Stellar Transformation-Chapter 77 - 7: The Way Home

A thought crossed Qin Yu’s mind, and he began to control the liquid True Qi to return to his body. As this True Qi was cultivated by Qin Yu himself, controlling it was a breeze.

Suddenly—

A look of extreme ecstasy appeared on Qin Yu’s face, an ecstasy that knew no bounds.

Just now, when Qin Yu willed the misty purple True Qi to return to his body, it naturally followed his intentions and entered inside. Initially, Qin Yu had controlled all the purple True Qi in his body to converge towards the Dantian, and now the returning True Qi also surged back into the Dantian.

The ’Centrifugal Force’ of Qin Yu’s peculiar Dantian made the purple True Qi rotate once again, before dispersing again.

Cycle!

An almost perfect cycle!

Inside the Dantian, a vortex akin to a star nebula formed, constantly drawing purple True Qi from within the body, rotating it under the influence of the ’Centrifugal Force’, and then dispersing it again following the trajectory of a star nebula.

Breaking through from the Dantian, through the muscles and bones to the outside of the body, and then from the outside, through the muscles and bones back into the Dantian.

The perfect cycle!

And because of the natural ’Centrifugal Force’ generated by the Dantian, a vortex-shaped star nebula formed within it.

"Haha, even the heavens are lending a hand. My peculiar Dantian isn’t bad at all, but rather... rather it’s a tremendous blessing," Qin Yu suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze brimming with ecstasy, and at this moment, he didn’t need to worry about controlling the internal operations.

At this very moment, Qin Yu was tremendously excited.

"Star Nebula, this Star Nebula trajectory is almost perfect, even more so than the trajectory realized by my master. Haha... this, this is simply..." Qin Yu was so excited that he was at a loss for words. Anyone who knew the content of ’Star Transformation’ would understand what it means when the ’Star Nebula Stage’ trajectory is more in line with the natural path.

Qin Yu took a deep breath to calm his emotions and then sat down cross-legged to focus on his cultivation.

Although he could cultivate automatically without control, concentrating on cultivation would speed up the process.

The misty purple True Qi that scattered outside his body covered a two to three-meter radius around Qin Yu. This purple mist also continuously rotated, and Qin Yu seemed to be enveloped by a cloud of purple fog. These mists absorbed the star power from heaven and earth, then surged into his muscles and bones.

When the star power broke through the muscles and bones, they naturally absorbed a portion of it and were tempered in the process. Then the purple mist, carrying the star power, returned to the Dantian. Passing through the star nebula vortex inside the Dantian, most of its energy was devoured, and the mist dispersed again.

With every cycle, more star power was absorbed, refining the muscles and bones, making the energy within the star nebula increasingly potent.

Cycle after cycle, Qin Yu was completely immersed in that wonderful sensation. Gradually, unknowingly, how much time had passed, the color of the purple mist began to fade, but its energy became even purer. For more than a month, Qin Yu was in deep meditation.

More than a month later.

Now around Qin Yu’s body hovered a faintly discernible pale silver fog, continuously absorbing the power of the stars. And after more than a month of being tempered by the star power, his body had become like jade or Vajra.

Within the Dantian.

A perfect Star Nebula resided within, composed of numerous silver particles that were dispersed throughout the Dantian. Each of these silver particles, having absorbed an immense amount of star power essence, were the sources of Qin Yu’s future energy.

At the center of the Star Nebula, there was a flame, a pale cyan flame.

The originally cross-legged Qin Yu opened his eyes. He had stopped cultivating, and faint silver energy surged into his body immediately. The Star Nebula continued to be influenced by the power of the Dantian, slowly rotating to refine its energy and make it even more pure.

"Pale cyan flame, as expected, the True Star Fire obtained from cultivating ’Star Transformation’ is much more powerful than Samadhi True Fire," Qin Yu suddenly stood up.

Every cultivator possessed True Fire within their bodies. Immortal cultivators usually called it ’Samadhi True Fire,’ demon cultivators usually called it ’Demon Annihilation True Fire,’ and demon cultivators usually called it ’Demon Soul True Fire.’ ’Star Transformation’ was neither about cultivating immortality nor cultivating demons, and thus the True Fire within was named ’True Star Fire.’

Qin Yu walked to the door of the Martial Arts Hall, which then automatically opened.

A black shadow, like a wisp of smoke, drifted and appeared directly beside Qin Yu—it was Little Black, who had been alone for more than a month, constantly worrying about Qin Yu. Qin Yu had been in seclusion for over a month, and only now that he emerged did Little Black feel relieved.

"Big Brother," Little Black’s eyes showed strands of joy.

Qin Yu smiled and said, "Little Black, come with me."

"Where are we going?" Little Black was puzzled, but Qin Yu didn’t answer and instead walked in another direction. Little Black followed behind Qin Yu, who was heading straight for the Artifact Refining Room on the first floor of Thunder Mountain Residence.

The door of the Artifact Refining Room automatically opened.

"Big Brother, are you going to refine artifacts?" Little Black now fully realized.

Qin Yu smiled lightly and said, "Yes, back when I obtained the Stone Burning Iron, Uncle Feng’s Samadhi True Fire wasn’t powerful enough, so he only forged it into a Middle-Grade Spirit Artifact. In fact, Stone Burning Iron can be refined into an Upper-Grade Spirit Artifact. Besides, I also have some Upper-Grade Crystal Stones, which can be merged into it, to refine my Flame Burning Gloves and Flame Sword once again."

"Upper-Grade Crystal Stones? Big Brother, you have Upper-Grade Crystal Stones?" Little Black’s voice rang with excitement inside Qin Yu’s head.

Qin Yu nodded slightly and then smiled, "What, do you want some too?"

Little Black’s eagle head nodded eagerly, communicating through Spiritual Communication, "In my memories, there’s also a method for refining artifacts with ’Demon Soul True Fire.’ Sadly, I’ve lacked good crystal stones, and those Top-Grade Crystal Stones in the Storage Room are untouchable. I had no idea Big Brother had Upper-Grade Crystal Stones here."

"Alright, how many do you need?" Qin Yu’s heart stirred, he knew exactly what Crystal Stones were inside the Dream Ring.

Most of the Crystal Stones in this Space Ring were Middle-Grade, and there were also some Upper-Grade ones. Although not numerous, there were still over a dozen, and each block was fairly large, about half the size of the Stone Burning Iron block.

"Just one is enough, Big Brother, could you pick one for me? I want one containing Electric Attribute," Little Black said.

With a wave of Qin Yu’s hand, more than a dozen Upper-Grade Crystal Stones immediately appeared in the Artifact Refining Room. Little Black immediately took a liking to a blue crystal stone, promptly absorbing it out of the air with delight and swallowing it right away.

"Big Brother, while you refine here, I’m going to find a place to refine artifacts as well," Little Black said, smiling through their telepathic link.

Qin Yu nodded, and then he too selected two Upper-Grade Crystal Stones—a golden crystal stone and a dark, Upper-Grade crystal stone. Once the Flame Burning Gloves and Flame Sword were refined by True Star Fire, many impurities would be purged, reducing their volume.

Moreover, combining the Fire Attribute Stone Burning Iron with the Gold and Dark Attribute crystal stones would significantly increase the hardness of the Flame Burning Gloves and Flame Sword. Their luster would also dim, and they might even gain an absorbing function.

"The Artifact Refining Room, Master had set up so many arrays in advance, making it a lot simpler for me to refine," Qin Yu smiled. With a single pointer of his hand, the Flame Sword and the Flame Burning Gloves immediately flew out from within him, heading straight for the Artifact Refining Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Meanwhile, a light cyan flame emerged from within Qin Yu and floated into the Furnace of Eight Trigrams, causing the flames to surge fiercely.

"Heavenly Gate, Eight Trigrams, correct!"

Qin Yu sent out several elusive light silver streams of Star Power with a single hand, which landed in the small holes of the Furnace of Eight Trigrams. Immediately, the furnace lit up; rays of light shot out, forming profound talismans, and the temperature of the light cyan flame soared dramatically—

Qin Yu smiled, knowing that True Star Fire had two sides of the same coin. By controlling it with a formation, it could be transformed into True Sun Fire and Taiyin True Fire.

"Sssss"

The True Star Fire was now in the state of True Sun Fire. In a short while, the Flame Sword and Flame Burning Gloves had melted completely, their impurities thoroughly burned away, leaving their size much smaller. With a point of his hand, Qin Yu sent two blocks of Upper Grade Crystal Stones into the mix as well.

The True Sun Fire melted the two blocks of Upper Grade Crystal Stones too, burning away their impurities and reducing their size by more than four or five times.

...

Qin Yu certainly remembered the simplest method of Artifact Refining described in "Star Transformation": use True Sun Fire to melt away impurities, and Taiyin True Fire to mold and shape. However, this simplest method had Qin Yu in a fluster, especially the control of the flames’ intensity being the most challenging aspect.

"Earth Gate, Eight Trigrams, reverse!"

With several more streams of light silver Star Power shot into other holes, the Furnace of Eight Trigrams emitted a light different from before, and the True Star Fire’s temperature seemed to plummet suddenly, its outer flame turning a faint icy blue.

...

After a long period of refining, the Flame Burning Gloves and Flame Sword finally took shape again. Qin Yu simply carved two arrays onto them, one an Attack Array and the other a Defensive Array.

He had seen these two arrays in a Secret Book found in the study.

"My understanding of arrays is too weak," thought Qin Yu to himself. "According to that Secret Book, formidable experts can engrave up to nine Attack Arrays on a Flying Sword, forming a cycle of immense power." If Feng Yuzi knew what Qin Yu was thinking, he would probably die of shame.

The Secret Books on Cultivation that Qin Yu was examining were top-level texts that Lei Wei had obtained in the Cultivation World, and the two arrays that Qin Yu had carved were both profoundly esoteric and not generally shared with outsiders.

Previously, when Feng Yuzi refined weapons for Qin Yu, he only set up a very simplistic and rough Attack Array.

The Flame Burning Gloves and Flame Sword floated in front of Qin Yu.

At this moment, both the Flame Burning Gloves and Flame Sword were of a dark gold color and had also become Upper Grade Spiritual Artifacts. The size of the Flame Sword was similar to that of a typical Flying Sword; it could be used as either a Short Sword for attacking or a Flying Sword for striking, truly ingenious in design.

July had passed, and the day designated by the Qin Family for the mustering of troops was nigh. In an army camp near the Black Water Mountain Range, the four Great Generals, along with Qin De and Qin Zheng, were all gathered.

Qin De and Qin Zheng were dressed in brocade clothing, while Qin Feng, Jiang Tao, Fu Bing, and Fan Yu, the four Great Generals, were clad in battle robes.

"Gentlemen, after centuries of preparation by the Qin Family, tomorrow we unleash our might. The first battle will see you all in action. Western Regions Four Prefectures, Thunder Blood County, must be taken down in one fell swoop," Qin De declared forcefully to the four Great Generals before him.

General Fan Yu was the only woman among the four Generals and held another identity—she was the supreme leader of the bandits in the Black Water Mountain Range.

"Prince, rest assured, the Black Water Mountain Range has been accumulating strength for hundreds of years, just waiting for this day. With a single command, our army of three hundred thousand can directly breach Thunder Blood County," General Fan Yu declared with conviction, the legacy of the Black Water Mountain Range, built over centuries, was for this moment.

Externally, they claimed there were two hundred thousand bandits, but in truth, there were three hundred thousand.

"General Fan Yu, there’s no need to rush. We must secure victory in one battle, which is why I ordered the other three generals to accompany us. With three hundred thousand regular Qin Family troops and another three hundred thousand from the Black Water Army, we total six hundred thousand. We must surge forth like a breached dam and secure victory in a single battle," Qin De’s eyes gleamed with determination.

Qin Feng said, "Father, rest assured, the garrison in Thunder Blood County is only two hundred thousand, and they’re scattered across various cities. It will be very easy to break through. What we need to do is guard against the Mu Family in the Southern Domain Three Counties, as Thunder Blood County is right next to them."

"General Qin Feng, we have an army of six hundred thousand. The Southern Domain Three Counties have a total force of six hundred thousand as well, but they also need to defend their own territories, so they pose no threat to us," General Jiang Tao said with a laugh.

Qin Zheng smiled and added, "Generals, Father’s arrangement also intends to deter both the Southern Domain Three Counties and the Western Regions Four Prefectures. With an army of six hundred thousand, it would be very difficult for either force to overcome us."

"Good, let’s entrust the first battle to you all," Qin De said with a hearty laugh.

The four generals were full of confidence, and afterward, the military’s top brass engaged in relaxed and casual conversation.

"Eh, it seems General Qin Feng has reached the Late Innate Stage. General Qin Feng is still under twenty-eight this year, right?" General Jiang Tao asked with surprise and admiration.

Qin Feng grinned and nodded.

"General Qin Feng is truly formidable. To reach the Late Innate Stage before the age of twenty-eight is extraordinary. Among the young generation on the Hidden Dragon Continent, General Qin Feng probably leads the pack," Fu Bing said with a smile. Fan Yu’s eyes also lit up as he focused on Qin Feng.

"Leading the pack?" Qin Feng shook his head with a wry smile.

Qin De and Qin Zheng both sighed. Qin Zheng turned to the other generals and said, "My youngest brother reached the Innate Realm in Outer Strength Cultivation at the age of eighteen, and he achieved Innate Great Perfection. Even historical figures like Overlord of Western Chu are far behind him!"

At that moment, a sense of frustration surged within Qin Zheng.

His younger brother was a prodigy, but had tragically died young before his reputation could spread far.

"Outer Strength? Innate Great Perfection? At the age of eighteen?" The generals were all dumbfounded. Never before had anyone in Hidden Dragon Continent cultivated their Outer Strength to the Innate Realm. Hearing that a young man only eighteen years old had reached that level was unbelievable.

"Where is the Third Prince?" Fan Yu asked curiously.

"To save me, Yu’er killed five Innate Great Perfection Experts and perished together with Wu Xing, the Upper Immortal from the Xiang Family!" As Qin De spoke these words, the generals gasped, exchanged looks with each other, and found themselves at a loss for words.

...

In the Primordial Wilderness.

"Little Black, get ready, we’re leaving right away." Qin Yu called out to Little Black outside the Thunder Mountain Residence, then murmured softly to himself, "Seven months have passed, I wonder how Father and the others are doing. They probably don’t know I’m still alive."

With the thought of returning home growing ever more urgent in his heart, Qin Yu yearned to go back.

Having made progress in cultivating the "Star Transformation," stepping into the Star Nebula Stage, and refining two Upper Grade Spiritual Artifacts, Qin Yu certainly possessed the strength to traverse the Primordial Wilderness and was eager to return.