Chapter 2063: Giant Red Star

"Giant Red Star?" Lu Ye turned to look at him, a little puzzled.

"You don't know, senior?" The man was startled. "I saw you use fire just now and thought you were heading to the Giant Red Star for cultivation."

"Oh?" Lu Ye's expression shifted. "Is that Giant Red Star beneficial for fire-element cultivation?"

The man smiled. "My wife and I came here precisely for that reason. There are many other fire-element cultivators from various places there."

Lu Ye blinked. "Then I should definitely go take a look."

It was now clear: Ma Bin had instructed him to come to the Hengyue star system precisely for this Giant Red Star! Since it was beneficial for fire-element cultivation and attracted many fire-element cultivators, it must be a place rich in fire energy. Only such a place could draw so many cultivators together.

Hearing this, the man said, "If you don't mind, senior, my wife and I would be happy to guide you. To be frank, we've been here once before."

He wasn't trying to curry favor with Lu Ye; rather, having Lu Ye accompany them would make the journey much safer. Even if they encountered a star beast like before, they wouldn't have to worry.

"Let's go then." Lu Ye nodded, then launched his starship and stepped aboard first. The couple followed closely.

The man pointed out the direction to Lu Ye, who then piloted the starship away.

Along the way, they chatted casually, and Lu Ye learned that the couple's names were Fei Zhuang and Hong Yan. Surprisingly, they weren't from the same star system; they had met on the Myriad Manifestation Sea and gradually developed feelings for each other over years of companionship.

Such occurrences were actually rare. Although cultivators didn't have strong prejudices about origins, it was difficult for two people from different star systems to end up together.

Fei Zhuang asked Lu Ye for his name, and Lu Ye casually gave "Li Taibai."

As they traveled, perhaps sensing Lu Ye's calm demeanor, Fei Zhuang and Hong Yan became much bolder. They asked him about some of their cultivation-related confusions, and Lu Ye answered each question, leaving the couple profoundly grateful.

Two days later, Lu Ye looked ahead, and a red dot appeared in the dark starry sky.

As they drew closer, the red dot grew larger and brighter, like a giant fireball burning in the cosmos!

This was the Giant Red Star!

And its essence was, astonishingly, a great sun on its way to extinction!

Everything in the starry sky has its fate and its fixed number of days. Even something as brilliant as a sun, seemingly capable of eternal existence, will one day face its demise.

Such a sight was not common, even across the entire cosmos.

Lu Ye finally understood the meaning behind Ma Bin's guidance. For him, this immense Giant Red Star was exactly what he needed most right now.

Among the fire-element resources he had acquired on the Myriad Manifestation Sea, there was one called Essence of Blazing Sun. This essence was refined by cultivators who gathered the essence of a great sun through special methods.

This was not something any cultivator could do. It was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and required specific techniques and artifacts. Even so, some cultivators specialized in this, earning cultivation resources this way.

The best source for refining the Essence of Blazing Sun was the Giant Red Star; the essence from a truly thriving great sun was not as easy to collect.

"Senior Taibai, we need to take a detour ahead." As Lu Ye gazed at the approaching Giant Red Star, Fei Zhuang's voice suddenly reached his ears.

Lu Ye snapped back to attention, steering the starship to the side while casually asking, "What's up ahead?"

Fei Zhuang replied, "The space ahead was once missing, and it's extremely fragile. Entering rashly could cause unnecessary incidents."

"Missing space?" Lu Ye frowned, focusing his gaze there. Indeed, he noticed some unusual anomalies that would be undetectable unless specifically sought out.

This area of spatial anomaly covered a considerable expanse.

"Why is it like this?" Lu Ye asked.

Fei Zhuang shook his head. "I don't know either; I just heard someone mention it before, so I remembered."

Lu Ye nodded, then a thought suddenly struck him, and he vaguely understood.

The location of the missing space was very likely where the former Nine Provinces were located! During that great war, the former Nine Provinces were on the verge of destruction, but they were then teleported away by the Celestial Mechanism Disk, disappearing without a trace.

From this perspective, the Celestial Mechanism Disk didn't just teleport the Nine Provinces; it moved this entire section of space. That's why this area of space is missing, and even after ten thousand years, the space here remains extremely fragile.

Then looking at the distant Giant Red Star...

A bolder conjecture emerged in Lu Ye's mind.

When the Celestial Mechanism Disk teleported the former Nine Provinces, it might have consumed not only the foundation of the Nine Provinces but also the power of this great sun. Otherwise, it would be illogical for an ancillary treasure of the Celestial Mechanism Disk, a supreme artifact, to be able to move such a vast realm so far away.

The power of this great sun was therefore vastly depleted, which is why it is now, ten thousand years later, heading towards its demise!

Ma Bin must have investigated, knowing Lu Ye had a massive need for fire-element resources, and thus specifically guided him here.

From this perspective, the survival of the Nine Provinces was thanks to the sacrifice of this great sun. If it hadn't been for this sun back then, the Nine Provinces might have shattered during the teleportation process and could not have been preserved at all.

The starship bypassed the area of missing space and continued to approach the Giant Red Star.

Gradually, Lu Ye felt the surrounding atmosphere grow scorching, as if a hot wind was blowing towards them from the direction of the Giant Red Star.

The wind carried not just heat; within that heat, there seemed to be cosmic spiritual energy. Compared to typical cosmic spiritual energy, the energy here appeared more turbulent and destructive.

Solar wind!

Lu Ye slightly activated the power of his Talent Tree and found that it could indeed absorb the heat within the wind, converting it into fuel reserves, though the efficiency was very low.

This was undoubtedly because of their distance from the Giant Red Star. If they were close enough, the efficiency would increase, and perhaps even more so if he could delve inside the red giant itself...

The starship continued forward.

Lu Ye remained unmoved, but Fei Zhuang and Hong Yan began activating their cultivation techniques, cultivating while simultaneously resisting the erosive effects of the solar wind.

After another half-day, Fei Zhuang suddenly spoke, "Senior, my wife and I can only go this far."

He hadn't reached his limit, but the weaker Hong Yan had already reached hers; going any further would be beyond what she could endure.

Lu Ye nodded. "You two may go."

"Thank you, senior, for your protection along the way! May you return with bountiful gains on this journey!" Fei Zhuang offered a blessing, then took Hong Yan and descended from the starship, finding a nearby spot to cultivate.

Lu Ye continued further in.

Indeed, as Fei Zhuang had said, many fire-element cultivators came here to cultivate, utilizing the special environment. The area where Fei Zhuang and his wife were was the outermost region, a place where Constellation realm cultivators stopped.

The deeper Lu Ye went, the stronger the cultivators he sensed became. His passing naturally drew the vigilance of nearby cultivators, but seeing no superfluous actions from him, they slowly relaxed.

After passing through the area where Moon Zenith cultivators resided, Lu Ye finally encountered his first Sun Glimmer realm cultivator.

Just like him, a Sun Glimmer early stage cultivator. As their divine senses brushed, no words were needed; Lu Ye could perceive the other party's warning.

It was probably to say that this area was his cultivation ground and that Lu Ye should find another place.

Lu Ye paid no mind, continuing to delve deeper, soon moving beyond the Sun Glimmer's range of perception.

By this point, the Giant Red Star had grown incredibly vast due to their close proximity. At such a location, even fire-element Sun Glimmer cultivators found it difficult to endure for long. The terrifying high temperature was secondary; Sun Glimmers could withstand that. The crucial factor was the horrifying spiritual energy contained within the constantly blowing solar wind. Sun Glimmers needed to strike a balance between resisting and refining, and the point where that balance was found represented their personal limit.

Yet, Lu Ye continued to press deeper. With the power of his Talent Tree covering his entire body, the difficulties and challenges that ordinary cultivators faced were nothing to him.

A moment later, Lu Ye could already see the turbulent, rolling fire-element energy on the Giant Red Star's surface, like a vast expanse of boiling magma ceaselessly flowing across the entire star.

Occasionally, columns of magma erupted, reaching tens of thousands of feet high, terrifying in their grandeur.

The Talent Tree ravenously devoured the surrounding fire-element energy, and its fuel reserves increased at an astonishing rate.

Lu Ye suddenly discovered something interesting: cultivating here didn't require spirit jade or spirit crystals at all. The entire Giant Red Star, while emitting terrifying heat, was also constantly radiating spiritual energy.

This meant that Lu Ye only needed to activate the power of his Talent Tree to not only store fuel but also cultivate simultaneously. However, the efficiency was far less than when cultivating under the Myriad Manifestation Sea.

But it was still considerably faster than cultivating by consuming spirit jade.

This place... he had come to the right spot, Lu Ye thought with joy.

He finally landed on the Giant Red Star itself. Any further, and he would be venturing into its interior.

Almost the instant he stood firm, a divine sense probed from afar, and an unfamiliar voice immediately reached Lu Ye's ears: "Oh? Another new fellow Daoist has arrived. How rare."

Lu Ye was slightly taken aback. Following the direction of the divine sense, he perceived that the owner of the voice was very far from him. Yet, the person had still detected his arrival instantly in this chaotic environment, which showed their profound power.

And based on Lu Ye's observations along the way, anyone capable of establishing themselves on the Giant Red Star was definitely a Sun Glimmer late stage cultivator. Without that level of cultivation, it simply couldn't be done.

The voice sounded somewhat ancient, but held no ill will. Lu Ye's divine sense surged, "My name is Li Taibai. How should I address you, fellow Daoist?"

The voice chuckled. "If you can remain here for a while longer, then it won't be too late to ask this old man. For now, there's no point in saying more."

This was clearly a test to see if Lu Ye was qualified to stay here long-term. The other party seemed to be proud as well; if Lu Ye merely entered and then left immediately, he evidently wouldn't be worthy of knowing their name.

Lu Ye paid it no mind. He was here to cultivate, not to make friends. (End of Chapter)