The old man invited Lu Yu, speaking in a very mysterious manner.
“It’s fine to take a look. But I won’t agree to it,” Lu Yu replied with a smile.
“Do you have such confidence?” the old man smiled, becoming even more mysterious.
Lu Yu said, “My people cannot go?”
The old man shook his head and said, “Of course not. Making an exception for you is already special enough. Not everyone can just enter that place.”
“Alright, I’ll go with you. But—” Lu Yu looked at the old man and said, “This time you’ve cleaned up the entire city and taken away the people I captured. Once everything is over, you’ll still have to give me what’s rightfully mine.”
“You can rest assured about that; not a penny will be missing from what’s due to you.”
The old man reached into his robe and pulled out a bone short sword, lightly slicing through the air. The void tore open like fabric, creating a rift.
The old man walked into the crack and turned around, gesturing to Lu Yu with a wave of his hand.
Lu Yu thought for a moment, then followed the old man inside.
It was as if passing through a door led to a desert on the other side.
It is still night right now.
The desert is swept by howling cold winds and adorned with a brilliant starry sky.
The howling cold wind cut across the body like a knife.
The two stood beneath a rock formation shaped like the snout of a beast, located in a desert where strange stone outcrops rose up.
Deep within the mouth of the stone beast is an oval-shaped light gate, which is pale blue in color and emits almost no light.
Even in the darkness of night, this glow is barely visible.
Combined with the obstruction of the beast-shaped stone mouth, satellites in the sky also cannot capture the strangeness here.
Lu Yu looked beyond the Shouzui Stone and saw a barren desert stretching endlessly without any visible boundary.
“This place, how did you guys find it?” Lu Yu looked around in surprise.
This light gate is not easy to notice during the day unless you get close to the rock.
Without any breath or reflection, it would require a very careful search to notice it here.
But this situation is really difficult.
Especially when searching thoroughly in a barren desert, it requires a great deal of patience.
“This is the largest desert in Huaxia. Even fierce beasts rarely appear here, so there’s hardly anyone who comes to this place, let alone discovers it,” the old man said. “The year before the apocalypse began, we detected some signs indicating what was coming. That year, we spent a huge amount of money to search across Huaxia. Of course, all of this was conducted in secret. More than five thousand soldiers alone died in this desert.”
The old man said in great sorrow, “Eventually, one person made it here before dying. He was leaning against it, sending out the final signal.”
The old man pointed towards a stone in front of the light gate and said, “It was right there. When we received the news, we couldn’t describe our feelings at that moment. When I stood here, I knew that I owed so many people far too much. He could have lived, instead of dying.”
The old man was moved, and even his face, which had long shown no emotional fluctuation, could not help but turn sorrowful.
The elderly man stepped into the light gate first.
Lu Yu followed him inside as well.
This place is not void; before the two of them stands a mountain, towering ten thousand feet high. On this mountain are countless caves.
Lu Yu looked at the old man in confusion and asked, “Are all the members of the Star Team in the cave?”
“That’s right,” the old man nodded. “This is where the Star Group is located. Let me take you inside, and you’ll see what’s here.”
The old man spoke and led Lu Yu into a cave at the foot of the mountain.
It looked like a cave from the outside. However, as Lu Yu stepped inside, he discovered it was a small world.
On a vast plain, a man is engaged in a fierce battle with a golden lion towering a zhang high.
That man was extremely powerful, nearly two meters tall, with his entire body emanating a golden glow.
Its power reaches up to ten thousand zuns.
This was Lu Yu’s evaluation of that person.
What surprised Lu Yu the most was that the person’s body felt not like a human’s, but more like it was made of steel.
His fists were like war hammers; every strike seemed to shatter the heavens and split the earth.
In terms of combat strength, this person is no less than Yang Lie and others.
The golden lion was already severely injured and was on the brink of death.
Let the man roar furiously, his entire body bulging with muscles, transforming into a giant over ten zhang tall who instantly tore the golden lion to shreds.
The blood from the golden lion poured over the man’s body, and the flesh and blood transformed into streams of golden gas that entered his body.
That person absorbed the metallic energy, and his entire body began to emit a golden glow, as if he were forged from gold.
The blood was also being absorbed by that person, enhancing their strength.
His Stellar Soul is a mutated one called the Golden Body Stellar Soul. This kind of Stellar Soul can continuously strengthen the physical body and, when activated, transform the body into something as solid and indestructible as pure gold. Within this cave, a Golden Beast appears periodically among the herd. The absorption of a Golden Beast’s blood can enhance one’s power, and the golden energy emitted by its body is exactly the essential energy required by the Golden Body Stellar Soul.
Lu Yu said seriously, “This space probably wouldn’t just happen to have a group of Golden Beasts available for this person to absorb, right?”
The old man smiled without saying a word, then turned around with Lu Yu and headed back up the mountain, walking toward a nearby cave.
As the two of them stepped in, Lu Yu immediately saw a sea of blood.
In a sea of blood, a person sat cross-legged. His entire body was crimson, even his hair and eyes were red.
When he stood there, he resembled a red demon.
The Sea of Blood is real—it truly is an endless ocean of blood.
Lu Yu and the old man were merely standing at the edge of this vast ocean.
The person sitting in the sea of blood would, at regular intervals, have every pore on their body suddenly open up and absorb a large amount of blood into their body.
This time, at least hundreds or even thousands of tons of blood were swallowed by that person in the Sea of Blood.
At this moment, a surge of blood flames would rise from his upper body. Behind him, the blood flames transformed into a long, crimson dragon. The dragon’s eyes suddenly opened, shining like two crimson stars.
“Blood-weeping Star Soul!” A shiver ran through Lu Yu’s heart.
The old man said, “That’s right, the Blood-Weeping Star Soul—one of the Nine Great Mutated Star Souls.”
The Blood-Tear Star Soul is the most mysterious among the nine mutated star souls. To cultivate the Blood-Tear Star Soul, blood is an absolute necessity.
The heir of the Blood-Star Soul in every generation is the most malevolent and ferocious among the Nine Star Souls.
Because allowing the Blood-Soaked Star Soul to grow to the power of ten thousand sovereigns would require at least the blood of a hundred billion living beings to sustain.
One can imagine how many living beings would perish once this Star Soul grows and matures.
“He is the Blood Star Soul, and coincidentally, there is a sea of blood here to supply all his needs,” said the elder.
Lu Yu looked at the old man and said earnestly, “Are you trying to tell me that every cave in this mountain can transform into different cultivation venues depending on who enters, providing them with the fastest possible cultivation speed?”
The old man nodded with a smile and said, “You’re right. Everyone who comes here has a suitable cultivation place that allows their power to be maximized and evolved to its ultimate potential. Among the nine mutated star souls, we have the Radiant Moon Star Soul, the Parasitic Star Soul, and the Blood Crying Star Soul. We’ve observed that the Earth Soul Star has not had any successor appear, and in fact, it has not shown any heir for many generations. Currently, the Celestial Deity Organization possesses the Flame Star Soul, the Precognition Star Soul, and another mutated star soul known as Chaos. With you, there are now a total of eight mutated star souls present. Out of the nine mutated star souls, eight have already emerged, leaving only one left to appear.”
“Yaoyue!” Lu Yu thought of the frail girl and said, “Have you even recruited her into the Star Group?”
“Actually, you can consider that this space gathers the most powerful group of people in Huaxia. You may not believe it, but everyone here is no weaker than you, and some have even surpassed you. Qi Xue Star Soul recently reached the level of Ten Thousand Zun, and he has already discovered the method to become a King Zun. Someone else successfully achieved the Hundred Refinements Demon Body during battle within a cave, and is now beginning to challenge for the throne. And there’s more…”
The old man said.
The achievements of every person he mentioned were enough to startle Lu Yu and make his expression turn solemn.
Lu Yu frowned and said, “Why didn’t you bring out such power earlier instead of hiding it away?”
The old man said, “In the three years before the apocalypse, China already had awakened individuals—actually, every country had them. No one can guarantee what other countries have obtained. It might be similar to ours, or perhaps completely different. However, a country like the United States certainly holds extremely powerful hidden cards. The reason China and America have never engaged in direct conflict is precisely because neither side can fully grasp the other’s true capabilities. The Star Division is China’s ultimate trump card—it won’t be deployed unless absolutely necessary. If you join the Star Division, you can come here to cultivate anytime you want, and you can also leave whenever you wish. This is a special exception granted just for you.”
After finishing his words, the old man looked at Lu Yu earnestly.
He didn’t believe that Lu Yu, upon seeing this, wouldn’t be moved and remain calm.
Lu Yu was indeed taken aback.
And I truly felt my heart flutter.
He took a deep breath and said, “If it were someone else, they would certainly agree to your request. However, as for me, this still isn’t enough to attract me.”
Lu Yu smiled and shook his head.
It’s a very special place. Those who enter here with sufficient talent and patience will surely make a sensation in the world once they step out.
Unfortunately, he still had too many things to do and couldn’t stay here forever.
“You—” the old man looked at Lu Yu in shock and said, “Even so, you’re still not tempted!”
“My heart is moved. But this place doesn’t belong to me.” Lu Yu said seriously, “You’ve failed. I still cannot agree to join the Star Team. I don’t trust anyone, for there are people I must protect. I will use my own strength to safeguard them. If I join, I may become stronger, but there are still many things I have yet to accomplish—for my family, for my city. What I seek, you do not know. Therefore, please stop inviting me. I won’t come here again, nor will I join the Star Team.”
The old man was genuinely surprised.
He was confident that no one could resist the temptation here, not even Lu Yu, no matter how powerful or influential he might be.
They just happened to guess wrong.
“You’ve really surprised me!” the old man stared at Lu Yu for a long time before sighing and saying, “I never expected that I couldn’t see through you. But perhaps it’s better this way—it will finally make us old fellows give up hope.”
The old man led Lu Yu out of the cave and said, “Since that’s the case, let’s leave. You must promise me that you will not reveal anything you’ve seen here to anyone else.”
“Don’t worry, I can manage that much.”
The two walked out of the light gate and returned to the desert.
The elder took out a bone short sword as he spoke, “Lu Yu, do you know that even mutated star souls have enemies?”
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