Chapter 48: Boundless Stars and Constellations

After reading the line of text in the air, Qu Yi chuckled lightly and immediately flew toward the mountain on the left. With treasures at stake, how could Qu Yi possibly pass them up? After flying for a hundred thousand miles, he finally reached the foot of the mountain on the left and was surprised to find a stone staircase there. At the first step stood a stone tablet inscribed with the words “Stairs to the Summit.” Qu Yi immediately understood that to reach the peak, he had to climb step by step. Sure enough, at that moment, the Artifact God spoke up: “Qu Yi, climb up the stairs honestly. If you fly to the peak, you’ll die instantly.” Hearing this, Qu Yi nodded and said, “I get it. It seems Emperor Hao wants to tell me that to reach the summit, I must progress steadily.” With that, he calmly began climbing the stairs, step by step, toward the peak. After climbing a thousand steps, Qu Yi’s spiritual sense suddenly detected that the space around the mountains contained a primordial energy of the Wood element. This energy formed a hurricane that could likely cut down even a being at the Great Vehicle stage. At this point, Qu Yi not only admired Emperor Hao’s ingenious layout but was also glad he had climbed the stairs honestly. The mountain was exactly 30,000 meters high, with a total of 100,000 steps. It took Qu Yi three days to reach the summit at a steady pace. At the summit, it no longer resembled what it looked like from outside. There was no snow, only a statue made of misty dark stone. The statue stood 100 meters tall, seated, with a green sword in its right hand. Its appearance exuded a sense of comfort, along with an aura of crushing enemies and looking down upon the world. At the foot of the statue was a jade platform shaped like a Bauhinia flower, with another indentation in the center also shaped like a Bauhinia flower. Qu Yi stared at the statue for a long time, deeply captivated by its presence, longing to one day achieve the same level of dominance over the world’s stronglings. Suddenly, the voice of the Artifact God rang out, “Qu Yi, stop daydreaming and go check behind the statue.” Qu Yi snapped out of his trance and immediately followed the Artifact God’s advice, rushing to the back of the statue. There, he found a smooth, shiny mirror with just two words on it: Qingmu. Qingmu? Qu Yi murmured these two words, his face once again filled with astonishment as he finally realized who the statue represented.

Millions of years ago, Emperor Hao arrived suddenly in the cultivation realm with his two subordinates, Qingmu and Shuilin. Soon after, five powerful figures from the Immortal Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Monster Realm joined them, and the fifteen of them pursued Emperor Hao and his two companions. After several battles, Emperor Hao realized he couldn’t hold on much longer, so he created the Haotian Immortal Mansion and entered meditation within it. After leaving the Haotian Immortal Mansion, Qingmu and Shuilin hid the Eight Directions Sword and the Six Directions Knife in various places across the cultivation realm, waiting for powerful cultivators to come to the mansion to claim these treasures.

In the cultivation realm, there is a common saying: one is the Immortal Mansion, two are the Desperate Lands, three are the Lost Treasures, and four are the Dangerous Places. Both the Immortal Mansion and the Lost Treasures are related to Emperor Hao and his two companions. The three Lost Treasures refer to the “Five Qi and Three Flowers” left by Qingmu, the Star Luo Ding left by Shuilin, and the Haotian Sword left by Emperor Hao.

Qu Yi had already obtained the “Five Qi and Three Flowers,” and later acquired the Star Luo Ding from the Taiyuan Gate. In other words, Qu Yi already possessed two of these lost treasures.

As soon as Qu Yi saw the words “Qingmu” behind the statue, he understood that it was indeed Qingmu. He also realized that Qingmu must have gone to Cui Mu Star and hidden the “Five Qi and Three Flowers” secret technique on Zhui Yun Peak, which allowed Qu Yi to obtain it.

Quickly, Qu Yi went to the front of the statue and looked at it excitedly. Qingmu could be considered Qu Yi’s benefactor. Without this secret technique, Qu Yi wouldn’t even be able to cultivate. Without a cultivation method, no amount of luck would help him progress.

At that moment, the voice of the Artifact God sounded again: “Qu Yi, why are you still dazed? Can’t you see that jade platform? Put the ‘Five Qi and Three Flowers’ secret technique card in it. This treasure is destined for you.”

Hearing this, Qu Yi remembered the words left by Emperor Hao—that the treasures on this peak would be obtained by those destined to have them. Now it was clear that only those who possessed the “Five Qi and Three Flowers” secret technique card could obtain the treasures.

Thus, the recessed area in the center of the jade platform matched the shape of the secret technique card. Qu Yi quickly took out the card and placed it in the recess.

The jade platform sensed that the recess was filled, and suddenly a burst of radiant light shot out, enveloping the entire Qingmu statue. Illuminated by the light, it seemed as though the array within the statue had been activated. Suddenly, the entire statue moved backward, revealing a rectangular pit in which lay a pentagonal-shaped treasure.

Qu Yi still hadn’t gone to get the treasure when the Artifact God suddenly started screaming loudly, almost shattering Qu Yi’s entire soul. It was extremely agitated, as if going mad. After a while, Qu Yi’s face turned grim as he angrily shouted, “Artifact God, what’s the matter with you? Screaming like that—my soul almost broke! Do you know you’re trying to kill me?” The Artifact God seemed unable to hear Qu Yi’s words and continued to shout excitedly, “Qu Yi, quickly take the Boundless Star Cluster. Use blood to claim it—it’s a treasure I created.” Ah! Hearing this, Qu Yi stopped thinking about blaming the Artifact God and instead showed astonishment. The treasure beneath the Green Wood Statue was actually created by the Artifact God. Soon, Qu Yi flew over, took the Boundless Star Cluster from the pit, and immediately used his blood to claim it. “The five elements of heaven and earth give rise to all living beings; even the myriad realms are just one realm. The Boundless Star Cluster can travel freely!” Suddenly, these words appeared in Qu Yi’s mind, seemingly emitted by the Boundless Star Cluster, revealing its mystery and immense power. For a long time, Qu Yi still didn’t understand the meaning of these words. At that moment, the Artifact God seemed to have calmed down and said with a smile, “Qu Yi, you must be curious. This Boundless Star Cluster is indeed a treasure I once created. Its grade is extremely high, and you’ll understand its specific effects later. Now, I finally understand how those three from the Haodemperor dynasty, along with the powerful beings from the realms of immortals, demons, and monsters, were able to descend to this world—it’s all because of the Boundless Star Cluster.” Hearing this, Qu Yi was even more amazed. Could the Boundless Star Cluster truly ignore the barriers between realms and travel to other cultivation realms at will? As if sensing Qu Yi’s confusion, the Artifact God continued, “Qu Yi, you don’t need to know the specific reasons now, and I won’t tell you either, unless your strength reaches that level in the future. But one thing I can tell you—isn’t it true I asked you to create a Soul Compass? Now, with just a thought, you can directly travel to where the Soul Compass is.” Hearing this, Qu Yi was even more shocked. The Boundless Star Cluster was even more powerful than a space transmission array. The Soul Compass could be regarded as a clone of one’s own soul, allowing one to locate it at any time. Yet, to reach it, one still needed to use a space transmission array. But with the Boundless Star Cluster, one could go straight to where the Soul Compass was with just one attempt.

Before entering the Haotian Immortal Mansion, Qu Yi actually had some concerns. After leaving, he would surely face attacks from the Great Vehicle-stage cultivators of the ten major sects, forcing him to hide inside the Inch Realm Ball and thus revealing his greatest secret. But now that he possessed the Boundless Star Cluster, there was no need to hide—he could teleport away directly. As for the Soul Compass, Qu Yi had already crafted it long ago. Bai Man, Qing Wu Gui, Wu Yuan, and others had already taken several Soul Compasses to two desolate areas in the cultivation world: the Five Souls Desolation and the Five Elements Extreme Realm. After thinking quickly, Qu Yi smiled and said, “Instrument God, thank you.” Realizing that he had taken both the Star Luo Ding, a crafting treasure once owned by the Instrument God, and now the Boundless Star Cluster crafted by the Instrument God, Qu Yi still felt it necessary to express his gratitude. The Instrument God laughed and said, “Hehe, Qu Yi, you’re only thanking me now? Alright, since you’ve taken both treasures, I’m satisfied. Now that you’ve obtained them, let’s descend from the peak; we still need to venture to the Northern Wasteland to face more challenges.” Hearing this, Qu Yi understood that the Instrument God didn’t want him to ask about the Boundless Star Cluster, so he stopped talking and immediately descended as instructed. At that moment, there were also a few people on the stone steps heading toward the peak—it was the four members of the Taiyuan Sect. It turned out that they had already destroyed the “Heaven and Earth Harmony Array” and seen the message left by Emperor Hao, so they too wanted to come to this mountain on the left to search for treasures. With Qu Yi above and the four from the Taiyuan Sect below, they stared at each other, ready to engage in a fierce battle out of anger. “Qu Yi, how did you get out of the Sumeru Ten Thousand Spirits Array so quickly?” Tai Ming suddenly called out. Facing this question from their sect leader, Qu Yi smiled for a while before saying directly, “A mere illusion array trying to trap me? Well, I can tell you that I was a bit lucky. After entering the array, the Six-Nine Heavenly Calamity struck, destroying the core of the array, which is why I was able to exit quickly.” Hearing this, the four from the Taiyuan Sect were stunned—they had guessed the same thing. “Do you still plan to go for the treasures on the peak?” Tai Ming asked again. Hearing this, Qu Yi’s face turned angry as he shouted, “Tai Ming, it seems you still look down on me. What right do you have to question me? Fine, I’ll just use a Poison Fruit to kill all of you from the Taiyuan Sect.” As he spoke, Qu Yi took out a Poison Fruit from his hand.

As soon as the four members of Taiyuan Gate saw it, their faces immediately showed signs of tension. They were truly afraid that Qu Yi might suddenly go mad and release the Poisonous Fruit right on those stone steps. After all, there was no space to move around on the steps, and they couldn’t fly away; the poisonous gas from the Poisonous Fruit could indeed put the four members of Taiyuan Gate in a difficult situation.