Chapter 188: Stars

Xue Shi Castle.

A streak of light fell from the sky and in a flash landed right in front of the castle gates.

“It’s the Young Master.”

“The Young Master has returned.” The guards at the castle immediately felt delighted. Ever since Dongbo Lie had become a Marquis and remained the ruler of Xueying Domain, the people of Xue Shi Castle still addressed Dongbo Xueying as the Young Master.

The gates opened.

Dongbo Xueying immediately spotted Yu Jingqiu, dressed in white robes, standing there like a celestial fairy. She was known as the most beautiful woman among the Xia Clan’s transcendents, and could indeed be considered the most beautiful woman in the entire Xia Clan! Many of the guards and servants inside Xue Shi Castle, regardless of gender, would involuntarily be affected by Yu Jingqiu’s beauty. This was even under the condition that Yu Jingqiu had cast a minor spell to obscure the clarity of her appearance to the guards and servants.

“Master Xueying!” Yu Jingqiu joyfully exclaimed.

“Jingqiu.” Dongbo Xueying walked over, and Yu Jingqiu naturally linked arms with him.

They had long been very intimate.

“Why did you come back so late? You arrived half a month later than me,” Yu Jingqiu smiled. “Did you devote yourself so thoroughly to searching for the demon traces? I heard that many transcendents have gained nothing at all. The demons have completely hidden themselves.”

“I was contemplating my spear techniques and got too immersed in it,” Dongbo Xueying replied. “Actually, I managed to kill a fourth-tier demon this time.”

“A fourth-tier demon?” Yu Jingqiu was surprised. “You actually killed one?”

Killing a fourth-tier demon rewarded ten thousand contribution points, enough to entice many transcendents, but the difficulty was extremely high. These demons possessed strength comparable to those ranked between the tenth and thirtieth positions on the Saint Ranking.

“You must keep this a secret,” Dongbo Xueying urged.

“Mmhm,” Yu Jingqiu nodded eagerly, her heart brimming with joy for Dongbo Xueying. She was delighted for him—how quickly he had become capable of slaying demons of the Saint Ranking level. It was certain he would become a Half-God in the future.

“Brother!” A group of people emerged from the castle to greet him. Handsome Qing Shi came along with his girlfriend Dai Ya, followed by Dongbo Lie and his wife, as well as Uncle Zong and Uncle Tong. As for Dai Ya’s elder sister, Dai Lu, and her boyfriend Kong Yuanfeng, they had already returned to Changfeng Academy long ago.

This warm reception made Dongbo Xueying’s face light up with a bright smile.

These were all his family.

…

Six months spent searching for demon traces, six months spent resting.

This was the routine for nearly every transcendent. Whether at Xue Shi Castle or out searching for demons, Dongbo Xueying devoted himself entirely to refining his spear techniques.

The demons had hidden themselves very thoroughly. Only a few first- and second-tier demons, unable to contain themselves any longer, secretly devoured human souls. The transcendents of the Xia Clan painstakingly searched and staked out for traces of demons, only to eventually discover—after a year or two of effort—that all they found were first- and second-tier demons.

The Xia Clan understood.

This was the calm before the storm! The upcoming demon war would be brutal, so this unusual silence, where all the demons had withdrawn, couldn’t last for long.

Dongbo Xueying seized every moment to refine his spear techniques.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh~~~”

Howling winds roared and snowflakes danced wildly.

At the beginning of the year 9665, during the coldest time of the year, on an open mountaintop of Xue Shi Peak, Yu Jingqiu approached from afar and saw Dongbo Xueying practicing his spear techniques atop the mountain.

“Ultimate Piercing,” a pure offensive essence.

The reason Dongbo Xueying sought other mysteries was to perfect his spear techniques.

Nowadays,

he used the mystery of Earth to carry and integrate Water, Fire, and Wind. Only after fully integrating them into a unified whole did he achieve the vast, boundless, and unified Earth he pursued.

“Boom! Boom! Boom~~~”

With each adjustment Dongbo Xueying made, his spear techniques evolved continuously, and the fusion of the rules and mysteries became increasingly refined and complete.

“Master Xueying usually stops practicing after three hours, why hasn’t he stopped today?” Yu Jingqiu, watching from afar, felt puzzled. She had come to call Dongbo Xueying for lunch.

“Jingqiu Elder Sister, why hasn’t my brother come for lunch yet? The food is about to get cold,” Qing Shi flashed over from a distance in a blur and stood beside her, asking in confusion.

“Don’t rush. Don’t interrupt your brother’s cultivation,” Yu Jingqiu said. “Since your brother hasn’t stopped cultivating, he naturally has his own reasons. You all go ahead and eat first, don’t wait for us.”

“Okay.” Qing Shi watched for a while and muttered, “I can’t understand it at all.”

He quickly left.

His cultivation level was still far behind Dongbo Xueying’s. Although Dongbo Xueying had given his younger brother many rare treasures from the Chiyun Mountain World upon his return, Qing Shi remained stuck at the Silver Moon Mage level. Breaking through to the Named Rank was clearly not easy. After Dongbo Xueying reached the Saint level, the help provided by ordinary resources became minimal. Only the rarest and most supreme resources could offer significant benefits, but those were extremely precious—throwing in ten thousand jin of source stones wouldn’t buy much, and even then, the improvement wouldn’t be dramatic. Given this, it was better to focus solely on cultivation. If he devoted himself more earnestly, he might progress faster.

The snow fell more and more heavily.

Yu Jingqiu sensed that Dongbo Xueying’s spear techniques were growing increasingly formidable.

“Boom! Boom! Boom~~~” Suddenly, Dongbo Xueying’s spear techniques became incredibly heavy, each move exuding a terrifying power that seemed to freeze the surrounding space. Within a hundred meters, a massive sphere formed. Inside the sphere, everything became blurred and distorted, difficult to see clearly.

“What’s happening?” Yu Jingqiu looked on with some tension. She sensed the terrifying pressure within the hundred-meter-diameter sphere, where even a tiny fraction of it could crush her to death.

Inside the sphere,

the cliff beneath Dongbo Xueying’s feet had already turned to dust. He was now hovering in midair.

As the four mysteries of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind fully integrated into a unified whole, reaching the ultimate beauty he pursued, everything began to change. The surrounding space started to solidify, and the gravitational forces began to shift. Vaguely,

Dongbo Xueying seemed to see the vast northern snow plains again, then the deserts, the oases, and the plains and fields…

The snow plains, deserts, oases, plains, and mountains… there were thickets of wild grass, twisted withered trees, flowing rivers, galloping beasts, people dancing around campfires, villagers cooking meals with rising smoke, armies charging with thunderous hooves shaking the earth…

The wind carried seeds and flowers bloomed… water flowed and the soil revived all life… people gathered around fires for warmth and survival…

All of this began to shrink rapidly.

Or perhaps his vision expanded endlessly.

Dongbo Xueying ‘saw’ all of this.

The endless earth, shrinking rapidly, became— a massive sphere!

It was a star!

Slowly rotating, this star bore all forms of life—humans and beasts alike.

“Star?” Dongbo Xueying vaguely understood.

The Earth, carrying and embracing all things, would ultimately form a star! The most perfect star.

Indeed.

True inclusiveness should be complete, without edges or sharp corners. And a ‘star’ was a perfect sphere. Every piece of land was equal. A star… was the most perfect form of Earth under the natural laws of heaven and earth.