Chapter 1770: Refining the Stars

Barren terrains. Crisscrossing ravines. An atmosphere of sand and dust.

Not a blade of grass grew in this place. There was no sign of life. Only knife-shaped, bone-chilling winds raged while emitting sounds like that of ghost whimpering.

Lin Xun spread his spirit sense. Shortly after, this face clouded over.

This place was devoid of not only life but also any power of the great dao!

Only when permeated with the power of the great dao could a world birth aeth qi, chaos qi, and all the kinds of energy needed for cultivation.

It was like water in a river where cultivators were the fish. Without the water, how could there be any cultivating to speak of?

Whoosh!

Lin Xun flew up ten thousand, one hundred thousand feet…

Soon, he arrived at a point beyond the sky and looked down from the void. Only then did he notice that what he had just stood on was a star.

However, it was an extremely desolate and dim star.

“Where is this place?”

Lin Xun’s expression flickered with uncertainty. A complete world would have its own order and heavenly laws.

But in this place, there was not a hint of such a ‘worldly’ aura at all.

Whoosh!

Lin Xun continued to fly up until he started seeing many stars. Some were shining brightly while some were dim. Some converged into a nebula cycle, while some went into a moving galaxy…

“Above the stars?” Lin Xun was stunned.

The sight before his eyes was undoubtedly majestic and magnificent. The grandeur in the random distribution of stars against the boundless backdrop of void was mesmerizing, to say the least.

But after staring at it long enough, a sense of loneliness and confusion would inevitably sprout as one would feel lost, not knowing the way back or the way forward.

Lin Xun quickly arrived at a bright star. After spending a long time teleporting around and exploring it with his spirit sense, his frown deepened.

There was still no trace of vitality or the great dao!

He refused to accept this and shuttled to another star. After searching and exploring it for a long time…

He ended up finding nothing!

It was as though this huge chunk of the universe had been forsaken by the great dao, completely devoid of life.

And he, Lin Xun, was a prisoner who had been banished to it…

How can this be?

Many hours later, Lin Xun stood in the starry sky, his expression altering like his fluctuating mood.

No vitality and signs of the great dao meant no energy for cultivation. If this situation dragged out, then the consequences could be incredibly serious.

Like how a mortal was destined to starve without food, a cultivator was destined to become weak over time without vitality and the power of the great dao…until they died!

“Right, I almost forgot!”

Lin Xun flipped his hand, and an ancient, bronze instrument appeared.

It was shaped like a lamp. The surface was covered in dense and obscure runes, and at the spot where the wick was supposed to be was a pointer in the shape of a mini dragon.

Stellar Galaxy Guide!

It was one of the treasures Lin Xun had obtained from passing the trials in the Omega Secret-Realm.

When someone got lost in the boundless sea of stars, caught in a natural maze, or mistakenly entered a great predicament, they could use this treasure to deduce a way out!

Buzz~

As Lin Xun activated the treasure, the pointer glowed and buzzed as it started rotating. Eventually, when the light faded, the pointer came to a stop and pointed in a fixed direction.

The gloom between Lin Xun’s brows was swept away.

It really works!

He immediately jumped into action. With the Stellar Galaxy Guide pointing the way, he teleported between the stars toward a distant place.

Time trickled by…

Occasionally, the pointer would shift, and Lin Xun would adjust the direction of his flight accordingly.

He was all alone traveling through the vast starry void. He didn’t encounter any dangers along the way, but the omnipresent air of loneliness and silence was depressing.

Three days passed.

Lin Xun had to come to a temporary stop. The nonstop teleportation had nearly exhausted him.

Swish!

He landed on a star and took out some divine herbs, then sat down cross-legged and started replenishing energy.

This infinite star river held no vitality or aura of the great dao, but Lin Xun was fortunate to have a large amount of divine herbs and pills on him. He wouldn’t have to worry about replenishing his strength for a long period of time.

However, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of crisis.

He had been teleporting for several days but still hadn’t found a way out. At this rate, no matter how many resources he carried, there would still be a day they were completely consumed!

“After this, I need to start conserving energy and trying not to waste a single bit of it. But that’s not enough. I must come up with a reliable solution…”

While recuperating, Lin Xun pondered his situation.

“No vitality, no great dao. It’s like being abandoned by the heavens… I’ve never experienced anything like this before, so it’s actually an unprecedented opportunity to hone myself!

“I’ve sealed my Saint Path and become a Sage, so the next step is the Saint-King Stage. If I can make a breakthrough in this seemingly desperate situation, then my transformation is bound to be extraordinary…

Thinking of this, Lin Xun suddenly got an idea. “Since there’s no great dao here, doesn’t it mean I won’t trigger the Saint-King Tribulation if I break through?

“This hellhole…is actually kinda interesting!”

Lin Xun chuckled at the end of it. Without him realizing it, his state of mind had quietly changed.

Previously, he had regarded this side of the universe as a cage. It was depressingly barren and lifeless. Being in it made him feel like he was being banished, so he just desperately wanted to get out.

But now, he had realized that it was a rare training ground!

If he could survive this kind of hopeless situation, then there was nothing that he wouldn’t be able to overcome in the future!

Moreover, cultivating here would allow him to gain insights that he could never have seen before, and this experience would certainly have an immeasurable benefit for his own dao!

One incense stick of time passed.

Lin Xun was once again on the move.

He was completely relaxed, precisely controlling every bit of his strength with his powerful spirit sense to conserve energy as he teleported through the void.

At the same time, his mind was crystal clear as he studied the Grand Dao Yellow Court Classic and tempered his five viscera spirits.

In a desperate situation or not, as long as a person’s mindset remained firm, then anywhere could be a place of cultivation!

This time, Lin Xun’s teleportation persisted for five days before his strength was on the verge of depletion. Compared to the last time, he had lasted two full days more with the same amount of energy!

“This progress isn’t bad at all. As long as I keep getting more precise with utilizing my strength, I’ll be able to hold on for longer and longer…”

Then, something dawned on him. A Big Saint was big but immeasurable. The power this stage possessed could be said to be astoundingly immense.

However, if one only chased after quantity and failed to utilize this power fully, perfectly, and precisely, then it would undoubtedly be a waste!

“Before, I could battle enemies in groups just by relying on my thick foundation and extraordinary dao path, but I’ve never been able to get the most out of the power I possessed…”

Upon realizing this, Lin Xun’s mind broke a layer of shackles and welcomed a gushing spring of enlightenment.

“Butchering a cow with a kitchen knife barely requires any effort when one has a deep knowledge of the anatomy of the target as well as of their own strength. And when the skill is in line with the method, it is the maximization of the use of power…

“This can be used not only in teleportation, but also in battle.

“At that time, one can go against ten, and one single move is enough to resolve any skill from the enemies!”

The epiphany lasted for several days before Lin Xun woke up from meditation. He looked up at the stars, his eyes deep but bright.

“Let’s go!” Lin Xun set off once again.

This time, it took around ten days for his strength to wear out.

“Such is the marvelousness of utilizing one’s power…” lamented Lin Xun as he landed on a star.

From this day onward, he completely freed his mind, no longer insisting on searching for a way out. Instead, he treaded among the stars in constant cultivation and enlightenment.

On the occasion when he grew tired, he would sit down in meditation to recover.

Cultivating while standing, while sitting.

Strolling along the stars, perceiving and learning from what creation had to offer.

Knowing the wondrous mysteries by heart, knocking at the door of dao while in a desperate situation!

……

Half a year had passed.

Lin Xun was like a feather drifting forward in the starry vault. His mind was teetering between sleeping and waking, while his spirit maintained a trace of sobriety.

Where his five viscera was located, thunder rumbled, and five spirits of five colors, five aggregates, five elements, and five virtues streamed around in a state of dense mist.

In the chaos-like state of confusion, the embryo of dao dozed off and on!

This condition lasted for three full months.

Boom!

On this day, Lin Xun suddenly trembled, and his body uncontrollably straightened.

In this instant, the qi that had been stored up in him was completely released. From the place of the five viscera, radiant lights of green, red, black, yellow, and white surged out, condensing into a halo in the void that looked like an embryo. Every breath it took produced a marvelous rhythm of life.

Five Viscera Spirit Embryo!

The Grand Dao Yellow Court Classic was divided into four major stages, namely the Five Aggregate, Five Colors, Five Flavors, and Five Virtues Stages.

When Lin Xun had first practiced it, he had easily entered the Five Aggregate Stage with his Big Saint cultivation. From then, in his five viscera, he started producing and accumulating Dao Palace True Spirits.

These Dao Palace True Spirits were like illusory phantoms, extremely feeble as they displayed five colors of green, red, yellow, white, and black.

Now, as Lin Xun had condensed the Five Viscera Spirit Embryo, his understanding of the Grand Dao Yellow Court Classic had broken through to a whole new stage: the Five Colors Stage!

In this stage, the five viscera spirits would solidify into shape with their own hue. For example, the spirit of the wood would demonstrate a hue of eternal green that represented lasting vitality.

Thus, the Five Viscera Spirit Embryo would reflect five completely different hues!

Upon reaching the Five Flavors Stage, the five spirits would break out of this embryo that was their shell and gain their own ‘flavors.’ This was similar to the unique temperament that every person had.

In the Five Virtues Stage, on the other hand, each of these spirits would develop its own spirit sense and dao!

At this point, the five viscera spirits would have completely transformed into Five Virtues Dharma Bodies, each having a cultivation level no weaker than that of the original cultivator on top of its own unique ability and skills.

On this day, Lin Xun also progressed from ‘advanced’ to ‘perfection’ in his Big Saint Stage!