Chapter 4: Starry Sky Projection (Part 2)

The group landed in a forest, the environment they were most familiar with. In the small worlds, forests were the most common—almost anywhere trees could grow, forests would form. They quickly found a suitable spot to rest and cleared a space by a small stream.

Li Ran sat down and said, “Let’s rest for a while and get familiar with the environment and powers here first.”
The group sat cross-legged, a habit formed after entering the small worlds. Since the rules of each small world differed from those of the Spellcraft World, the powers varied as well—some places allowed full use of spellcraft powers, while others only enabled half or even less, depending on how that world’s powers suppressed them.

After a while, Qi Wu Zhen said, “Great… really great. This place isn’t only suitable for spellcraft powers but even better than the Spellcraft World. I’m sure this is exactly the place to worship the stars—there’s no doubt about it. I should be able to advance here!”

Guo Shier Shi, however, was skeptical. He certainly knew this place was ideal for spellcraft powers, but he also had other discoveries. As if having an epiphany, he suddenly understood what starry sky projection meant—this wasn’t the real world but a projection of it.

According to Guo Shier Shi’s understanding, if this world was a river, the small worlds would be the pebbles at the bottom, the starry sky projection would be the riverwater, and the real world would be the world outside the river—clearly distinct from one another. In other words, they were on the right path but hadn’t reached their true destination yet.

“I understand…”
Suddenly, everyone except Aizek and Meili also understood. It was an inexplicable realization—one that could be grasped by entering this strange world and reaching a certain level of cultivation. Of course, only talented individuals could do this; ordinary human lives couldn’t comprehend it.

Shuai Laotou suddenly exclaimed excitedly, “Kid, it seems you can advance again…”
Halechi was even more excited. While sensing the powers of this world, he realized he could advance as well. He had been prepared and had already constructed a virtual ninth-tier altar, but his spiritual power hadn’t been sufficient. Yet just now, he noticed his spiritual power surge dramatically.

Although Aizek and Meili didn’t have as many discoveries, they too felt their powers surge. They could barely control themselves as their bodies swelled suddenly, reaching over three meters in height. Overjoyed, they felt their strength growing wildly.

Li Ran said, “Sacrificing to the stars… it’s truly miraculous.” His power was also rising rapidly. Even after surpassing the ninth-tier altar, it had been difficult for him to accumulate such immense strength. He said, “Maybe I should build an eleventh-tier altar? This is fucking insane!” The smile on his face couldn’t be hidden no matter what. Ever since he advanced beyond the ninth-tier altar in the Spell World, his power had stopped growing.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “I need time to adjust my power.” There was joy in her tone—her information was correct; once she reached the level of sacrificing to the stars, her strength could grow again.

Everyone reaped benefits, and the scale of those benefits exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Li Ran announced, “Let’s rest here for a day, then set off to search… for intelligent beings…” He didn’t know if there were people in this world, so he used “intelligent beings” as a substitute. In the Greater World, there were countless intelligent beings, and humans were just one of them.

Goha and Yao Zebusun were whispering to each other, murmuring in a secretive manner. Zhen Wu Ji sat there in a daze, lost in thought. Halechi was happily busy upgrading his altar. Li Ran, on the other hand, pondered while playing with that spirit jade.

Guo Shier’s altar already had its tenth tier built, but he couldn’t advance. This involved many issues, the biggest of which was insufficient soul power. To surpass the ninth-tier altar required an unimaginable amount of soul power. In the Spell World, only a few lucky individuals could succeed, but here, as soon as people arrived, their soul power increased dramatically, and almost everyone unknowingly had the foundation to advance.

It was a major advancement. The team, which had planned to rest for a day, stayed for two months. Everyone except Goha advanced. Poor Goha didn’t fail because of insufficient soul power but because he lacked the necessary materials—few important items were missing. Unlike Guo Shier, who carried plenty of materials with him.

This wasn’t the place to ask for or borrow materials, as Goha knew the materials they brought from the Spell World were dwindling, with no way to replenish them. According to the rules of this world, they could continue advancing only if they had enough materials. Goha regretted deeply that back in the Spell World, as long as they were willing to collect, they could obtain enough materials for advancement.

Yao Zebusong and Guo Ha were quite good friends, often acting together. So Yao Zebusong comforted them, “Don’t overthink it. Since this place is suitable for us to grow and advance, I believe we can find the right materials!” His words lifted everyone’s spirits. After this advancement, almost everyone had used up most of the materials they carried.

Except for Guo Shier, who had a collecting habit. Coupled with his rampant extortion in the Spell World and his collecting on Bone Mountain in the Great Abyss, he had enough materials to advance several more times. Although he had used a lot of materials along the way, including those for refining to break through barriers, he still had plenty left. Initially, he had filled the entire altar space, along with countless storage pouches, until he finally created a small secret realm, solving his problem of insufficient storage space.

When Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen advanced, they were also at a loss. They had used up most of their materials, and it was almost impossible to advance again unless they could find alternative materials here.

Reaching the eleventh layer of the altar was something the two hadn’t expected. Experiencing the vast and immense soul power, their joy was undeniable. Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen exchanged smiles; at this moment, there was no trace of hostility between them.

Halechi was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He had been trapped on the eighth layer of the altar for who knew how long. Successfully advancing this time made him so thrilled he wanted to shout. When he first came out of the Spell World, he had been full of complaints. In that small world, he had completely given up on advancing, but here he had realized his dream.

Aizek and Meili also advanced. This stage was extremely important for them, as their strength had increased at least twice, though it hadn’t been tested yet. The two were overjoyed, feeling that this adventure was well worth it. Even if they settled in this world from now on, it wouldn’t be a problem—it was a magical world.

Their rapidly expanding bodies had even reached five meters in size. It took Aizek and Meili several days to refine their bodies again, shrinking them back to over two meters. Their formidable aura was much stronger than before. They tried several times to return to their original forms, but they didn’t know if they could go back once they did, as advancing was when their bodies were most unstable.

So both of them tried their best to maintain their human forms, which was extremely beneficial for their strength improvement.

Guo Shier upgraded his life-blessing sacrificial artifacts again— the Moon Blade and the Soul-Stabilizing Cauldron. He didn’t have the time or energy to improve other sacrificial artifacts, nor did he want to waste materials. The materials unique to the Spellworld, stored in the altar, were now considered extremely precious, so every bit saved was valuable.

After advancing, as long as they had time, most of them focused on refining their own life-blessing sacrificial artifacts, as this was the easiest way to boost their combat strength, and no one would neglect it.

A few days passed before they set off.

As they flew along, they discovered an extremely rich variety of plants and animals, including many strange species. They even found a few Spellbeasts, which surprised them greatly. This meant there were unique products from the Spellworld here, and even if their numbers were extremely scarce, it was still better than nothing.

Along the way, Guo Shier kept looking at the starry sky. Even during the day here, the sky was filled with stars, and their shapes seemed familiar— much like the Milky Way seen on Earth. He knew this wasn’t the Milky Way; it was what was called the Sacrificial Stars, a projection of the sky.

Li Ran was at the front of the group. No one had activated their altars; they were flying bare-handed. Suddenly, he made a gesture, and everyone immediately hovered high in the air. Qi Wuzhen also made a gesture to stop moving forward. Zhen Wuji asked, “What’s wrong?” Soon, everyone sensed a disturbance.

Guo Shier said solemnly, “Is someone fighting?” It definitely wasn’t the wind—it was clearly air disturbance caused by a battle. Everyone could feel this.

The distant sea of clouds churned violently, with a beam of light shooting into the sky. However, it was so far away that only a glimmer could be seen.

Goha asked, “Should we go around?”

Li Ran replied, “Since we’re here, we should at least meet the people here. Let’s go take a look.” With their formidable combat strength, in the Spellworld, their abilities would already be enough to sweep through everything.

They immediately rushed toward the site of the battle.

As they got closer, continuous rumbling sounds came through, and the clouds in the sky were stirred into chaos. Glows could be seen beneath the clouds, flashing like lightning.

Li Ran led the way into the clouds and rushed downward toward the ground.

When they emerged from the clouds, they immediately saw the distant battle scene. Although it was still far away, they could clearly see two flashes moving back and forth. It was still impossible to determine what was fighting. The only thing certain was that there were two people, or two intelligent beings, involved— not a large-scale group battle.

Li Ran said, “Let’s go. We’re ready.”
Everyone took out their respective sacred treasures and rushed toward the battlefield following Li Ran.