Stellar Transformation-Chapter 78 - 8: Golden Flame Eagle

"Big Brother, are we finally going back?" Little Black flashed into view as he flew out from Thunder Mountain Residence, his eagle eyes radiating spiritual energy. He, too, had made great advancements in cultivation, and being naturally extraordinary, possessed spiritual wisdom comparable to a human’s.

Qin Yu glanced around and nodded, "We’ve spent seven months in this Primordial Wilderness. We’ve both passed the Four-nine Heavenly Tribulations. According to the map left by Master, the area we’re in is still far from the core depths of the Primordial Wilderness. We’re only about a hundred thousand miles from the border."

A hundred thousand miles, that’s all!

Only after reaching the Star Nebula Stage could Qin Yu speak so confidently. If it had been before crossing his tribulations, it would have taken him at least several years to travel these hundred thousand miles, especially with all the demon beasts along the way.

Little Black suddenly expressed some reluctance, "Although it’s been a long time since we returned, the mortal world of the Hidden Dragon Continent is quite uninteresting, with Innate Realm demon beasts being a rare sight."

Qin Yu naturally understood what Little Black was thinking. As a strong being, the frustrating feeling of being surrounded by the weak with no worthy opponents is one of the reasons why Qin Yu yearned for the Cultivation World—a world teeming with cultivators.

"For these hundred thousand miles, we can travel while fighting and cultivating through battles with some demon beasts," Qin Yu said with a smile. "We might not stay long after returning. Little Black, now that we’re both cultivators, after meeting with our father the Emperor and concluding mortal affairs, we’ll leave the Hidden Dragon Continent. Then, the vast sky and ocean will be ours to explore as we please."

Qin Yu’s eyes held a hint of Piao Miao,

The time when Emperor Qin De did not permit him to protect during the Emperor’s Tribulation Crossing, Qin Yu vented over a decade of repressed emotions in front of his family. In the half year since leaving, Qin Yu had been pondering and ultimately understood that one should live for oneself.

Living for others not only tires oneself out but also places a heavy burden on others. After unraveling his heart’s knot, Qin Yu then fortuitously took on the task of protecting ’Mr. Ying’, leading to the scene where he slayed five Innate Great Perfection Experts and perished together with Wu Xing.

Qin Yu was resolved. After meeting his father the Emperor, he would set off on his own journey. After all, that was his path. The mortal realm of the Hidden Dragon Continent was too small a stream to contain Qin Yu, a fish that had already leaped over the dragon gate.

"Really?" Little Black’s eyes brightened. "Big Brother, are you willing to leave your father the Emperor?"

Little Black only had affection for Qin Yu; for Emperor Qin De and others, he cared a bit more than usual only because of Qin Yu. As for other humans, Little Black probably wouldn’t care even if they all perished.

Eagles are by nature proud and aloof.

"Father the Emperor? In truth, as long as our affection for each other exists, why must we live together? Moreover, even father the Emperor would approve of this. After all, soaring up to the heavens, traveling freely across the skies, embarking on a Piao Miao journey—this is what we cultivators should do," Qin Yu explained.

"Alright, Big Brother, wherever you go, I will follow. Whether it’s ascending to the heavens or delving into the earth, no matter where you are, I’ll be with you. I believe life won’t be too boring from here on out," Little Black’s eyes were gleaming with bright radiance.

Qin Yu patted Little Black’s feathered back, his face brimming with smiles.

"Good, let’s not waste any time, let’s set off now," Qin Yu turned and looked at Thunder Mountain Residence, his heart stirred, and the entire residence began to float and shrink, eventually becoming like a small villa model, drifting into Qin Yu’s hand.

Qin Yu’s mind moved, and Thunder Mountain Residence was immediately collected into the Dream Ring.

"Master’s artifact refining skill is truly remarkable, even such a large house can be refined." Qin Yu exclaimed. Refining an Immortal Mansion, even in the entire Cultivation World, is considered a Tongtian method. The power of the stars inherently contains the fire attribute; the True Star Fire obtained from cultivating "Star Transformation" is naturally extraordinary. When Little Star said that Lei Wei’s refining level was number one in the Cultivation World, it wasn’t groundless.

Little Black, however, was very surprised. He knew Thunder Mountain Residence was extraordinary, but he did not expect it could shrink at will, just like a spiritual artifact.

"Alright, Little Black, let’s go."

Qin Yu’s figure soared directly into the sky like a wisp of blue smoke. "You’re actually running off first." Little Black cried out and, with a flap of his wings, also soared into the sky, quickly catching up beside Qin Yu. The man and eagle flew side by side, heading directly west.

Thin silver stellar power wrapped around Qin Yu, and his entire body faced no resistance at all, his speed of flight incredibly fast.

"Wow, big brother, this ’Star Transformation’ is really something. I remember many things about cultivators from the memory bank, but normally Golden Core Stage cultivators fly very slowly." Little Black, flying alongside Qin Yu, communicated through spiritual sense.

Qin Yu smiled and said, "Little Black, the prerequisite for cultivating ’Star Transformation’ is that the body reaches the Innate Extreme. Do you know why?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I don’t know." Little Black blinked twice and responded via spiritual communication.

A light shimmered in Qin Yu’s eyes as he laughed and said, "The first realm of ’Star Transformation’—the Star Nebula Stage, involves forming a Star Nebula in the Dantian during cultivation, and at the same time, the power permeates the bones and muscles to extend outside the body, also forming a huge Star Nebula there, constantly absorbing stellar power. This stellar power then penetrates back through the muscles and bones returning to the Dantian Star Cloud, creating a perfect cycle."

"The most important part of this is the body. Whether it’s stellar power traveling from the Dantian to the exterior or absorbing the stellar power from the cosmos to return to the Dantian Star Nebula, it needs to pass through the muscles and bones. If the muscles and bones are not strong enough, they would have burst from the immense power of the stars, which is why an extremely powerful body is needed."

"Actually, the process of continuous cultivation and absorption of stellar power is also a process of tempering the body. Every time stellar power passes through the muscles and bones, they are tempered and absorb a portion of the stellar power."

After hearing Qin Yu’s words, Little Black was slightly stunned for a while and after some time, conveyed, "Ah, isn’t this just like refining an artifact, treating the body as if it were a spiritual artifact to be refined."

"Similar, but the body is too important. It can’t be tempered directly by True Fire like refining an artifact; it can only be slowly refined by stellar power. Through the long years of cultivation, the body will become stronger and stronger and eventually surpassing a spiritual artifact is possible." Qin Yu, feeling the brisk wind on his face, was very content.

At this moment, Qin Yu was shuttling through clouds, looking down to see mountains and hills, plains and marshes all swiftly passed by.

Ordinary cultivators’ bodies face great resistance when flying, but Qin Yu’s body, comparable to a spiritual artifact, was like flying as if an artifact, effortlessly. As for Little Black, being a flying creature, was even more formidable in flight.

Just as the man and eagle were enjoying the process of flying, suddenly a huge oppressive force came from ahead, and simultaneously a wave of intense heat approached from afar. In an instant, the temperature around Qin Yu increased to hundreds of degrees.

"Not good!" Qin Yu’s expression changed; he knew they must have encountered a demon beast. Little Black also stopped and watched the front cautiously.

In just a moment, a huge golden eagle appeared in front of Qin Yu. Not only did the eagle have crown-like golden yellow feathers on its head, but even its entire body’s plumage was golden yellow, with flames blazing all around it. The eagle’s body was even a whole size larger than Little Black.

The Golden Flame Eagle, Qin Yu recognized it in an instant; he had read many Cultivation books at the Thunder Mountain Residence.

"A puny cultivator? And a mongrel eagle? Daring to enter my territory?" The Golden Flame Eagle looked down at Qin Yu and Little Black with contempt, much like an Emperor looking at a beggar, seemingly in control of their life or death. And the reality was just so.

"Nascent Soul Stage!"

Feeling the other’s aura, Qin Yu instantly judged that this Golden Flame Eagle definitely wasn’t at the Golden Core Stage, otherwise, he wouldn’t be completely without the ability to resist.

"Big Brother, run for it!"

"Little Black, run for it!"

Little Black and Qin Yu almost simultaneously used spiritual communication to speak, both assessing that the Golden Flame Eagle in front of them was an insurmountable enemy. After all, the Golden Flame Eagle was a king among its kind, naturally extraordinary, and had reached the Nascent Soul Stage; the two of them were no match for it.

Thereupon, one man and one eagle, in a tacit understanding, rapidly flew northward since the west was blocked by the Golden Flame Eagle. Little Black’s wings slightly trembled nine times with near imperceptibility, instantly turning into lightning, and with a fierce flash, it was gone into the distance.

Little Black wasn’t at all worried about Qin Yu because they had compared speeds in the past.

Little Black had the eagle flying technique – the ’Fleeting Lightning Nine Flashes’ from its inheritance memory, and Qin Yu also possessed his own ’Human and Artifact Fusion’ from "Star Transformation." In an instant, the Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact—the dark golden Flame Sword flew beneath Qin Yu’s feet.

Tangential, silvery, mystical Star Power emerged from Qin Yu’s body, completely interweaving between Qin Yu and the Flame Sword, making them as one. Qin Yu’s speed suddenly increased nearly tenfold, and in a flash, he was gone.

The Golden Flame Eagle dumbly watched as the two "little things" before it tossed it behind in an instant.

"A mongrel eagle at the early stage of Golden Core possessing such speed must surely have an exceptional body technique secret." Thinking this, the light in the Golden Flame Eagle’s eyes suddenly burned with fervor; even for it, for the Golden Flame Eagle, the simple Cultivation method was what its mother, another Golden Flame Eagle, had passed on to it.

Merely at the early stage of Golden Core, and to achieve such speed, the technique must be extraordinary. In the Primordial Wilderness, the demon beasts all practice the most basic and fundamental cultivation methods, passing them down generation to generation. What other demon beast could possibly be as fortunate as Little Black, to actually have an inheritance memory, inheriting a decisive cultivation method, and even capable of refining artifacts by itself.

"Huff!"

The full power of the Nascent Soul Stage burst out in an instant, and the speed of the Golden Flame Eagle increased several folds, turning into a golden ray of light as it tightly pursued the man and eagle ahead of it.

"Big Brother, we’re faster after all. We’ve shaken off that dumb eagle just like that." Little Black communicated spiritually, and at this moment, Little Black felt much more at ease, and Qin Yu gave a slight smile. Having been in the Primordial Wilderness for a while, he knew that ordinary demon beasts could only perform the most basic cultivation, unlike cultivators who possess various means such as artifact refining and alchemy.

As for Little Black, it was an anomaly with many wondrous techniques, which even Qin Yu found astonishing when it used them.

"Mongrel eagle, hand over your body technique secret, and I’ll spare your life." Accompanied by a rush of hot air, the same message resonated in the minds of Qin Yu and Little Black, causing both, who had just relaxed, to exclaim and once again increase their speed.

A black light and a pale silvery light flew almost side by side at extreme speeds, followed by a massive golden light behind them.

"I am the Golden Flame Eagle, the king of flying eagles, and even at the Nascent Soul Stage, I can’t catch up to a mongrel at the early stage of Golden Core. It must be an extremely formidable body technique." The more the Golden Flame Eagle could not catch up, the more it coveted that technique.

Although the Golden Flame Eagle couldn’t catch up, Qin Yu and Little Black also couldn’t shake it off for a while.

"Little Black, don’t overexert yourself." Qin Yu communicated with a message. He knew Little Black had a trump card that could increase its speed dozens of times in an instant, but that was a desperate move; Qin Yu himself had a similar move.

Even though they couldn’t shake off the Golden Flame Eagle right now, at least it couldn’t catch up to them either.

After flying for a while, they rapidly passed over mountains and forests below, and suddenly, Qin Yu’s eyes lit up; he saw a vast lake below them, at least hundreds of miles wide.

"Little Black, into the water!"

Qin Yu communicated with a spiritual message, and then turned into a stream of light and plunged directly into the water. Little Black also flashed its wings and darted into the lake. The Golden Flame Eagle let out a sharp cry and dived down at high speed too. Flying animals normally fear entering the water.

However, neither Little Black nor the Golden Flame Eagle was ordinary; both were demon beasts that had survived the Four-nine Heavenly Tribulations, and entering the water merely affected their speed. But for the Golden Flame Eagle, which had fire attributes, entering the water had a considerable impact.

"Yellow Feathered Eagle, goodbye! Hahaha—" Qin Yu suddenly burst into laughter. Upon entering the water, Qin Yu’s speed was almost unaffected, human and artifact as one, like a human-shaped Flying Sword, quickly leaving it far behind. Suddenly, electricity sparked on Little Black’s wings, and the lightning coursed around Little Black’s body within a few meters.

Water conducts electricity—the black eagle swiftly navigated through the water, with the currents affecting it very little. In no time, it vanished from sight.

The Golden Flame Eagle could only helplessly watch as its two little prey shook it off in an instant, disappearing without a trace. Though it possessed spiritual sense, its range was only tens of kilometers, and Qin Yu and Little Black had burst out of its range in a flash.

From high in the sky, one could see two beams of light suddenly burst out of the lake and then dash into a vast forest, so large that one couldn’t see the end. After a long while, unable to find Qin Yu and Little Black, the Golden Flame Eagle cried out in anger, eventually flying back to its nest reluctantly.

In the forest of ancient trees, Qin Yu and Little Black both were still shaken, knowing that if it came to a fight, they were no match for a naturally extraordinary Nascent Soul Stage Golden Flame Eagle.

"Little Black, let’s not fly anymore. We’ll travel across the ground and also, we should really focus on cultivation for a while, engaging in battles with some demon beasts at the Golden Core Stage," Qin Yu said with a smile, and Little Black constantly flapped its wings in agreement.

Afterward, the man and the eagle abandoned high-altitude flight. After all, not only did they need to travel, but cultivation was also very important. Of course, cultivating with entities as strong as those in the Nascent Soul Stage was a bit too much.