Chapter 741 - The Black Crow Turns Azure, and the Prisoner Dwells Deep in the Mountains - Part 1

The starry river stretched endlessly, unfathomable in its depth. Standing aboard the drifting skiff, Li Yuan gazed into the voidveil, where nothing ever changed. The sheer monotony made everything feel frozen in time.

Even someone like Li Yuan found it hard to endure.

This wasn’t something the heart of an ordinary man could bear.

He had only two options, sleep or cultivate. But if he simply sat there day after day, year after year, staring at the same stars in silence, he was certain he’d go mad.

Yet if he slept or immersed himself in cultivation, the voidship would lose its course. With no one to guide it, it might drift aimlessly or come to a halt entirely. So he could only watch, always watching, searching for something, anything.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Just like that, another two years passed.

In that time, Li Yuan landed on several more stars.

Some were shattered husks, meteorites. Others were vast, primordial stars once brimming with potential.

But all of them were the same. Harsh, inhospitable landscapes. And while the environments were punishing, what disturbed him more was the absence of any trace of Yin or Yang. Not even the faintest breath of life stirred. These stars were wastelands, deserts in the truest, most absolute sense.

Now, Li Yuan hovered above yet another planet, this one wracked by searing heat storms. He stared across the void. The stars still hung in the infinite night, silent and cold. No life stirred. No sign that life had ever been or would ever be.

He had not found the realm of reincarnation, nor had he seen the Soul Furnace.

The starry sky was like a graveyard.

Only one place still roared with motion and vitality, the Ancestral Land, the origin and end of all things.

Li Yuan knew that, countless years ago, these stars had birthed starkin. Back then, each star had its own starkin, and those starkin were like gods. Whole races had once flourished across these worlds, alien species of every shape and kind.

The stars must have been so lively back then. Had he come here during those days, maybe he’d have crossed paths with fish-headed people, crocodile-headed people, or even bunny-headed aliens.

“Hahhh...” A long, weary sigh escaped his lips. Though in this soundless void, it dispersed into nothing, heard by no one, echoing only in the silence of his soul.

With hands clasped behind his back, Li Yuan returned to the voidship.

This expedition to find the realm of reincarnation had ended in failure. It was time to head back to the Ancestral Land.

He had expected this outcome from the beginning. After all, the last time he glimpsed the realm of reincarnation, it was only through the Hall of Life, which itself had appeared with the ebb and flow of spiritual tides.

That alone suggested the realm of reincarnation might exist in a vast, hidden dark realm.

And if that were the case, then no matter how far he sailed, unless he reached the precise spot, he would never find it.

Li Yuan had told himself all this before. He had been prepared.

But now that the moment had come, he couldn’t help but feel a deep, sinking disappointment.

Before transmigrating to this world, he had read plenty of stories. Many were classic power fantasies where, after conquering the world, the protagonist would break into the heavens and face even greater enemies.

He had expected something like that here. Having stepped into the stars, surely he’d meet new foes. Make new friends. Visit bustling markets in places with names like

Starry Sky Trading Hub

. Maybe even have a charming alien girl living next door. From there, he would begin his rise once more, becoming a star-faring farmer, a galactic hunter, or a cosmic merchant. He would climb to the peak of the universe again.

And then? Why, then he’d head to an even higher realm and become a farmer all over again.

And yet now, in this boundless sea of stars, there weren’t just no enemies. There wasn’t a single trace of life.

Li Yuan would have

preferred

some cosmic foe to show up, anything at all.

The voidship turned back.

The return journey was long and hard.

He’d spent over three years out there, and getting back would take just as long.

Staring endlessly into the depths of space, his eyes had dulled, the light in them nearly gone. Had there been a mirror in front of him, he would’ve seen a gaze so empty, so detached, it bore a kind of inhuman indifference, something no mortal could possess.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Time crawled, and yet in its own cruel way, it flew.

Another three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Yuan’s voidship finally arrived back at the Ancestral Land. He descended into the mortal realm.

It was snowing.

He looked around, and for the first time in a long time, his heart stirred with joy. A sudden laugh burst out of him, loud and free, echoing across the snowy street.

It felt like coming home after years abroad.

Off in the distance, lining the roadside, were taverns and inns. A small settlement had formed here, lively and warm.

Li Yuan didn’t walk in right away. Instead, he raised a hand, calling over a strange-looking stone. With a light touch of his internal force, he quickly carved it into a vivid sculpture,

A Hundred Cranes Frolicking in Water.

Grinning, he took the sculpture to a humble little pawn shop in the settlement. The pawnbroker wasn’t much of an expert and offered only a few silver taels. Li Yuan didn’t mind. He pocketed the money and strolled over to a private tavern nearby.

The moment he stepped in, the staff took note of his extraordinary presence and rushed to greet him with enthusiasm.

Li Yuan tossed over his freshly earned silver and ordered some wine, along with a local specialty,

Huo Duo

.

Huo Duo was a bronze cooking pot with grooves underneath for firewood, a kind of ancient hotpot, really.

He had the hotpot, sure. But the silver only bought him a few scraps of meat.

Still, Li Yuan couldn’t be bothered to earn more. As for pulling rank and revealing his identity as the Lord of Light just to get a decent meal, he couldn’t bring himself to do that either. So, with just a handful of peanuts and a few thin slices of meat, he dipped and swirled with long chopsticks, drinking and eating at a slow, relaxed pace.

Wine warmed his throat. Eyes half-lidded, he gazed around the little tavern.

It was brimming with life. The server bustled between tables, the distant jingle of bells hinted at the arrival of a trade caravan, and outside, carts were pulling in.

The snowfall had thinned. A silver moon pierced through the clouds, casting cold light across the land.

This was a world utterly unlike the starry void.

Something stirred in him. He downed half a jar of wine, then stood and sang aloud.

The blue sky crashes, the stars pour down,

Cold winds blow the moon atop the tower.

Jade plum, snowy willow, earthly scents abound,

Fire trees and silver flowers bloom for miles around.

Finishing, he laughed once more, loud and carefree.

At the door, one of the guards escorting the new caravan was shaking off the snow. Behind him, a woman stepped in, wrapped in a white fur cloak, holding a paper umbrella.

She had heard the bold singing even before entering. Now, seeing the youth who had recited such audacious verses, her brows arched ever so slightly. She leaned close to whisper a few words to the maid beside her, then followed two stewards from the merchant group into a private room.

The rest of the guards, however, were already making themselves comfortable in the main hall, bellowing toward the servers, “Hey there! Bring your best wine and meat!”

The maid strode straight up to Li Yuan with a bright smile.

“My lady would like to invite you to join her.”

“I don’t know her. Why would she want to see me?” Li Yuan replied flatly.

The maid huffed and stamped her foot, clearly annoyed. “What kind of man are you? So stingy! Fine, don’t come then!”

With that, she spun on her heel and stormed off.

Almost immediately, laughter erupted from a nearby table where a few armed guards were sitting.

One of them came over, grinning. “What a chance for romance, sir, and you're just going to let it slip by?”

“Romance?” Li Yuan scratched his head. “How do you figure?”

The guard chuckled. “This is the Great Tang, my friend. Men and women are equals here. If someone likes you, they’ll just say it straight. Our lady clearly fancies you.”

He sized Li Yuan up and added, “You don’t look like you're in a rush. If you’ve got nothing better to do, why not come with us?”

Li Yuan hadn’t spoken to anyone in a long time, and at that moment, even small talk felt refreshing. Everything people said felt oddly new. He smiled. “And where are you headed?”

The guard leaned in a bit. “No harm telling you. We used to trade in the northern territories, but trouble’s broken out up there again, so we’ve changed our route and are heading south.”

“Trouble?” Li Yuan’s brow furrowed. “What kind of trouble?”

“The snow's started falling,” the guard said grimly. “Those mounted raiders from the Golden Tent Nomads have begun pillaging their way south. His Majesty flew into a rage. He’s leading the northern campaign himself. Even the Grand General is riding with him. No real suspense about how it’ll end. But we merchants know better than to get caught in the middle.”

“Why would the Emperor go in person?” Li Yuan asked, genuinely curious.

“Word is, he wants to give the Crown Prince some real battlefield experience. Beyond that? Who knows.”

Then the guard’s eyes lit up with a more conspiratorial gleam. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “You, sir, clearly a man of substance, could it be you simply don’t fancy our lady?”

He grinned, even more slyly now. “Her husband’s been gone for years. She’s the one running the entire estate now. I feel a bond with you, sir. Why not let me introduce you? Who knows? You might end up with both affection and fortune.”

As he spoke, several cold, watchful gazes from another table kept flicking over to them, their presence like blades just beneath the surface.

Because wherever there were people, there was intrigue.

Empires waged grand wars.

And even within a small merchant caravan, unseen currents swirled. This guard, sidling up to Li Yuan with sweet words, might well be trying to plant him by the lady’s side, to gain an ally of his own.

But of course, he had enemies too. The ones watching from the shadows wouldn’t let this play out so easily.

Li Yuan couldn’t help but laugh.

After so long wandering the cold, empty stars, even this petty scheming felt...warm and familiar.

Why? Because at least it was lively.

And in this world, true liveliness had become rare.

But his laughter clearly didn’t sit well with the guard beside him. The man frowned, his expression growing cold.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

However, Li Yuan suddenly stood up, his hair still wild and loose. He stumbled drunkenly toward the tavern door, clutching his wine jar, laughter spilling from his lips. He looked like nothing more than a happy drunk.

But when he stepped outside, he didn't touch the ground.

Instead, a stairway appeared beneath his feet, steps conjured from thin air. and he climbed upward, step by step, until he stood high above the settlement, beneath the cold light of the full moon.

Inside the tavern, everyone stopped drinking. All movement ceased.

From the streets, people poured out of the inn and nearby buildings in a clamor of footsteps and gasps. The entire outpost had fallen silent, eyes turned skyward.

They stared at the tiny figure silhouetted against the moon, their faces full of awe and fear.

Up above, Li Yuan sipped from his jar, the wine warming him as his mind spread outward like a tide, brushing gently across the land.