Chapter 5: Fellow Countrymen (Part 2)

Ying Bei smiled and said, “These are tree species I brought here to plant. It’s been decades now. There are also many trees from the Spellworld here. Hehe, many of the plants and animals here were brought by those experts from their hometowns. Over time, they have basically become adapted to this place.”
Li Ran asked, “Are there any materials from the Spellworld here?”
Ying Bei replied, “Yes… quite a few. But they need to be sought out. This world is vast, and some materials are hard to obtain. However… I’ve tried, and many of these materials can be replaced with substitutes that work just as well. So you don’t have to worry about running out of materials for leveling up.” It seemed he knew what everyone was worried about; he had faced the same confusion when he first arrived here.
Gohar was overjoyed. His biggest concern had been resolved. As long as he had materials or good substitutes, he could advance to the tenth-tier altar smoothly. Now that he was at the same level as Halechi, how could he be content? Finally, he got some good news.
Each person was assigned a house, a simple one made entirely of wood, with a living room and a guest room. Surrounded by a forest, the cottage assigned to Guo Shier was also backed by a small pond. The place was quiet and peaceful, and most importantly, free from disturbances, allowing people to sleep well.
No one rushed to talk. After resting for a few days in Ying Bei’s estate, they gathered together.
…
The largest living room in Ying Bei’s estate had a somewhat ancient style. Four huge wooden pillars supported a gabled thatched roof. There were no walls on all sides, but sheer curtains hung down to keep insects and mosquitoes at bay. The floor was covered with thick, smooth wooden planks. Everyone sat cross-legged, with large cups of honey wine and large plates of fruit in front of them.
Li Ran’s team had many questions, so after a few days of rest, they voluntarily gathered in Ying Bei’s living hall. Ying Bei was very hospitable, or rather, he was friendly toward professionals from his hometown. It’s always easier to communicate when fellow countrymen meet.
Facing everyone’s flurry of questions, Ying Bei waved his hand smilingly and said, “Take your time. There’s no rush. Ask one by one. I’ll answer anything I know.”
Li Ran asked, “How did you get here?” He felt he had taken the wrong path. After straying from theSuperposition Continent into another small world, he had sensed there were serious problems. He had always believed that with the power of breaking through boundaries, the journey shouldn’t be so difficult. If not for Guo Shier obtaining the Spirit Jade, they would likely have been in a dead end.

Ying Bei was stunned and said, “You came from the Eight Paths Vast Heaven? Don’t you know that? Then how did you get here?”
Halechi couldn’t help asking, “Is it possible to go back from here?”
Ying Bei replied, “How could that be! This place is for worshipping the stars; it’s absolutely impossible to return to the Spell World. This path is one-way—only forward, never backward… Hm, you still haven’t answered me—how did you get here?”
Li Ran sighed and briefly recounted the team’s experiences. There was nothing to hide.
Ying Bei was shocked. After a long while, he said, “You… you can actually enter other worlds?” He grew serious and said, “Amazing! You can even break through the barriers of small worlds!” He didn’t realize how powerful Li Ran’s ability to break through boundaries was—after all, it was a top-tier sacrificial treasure.
Li Ran said, “I’d rather say we entered through the Eight Paths Vast Heaven. The path we took came at a huge cost.” After thinking for a moment, he added, “To go through the Eight Paths Vast Heaven… what level of profession is required?”
Ying Bei replied, “At least one must be a fifth-tier altar professional to enter smoothly. I’ve heard that some lucky professionals, with the help of higher-tier professionals, can also make it in. Hehe, of course, an illusory altar isn’t enough—at least a first-tier or higher tangible altar is required…”
Everyone stared at Ying Bei in disbelief. Even the weakest among them had an eighth-tier altar, yet they still struggled greatly to get here. Qi Wu Zhen asked, “Recently, besides us… has anyone else come from the Spell World?”
Ying Bei shook his head. “There should be some, but I don’t know why. In the past few hundred years, very few professionals have come from the Spell World. You are the first group of professionals I’ve seen in a hundred years. Almost all professionals who come from the Spell World have to pass through this continent. It’s the most stable continent for worshipping the stars. I’m not ambitious and don’t want to take risks.”
He added, “Of course, maybe there are professionals who have gone there that I don’t know about… but their number must be extremely small.”
Guo Shier asked curiously, “Elder Ying, what was your professional level when you came here?”
Ying Bei said proudly, “When I first came here, I was a seventh-tier altar professional.” He sighed again and said, “Out of the eight companions who came with me back then, only I remain. Most of them liked exploring and traveling, and they’ve basically disappeared.”
Everyone exchanged glances. Only a seventh-tier altar?
Halechi couldn’t help asking, “Sir… what is your professional level now?”
Ying Bei gave a bitter smile and said, “Alas, unfortunately, I’m only at a fourteenth-tier altar now…”

Everyone was stunned again—fourteen layers! That was terrifying. Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen exchanged a glance, both showing expressions of disbelief. Guo Shier noticed Ying Bei’s sigh and said, “Fourteen layers of altar… Could there still be any regrets?”
Ying Bei knew these people must not understand sacrificial stars. He said, “I’m almost at the top. It’s very difficult to advance further. Well, maybe you don’t know the rules of this world…”
Everyone listened quietly as Ying Bei explained. Sacrificial stars was the name given by professionals from the Spellcraft World. Experts from other small worlds had their own names. No matter where they came from, their strength could improve rapidly in this world.
For professionals from the Spellcraft World, as long as they entered this world, they could almost always advance quickly from their original level. But after that, they could no longer advance the altar further. By “advancing,” Ying Bei meant another form of the altar. If the original altar was physical, then after advancing in this world, the new altar would be a projection of the physical altar. In other words, after arriving here and advancing to an eighth-layer altar, Ying Bei’s altar projection would also have eight layers, making a total of sixteen layers. Now that he had advanced to a fourteen-layer altar, eight of those layers were physical, while the other six were projections.
Therefore, for any altar-level professional entering this world, their potential depended on their initial level. For example, a professional with a third-layer altar could advance to a fourth-layer altar, plus its projections, so they could reach at most an eighth-layer altar, with four layers being projections.
Only then did everyone understand, and joy appeared on their faces. According to this method of advancement, Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen could reach up to a twenty-second-layer altar, Guo Shier and the others could reach up to a twentieth-layer altar, and even the lowest-ranked Halechi could reach an eighteenth-layer altar. Although they might not be able to reach the highest levels, they had great potential.
After hearing the explanation, everyone let out a sigh—one of excitement and happiness. Ying Bei clearly sensed their mood and asked puzzledly, “What? Any questions?”
Li Ran smiled and said, “No questions. Hehe, altar projections… This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
Ying Bei said, “By the way, there’s another rule here: the altar can’t be controlled by being sent out, like in the Spellcraft World.”

Guo Shier immediately summoned the altar, which emerged from his palm like a small tower. Soon he realized something was wrong—since the altar couldn’t be enlarged. He exclaimed in surprise, “Huh, indeed it can’t be enlarged… Well, it can still be used…”

Ying Bei widened his eyes in shock as he stared at the tiny altar floating in Guo Shier’s palm. Stammering slightly, he said, “Ten layers… Ten layers… When you came in, did you already have a nine-layer altar?”

Guo Shier shrugged and said, “Well… there’s no need to be surprised.” At that moment, out of curiosity, everyone else also summoned their own altars. Ying Bei was completely stunned when he saw Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen’s eleven-layer altars, Zhen Wu Ji and Yao Ze Bu Song’s ten-layer altars, and Ge Ha and Ha Le Chi’s nine-layer altars.

Ying Bei pointed at Li Ran’s altar and remained silent for a long time. He knew these professionals had just entered the Star Sacrifice Realm, meaning Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen already possessed the strength to surpass nine-layer altars. After entering the Star Sacrifice Realm, they had advanced further, achieving eleven-layer altars. Such strength was incredibly formidable—even though he himself had an eleven-layer altar, he had no chance of defeating them.

Guo Shier asked, “Elder Ying, how should I train?”

Ying Bei smiled bitterly and said, “Don’t call me elder. I’m not an elder…” He had once been proud—many professionals entered the Star Sacrifice Realm, but few had nine-layer altars. He knew that as long as a professional with a nine-layer altar entered the Star Sacrifice Realm, they could generally become top-tier experts.

“Just call me by my name. I didn’t expect the professionals coming from the Spell World to be so strong. Hehe, before you came here, you probably didn’t know anything about this world. Otherwise, with your strength, you wouldn’t need to stay here at all—you would have already gone to other dangerous continents.”

Ying Bei said self-mockingly, “Only people like us dare not move forward anymore.” His strength was actually sufficient to go to other continents, but after living here for so long, he no longer wanted to take risks. With his eleven-layer altar, he was also considered a well-known expert on this continent.

The Star Sacrifice Realm was full of top experts. Outside this continent, conflicts were constant, with experts fighting against each other, especially those from different continents. That’s why Ying Bei didn’t want to travel far—he had become too cautious. Experts in the Star Sacrifice Realm could live for a long time, as long as they didn’t get killed.

Ying Bei said, “If you don’t mind, I can pass on the methods to advance in the future to you.”

Everyone was very surprised; Yingbei was truly too kind. Yingbei smiled and said, “Don’t doubt that I have any ulterior motives. Hehe, during star worship, as professionals from the same world of spells, we have a responsibility to help each other. If we professionals don’t stick together here, it will be difficult to survive.”
Guo Shier suddenly thought of a question and said, “Yingbei…” This time he didn’t call her senior, even though Yingbei seemed quite old. He asked, “Yingbei, do you know about the Greater World?”