Chapter 360 - 193: Fixed Star Sun, Changes in Daoist Arts
The cosmos is wondrous, no doubt possessing a splendor distinct from that of the Great Thousand Worlds. Yet for the most part, cold, desolation, and emptiness are the true themes of the void.
After dealing with the Seven Friends of Huangshan Lake, Xuzhuang encountered no other unexpected incidents. He did, however, run into a swarm of Celestial Demons for the first time on his journey. They were merely Muddy Stream Demons, but their terrifying, endless numbers, clustered together and howling through the void, made for a spectacular sight.
As a result, the Muddy Stream Demons he had purchased from Bianlan Pavilion had yet to be put to use, while Xuzhuang, without spending a single Weiyun Coin, harvested tens of thousands of Muddy Stream Demon Cores.
’First, a great quantity of Ice Extreme Essence, and now, innumerable Muddy Stream Celestial Demons. No wonder it’s so easy to amass wealth in the void.’
However, the Muddy Stream Demons were manifestations of the cosmos’s turbid qi. They zipped about, their Flying Escape astonishingly fast. Upon realizing they were no match for Xuzhuang, they swiftly fled. Xuzhuang, of course, knew to prioritize his main objective, so he simply harvested a large batch and didn’t waste effort chasing them down to annihilate the rest.
Afterward, the Du Xu Palace undertook another long journey, passing through an invisible barrier of qi. Xuzhuang knew he had reached his destination.
That invisible qi barrier was generated by the collision of a Fixed Star Sun’s fierce gales and the omnipresent energy rays of the cosmos. It was considered a fairly common cosmic phenomenon.
As recorded in the Daoist Scriptures, this kind of qi barrier was, in a sense, a blessing from the great sun. Worlds within the barrier were not only illuminated by the sun but also shielded from many of the void’s dangers. Compared to worlds outside, it was far easier for life to take root and flourish.
However, the safest barrier of all was the world membrane of a Great Thousand World. Nowhere in the cosmos was there a more privileged environment for life to thrive. The heavens and myriad realms might vary in size, environment, and the richness of their Spiritual Qi, but almost all of them fostered life.
After passing through the qi barrier, Xuzhuang’s journey through the void came to an end.
There, suspended in the void, was a blazing great sun. It was a dazzling, golden-white orb of endless radiance, its light blessing countless miles of the void as it freely unleashed its infinite energy.
’So this is a Fixed Star Sun.’ Viewing it directly through the restrictive formations of the Du Xu Palace, Xuzhuang couldn’t help but marvel.
The Profound Yellow Realm, the Celestial Waterfall Realm, the Guangyuan Realm... all the worlds where Xuzhuang had lived or traveled possessed both a sun and moon. The Profound Yellow Realm was somewhat unique in comparison, with its two bright moons—one white and one purple.
In any case, a stable Great Thousand World was never without the orbits of a sun and moon. This seemed to be an immutable truth ordained by the Celestial Dao.
’But to face a great sun directly... for a typical Daoist, it’s an almost unimaginable experience.’ Even before he had obtained the Du Xu Palace, Xuzhuang had only ever dreamed of such a wondrous opportunity, imagining he might have it one day if he achieved the Primordial Spirit realm and could freely travel the Star River.
Though it appeared to move slowly through the void, the Du Xu Palace was actually traveling at full speed. It only came to a gradual halt when it drew so close that the sun’s edge vanished from sight. In Xuzhuang’s view, the great sun lost its shape, becoming a boundless ocean of fire and light.
In truth, the Du Xu Palace was capable of getting much closer, but it would have been inadvisable.
Xuzhuang tested the environment for a moment through the restrictive formation. He then circulated his profound art, using a massive amount of Magical Power to catalyze his purple qi and envelop his body in a thick Purple Qi Xiaoyi. Only then did he cautiously fly out of the Du Xu Palace.
Without the protection of the Du Xu Palace’s restrictive formation, the sun’s endless light and heat instantly washed over him. It felt like a gale, threatening to strip away his Purple Qi Xiaoyi, while a searing fire poison relentlessly tried to invade his body.
This was the terrifying environment of the sun’s outer layers. A cultivator with even slightly weaker cultivation would be instantly vaporized into qi, not even leaving a scorched corpse behind. Fortunately, Xuzhuang was prepared and his defenses held.
Being in such an environment was like constantly facing the fiercest erosion from the violent qi of the void. After all, the sun’s fire-qi and fire poison were a major component of this violent void qi. Furthermore, the storms born from the sun’s fluctuations were one of the most common and sudden dangers of the void.
Compared to the violent qi of the void, however, this environment, while dangerous, was less complex—especially for a highly accomplished cultivator like Xuzhuang, who had studied the five elements.
He used his Purple Qi Xiaoyi to continuously resist the solar gales, but he didn’t block out the fire poison. Instead, he circulated his profound art to slowly refine it. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he managed to extract a trace of Great Sun Fire Essence.
This was not solar Spiritual Essence—it was far from pure enough. It was merely the kind of Spiritual Truth that a cultivator specializing in fire-based arts, or one who cultivated by gathering Great Sun Essence Qi, could refine through breathing exercises while facing the morning sun. Even back in the Profound Yellow Realm, Xuzhuang could have easily refined this by practicing his breathing techniques toward the sun.
Of course, the efficiency of extracting a trace of Great Sun Essence Qi from the ambient Spiritual Qi to refine Great Sun Fire Essence couldn’t even be compared to directly facing the sun and its boundless, freely radiating energy.
However, even though refining Great Sun Fire Essence here was highly efficient, he still had to resist the gales and neutralize the fire poison. To expect to replenish his own energy this way would be a fool’s errand; the losses would outweigh the gains. Xuzhuang attempted to refine it for one reason only: it was the ultimate Spiritual Object for cultivating the Great Sun True Flame.
The Great Sun True Flame was something that cultivators who had reached an extremely profound level in fire-based arts spent ages to create, painstakingly gathering and refining Great Sun Fire Essence.
Once refined, one could conjure an endless supply of the True Flame as long as one had sufficient Magical Power. However, the only way to enhance its might was to continue gathering and refining Great Sun Fire Essence to nourish it.
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
Xuzhuang had obtained the Great Sun True Flame back when he was in the Golden Core realm. The flame had been quite useful on his cultivation journey, but by now, its power was no longer sufficient to be considered one of his truly formidable techniques.