Chapter 1033: Riddle of the Stars
But there was nothing that could be done about the different inheritances tied to their birth. Li Kuanglan herself wasn’t less talented than Ji Tianqing, but the gap was too large between the Jingtang Li clan and the Pointer Monarch’s Imperial clan.
The outcome of such a difference was the same between lower continents and the higher ones, just as it was between Evernight and the Empire. All the cruelty, death, war, and conflict was just for resources and the space to exist and expand.
Li Kuanglan could look on her peers with the help of her special origin power and Cold Moon’s Embrace, but she was immediately no longer a match for Ji Tianqing after losing the weapon. The gap would grow even bigger by the time their cultivation had advanced by one level. The Pointer Monarch’s inheritance would only show its true might after reaching the divine champion realm.
Having cultivated Excavator, Qianye naturally understood this special characteristic of the secret art. This secret art would grow increasingly powerful as his own cultivation and physical strength grew. In the end, there would be no limit to his strength.
It was only natural for Li Kuanglan to lament her fate. Qianye didn’t know how to console her because this was one of the fundamental rules upon which the world ran. He thought about it for some time and then said, “Don’t think too much about it. If I see a suitable cultivation art for you in the future, I’ll definitely get it. A sword like Cold Moon’s Embrace is difficult to obtain, but I’ll go over to Evernight after we get out of this place and see if I can snatch one for you.”
Li Kuanglan chuckled. “Dummy! Where will you even find a sword like that? Are you looking to die? You really don’t know how to console people.”
Qianye became distressed. “I wasn’t trying to console you, when we get out…”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when his mouth was covered up. Li Kuanglan sighed. “I know you’ll really do it, but there’s no need. I don’t want you to take risks, especially for me. And remember not to make promises so easily, especially to women. You have a lot of problems coming up for you in the future, you can only do so much.”
Qianye was baffled, unable to understand the meaning behind her words. Li Kuanglan wasn’t about to explain, either. She simply moved back to lean on Qianye’s body, pointing at the Constellation Well. “Our Li family’s secret art isn’t entirely behind other people. In truth, even the Imperial clan might not be superior in terms of understanding the Constellation Well. Most people know that the power of the stars is vital to the formation of the origin crystal, but what else? Look at those stars, there are smaller ones and bigger ones, stronger ones and weaker ones.”
Qianye nodded; he had also noticed this. The moment he entered the Constellation Well, he sensed many of the stars inside and felt as though he could almost reach out to touch their power. This was inconceivable because the phenomenon couldn’t be explained with common sense.
According to the peerless experts who had been exploring the void, the vast expanse beyond the twenty-seven continents wasn’t just nothingness. The stars everyone could see at night were actually enormous continents or celestial bodies akin to the Void Valley Star. They might even be small worlds like the Evernight Continent.
The visual power of these peerless experts was naturally superior to that of the masses. Their words also held a different weight.
If these stars were continents, planets, or worlds, how could one draw upon their power in the Constellation Well? What were those stars at the bottom of the valley? What kind of world existed beyond them?
Qianye felt more confused the more he thought about it. The universe was vast and incomparably frightening, but it also held an irresistible allure, drawing experts of every generation to step into the void and explore the secrets hidden deep within it.
“What exactly are those stars?” Qianye asked.
Li Kuanglan stared blankly for a while. “I don’t know, our Li clan ancestors aren’t very sure, either. Back then, the deceased ancestor went about five hundred meters into the well but returned after failing to hold out. According to him, there was only boundless emptiness even at that depth, and even a thousand meters might not be enough to truly go through the Constellation Well. The spatial shearing forces had already reached an indefensible degree at five hundred meters, even a divine champion wouldn’t last for very long. The ancestor felt that a thousand meters was the limit for a heavenly monarch or great dark monarch.”
“That means this Constellation Well is impossible to get through?”
“That might not be certain. Those with a body several times stronger than a great dark monarch might be able to cross.”
That was more or less nonsense.
Li Kuanglan pointed into the well. “Did you notice? Some of the stars are brighter than the others.”
Qianye nodded. It was common sense that stars would have differing brightness, and those in the Constellation Well were no exception. There were big, brilliant stars as well as dim but voluminous ones, but of course, small dark ones made up the majority.
Li Kuanglan pointed in succession. “This one, this one, and the group here are all special stars that possess far more power than the others. If you can draw upon their power, your chances of forming an origin crystal will improve sharply. There are a total of seven such stars, collectively termed the Seven Radiants by our family.”
In truth, those weren’t the only stars with increased power. It was just that the seven were easier to sense and communicate with. The Li family’s divination arts used the Celestial Rite Array as their core, and even several of their secret arts were based upon communicating with one of the Seven Radiants. It was just that these arts had to be paired with the Li family’s unique mental cultivation methods and were useless to Qianye and Ji Tianqing.
Even with the help of secret arts, communicating with the Seven Radiants would take far more time than it would with ordinary stars. Every moment in the Constellation Well would drain massive amounts of origin power. Even one of Li Kuanglan’s cultivation could barely produce a medium-grade origin crystal despite having nearly fallen to the bottom of the well. If she had tried to communicate with the Seven Radiants, she wouldn’t have lasted until the moment of condensation.
Be it Ji Tianqing or Li Kuanglan, both of them didn’t have enough origin power to support the pursuit of higher-grade origin crystals. They could only count on their luck and resonate with the first star they could sense, prioritizing the condensation of a crystal above all else.
Qianye’s origin power cultivation, on the other hand, far exceeded the two girls. His every origin vortex contained several times the energy compared to other experts. That would give him a unique advantage inside the Constellation Well. Li Kuanglan had mentioned the Seven Radiants so that he could decide for himself if he would like to try communicating with them.
At this moment, there was a flash in the Constellation Well as Ji Tianqing spat out an origin crystal from her mouth and into her palm. She looked quite weak by this time and only slightly better than Li Kuanglan.
Qianye raised his brows as he stared intently at Ji Tianqing, waiting to swoop in for the rescue. However, Ji Tianqing produced several small fruits in the blink of an eye and stuffed them into her mouth. Her aura erupted, and she shot out of the Constellation Well like an arrow.
Ji Tianqing’s aura fell drastically after leaving the Constellation Well. She collapsed to the ground, barely able to stand.
Li Kuanglan hurried over to support her to a large rock and fed her some water.
Ji Tianqing’s countenance improved after the drink. She fished out a stimulant and injected it into the side of her neck. Slowly, her origin power began to recover.
After a moment of rest, she picked up the origin crystal for careful examination.
The crystal was translucent, clear, and filled with numerous interlacing golden threads. The origin power inside was a bit denser than the one Li Kuanglan had produced, but the number of golden wisps inside was on the sparser side. In that regard, it was inferior to that entirely blue origin crystal. Qianye sensed the origin crystal and found that it could increase one’s origin power slightly and, at the same time, improve the expert’s utilization of origin power.
This ability could be considered practical, and an increase in origin power was always welcome. All in all, this origin crystal was also at the same level as the one Li Kuanglan had produced—both were medium-grade.
Considering the girls’ strength, being able to condense a medium-grade origin crystal on the first try could be considered a success. Most people would either fail or end up with ordinary grade crystals, and the occasional medium-grade product was something worth celebrating. An expert stuck at rank-seventeen without any hope of advancement wouldn’t be too far below the weakest divine champion if he were to obtain this crystal. If this person were to obtain a high-grade origin crystal, he would come fairly close to divine champion in terms of combat strength despite the mismatch in power.
Families with no overseeing divine champion, insufficient secret art inheritances, and those with mediocre younger generations would do their utmost to obtain origin crystals in hopes of upgrading their clan’s power.
Even in a clan as large as the Song clan, some of its members weren’t quite alarmed that Duchess An was at the end of her lifespan. The main reason was because they had enough money to buy some high-grade origin crystals or even some top-grade ones. As long as they had money to burn, problems were no longer problems.
This was also the reason why the crystals were so expensive.
Condensing two origin crystals was a happy outcome even for people of Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan’s status. After catching her breath, Ji Tianqing laughed. “With these two crystals, our investment into the Storm Pearls have been recouped, and we still have seven more! We’ll be rich if we just produce one more origin crystal, and our trip would’ve been worth it.”
Li Kuanglan nodded.
Ji Tianqing said to Qianye, “We’re counting on you, you know. If you can produce a high-grade origin crystal, you would’ve covered a good chunk of Li Kuanglan’s Cold Moon’s Embrace. If you can produce even more origin crystals, I’ll make the decision and let her spend the night with you. How’s that?”
Li Kuanglan’s face turned bright red. She tried to pinch Ji Tianqing’s mouth, but the latter dodged and attacked her chest instead, tearing at her buttons and clothes. In the end, it was Li Kuanglan who fell into a miserable state.
Qianye was greatly distressed by Ji Tianqing’s explicitness, but all he could do was pretend not to hear. And judging from her reaction, it would seem Li Kuanglan didn’t really mind, either. That was what made Qianye truly nervous. He let out a dry cough and pointed toward the well. “It’s time I go in. This place isn’t so peaceful, who knows what unexpected troubles may arise if we drag this out.”
Ji Tianqing had already used a recovery medicine. So, she wasn’t as weak as Li Kuanglan and was soon eliciting cries of surprise from the latter. After hearing Qianye’s words, she said without even looking up, “What’s the rush? I’ll succeed very soon, won’t you wait to watch the show? Although you’ve seen all there is to see, there’s no loss in looking again.”
Qianye said awkwardly, “Give me the Storm Pearls, we need to get on with proper business.”
Ji Tianqing tossed out a Storm Pearl before reaching down toward Li Kuanglan again. “You head down first, I need to teach this lass a lesson. I’ll have a hearty meal ready for you when you’re back!”
At this point, Li Kuanglan had been pressed down and was struggling on the ground. The scene was simply too beautiful.
Qianye didn’t dare watch any longer. He caught the Storm Pearl, calmed his thoughts, and jumped into the Constellation Well. Just as he was entering the well, he heard Li Kuanglan’s cry, “Get your hands out!”