Chapter 2128: Five Major Flaws

“I apologize,” Gu Yunliu said with an apologetic nod.

“It’s fine,” Chen Wulei waved his hand. “The dead are gone. The only thing the living can do is avenge them. That’s why we followed Fellow Daoist Lu here!”

“There will definitely be a chance!” Gu Yunliu cupped his fists. “At that time, Brother Chen, we will need your extensive support.”

Although Chen Wulei and the others had failed to resist the Star Abyss invasion, they were ultimately much more experienced than those present. Having such veterans assist would be greatly beneficial to this starfield.

“No problem.”

Lu Ye turned to look at the boy. “Elder Tree, the Star Abyss invasion is inevitable, but there are still some things I don’t understand.”

“What is it?”

“What exactly is the Star Abyss to a starfield, and what is a starfield to the Star Abyss? And how does the Star Abyss invade a starfield?” Lu Ye asked a flurry of questions.

“The Star Abyss…” Elder Tree showed a look of recollection. “To be honest, I can’t answer those questions myself, as I’ve never been to the Star Abyss. However, many tens of thousands of years ago, someone described certain things to me that might clarify your doubts.”

As he spoke, he waved his fair, tender hand, and ripples immediately appeared in the empty space before them, like a shimmering, illusory sea.

“This is the Star Abyss,” Elder Tree began. “You can imagine it as boundless and constantly expanding.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed, and within the illusory sea, blue, ethereal spheres instantly appeared.

“And these are the starfields, one by one. You could say that every starfield is enveloped by the Star Abyss. If a starfield is stable enough, it naturally remains undisturbed. But if a weakness appears in a starfield…”

Most of the blue spheres vanished, leaving only one. As everyone watched, numerous points of light suddenly appeared on the surface of that ethereal sphere.

“The Star Abyss’s aura will then invade!”

The illusory sea seeped into the blue sphere through the points of light. Soon, different colors appeared throughout the blue sphere, gradually expanding…

“Until a limit is reached…”

The blue sphere suddenly shattered into countless fragments, merging into various places.

Everyone watched with heavy hearts. What Elder Tree demonstrated was simple, but applying that demonstration to the shattering of a starfield was disheartening.

The final scene of the starfield shattering reminded Lu Ye of some events from his time in the Star Abyss.

On their way to the Azure Palace, they had passed through remnants of the Automaton Starfield, where they met Fortress Master Nan of the Hekan War Fortress, and only later managed to contact Du Qingsha and others.

At that time, Du Qingsha and the others speculated that after a starfield shattered, it was split into many parts and assimilated into different locations within the Star Abyss.

This undoubtedly corroborated Elder Tree’s recent demonstration.

“So, the root cause of the Star Abyss’s invasion is still the weaknesses in the starfield,” Lu Ye realized. “How do these weaknesses appear?”

Elder Tree replied, “The erosion by the Star Abyss’s aura is one factor. Additionally, it is said that there’s a very special entity within the starfield, a type of star beast that can sense the starfield’s aura from afar. They possess a unique talent that allows them to break through a starfield’s barriers and actively create weaknesses. These special entities are called Starfield Destroyers!”

Lu Ye slowly shook his head. “I haven’t encountered those.”

However, the Star Abyss is vast, and the areas they had explored were ultimately only a small fraction of it. They hadn't seen many creatures from within the Star Abyss.

“Then, how many weaknesses does this starfield have?” Lu Ye asked again.

Elder Tree said, “Currently, five weaknesses have been confirmed. These all appeared during the last Star Abyss invasion, and I’ve made deployments and arrangements for each. However, how many weaknesses there will be this time is still unknown.”

The circumstances of two invasions might not be entirely the same. Perhaps, after so many years, new weaknesses have appeared in the starfield.

“One is in the Myriad Manifestation Sea?” Lu Ye asked.

“Precisely!” Elder Tree nodded. “When the Insectoid race went to the Myriad Manifestation Sea back then, they used certain methods to exploit the weakness there, which is why the Star Abyss Gate opened!”

At this point, Chen Wulei spoke up, “May I ask, Elder Tree, how did this starfield defend itself during the last Star Abyss invasion?”

Lu Ye was also curious about this question and immediately perked up his ears.

“Last time…” The look of recollection in Elder Tree’s eyes deepened. “To resist a Star Abyss invasion, one must deal with the Star Abyss Gate. These gates cannot be shattered; they can only be sealed or allowed to disappear naturally.”

Chen Wulei nodded. He naturally knew that Star Abyss Gates could disappear on their own; the first Star Abyss Gate that appeared in the Automaton Starfield had suddenly vanished after decades.

No one knew how it disappeared, just as no one knew how it appeared.

“Of the five weaknesses, the Star Abyss Gates at three locations vanished naturally. The other two… were sealed by the power of supreme treasures.” As Elder Tree spoke, he turned to Lu Ye. “The one in the Myriad Manifestation Sea is the Star Constellation Palace. Back then, there was no Myriad Manifestation Sea; it only appeared because of the Star Constellation Palace. So, you could say this cosmic wonder was actually created by the power of a supreme treasure.”

As expected…

Lu Ye had actually suspected this, as the previous Star Abyss Gate had been sealed by a projection of the Star Constellation Palace. Now, hearing Elder Tree’s words, he confirmed his guess was correct.

“Another one is in the Heavenly Gang Star System, named the Qiankun Cauldron.”

Chen Wulei frowned. “The power of a supreme treasure is indeed immense, but how can one control it? And use it to seal the starfield’s weaknesses?”

The Automaton Starfield also had a supreme treasure, like that sand flask. When the Star Abyss Gate underwent its final transformation, the power of the sand flask was revealed, but unfortunately, it couldn’t stop the starfield’s destruction.

The cultivators from the Automaton Starfield couldn’t truly control the power of their supreme treasures. They could only, at critical moments, use special methods to invoke a tiny sliver of its might. From his current understanding, that sliver of power, when unleashed, was roughly equivalent to the Fusion Dao level.

“It is up to people,” Elder Tree slowly stated. “There were those who attempted to achieve Union Dao with a supreme treasure. Though not entirely successful, for that brief moment, they could command the treasure’s power and accomplish what they desired.”

His casual words, however, struck everyone’s hearts. In a daze, it seemed as if they could see in the distant annals of history powerful Sages facing death unflinchingly, achieving Union Dao with supreme treasures even when hope was slim, all for that fleeting moment of commanding the treasure’s power.

It was only after countless powerful individuals failed that two of them achieved a fortunate success.

“But many tens of thousands of years have passed, and even the power of a supreme treasure is not eternal. The Star Abyss’s aura sensed this, and so it stirs,” Elder Tree’s tone grew heavy. “However, compared to the last time, our situation is much better. Not only does our previous experience allow us to prepare in advance, but your return is also an advantage this starfield did not have during the last Star Abyss invasion!”

Chen Wulei felt the profound truth of these words especially deeply.

When the Automaton Starfield was invaded by the Star Abyss back then, they didn’t even have a single Dao Realm cultivator. Although the initial enemies weren’t particularly strong, it took an unknown number of lives to slowly wear them down and defeat them.

Any one of them now could easily eliminate those invading enemies, preserving vital forces. The cultivators who died in battle back then might have been able to advance to the Dao Realm in the future and become a force against the Star Abyss invasion.

“However, we still cannot be careless. Once a Star Abyss Gate opens, if there’s no way to seal it, the Star Abyss’s invasion will never cease!”

“Elder Tree, of the five weaknesses in the starfield now, besides here, the Myriad Manifestation Sea, and the Heavenly Gang Star System, where are the other two?”

Elder Tree replied, “One is in the Long Moon Star System, and the other is in the Profound Frost Star System.”

Lu Ye thought for a moment. He had never heard of these two star systems; they were clearly not well-known. In other words, these two star systems didn't have any notable powerful cultivators.

“There’s no need to worry about the Myriad Manifestation Sea,” Lu Ye mused. “I will arrange things properly there. Even if the Star Abyss Gate opens, no overly powerful enemies will appear within a short time.”

This had already been proven in the Automaton Starfield. The Star Abyss Gates seemed to have a passage limit; initially, only weaker Star Abyss creatures could pass through. But as time went on, the gates expanded, gradually allowing stronger entities to come through.

Hua Ci was stationed in the Myriad Manifestation Sea. Under the power of the Three Treasures Ruyi Coin, let alone Integration Dao, even Fusion Dao cultivators would likely be unable to resist.

As for whether it could withstand a Union Dao cultivator… Lu Ye didn’t know.

But as long as the initial assault of the Star Abyss invasion could be repelled, the cultivators of this starfield would have the opportunity to cultivate in the areas permeated by the Star Abyss’s aura, thereby forging their own Dao Realm and entering the Dao Realm!

“As for other places…”

Gu Yunliu said, “Our Yellow Dragon Realm will take the lead in defending this place, but we will need a few Fellow Daoists to stay and assist.”

Lu Ye nodded. “That’s not a problem.”

There were eleven people who returned from the Star Abyss. With five weaknesses, at least two people could be assigned to each. For those who were all above the Seventh Dao, dealing with the initial Star Abyss invasion was no challenge at all.

In fact, during the initial phase, they might even deliberately allow the Star Abyss aura to infiltrate; otherwise, it would be difficult for the cultivators of this starfield to cultivate.

“For the Heavenly Gang Star System, I plan to arrange for Mount Fangcun to go there,” Elder Tree said. “Mount Fangcun is a supreme treasure, which conveniently saves us the trouble of constructing a war city. Currently, many people have already gathered at Mount Fangcun.”

Lu Ye’s eyes lit up. “Elder Tree’s arrangements are very thorough.”

Indeed, Mount Fangcun could guard a location, which was far more useful than a war city built with significant financial, material, and human resources.

“However, only you can control Mount Fangcun, so you’ll have to make a trip there,” Elder Tree said. “And the last part still needs to be integrated there.”

Lu Ye had almost forgotten about it until Elder Tree mentioned it. Having been in the Star Abyss, far from the starfield, he hadn't kept track of the Western integration.

Calculating the time, it should be nearing completion.

Only…

“Will there be enough time to travel to the Heavenly Gang Star System with Mount Fangcun?” Lu Ye asked.

Elder Tree smiled slightly. “Plenty of time. With wormholes everywhere now, travel across the starfield is very convenient.”

“That’s good then.”