Walking up the wide stone steps leading up the Ninth Star Peak, a myriad of different people could be seen going both up and down the stone steps.
"Master, do you know why Nine Star Peaks are called the Shattered Star Peaks?" Chu Yang gazed up at the Ninth Star Peak full of curiosity as he asked.
Qing Yi perked her ears up upon hearing Chu Yang's question and moved a bit closer to Xuan Hao, she was also interested in the collective name of the Nine Star Peaks.
"Hm… From what I know they only got the name Shattered Star Peaks a few thousand years back, back then the founder of the Flying Sword Sect had just established the Flying Sword Sect and the Heavenly Sky Kingdom's founder was still alive. The Flying Sword Sect back then had way less territory compared to now and the Nine Star Peaks were still under the Royal Family.
But one day a giant star fell from the sky and shattered part of the Star Peak Mountains, causing each of them to become smaller than they originally were. The only Peak that survived the falling stars destruction was the main peak of the Star Peak Mountains, where the star was rumoured to have landed." Gazing up at the Ninth Peak of the Shattered Star Peaks, Xuan Hao could clearly feel the violent and chaotic qi above.
"What happened to the star that landed on the main peak? Did the Heavenly Sky Kingdom's founder take it?" Coming over from the side, Qing Yi asked curiously as she could not wait for Xuan Hao to continue.
"The founder of the Heavenly Sky Kingdom did not manage to get the star, only people at the Domain Lord Realm are able to reach the main peak of the Shattered Star Peaks… Back then, the founder had even asked the Sky Empire if they would send someone over to check it out, but ultimately nothing ever came of it and the star supposedly still remains at the main peak to this day!
At least that is what rumours say, there was also rumours that a Domain Lord from the Sky Empire already visited and took the fallen star away. In the end, we will only truly know if we go up the main peak and check for ourselves…" Xuan Hao knew that reaching the main peak would require a cultivation at the Domain Lord Realm and with his current progress, he will reach that at some point in the future. The only thing he needed was time, or his disciples having a breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm…
Maybe when he visited the main peak there would be nothing or maybe the fallen star would still be there. No matter what, he was too weak to worry about any of it for now.
The past of the Shattered Star Peak was mysterious, and Xuan Hao did not know much about it other than the falling star that had shattered eight out of the nine peaks there.
Qing Yi and Chu Yang became quiet after listing to Xuan Hao's explanation as both of them were lost in thought.
Like this, the group of three managed to make their way up the Ninth Star Peak.
At the summit of the Ninth Star Peak there was a large flat surface spanning for several miles in all direction covered in a lush forest with different herbs and plants growing. From this alone, one could imagine how tall the Ninth Star Peak had been in the past.
Xuan Hao, Qing Yi and Chu Yang all felt amazed by the amazing scene in front of them.
Xuan Hao was especially shocked as reading about the lush forest with spiritual herbs and plants on top of a mountain summit was one thing, seeing it for himself was even more mindboggling.
The temperature around the summit itself was not cold like he had imagined it would be at the current height and the air was the same as what it was down on the ground, if he did not know that he was currently on top of a mountain, Xuan Hao would have no idea at all.
This was something weird with the Shattered Star Peaks as the temperature and everything else remained the same as when you were down on the ground.
Xuan Hao decided not to think too much about it and in the end just decided to just throw it to the back of his mind for now, as he and his disciples made their way through the lush forest on top of the Ninth Star Peak.
The qi in the air was violent, but at the same time denser compared to back at the ground. Staying at the Ninth Peak for an extended period of time was definitely beneficial to ones cultivation, but not really possible as the violent qi would end up destroying a cultivators dantian over time.
This was the reason why explorers coming here to gather the unique herbs growing on the Ninth Star Peak had to go down to rest and recover from time to time before going back up again.
"M-master, c-can we stay here for a bit…?" Just as Xuan Hao was about to make his way out of the lush forest and walk down the path leading towards the Third Star Peak, a small hand grabbed on to the corner of his robes as Qing Yi's soft voice could be heard.
Turning around, Xuan Hao saw the puppy eyes that Qing Yi was giving him, while glancing over at the spiritual herbs scattered everywhere in the forest behind them.
"… We can come here again before going back to the sect again, we will go to the Third Peak first. After all, if we stay here for too long, you won't be able to climb the Third Peak as the violent qi will be too much for you!" Saying this, Xuan Hao saw the disappointed look on Qing Yi's as she reluctantly accepted his reason.
With this Xuan Hao and Chu Yang made their way down the Ninth Star Peakk, while Qing Yi had a dead look in her eyes looking back towards the summit of the Ninth Star Peak from time to time. Back when they walked through the lush forest, she saw all the spiritual herbs being picked up by random explorers along the way, while she got nothing!
The most she managed to take was a few random Mortal Rank Spiritual herbs that grew close to the path they were walking on, while the explorers running by had all kinds of unique and expensive spiritual herbs from the Ninth Star Peak on them.
Truly, what a painful experience!