Chapter 156: The Yin Gods Are Too Strong, I Need to Devour Stars!

Chapter 156: The Yin Gods Are Too Strong, I Need to Devour Stars!

Three days later.

Qi Yuan looked at the various techniques in the storage bag and beamed with joy.

“As expected, it’s good to have subordinates.”

“If only the techniques from the Liufeng Realm were useful to me.”

“With so many techniques, they should be enough to advance the Nascent Soul Chapter and push my Golden Core to the mid-stage, right?”

Qi Yuan pondered.

The Golden Core Path was like a bottomless pit for Qi Yuan. After all, how many planets and stars are there in the universe? Qi Yuan didn’t know. Devouring them all would indeed be a monumental task.

“However, the previous advancements in the Golden Core Path should be enough to allow my Solar True Fire to devour a few planets, right?”

Qi Yuan looked inward at his dantian, where a projection of his Golden Core burned brightly with flames.

One day on earth is a hundred years in heaven.

It wouldn’t be long before he could start devouring some planets for fun.

Without further thought, Qi Yuan fully immersed himself in the techniques he had obtained.

...

In the Divine Light Sect of the Great Shang Kingdom.

Elder Xuan Chong of the Divine Medicine Peak looked grim, and True Lord Kumu wasn’t faring much better.

In front of them stood a young man dressed in white robes.

“Kumu True Lord, you and I are from the same clan. Why would I deceive you? And Elder Xuan Chong, we three come from the same clan, so we should prioritize the interests of the Wood Clan!” said the young man in white robes, named Mu Kong.

Back when Honglian exterminated the Wood Clan, Mu Kong wasn’t in the clan and barely escaped with his life.

True Lord Kumu looked at Mu Kong with anger in his eyes. “The interests of the Wood Clan? You mean your own interests!”

Mu Kong smiled calmly and said, “With your talent, Kumu True Lord, when will you ever reach the Purple Mansion realm? My master, the Supreme Elder of the Red Sword Sect, is a Purple Mansion cultivator. If you hand over the Wood Origin Canon and the Great Shang serves the Red Sword Sect, my master will recover from his injuries and avenge the Wood Clan!”

He spoke with grandeur and righteousness.

True Lord Kumu’s face darkened.

The Red Sword Sect had coveted the Great Shang for a long time. Back then, the old emperor of the Great Shang had the shadow of the Red Sword Sect behind him. Now that their efforts to support the old emperor had failed, they sent Mu Kong as a negotiator?

“Kumu True Lord, give me an answer within three days. If not, my master will come here personally, and he won’t be as reasonable,” Mu Kong said arrogantly. “Today, I’ll stay at... Seven Colors Peak. I’ve heard the peak master is stunningly beautiful. I wonder if I’ll be lucky enough to see her?”

True Lord Kumu’s face turned ashen. “The peak master of Seven Colors Peak is in seclusion and doesn’t see visitors.”

He didn’t know that the top of Seven Colors Peak was already empty.

“What a pity,” Mu Kong said regretfully.

He was weak, only at the Yuan Dan stage, so he didn’t dare offend Ruan Yixi. But... when his master arrived, the outcome might be different.

“Kumu True Lord, Elder Xuan Chong, think carefully and consider the bigger picture. If my master doesn’t receive my message in three days, he will personally come to the Divine Light Sect.”

After speaking, Mu Kong smiled and walked toward Seven Colors Peak.

True Lord Kumu and Elder Xuan Chong stood in the hall, their expressions dark.

“This is outrageous!” True Lord Kumu wished he could kill Mu Kong with one strike.

But he hesitated, fearing the retaliation of the Red Sword Sect’s Supreme Elder. If he acted rashly, it could drag the Divine Light Sect into a crisis of annihilation.

“Is the feng shui here bad?” Elder Xuan Chong, usually silent, spoke up.

He had been at the Divine Light Sect for centuries, quietly cultivating and never getting involved in sect affairs. But over the past hundred years, he had noticed many problems within this small Nascent Soul sect.

In the sect, he had found over a hundred spies.

There were also some strange disciples, deacons, and elders.

At first, he thought these people joined the Divine Light Sect with ulterior motives.

But as it turned out, they were normal and never caused any trouble.

These problematic individuals formed a sect that had no problems.

First, there was the Hundred Nations Blood War, and now there was the threat from the Red Sword Sect. Elder Xuan Chong truly believed the feng shui here was bad.

True Lord Kumu was weary.

Born into a noble family, he had endured endless hardships to reach this point, his expression resolute. “Fate may be limited, but people... have no limits.”

He didn’t believe in fate; he believed that everything had to be fought for.

“Enough of the nonsense. Are you going to hand over the Wood Origin Canon or not?” Elder Xuan Chong snapped at True Lord Kumu.

True Lord Kumu sighed. “The Eastern Lands Prodigy Battle should have started. I wonder how Fulu and Qi Yuan are doing.”

Elder Xuan Chong also showed a hint of regret in his eyes. “It’s a pity that Qi Yuan didn’t have enough time. Otherwise... if he had condensed his Golden Core, he might have had a chance to enter the top hundred of the Eastern Lands Prodigy Battle and retrieve the purple-gold gourd. With that gourd, our Wood Clan would have a glimmer of hope for revival.”

True Lord Kumu said bitterly, “How can we revive when Honglian is still alive?”

Not to mention Honglian, even the injured Purple Mansion cultivator from the Red Sword Sect was beyond their ability to handle.

The two men could only sigh in bitter helplessness.

After some time, a voice suddenly cried out urgently, “Something terrible has happened, Sect Master!”

A deacon rushed in, his eyes filled with panic.

Elder Xuan Chong couldn’t help but rub his forehead. The feng shui really is bad.

“What’s wrong?” True Lord Kumu asked, maintaining his composure despite the urgency.

“Mu Kong... is dead... he died halfway up Seven Colors Peak!” the deacon reported.

True Lord Kumu’s face changed dramatically.

“Let’s go!”

He waved his sleeve and, along with Elder Xuan Chong, flew to Seven Colors Peak.

When they landed halfway up the peak, True Lord Kumu saw a familiar towering tree.

Once, he had met secretly with the Empress of the Great Shang, now the Dowager Empress Mu You, under this very tree.

But now, Mu Kong’s body lay there, split in two as if sliced cleanly by a sword.

Jiang Lingsu stood nearby, wearing an orange dress that made her look like a bee.

“What happened?” True Lord Kumu asked.

“I have,” the old Earth Turtle responded, his body thin and frail, though Qi Yuan knew this was merely an appearance. This old man’s defense was likely stronger than that of the Grand Palace Lord of the Radiant Palace.

“How powerful are Yin Gods?” Qi Yuan asked.

The old Earth Turtle appeared thoughtful, recalling the Master of Yunzhong Pavilion’s advice to describe the Yin Gods as extremely powerful. However, even without this advice, the old Earth Turtle genuinely believed Yin Gods were incredibly strong.

“The Yin God realm is the realm of immortal gods. I’ve seen the owner of the Emperor’s Shock Dragon Crown, Wulong Sovereign. He is a Yin God of the Second Step.”

“The Second Step?”

“The Yin God realm is divided into seven small steps, from the First Step to the Seventh Step. The First to the Third Step are collectively known as Sovereigns. The Fourth Step is known as Great Sovereigns. Once all seven steps are completed, one becomes... a Yang God!”

“A Purple Mansion cultivator must condense a Divine Aperture and transform their mana into divine power to become a Yin God. Cultivation in the Yin God realm involves expanding the Divine Aperture. Each additional Divine Aperture roughly doubles their strength. With 12 Divine Apertures, one is considered to be in the Second Step. With 36 Divine Apertures, one reaches the Third Step.”

“When you say ‘doubles,’ do you mean a linear increase or an exponential one?” Qi Yuan asked.

If it were an exponential increase, that would be terrifying.

The old Earth Turtle didn’t understand Qi Yuan’s meaning.

“Roughly speaking, how many First Step Sovereigns would it take to defeat an 11 Divine Aperture Sovereign?” Qi Yuan rephrased.

“At least ten, maybe dozens, or even hundreds. The further along they are in their Divine Apertures, the more divine power they possess. Wulong Sovereign, at the Second Step with 13 Divine Apertures, could unleash an attack as powerful as that of a Sixth or Seventh Divine Aperture Sovereign with the incomplete Emperor’s Shock Dragon Crown.”

“And how many Divine Apertures has Yeqiong Sovereign opened?” Qi Yuan asked.

The old Earth Turtle smiled helplessly. “Such secrets are beyond my knowledge.”

Qi Yuan now had a general understanding of the Yin God realm. The differences in power within this realm were vast.

At this moment, the old Earth Turtle added in a low voice, “Some time ago, after Senior’s battle with the Radiant Palace in the Void, I personally went to see the remnants of the battle in Cuiyun Continent...”

When Qi Yuan had summoned the projection of his Golden Core, it had caused great destruction. Although it was merely a projection and not the actual Golden Core, it had still created significant remnants.

“Based on the remnants left behind from the battle, I estimate that the battle was at the level of a Second Step Yin God,” the old Earth Turtle said with a look of awe.

Qi Yuan, hearing this, began calculating.

The projection of my Stellar Golden Core that crossed universes was only at the level of the Second Step?

But on reflection, it made sense. After all, it had crossed a universe and was only a projection, not the actual Golden Core.

Clearly, it was still too weak.

Qi Yuan felt a sense of urgency.

“What’s the strongest Yin God in the Canglan Realm? Is there a Yang God?” Qi Yuan asked.

“This I do not know, but I can confirm that the Eastern Lands has no Great Sovereign, only Sovereigns,” the old Earth Turtle replied.

“Hmm.” Qi Yuan nodded, thinking that Yeqiong Sovereign, at best, was only at the Third Step.

The old Earth Turtle left.

The grand hall was now empty except for Qi Yuan.

He looked at the techniques in the storage bag, his gaze intense.

“The Yin Gods are indeed strong, but unfortunately... my Stellar Golden Core is in another world.”

“What if Yeqiong Sovereign is at the Third Step?”

According to the old Earth Turtle, the Third Step would have at least 36 Divine Apertures, with a perfect count of 81.

If Yeqiong Sovereign had 81 Divine Apertures, Qi Yuan knew he couldn’t win against him now.

“No, I must prioritize advancing along the Golden Core Path!”

Qi Yuan looked inward at his dantian and found that his Solar True Fire had accumulated to a significant degree.

It had only been ten days here, but in that universe, a thousand years had passed.

“Solar True Fire... devour!”

At that moment, Qi Yuan activated his Solar True Fire.

Instantly, his dantian became scorching hot.

Meanwhile, in the vast universe, flames on a star began to flicker.

A cold, beautiful girl in a black dress opened her eyes, a wisp of Solar True Fire burning in her palm.

She looked at the thirteen planets before her, a hint of excitement on her face.

“Solar True Fire, go!”

With the girl’s command, the golden flames on the star surged.

The star’s size suddenly increased tenfold, then a hundredfold.

In the Canglan Realm, the small sun in the sky grew even brighter, flashing once.

All the ordinary people, and even cultivators, couldn’t help but glance at the small sun in confusion.

In the vast universe, Solar True Fire blazed.

In all directions, the intense flames burned.

The mythical fire devoured everything, spreading its massive wave of heat across the vast universe.

Thirteen massive planets, stars so large that mortals could never measure them in a lifetime, were as small as dust under the Solar True Fire.

One, two, three... thirteen planets were successively devoured by the Solar True Fire.

Whether solid, gaseous, or icy, these cosmic bodies were all consumed by the flames.

Ningtao’s eyes flashed with joy. “I’ve gained a few more palaces.”

In the Canglan Realm, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but burp for the first time since he started cultivating.

He looked inside his dantian and saw the projections of many stars.

Though “many” was an exaggeration—it was only fourteen.

One star, thirteen planets, and several insignificant small bodies.

“I’ve started collecting stamps!”

“The next target is to devour a star!”

Qi Yuan felt that he still had plenty of Solar True Fire left.

“If one star can’t crush Yeqiong Sovereign, what about two?”