Stealing Immortal

The Five Realms of Star Formation Cultivation.

The first is Starlight Body, the second is Host Spirit Scroll, the third is Xuanji Suspension, the fourth is Celestial Market Eternal Radiance, and the fifth is Burial in the Tai Xu.

What he now held was merely the first volume, Starlight Body, which came with two adages: ”Know the Dipper and discern the world; take the constellations into my embrace,” and ”The Sun, Moon, and Five Stars temper the divine eye, birthing the Star Sand Pattern in the pupil.”

In other words, just by mastering this first volume, one could discern the stars in all four directions, nurture the Power of the Stars within one’s body, and refine the Star Sand Pattern in one’s eyes.

With this, he would be able to observe the Sun and Moon, recognize grand trends, seek fortune while avoiding calamity, and foresee events. Chen Qingyang had longed for this technique, and now that he had it, it was impossible to say he didn’t like it.

’But then again,’ he thought, ’if I hadn’t hidden this Cultivation Technique and had instead presented it directly to Leng Yueru, I would have had proof of Master Xuan Gui’s collusion with the Demon Sect. The matter would have been settled once and for all.’

’But now... there’s no way I can give it away. I should probably just burn it to a crisp, leaving not a single trace behind.’

Chen Qingyang took out one thousand Immortal Seedlings and applied them to the technique. Instantly, a tremendous change occurred within his body. In the center of his Dantian, five streams of Golden Qi surged out in unison. They merged with the one that usually hid in his Mud Ball Palace and Baihui Acupoint, stirring up a massive wave within his Meridians.

Following this change, the pores all over his body opened wide. Wind swirled around him ceaselessly as Spiritual Qi billowed, all of it pouring into Chen Qingyang’s body. None of his previous breakthroughs had ever been this powerful!

The commotion naturally startled Xu Baoling, who was nearby. She hastily steadied the bottles and jars in the room, trying her best to minimize the noise.

But Chen Qingyang was oblivious to all of this. A scroll of the starry sky was slowly unfurling in his mind, and his thoughts seemed to drift up to the heavens. The stars, once foreign to him, now felt incredibly familiar!

The bright moon, the Seven Stars, constellations grand and small, the twelve zodiacal palaces... and even some he couldn’t name at all were all displaying their splendor to him!

’This also reveals a problem,’ he realized. ’To study this technique, I need a rich knowledge of astrology, an area where I’m a complete blank slate.’

The scroll in his mind continued to transform. It shrank from large to small, then dissolved into countless specks of starlight, reflecting the fates of innumerable living beings... He thought he could see faces floating by—some he recognized, and some he couldn’t recall...

Every person possessed a different fate, a different celestial sign, which manifested as unique changes and radiances in the starry sky... At this moment, he finally understood what kind of method Master Xuan Gui had used to divine his existence among the vast Four Golden Peaks.

After that, his thoughts were once again shrouded in a fog that would never disperse, much like his questions, which had no answers for now. This was as far as he could go.

This meant he had officially begun his training in the Purple Star True Skill.

[Tai Xu Star Pivot Purple Micro True Skill (Starlight Body): (0/3000)]

As he kept his eyes closed, tiny golden words appeared. The upper limit of the Cultivation Technique had tripled, and the Cultivation in his Dantian grew much more robust. Although he couldn’t sense any trend of a breakthrough, each wisp of Golden Qi was now several times stronger than before.

’Looks like breaking through using only this technique will be incredibly difficult. For now, I’ll just focus on the Sword Dao. Besides, unlike other people, I don’t need to worry about things like Enlightenment. As long as I have enough Immortal Seedlings, I can master any Cultivation Technique I want with ease.’

He still had quite a few Immortal Seedlings left, so he pressed on. He applied 249 Immortal Seedlings to the Great Soul Scripture, and in one go, the technique broke through again.

His Divine Soul strengthened, and the world grew clear once more. He could always see more than others and perceive finer details.

More importantly, with a mere thought, Chen Qingyang could seemingly control his consciousness, forming a three-inch-long, formless and intangible Conscious Fish that hovered around his body.

Yu’Er’s senses were his senses, and what Yu’Er saw, he saw. He controlled it, letting it drift about. It went into the small room next door and heard Zhang Ping’s snores. It went to the adjacent courtyard and saw the young woman having a nightmare. It could detect the chirping of birds and insects a mile or two away, but beyond that was only darkness.

This transformation happened silently, born from the most subtle of changes. There was no external sign, and Xu Baoling didn’t notice a thing.

As far as she was concerned, her master had not yet woken up.

[Great Soul Scripture (Fragmented Technique): (0/999999)]

’So many nines... is this the shock the Fragmented Technique brings?’ he thought. ’Does this mean I can comprehend any Cultivation Technique on my own, as long as I can afford the price?’

’Stealing Immortal, oh, Stealing Immortal... you truly are a marvel!’

The Conscious Fish was recalled, dissipating into nothingness before Chen Qingyang. He could coalesce it again whenever he needed it.

The most powerful ability of the Great Soul Scripture was to split the Divine Soul and create another independent self. Could it be that as Yu’Er slowly grew, bearing Chen Qingyang’s will, it would become another Chen Qingyang?

’Perhaps I can continue to practice this Cultivation Technique in the future. I’ll see if I can use the manifestation of a powerful Divine Soul to make Yu’Er transform.’

[Available Immortal Seedlings: 1175]

’After all that, I still have this many Immortal Seedlings left. It just goes to show how frighteningly wealthy an Essence Condensation Cultivator is.’ This adventure had been well worth it. ’An opportunity to risk so little for such a huge reward will be hard to come by again!’

”Master!”

Xu Baoling had been sensing his Qi Mechanism the whole time. After waiting for a long while, she saw Chen Qingyang slowly open his eyes and asked with a concerned expression.

Looking at her now, although she was no longer in such a sorry state, her aura was still unstable. She had clearly suffered greatly at the hands of that woman from the Demon Sect.

”Sigh!” Chen Qingyang let out a breath. ”I was careless today. I didn’t expect them to have such methods. I was so preoccupied just now that I didn’t get a chance to say it, but... you’ve suffered.”

Hearing her master speak so earnestly, Xu Baoling was stunned at first. Then, a wave of warmth rose up within her before melting into her heart.

’For him to say something like that proves he doesn’t just see me as a mere servant.’

”I’m fine now, Master, you needn’t worry. But just now, I saw that your Qi Mechanism was changing erratically, and your body seemed to be surrounded by the Power of the Stars. I thought Master Xuan Gui had come back to attack again.”

Of course. No matter how wild her imagination, she would never have guessed that Chen Qingyang had just mastered the basics of the Ziwei Scripture in such a short time.

”The Gold Coin Sword is still with me, so nothing too serious can happen. Tell me, how did that woman appear?”

Xu Baoling still had lingering fears just thinking about it. ”When that woman appeared, I was instantly immobilized. I immediately realized it was an extremely powerful Array. She didn’t speak to me and wouldn’t let me speak. She just waited for a long time. I... I wanted to warn you, Master, but...”

Chen Qingyang waved his hand, cutting her off. ”It has nothing to do with you. This was also my first time witnessing the sophistication of such an Array.”

She was experienced in Cultivation and more knowledgeable in this area than Chen Qingyang, so she immediately began to explain. ”You may not know this, Master, but any of the Seven Arts of Immortal Cultivation, when mastered, can possess earth-shattering power. To say nothing of the Circulation of Stars Demon Suppression Array, even that woman’s Array can isolate the Five Elements, sever Yin and Yang, and form a world of its own.”

Chen Qingyang nodded. ”Cultivation is not easy. If one’s knowledge is too narrow, it’s very possible to be schemed against. I’ll have to study them as well when I get the chance in the future!”

Xu Baoling said, ”Master is already incredible in the Alchemy Dao alone. If you also studied Arrays, you would be like a tiger that has grown wings...”

They chatted for a bit, which served to calm both of their nerves. Before long, the sky began to brighten.

Chen Qingyang specifically instructed Xu Baoling that from now on, whenever he wasn’t around, she was to hide in the small adjacent courtyard. It wasn’t difficult for her to do so in her Divine Soul state.

He pushed the door open and stood in the courtyard.

He looked up. The bright sun hung high in the sky, yet he could still see the faint specks of countless stars in the firmament and the constellations moving along their trajectories. This was the effect of ”Know the Dipper and discern the world; take the constellations into my embrace.” It was just that his mastery wasn’t deep enough, so the vision wasn’t perfectly clear.

”Senior Brother Chen, did you hear the commotion last night?” It was Li Sheng who came over to ask.

’If not for Leng Yueru, I wouldn’t have known the first thing about what happened,’ he thought, then replied, ”I heard it. A massive clap of thunder, extremely loud.”

Then Zhang Ping sidled over. ”Isn’t that strange? Logically, spring thunder shouldn’t come this early. That’s a sign of a natural disaster! Don’t tell me even the Immortal Sect has things like the Earth Dragon and floods?”

He had only come to pursue Immortal Cultivation because his family had suffered such a disaster, so he was extremely superstitious about these things.

Chen Qingyang cut the two youths off. ”Don’t let your imaginations run wild. The things you’re talking about could never happen here.”

”Mm, that’s true. After all, Immortals are the ones who summon the wind and rain, and we’re here pursuing Immortal Cultivation,” Zhang Ping said, nodding thoughtfully.

Li Sheng then asked Chen Qingyang, ”Senior Brother Chen, have you heard any news about Junior Sister Lin recently?”

’If Leng Yueru was fast enough, Lin Qingxuan should be with her by now, right?’

Chen Qingyang shook his head. ”No, but I can ask around for you in the next day or two!”

But Li Sheng said, ”No need. I was just asking. If there’s no news, then so be it.”

”Haha!” Zhang Ping burst out laughing. ”What are you pretending for? ’If there’s no news, then so be it’...”

But Li Sheng said with great seriousness, ”No, you don’t understand. I’m not pretending. I’m respecting her own Dao.”