ming Han shuddered involuntarily, and hurriedly tried to remedy the situation: “My deepest apologies, I was too presumptuous.”

The awkward situation had passed, Qin Yu smiled knowingly. “Mister Liu, anything you need to know I will inform, other than that, you shouldn’t pry.”

“Of course, of course.” Ming Han nodded vigorously, cold sweat broke on his back. He had just avoided a freight train. He could feel a mysterious air about his honoured guest, which wasn’t present previously, one which he couldn’t place his tongue on, but nonetheless caused his throat to clench. Unknown to him, this aura was the product of Qin Yu’s soul fusing with his meteoric tear.

“Mister Qin, you are aware that in half a month’s time, the three great clans of Amber Moon will convene for the century event: Teleportation Array Contest, which will decide the clan to control the arrays for the next century. If Mister Qin has time, please feel free to come watch the contest.” Ming Han smoothly and tactfully changed the subject.

“Very well, if I have time, I will come.” Qin Yu smiled at the patriarch, aware of his tactful retreat. “Mister Liu, I must apologize. The bamboo garden was something you had given to me and yet I allowed some troublemakers to cause havoc in it. My apologies.”

Ming Han laughed, not one bit angry. “This matter could not be blamed on Mister Qin, my clan has another manor in the White Circle district. A few days ago, I’ve ordered that manor to be cleaned out and prepared for your residence.”

Qin Yu readily accepted the patriarch’s invitation. “Many thanks, then.”

He promptly stood up. “Mister Liu, it is time I left. Do not worry, I’ve already mapped the location of the White Circle district with my spiritual power, and do not need assistance navigating there.” Then turned and led his three subordinates to leave, just as he stepped outside the gateway of the manor grounds, he twisted around to face Ming Han and said: “Mister Liu, if you see my disciple Liu Han Shu, inform him that he must make a journey to the White Circle manor to see me.”

“Very well, I will immediately instruct him to see Mister Qin.”

Qin Yu smiled a thank you then strode away from the gateway.

For Xiuzhenists, it is not difficult to acquire manors and land, but the White Circle Manor had numerous rare herbs and botanic treasures that pleasantly surprise Qin Yu, given the great pains the patriarch would have to go through to acquire such and give it to Qin Yu.

...

While sipping green tea, Qin Yu sat quietly in the main hall of his new manor, waiting for his disciple to arrive.

In a short moment, a familiar figure speedily walked in from the manor’s main gate. Han Shu half ran and half walked, then knelt before his master. “This humble disciple greets the master.”

A decade ago, Qin Yu had strongly suggested Han Shu to work hard, this in turn awoke Han Shu from his stupor of basking in his master’s radiance, and started to train hard. Since receiving his master’s support by reforming his meridian channels and near limitless supply of holy elemental stones for his training, his cultivation speed was astounding. Within a decade’s time, Han Shu had progressed from an early yuanying stage to a middle kongming stage.

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes and carefully inspected Han Shu’s body, and a barely perceivable smile touched his lips. “It seems you have truly spent this last decade in training hard. Now, I ask of you, among peers of your generation, who is the strongest and most skilled?”

“As of today, of my generation, the strongest are at middle Kongming stage, which includes myself, while the other is the one master reprimanded – Liu Han Ming.” A momentary flash of pride cross Han Shu’s face as he continued, “But, in another decade’s time, this disciple will have an absolute advantage over all other peers of my generation.”

“Liu Han Ming, eh? I remember there was fella’ with that name.”

Qin Yu scrunched his brows, trying to recall the young man Han Shu was referring to, and with great effort he remembered: “Ten years ago, that Liu Han Ming was said to be already at the late dongxu stage...Well, getting to middle dongxu stage in another decade is just about satisfactory.”

“Master, I have not seen master for a long time – ten years no less, and had somewhat missed master during this time.”

Qin Yu froze.

He suddenly remembered he had not seen his disciple not once these past ten years. Not only neglecting his disciple, he failed to instruct his disciple in the correct ways to cultivate, and all at once, he felt he had failed as Han Shu’s master.

As if to make up for his duty as the master, he and Han Shu talked for a long while, during which many matters about Han Shu’s training was resolved.

...

In time, night has fallen.

Qin Yu sat alone in the master bedroom of the manor, in his vision were the loot from the five golden immortals that previous fought with him over the Liu Feng city air space. Since events propagated from another, he had not have the time to ascertain the dropped goods from his battle, thus decided to inspect them now.

“Hah! Now wonder people like to resort to being bandits in the immortal place. Wealth and murder go hand in hand; relieving others their entire wealth is so much more profitable than accumulating them yourself.” Qin Yu pondered in retrospect, though, he did not feel guilty at all, at this moment.

For Xiuzhenists, there are no fixed abodes. The path to immortality and ascension is a tough one and frequently require practitioners to adventure around, they generally hold all their wealth on their person. Under normal circumstances, the greater the skills of the individual, the more wealth he or she has.

Lu Cao, Heng Yu, Heng Feng and Feng Lian, are all third generation jade sword style practitioners, who all have relatively high position within their school. Naturally, their wealth will be greater than the wealth accumulated by Yan Gao, but Yan Gao had the backing of his own clan, thus the latter had relatively more by himself.

The four golden immortals, collectively, donated about five to six hundred million to Qin Yu.

“Hmm, according to the clues within Lu Cao’s interspatial ring, this Yu Dian fellow is a second generation jade sword practitioner, who is in charge of the finance and commerce for the school.”

Seems to be that among the five, Yu Dian held a higher position than the others.

Driven by curiosity, Qin Yu sent his spiritual powers into the ring to inspect its contents...

‘Gasp!’

Qin Yu sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes bulged: “Whoa, there’s far more than I had anticipated!”

Within the interspatial ring, there was mountains of assets, the sheer volume overawed Qin Yu, not including the magical items, by holy elemental stones alone, the total amount exceed a billion!

What Qin Yu did not know was that, the wealth of the jade sword school and the position of financial officer is succeeded by later generations. Because, Yu Dian is soon to be departing the school, the school’s wealth was already handed to over to the school master, even so, the wealth of Yu Dian, by himself, is already alarming.

As he continued his casual sweep of the contents, he happened upon an interesting discovery. “This is...” Qin Yu hurriedly withdrew a ‘jade slip’ and inspected this item more closely...

It was a map!

A, a star chart no less!

Now, what was the thing that Qin Yu desired the most?

It is a star chart.

He had, with some effort, obtained a star chart of the Indigo Bay star field, but this slip contained the map of the entire immortal realm!

“Hold it...this map is not as detailed at the previous one, but, it seems to have the main routes of the stars in the immortal realm. With this map, I would not worry about getting lost while travelling.”

He couldn’t wipe the smug grin as he beam at this discovery.

“The magical items of the five golden immortals did not amount to the items found in the rings of those three emissaries, I killed in the mortal plane, but for me, this map is worth more than their combined wealth.”

Still grinning with glee, like a child on Christmas day, finding more gifts than expected. “This map was really a sudden jubilant surprise!”

This map was a gift emperor Yu gave to Yu Dian for the latter’s good work, while on Blue Solar plane.

But now, it has fallen into Qin Yu’s outstretched hands!

...

Red Leaf planet, jade sword school.

“Grind, grind....”

The stone doors of the primary alchemy hall, slowly opened, from within came a rosy faced Yu Qing Zi and another slightly older man in tow. Outside the doors, were seven second generation disciples, and were nearly driven insane with worry.

Their spokesperson, the eldest, called frantically to their master, “Master, there has been a grave ordeal!”

Still basking in the joyful results of success from the alchemic session with another expert, Yu Qing Zi walked a little more before realising he was spoken to.

Before him was seven of his direct disciples.

He knew many of the seven were in places far away from the school, but what happened, which would force them to convene here?

Qing Zi looked at each of his disciples in turn, then his face fell.

“What is going on? And where is Yu Dian, how come he isn’t here?” Qing Zi’s cry was thick with anxiety.