Chapter 1294: Meteor Belt

Lu Ye was speechless at this. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be true. Even if someone had warned him in advance, he probably would have still wanted to try it himself. It wasn't about ignoring advice; it was simply the natural curiosity every cultivator new to the starry sky possessed.

Jian Gukong added, "Some things can only be deeply remembered after experiencing them firsthand and suffering a setback."

"Did you also suffer a setback, Senior Brother?"

Jian Gukong didn't reply. Lu Ye chuckled to himself, certain that not only had Jian Gukong suffered such setbacks, but many others probably had too. Yet, everyone kept it a secret. These old-timers weren't exactly good people, were they?

Standing silently in the starry sky, an unprecedented feeling of insignificance settled in his heart. In such vast and profound depths, a Constellation Realm cultivator truly was as inconspicuous as a speck of dust.

Not to mention the Constellation Realm, even if he were to advance to the Moon-Illuminated or Sun-Blessed realms in the future, it likely wouldn't change much.

After the initial novelty and a minor setback, Lu Ye finally calmed himself. He began to recover while simultaneously attempting to absorb the mysterious energy of the starry sky.

This was also a method of cultivation, similar to how cultivators below the Constellation Realm absorbed spiritual energy within a realm.

However, while the spiritual energy within a realm was simply spiritual energy, the energy outside was an indescribable cosmic energy. This cosmic energy had a powerful corrosive effect on cultivators below the Constellation Realm; if their cultivation was insufficient, they would wither and die upon exposure. Only Constellation Realm cultivators could not only disregard this corrosion but also refine it for their own use.

Cosmic energy permeated every corner of the starry sky. When it concentrated to a certain degree, it would condense into cultivation resources like spirit jades and spirit crystals.

Therefore, in theory, Constellation Realm cultivators could cultivate continuously as long as they were in the starry sky, even without spirit jades or spirit crystals.

Of course, this was only theoretical; in practice, no one cultivated this way.

Although cosmic energy was omnipresent, it was too diffuse, rendering cultivation highly inefficient. Lu Ye attempted it and found this to be true. Even with his current sixty-four-leaf talent, absorbing cosmic energy this way yielded no significant feeling, let alone for others. Even activating the power of the Talent Tree wouldn't provide much benefit, as the cultivation environment itself was poor, and a change in cultivation method couldn't alter that.

Naturally, there must be places in the starry sky where energy was concentrated, which would undoubtedly be excellent cultivation spots, if cultivators were lucky enough to discover them.

After recovering for a short while, the lingering effects of his collision with the meteorite gradually faded.

Lu Ye had now reached the correct position. Kyushu was beneath him, and by flying directly overhead, he could explore the uncharted areas of the star map.

This was also one of his goals, or rather, missions, for this journey.

For his first venture into the starry sky, Lu Ye didn't intend to travel too far. He set a limit of half a year's journey, constrained by the speed he could currently control.

This meant a single round trip would take a year.

In reality, however, the time spent would certainly be longer, because the area he needed to explore was not a simple two-dimensional fan shape, but a vast, three-dimensional fan-shaped space.

A single round trip would definitely not be enough to fully explore it; even ten or eight trips wouldn't suffice. For him to thoroughly explore such a vast, three-dimensional fan-shaped area alone would take at least several decades, if not a century.

Fortunately, Kyushu would see a continuous emergence of Constellation Realm cultivators in the future. This task wouldn't fall solely on him; with everyone contributing, efficiency would greatly improve.

Confirming his direction, he activated his spiritual power, controlled his speed, and flew forward.

As a rookie in the starry sky, the first thing to do was naturally to accumulate various experiences. These experiences could not be taught verbally by others but had to be thoroughly felt and understood personally.

Only by accumulating enough experience could he truly navigate the starry sky in the future and handle all sorts of unexpected situations. Lu Ye was also trying to find spirit jades.

The outer reaches of Kyushu had always been unexplored, so naturally, many spirit jades would be preserved there. This was an advantage for a newly ascended large realm.

Unlike established large realms or top-tier realms, where powerful cultivators emerged endlessly and any spirit jades or crystals appearing within their outer space had long been plundered by predecessors, making it difficult to find significant gains.

Finding spirit jades was not difficult because formed spirit jades emitted a peculiar energy fluctuation. Cultivators only needed to extend their divine sense to monitor their surroundings; upon detecting this energy fluctuation, they could generally follow its direction to find them.

Lu Ye was lucky; after flying for less than an hour, he detected the unique energy fluctuation of spirit jades.

Following the source of the fluctuation, he saw a meteorite hurtling at high speed. Its velocity was much faster than Lu Ye's normal flying speed. By the time Lu Ye spotted it, it had already flashed past, its distant trajectory unknown.

Lu Ye quickly accelerated, chasing after the meteorite. His speed gradually exceeded the limits he could control, but since he was behind the meteorite, Lu Ye wasn't worried about colliding with anything else.

Even if there was an obstruction ahead, the meteorite would simply crash through it.

He continuously accelerated, closing the distance between them, and finally landed on the meteorite. Searching around, he indeed found two shimmering purple specks on one side of the meteorite.

These were the colors of spirit jades.

Although it was only two spirit jades, it was a good start nonetheless. This also marked Lu Ye's first true gain in the starry sky; the spirit jade mining in the Reincarnation Tree's Primordial Realm didn't count, as that was merely a fortuitous encounter.

Delighted, he stepped forward, collected the two spirit jades, and then carefully examined the rest of the meteorite. Finding nothing else, Lu Ye then left.

After all that maneuvering, his direction had deviated. Lu Ye turned his head, observed the positions of the Sun Star and the Venus Star, and then attempted to pinpoint Kyushu's direction. He found it wasn't difficult at all and easily located Kyushu, which put his mind at ease.

He continued forward, simultaneously searching for spirit jades and recording some of the celestial bodies he saw. This information was to be sent back to Kyushu and reported to Jian Gukong, who would then use it to refine the star map.

He also didn't neglect his cultivation. No matter what he was doing, Lu Ye held a spirit jade in each hand, activating the power of his Talent Tree to absorb energy, keeping the efficiency within his conversion capabilities.

In this regard, he was much better off than other Constellation Realm cultivators. They had to find a suitable cultivation spot to calmly refine the energy of spirit jades, making it impossible to do other things simultaneously.

However, Lu Ye gradually realized a problem he had considered before: advancing in the Constellation Realm was far more difficult than in realms below it. Although the Constellation Realm only had three tiers, each advancement was considerably harder than the last.

As Lu Ye explored and cultivated, his spirit jades were continuously consumed, and he could feel the improvement in his essence of flesh and blood. Yet, this improvement felt like a bottomless pit, seemingly never satiated. He wondered when he would finally cross this tier and reach the level of essence of organs.

The Constellation Realm was a watershed; once cultivators entered it, it seemed they stepped into a different world of cultivation.

Lu Ye also discovered something else: Kyushu's location truly was a backwater. For three consecutive months, he hadn't encountered a single living creature in the starry sky!

In the vast starry expanse, he seemed to be the only living being. The silent solitude felt lonely and oppressive. Cultivators with insufficient mental fortitude might go mad if they stayed in such an environment for too long.

Lu Ye, however, could endure this loneliness. In fact, ever since he began cultivating, he had mostly acted alone, long developing the mental resilience to bear solitude.

After three months, having flown an unknown number of miles, Lu Ye initially could still vaguely discern the outline of Kyushu when he looked back. But now, looking back, Kyushu was no longer visible.

He didn't panic, but continued to explore and record according to his established plan. This was his duty as a Constellation of Kyushu.

He had harvested some spirit jades. Although the quantity was insignificant compared to what he had mined in the Primordial Realm, it was generally enough for his daily cultivation needs, with some even left over.

One day, Lu Ye followed the fluctuations of spirit jades and arrived at a long meteorite belt.

Such meteorite belts were common in the starry sky. Lu Ye had seen several before, all composed of meteorites of various sizes, drifting from unknown origins to unknown destinations. Before Lu Ye discovered it, this belt must have wandered for countless ages.

After several months of experience, although Lu Ye's knowledge of the starry sky was still not extensive, it was at least much better than when he first started.

Particularly in searching for spirit jades, he had accumulated some experience.

These meteorite belts typically made it easy to find spirit jades, and once discovered, there was usually more than one. Lu Ye had previously made significant gains in another meteorite belt.

Today, he encountered another one, and its energy fluctuations seemed very chaotic, appearing even richer than his previous discovery. Lu Ye naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.

This meteorite belt was very long, spanning approximately ten thousand miles from end to end. However, such a length was actually insignificant in the vastness of the starry sky.

Based on his experience, Lu Ye, as usual, entered the meteorite belt from its far end. Entering from this direction had an advantage: he didn't have to fear chaotic meteorites colliding with him, as long as he controlled his speed.

Moreover, searching from the rear end to the front also ensured that nothing would be missed.

Using the rapidly flying meteorites as stepping stones, Lu Ye traveled about ten miles before landing on a meteorite. Two points of purple light immediately caught his eye.

He had been doing this for several months now, and the initial excitement of collecting spirit jades was long gone. Lu Ye quickly approached, reaching out to grab one of the spirit jades.

A slight curiosity still lingered in his mind: the purple glow of this spirit jade seemed brighter than usual.