Chapter 381: Nine Stars in a Row

Lu Yang returned to Tianmen Peak and sat cross-legged on the sword-energy boulder, absorbing spiritual energy through his open mouth as he cultivated quietly.

A continuous stream of spiritual energy flowed into his body. Under the influence of the "Mind-Purifying and Nature-Seeing Art," it transformed into refined spiritual power, surging within him.

He slowly extended two fingers, and a ten-foot-long azure sword energy condensed at his fingertips.

"Go!" he sharply pointed forward. The azure sword energy shot out, piercing through three trees and penetrating half an inch into a fourth before vanishing.

These were not common trees found elsewhere. Instead, they were Coiled Dragon Trees specifically planted by Daoist Buyu on Tianmen Peak. Their roots were thick, like coiled dragons, and their bark was layered, resembling dragon scales.

Legend has it that a great war once erupted in the Demon Realm, in which the Dragon Clan participated. Countless true dragons fell, and their blood stained the lakes red. Trees growing on the lake shores were imbued with true dragon blood, undergoing mutation and gaining the power of true dragons.

This was the origin of the Coiled Dragon Tree.

Coiled Dragon Trees were incredibly expensive; second and third-rate sects could only afford one or two to decorate their entrances. This was unlike Tianmen Peak, where an entire small forest consisted of them.

Lu Yang opened his eyes. Through the holes in the three pierced trees, he saw that the fourth tree had been penetrated by half an inch, filling his heart with joy.

Previously, he could only pierce through three Coiled Dragon Trees; by the fourth, his sword energy would weaken, unable even to break the bark.

"Many days of cultivation have paid off!" Lu Yang felt increasingly skilled in his use of sword energy. A three-inch-long azure sword energy coiled around his fingertips, as nimble as a snake.

He could even use the sword energy to clean his ears.

"It's a pity that no one at my cultivation level can compare with me in the Way of the Sword," Lu Yang regretfully shook his head. "Otherwise, a discussion on the subject would be a wonderful thing."

Although he had never competed in swordsmanship with anyone at his level, the confidence instilled by the Invincible Pill made him believe he was the foremost swordsman at his cultivation stage!

Immortal Buxiu secretly nodded. *'This is the Indomitable Aura! Lu Yang has the demeanor I had back then; he's sure to achieve great things in the future!'*

"By the way, Immortal, if Buddhism was created by you five, do you know 'Buddha Kingdom in the Palm'?"

"What is 'Buddha Kingdom in the Palm'?"

"Haven't you heard of this great divine ability, Immortal? It's the Buddhist sect's supreme spatial divine ability, a level higher than the Six Divine Powers like the Divine Eye and Divine Ear. 'Buddha Kingdom in the Palm' means that within the palm lies a vast domain, with infinite space. Once caught in the palm, no matter how great one's divine ability or how swift one's speed, escape is impossible. A single palm strike is like an entire nation descending, utterly incomparable. Some say the Western Golden Buddha Kingdom is actually a manifestation of 'Buddha Kingdom in the Palm'."

Immortal Buxiu pondered, "I've indeed never heard of 'Buddha Kingdom in the Palm.' It must be a spell created in later generations, or perhaps a spell from our time that simply had its name changed. For example, I know a divine ability called 'Universe in the Palm.' Within the palm lies the universe; the myriad stars are but playthings, and the sun and moon are merely two Yin and Yang spheres, common objects. Perhaps 'Universe in the Palm' is 'Buddha Kingdom in the Palm,' and later generations just changed the name. Didn't someone say an unnamed ancient figure refined countless stars into continents? That might have been this very technique!"

Lu Yang's scalp tingled imagining the ancient unnamed figure unleashing 'Universe in the Palm,' casually integrating stars. What immense power! Even natural disasters would be as insignificant as dust before the mighty power of an Immortal!

"Stars rotate in a pattern, you know? Oh, right, you haven't been to space; you haven't seen how stars rotate." Immortal Buxiu spoke with a slightly boastful tone, "I once traveled through space and saw meteorites orbiting stars, and smaller stars orbiting larger ones. I couldn't help but wonder, 'Is it a universal law of celestial bodies for smaller objects to orbit larger ones?' After observation, conjecture, drawing, calculation, and verification, I finally..."

"Ultimately, Immortal, you figured out the laws of stellar motion?" Lu Yang couldn't help but interject, thinking to himself that the Immortal did have moments of intelligence.

"Ultimately, Jiuzhong Xian told me that someone had already figured out the laws of stellar motion long ago."

Lu Yang: "..."

*Thinking about it, it's true. One doesn't need to be an Immortal to go to space; cultivators in the Fusion and Tribulation Crossing stages can also travel through space. If someone dedicated just spent a few years observing a star, they could figure it out. And if they encountered someone skilled in time magic, they might figure it out in half an hour.*

"Back then, it was also popular to use stars for divination. A great diviner once pointed to a certain nebula and declared that he had calculated that when nine stars aligned, the star system they belonged to would fall into chaos, its inhabitants would be displaced, and the entire star system would be destroyed. And according to the laws of stellar motion, this alignment of nine stars was to occur in just three years! This great diviner was named Shi Cang, from the Shi Huang Clan. He was renowned, and half of his divinations were accurate. As you know, some cultivators believe in fate, while others don't. Everyone began discussing how to deal with this impending disaster. Those who believed in fate thought Master Shi Cang was right and urged for the immediate evacuation of the people on these stars to other planets. There were many habitable but sparsely populated stars available. Those who didn't believe in fate felt it was unnecessary to relocate billions of beings based on one person's prediction. Such a move would inevitably cause countless deaths, and starting anew on a new star would take how many generations?"

"So, Immortal, did you believe in fate or not?"

"After hearing all that, I simply shattered one of the uninhabited stars. That way, the nine-star alignment would never happen!"

Lu Yang silently gave a thumbs-up, thinking the Immortal was truly impressive.

"Although I hadn't become an Immortal back then, crushing one or two stars was still quite simple for me. After shattering one star, I discovered an array hidden within its core. Puzzled, I then located the other eight stars, and their cores also contained the same array. My deduction was that when the nine stars aligned, the arrays would resonate with each other, triggering a massive explosion."

"This was intentional?!"

Immortal Buxiu said fiercely, "Yes, it was that Shi Cang, that grandson! Shi Cang used divination as a pretense to sow chaos and reap enormous profits. In reality, every disaster they 'predicted' was something they secretly orchestrated! In my rage, I killed Shi Cang. The Shi Huang Clan intervened, offering pleas, apologies, and compensation, but it was useless; I killed him anyway. Seeing that I wouldn't give them face, the Shi Huang Clan tried to obstruct my path to the Tribulation Crossing stage."

Immortal Buxiu huffed, "Their obstruction was useless! My talent is unique through all ages; I was destined to reach the Tribulation Crossing stage, and so I did!"

Lu Yang clapped.

*The conspiracies of ancient times were truly unimaginable, casually using stars as units of calculation. How many people would suffer from such schemes?*

Just as Lu Yang was pondering how terrifying the hidden schemes of ancient times were, he heard Immortal Buxiu ask.

"By the way, do you want to learn 'Universe in the Palm'? I know it."

"'Universe in the Palm'? Me?" Lu Yang looked at his small hands, feeling that the Immortal thought too highly of him.