Chapter 5: The Starlight Secret Realm (Part 2)

Nan You said, “Stars are a material used to craft sacrificial treasures. Everyone, collect them yourselves. Hehe, you’re really lucky to have found the Starlight Secret Realm. I now believe your luck is indeed excellent.” He summoned his own virtual altar—a circular, single-layered altar that wasn’t fully solidified yet; its outer layer appeared like frosted glass, somewhat blurry.
Guo Shier didn’t say much either. He flew upward and quickly approached a glowing star.
The star emitted a dazzling light. Guo Shier asked softly, “Elder Shuai, how do we collect this thing?”
Elder Shuai replied, “Just grab it. Never mind, let me do it. You’re too slow.”
Guo Shier reached out and grabbed the star, which landed in his hand. The star, about the size of an egg, dimmed its glow upon touching his palm. It was irregular in shape, with a cold, metallic texture, yet extremely light—almost weightless, similar to foam plastic from his past life, yet strangely hard.
Guo Shier wondered, “Is this really a star? It looks like metal, but why is it so light?”
Elder Shuai said, “This is indeed a gold-type material, though not yet purified. Hehe, you’ve just obtained a natural gold-type rune. Stars can be utilized very well.”
Guo Shier summoned the Ancient Ink Lotus and sat on it again, rushing toward areas with dense starlight.
Elder Shuai also unleashed the tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi to collect stars directly, with great efficiency.
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan followed closely behind, also collecting stars, but much slower than Guo Shier. Along the path taken by the Ancient Ink Lotus, stars within hundreds of meters were swept away.
Nan You watched in amazement from a distance, unable to help but exclaim, “Wow! There’s even such a method! This is too amazing!” He accelerated his collection as well. Stars were rare; it was already difficult to get a few usually, let alone see so many. There was only one chance, and it depended on how many he could collect.
The group moved back and forth in the air, picking up numerous stars. As for how to use them, only Elder Shuai and Nan You knew; Guo Shier and the other two had never seen them before.
There were several types of stars: silver, gold, blue, and multicolored. According to Elder Shuai, gold and silver stars were the most useful, while multicolored stars were the rarest.

Advanced materials are extremely valuable to altar-level experts. Whether it’s strengthening altars or crafting sacrificial treasures, a large amount of material is required. Thus, altar-level experts often venture into secret realms, spending countless hours and effort searching for various materials.

In just half a day, the stars in the sky became much sparser. Although this place was a small secret realm, it was still enormous. They hadn’t even explored one ten-thousandth of it. Aside from Guo Shier, who used the tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi to collect materials on a large scale, the others picked them carefully.

Guo Shier was extremely excited, as was the handsome old man. Both seemed determined not to stop until they had collected everything. The tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi grew longer and longer, eventually reaching a length of a kilometer. What had originally been as thick as an adult’s thigh had thinned to the thickness of a matchstick. Since they weren’t used for attack, the thinner they were, the farther they could extend. As soon as the tentacles touched a star, they would immediately absorb it.

With the Ancient Mo Lotus as the center, all stars within a kilometer were completely collected. Ying Mo, Luo Zhan, and Nan You had no choice but to go further away to collect materials.

The four of them moved around joyfully. Suddenly, Nan You flew quickly toward Guo Shier and shouted, “There are people ahead!”

Guo Shier roared, “Everyone, come back!”

Ying Mo and Luo Zhan flew back at his call. Both were clever and quickly climbed onto the Ancient Mo Lotus.

Nan You didn’t board the Ancient Mo Lotus. Instead, he sat on his own virtual altar and quickly joined Guo Shier, staying slightly behind the Ancient Mo Lotus. He said, “There are quite a few people!”

Guo Shier said, “Be careful.” Baqi Dami Tian was a place where strength ruled. There were no rules or constraints here, and killing and looting were common occurrences. No one would intervene or ask questions—it was a lawless world.

Nan You felt nervous and comforted himself by thinking, “There are so many stars here; there shouldn’t be any conflicts.”

A rainbow flashed, and an altar appeared. Guo Shier breathed a sigh of relief. It was a single-layered solid altar. Eight people sat at its top—seven were great sage masters, and in the middle sat the altar’s master. Above his head hung a slender sword, his sacrificial treasure.

The altar was pentagonal. The altar master was a middle-aged man wearing a black sacrificial robe. His face was pale, with deep wrinkles between his brows, indicating he was a man of deep thought. He glanced at the two altars across from him and clearly relaxed, as those altars didn’t seem as good as his own. He also failed to recognize the mystery of the Ancient Mo Lotus.

The man shouted, “Guhe Ming family, He Da Niao!”

Guo Shier didn’t help but shake his head. Crane Big Bird? People in this world really came up with powerful names. He glanced at Nan You and thought, “A male performer is nowhere near as great as Big Bird… Damn it, another ancient family has appeared—some so-called Ancient Crane Name Family I’ve never heard of before.” He said, “Ancient Miluo Family, Guo Shier.” Now he understood that he needed a family name to make the other party hesitate.

Nan You replied, “Ancient Nan Family, Nan You.”

Sure enough, Crane Big Bird showed no hostility. Although those two experts from the Virtual Form Altar might not be able to defeat him, escaping wouldn’t be a problem at all. He had no reason to fight with Guo Shier and the others—it would be irrational. If there had only been one expert from the Virtual Form Altar, maybe he would have considered killing them and then robbing them.

Nan You seemed to know about the Ancient Crane Name Family. He asked, “Brother Crane, have you brought your disciple out for training?”

Crane Big Bird flew down from the altar, indicating he had no ill intentions, but he didn’t take back his altar. His seven Great Saints still sat on it. Nan You also descended from the altar. Guo Shier whispered, “Old Man Handsome, take control of Gu Mo Lian. Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, stay up there.” He then flew down as well.

Crane Big Bird gave Guo Shier a puzzled look. In his eyes, Guo Shier was just a high-level Great Saint—how could he possess an altar? Moreover, it didn’t resemble a Virtual Form Altar but seemed more like a Physical Form Altar, though he couldn’t tell how many layers it had. Thus, Guo Shier became even more mysterious in his eyes.

Guo Shier stepped forward and said, “It’s an honor to meet Brother Crane.” He knew not everyone was an enemy. Making a friend who was an altar-level expert was far better than being at odds with one. He had understood this well in his past life—more friends meant more paths, while more enemies meant more obstacles.

Since he couldn’t gauge Guo Shier’s cultivation level, Crane Big Bird also acted politely. He said, “I’m not worthy of such praise. It’s an honor to meet Brother Guo.”

Guo Shier was taken aback. In this world, it was the first time someone had called him Brother Guo, and moreover, it was someone at the first-layer altar level. Fortunately, he remained calm and didn’t show any surprise on his face. He smiled and said, “Brother Crane must have had a good harvest, huh?”

A faint smile appeared on Crane Big Bird’s pale face. He said, “I was lucky enough to enter the Starlight Secret Realm. Huh, you guys are lucky too—the Starlight Secret Realm isn’t easy to find.”

While Guo Shier and Crane Big Bird chatted, Nan You hovered behind Guo Shier, acting like a follower.

Crane Big Bird asked, “Brother Nan, where’s your disciple?”

Almost all the altar-level experts who came in brought along disciples from their families or sects; few came alone. Nan You said, “I’m sorry, I’m a follower of Guo Shier.”
He Da Niao was stunned. The profession of follower was already very rare among them. Nan You, an expert at the virtual altar level, actually chose to follow a professional who seemed to be just a high-level Great Sage Master—this was simply inconceivable, even though this person appeared mysterious. Now, he was even more confused.
Nan You thought to himself, “I wonder what method Guo Shier used to make it impossible for others to discern his cultivation level.” Up to now, he and He Da Niao shared the same confusion.
He Da Niao said, “I see.” He no longer had any ulterior motives and said, “Since we’re here, I should collect some stars, hehe.”
Guo Shier said, “Good, let’s each collect our own.”
He Da Niao bowed slightly, flew up to the altar, nodded at Guo Shier and Nan You, then flew toward the area where the starlight gathered.
Only when he reached a distance did He Da Niao breathe a sigh of relief. A Great Sage Master beside him asked, “Elder Master, are those two predecessors very powerful?”
He Da Niao shook his head and said, “It’s not a matter of whether they’re powerful or not; I simply can’t tell Guo Shier’s level.”
The Great Sage Master beside him said, “Why do I feel he’s similar to me?”
He Da Niao sneered, “Hmph, if you’re like him, then create an altar of your own! You have no discernment at all. That guy’s altar is even better than mine—how can you be the same as him?”
The Great Sage Master blushed and lowered his head, saying, “Yes, thank you for your guidance, Elder Master.”
He Da Niao said, “Alright, everyone, go down. Each of you is responsible for a section to collect stars. Remember, don’t miss the rainbow stars—they’re rare and precious… You can keep 10% of the stars you collect; hand over the rest.”
The seven Great Sage Masters stood up and said, “Yes, Elder Master!” Smiles appeared on their faces. With so many stars in the sky, even keeping 10% would be an enormous amount.
He Da Niao showed a satisfied expression and said, “A few of you will soon need to build your own altars, which requires a lot of materials. You can exchange the stars you collect for the materials you need. This is an opportunity—make the most of it.”
Three high-level Great Sage Masters bowed and said, “Elder Master, we’ll try to collect as many as possible.”
He Da Niao said, “Go now. Remember, if you encounter other professionals, whether they’re altar experts or Great Sage Masters, don’t fight. Return immediately!”

The seven great masters nodded in agreement and flew off in different directions toward the stars.
Two days passed.
He Da Niao was collecting stars when suddenly a message token flew over. He caught it, glanced at it briefly, and let out an angry roar before driving the altar away into the distance.
Guo Shier controlled the Ancient Ink Lotus to fly; within just two days, using the tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi, he gathered a large number of stars. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were collecting stars nearby, and he didn’t dare send them far away. Although this place wasn’t dangerous, who knew if other expert altar users might appear?
Nan You suddenly flew over and said, “Someone else has arrived. It seems they’ve clashed with He Da Niao and the others. Should we go take a look?”