Chapter 1427: Stone of Starlit Fate

Although Bu Wentian had once participated in the Galactic Rising Stars Cup, he had been defeated in the qualifiers. There were countless races in the Milky Way galaxy, and Bu Wentian himself wasn't human. Of the humans in the galaxy, the strongest and most likely to have made their names known were Zhang Lie's missing parents.

"Regardless of who they are or what race they represent, find them and kill them!" one of the Stargods murmured.

Many among the younger generation of Stargods were thrumming with rage. The loss that the strongest member of their generation had suffered was pure humiliation; they couldn't accept what had happened.

"We don't have to wait. We can attack right here. I bought one of the Splitsilver hacks, and we can forcibly enter the match.

"It would have been difficult to use this hack otherwise, and the will of this realm would surely have been against us. Now, however, with the natural laws around the audience stands having worn down twice already, and the arena itself in such a sorry state, the hack will surely succeed."

"Let's charge in there together and kill him!"

"Kill him!" more Stargod warriors echoed.

"All of you, silence!"

Xing Yu was wounded all over and dripping with blood, both from his prior confrontation with Fang Yi, and from the hole caused by [Heaven's Judgment] piercing through his body.

Compared to the latter injury, the former were all minor. However, [Heaven's Judgment] had penetrated his body and even sent its energy seeping into his very bones. The energy of spacetime disrupted his body as chaotic energy corrupted his flesh and energy. Lightning shocked and jolted him. The combination left him in great pain as his features distorted.

"This is my opponent!" Xing Yu shouted. He would kill Fang Yi and step on his corpse.

He couldn't lose to Fang Yi; he had to regain his lost dignity.

"What are you saying?" One of the Stargod elders frowned in annoyance.

"This is my battle, my fight. I don't want any intercession on my behalf. I intend to let loose and fight at peak strength!" Xing Yu proclaimed. If his fellow kin were to help him out, the stain on his dignity would persist for good.

He was the strongest among the young generation of Stargods, and he bore a heavy responsibility to his clan.

If the other Stargods were to strike now, the reputation of the Stargods and their future would be destroyed. Their nascent rise, once foretold, would cease to occur.

He was fated to lead the Stargods to a superior future, to reclaim their past glory. Fang Yi was the first challenge that stood before him.

No matter what, he had to win, to slay Fang Yi, salvage his dignity with blood, and allow the Stargods to rise up once more!

"You're acceptable," Fang Yi commented casually, waving the spear in his hand. As a bell tolled, another wheel of time appeared to his back, the twenty-second.

"Shut up!" As time passed, Xing Yu's condition was only worsening. Nevertheless, he tried not to show it.

The energy of spacetime continued to disrupt his body, the chaotic energy sapped at his flesh and energy, and the lightning jolted him. With the three disparate types of energy rampaging throughout his body, it was a miracle he was still standing.

Xing Yu was shocked that Fang Yi could control so many natural forces.

Chaos, time, and space—mastery over a single one would make Fang Yi a once-in-a-generation talent.

Fang Yi, on the other hand, had mastered three fundamental forces of nature, but Xing Yu had never heard of his name or title. It was as though he had been far removed from the history of this universe, as though he had come from another one entirely.

"You shall be the stepping stone to my galactic domination!"

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The energy within Xing Yu's body flared, burning away the chaotic energy, the energy of spacetime, and that of lightning in an attempt to end the pain.

Fang Yi was shocked. Any ordinary cultivator would already have died, but Xing Yu stubbornly persisted.

With three disparate forces of energy entering his body, an ordinary person would have been torn apart, no matter how strong.

Fang Yi very much wanted to know about the structure of Xing Yu's body, which had allowed him to survive for so long.

He wasn't just standing still, either. Another bell tolled, causing another wheel of time to appear to his back, the twenty-third.

Fang Yi was amassing his strength for a supercharged blow. Ordinary techniques were clearly incapable of killing Xing Yu, so he would need to release one of his ultimate techniques and kill him in one blow.

Xing Yu was, undeniably, a miraculous existence. Although his physical body was cracked and injured, he had forced his body to enter a form of stasis. A divine tolling emerged from within his body, loud and growing louder with every second.

It felt as though there were something within Xing Yu's body that were saving him from certain defeat and helping him overcome this final trial.

A twenty-fourth wheel of time appeared to Fang Yi's back, causing the wind and storm around him to grow more intense.

Xing Yu stumbled back, his body blurring as he vanished. He was manifesting power over space. If he intended to hide and shroud himself, it would be difficult for Fang Yi to draw near.

Suddenly, holy light emanated from Xing Yu's body.

A mysterious stone within his body shone with lustrous light, bright red one moment, royal purple the next, and pristine white a moment later. The arena shone with resplendent light as Xing Yu's body and soul began to glow, illuminating the entire virtual realm. The aura was expansive, holy, majestic, and severe; it was grand and all-encompassing. All of it stemmed from that mysterious stone.

Chaos, spacetime, and lightning were forced out of Xing Yu's body.

"That's... a stone of starlit fate!"

All the spectators' eyes widened as they looked toward Xing Yu's radiant body. The glow that the mysterious stone gave off seemed to resonate with heaven and earth alike.

The transparent stone was octahedral in shape and seemed to encapsulate a nascent, starry universe.

Many of the spectators were gasping at the revelation. Each stone of starlit fate would spawn an unparalleled cultivator.

Sun Xiaowu asked curiously, "What's this?"

The spectator right by his side rolled his eyes. "Don't you know? It's a stone of starlit fate! It's a legendary mineral passed down among the Stargods. No one knows from whence they come. Some say that it was granted by a stranger the Stargods once saved; others, that the Stargods forged it themselves, but with materials that only appear once in ten thousand years, if that. When the Stargods were last in their prime, they had been led by an ancient Stargod king who possessed six stones of starlit fate and was invincible.

"In legend, only the stone of counteracting fate could hope to defend against that of starlit fate, but that's equally rare a treasure. How could I not be jealous? A stone of starlit fate, once combined with a cultivator's soul, will be attuned to that cultivator for good. Even if snatched away and extracted, it wouldn't be able to combine with anyone else's soul. That's how the Stargods have maintained their monopoly over it.

"However, if it were to be ground down, it would still be a miraculous substance."

An overwhelming change spread over Xing Yu. His wounds healed, his bones knitted back together, and his body glowed with radiant light.

The spectators gasped. The stone of starlit fate was truly worthy of its rarity and power. To be in possession of such a stone was to possess a fated strength, to be recognized by the heavens above, and to have a destiny threaded through fate itself.