Translator: CinderTL
A Cave Heaven Supreme Treasure—its value rivaled that of a Dao Artifact. Some, possessing complete ecosystems, were even more precious.
Li Chunjun didn't even own a decent Dao Artifact, making the prospect of obtaining a Cave Heaven Supreme Treasure seem like an unattainable dream.
True Monarch Huang Tian understood this. "Our hope rests on you, Swordmaster Li," he continued. "You can first depart the Azure Star Minor Realm aboard the Golden Crow Battleship, leading a group across the Immortal Great Wall."
He chose his words carefully. "According to True Monarch Ri Ang and the others, direct Star Gates connect the Immortal Great Wall to the Immortal God Race's headquarters, and from there to our Human Race's Profound Yellow Great World. If you can return to the Profound Yellow Great World, your current strength would almost certainly propel you to the top of the Cosmic Light List!"
"And by claiming the top spot on the Cosmic Light List, I could exchange it for a Cave Heaven Supreme Treasure?" Li Chunjun understood his implication.
Those who ranked high on the Cosmic Light List typically received Dao-infused materials. For the top ten, obtaining these materials was virtually guaranteed.
But the top spot...
Obtaining a Cave Heaven Supreme Treasure comparable in value to a Dao Artifact was not an unrealistic aspiration, especially for Li Chunjun, who had topped the Cosmic Light List on his very first attempt, accumulating the rewards from the previous 107 rankings. Barring unforeseen circumstances, directly exchanging for a high-grade Cave Heaven Supreme Treasure was well within his reach.
But...
"Without the Golden Crow Battleship and the protection of the True Monarchs, how can the Azure Star Minor Realm withstand the impending Cosmic Aftershocks?" Li Chunjun asked.
Huang Tian and Zuo Cheng exchanged glances.
After a long pause, True Monarch Huang Tian continued, "Theoretically, the scale of the Cosmic Aftershocks shouldn't exceed that of the previous Cosmic Tremor. If we prepare thoroughly, we might survive even without the Golden Crow Battleship to maintain the Dao Resonance Barrier, though total annihilation remains a possibility."
That was the theory, but...
It largely depended on luck.
And luck would play a dominant role.
Even if the average energy impact only reached level 10, instead of the level 11 observed in the Azure Sea Domain, without the Golden Crow Battleship activating the Azure Star's Dao Resonance Barrier, nearly everyone in the Azure Star Minor Realm—except for a handful of Nine Tribulation True Monarchs—would likely perish.
"If Swordmaster Li travels at full speed to the Immortal Great Wall and smoothly navigates the Teleportation Arrays and Star Gates, the round trip might take only a year or two. As for the Cosmic Aftershocks... it's reasonable to expect the later ones to erupt within three to five years at the latest."
True Monarch Huang Tian carefully chose his words, trying to persuade Li Chunjun. "In other words, if Swordmaster Li is swift enough and the stability of this starry sky holds, he might be able to retrieve the Cave Heaven Supreme Treasure before the aftershocks strike. Then, he could assimilate the entire Azure Star Minor Realm into the treasure and return to Human Territory together."
"A year or two..." Li Chunjun pondered the timeframe.
He knew full well that he could abandon the Azure Star Minor Realm without hesitation if necessary.
But...
A question he'd considered lingered in his mind:
Whether a deceased person possessed even a fragment of their soul or none at all made reviving them an entirely different challenge.
Similarly, the difficulty of resurrection varied depending on whether their corpse remained intact or was missing body parts.
So...
If an entire world were to vanish completely, leaving no trace behind, would the difficulty of resurrection rise to an entirely new level?
Although the Azure Star Minor Realm had already undergone a massive cosmic shift, its current location unfathomably distant from its original coordinates, Li Chunjun knew he couldn't afford to overlook even the slightest possibility.
After a moment, he asked, "Can the Golden Crow Battleship's detection system predict when the Cosmic Aftershock will erupt?"
"It has some capability, but its predictions won't be precise. We should expect an error margin of about a month," True Monarch Huang Tian replied.
"A month is enough," Li Chunjun said, exhaling. "Next, we'll repair the Golden Crow Battleship's detection system."
Huang Tian and Zuo Cheng exchanged surprised glances. This unexpected development presented both advantages and disadvantages.
The obvious downside was the delay in returning to Human Territory, likely adding another three to six months to their journey. Who knew what dangers lurked during that time?
But the advantage...
Naturally, it was the Heart Demons dwelling within this Land of Buried Demons.
Over the coming months, they would undoubtedly have one or two more opportunities to refine these creatures.
One or two Heart Demons...
And all within a matter of months. While insufficient to propel them to the next stage of the Mind Realm, this would provide a solid foundation for reaching the Second Layer.
With this foundation, breaking through to the Void Refining stage was no longer a distant dream but a tangible hope. This glimmer of hope was worth risking their lives for.
"Understood. We'll have Yuan Ji focus all his efforts on repairing the Golden Crow Battleship's detection systems immediately," True Monarch Huang Tian said gravely.
"Do we have enough materials?" Li Chunjun asked.
"More than enough!" Huang Tian replied. "The hulls of the Thirteen Venerables' Sixth-Tier Titans alone contain enough material to not only repair the detection systems but also restore seventy to eighty percent of the defensive systems."
"Then prioritize repairing the equipment related to Starquake and Void detection," Li Chunjun instructed.
"If we focus solely on restoring those functions, we can shorten the repair time to two or three months," Huang Tian responded. He then asked, "Should we dismantle the three other repaired engines on the Golden Crow Battleship and install them on other warships?"
"Do it!" Li Chunjun ordered. "Since we plan to observe the situation for a while, we can't afford to waste time. Search for more Lesser Thousand Worlds, eliminate Heart Demons, and convert them into strategic resources to consolidate our foundations."
"I'll have someone prepare it immediately," True Monarch Huang Tian said, bowing his head. He and Zuo Cheng then took their leave of the cultivation chamber.
As they stepped outside, Zuo Cheng couldn't help but ask, "Shouldn't we try to dissuade Swordmaster Li one last time?"
"Swordmaster Li has already done more than enough for us," True Monarch Huang Tian replied. "Now that he's finally revealed his intentions, we shouldn't try to talk him out of it. Instead, we should devote ourselves entirely to fulfilling his wishes."
He paused briefly, then added, "Even if it proves impossible, we must give it our absolute best."
Zuo Cheng nodded silently.
"Besides," True Monarch Huang Tian continued with a smile, "Swordmaster Li's unwavering loyalty and sense of righteousness are our good fortune. It means that even if we face danger in the future, he will never abandon us. By helping the people of the Azure Star Minor Realm now, we are essentially securing our own future safety."
Zuo Cheng stared blankly for a moment, then nodded in deep agreement.
"A few months," Li Chunjun muttered, lost in thought.
He wasn't sure why he had made this decision.
Was it because he couldn't bear to see the Azure Star Minor Realm, the last vestige of his life, disappear?
Or was he overconfident in his current Seventh-Rank strength, believing he could withstand the Cosmic Aftershock?
Or...
Perhaps his Life Level hadn't quite reached the threshold for advancement.
Or maybe he simply didn't want to miss this rare opportunity to break through to the Fourth Layer of his Mind Realm?
All these reasons likely played a part.
But after weighing all factors, staying temporarily in the Land of Buried Demons to elevate both his Life Level and Mind Realm seemed the most logical course of action.
"My biggest challenge now lies in comprehending the profound mysteries of the Spatial Laws," Li Chunjun mused. "With the Void Dao Body and Destruction Dao Body fully formed, my understanding of the Void Law has accelerated to an astonishing pace. However, as Law Mysteries grow increasingly complex, mastering the remaining three hundred or so will likely take three to five years."
Li Chunjun had a clear grasp of his cultivation progress.
"Three to five years isn't long," he continued, "but if I could capture a hundred Heart Demons, sell them for a billion Spirit Crystals, and use those crystals to purchase Enlightenment Divine Tree Leaves, I could achieve sudden enlightenment through their power. Then I wouldn't even need three to five years..."
With over a hundred Enlightenment Tree Leaves, Li Chunjun could comprehend 1,024 mysteries of the Void Law within a few months, or at most half a year.
Combined with his inevitable Fourth Layer Heavenly Heart Eternal Method, achieving Void Refining would be a natural progression.
Therefore, waiting another two or three months before taking the final step would truly maximize his gains.
"The only uncontrollable risk lies in the impending Cosmic Aftershock," he mused. "However, the intensity of aftershocks typically diminishes over time. Moreover, the previous Starquake was exacerbated by the Divine Race's meddling. Even if an aftershock does occur, its power likely won't be catastrophic."
Most importantly, his current strength was utterly incomparable to when he had first crash-landed in this Starfield.
"I now possess sufficient power to weather these crises," Li Chunjun affirmed inwardly, his voice filled with absolute confidence.
Seventh-Rank wasn't the limit. With continued cultivation in the Land of Buried Demons, reaching Eighth-Tier or Ninth-Tier was within reach.
Looking ahead, he envisioned a rapid path to Tenth-Rank Dao Harmonization, Eleventh-Rank Supreme Sovereign, and ultimately, the pinnacle of Twelfth-Tier cultivation—the Supreme Powerhouse of the starry sky!
Then, he would fulfill his long-cherished wish...
"But even Twelfth-Tier... might not be enough," a new thought surfaced.
A Twelfth-Tier Supreme Expert couldn't resurrect the dead.
No!
Even if he remained in the Land of Buried Demons, he couldn't break through to the Ninth-Tier, let alone achieve Eighth-Tier combat prowess. He desperately wanted to stay...
A sudden realization struck Li Chunjun like a bolt of lightning.
The Heavenly Heart Eternal Method swiftly activated!
Only then did he notice a layer of gray mist had silently enveloped his Spiritual World.
"Heart Demon!" Li Chunjun exclaimed.
His Mental Power Fire ignited, fiercely incinerating the gray mist within his Spiritual World. In an instant, the mist vanished completely.
But Li Chunjun knew this level of purification was merely a temporary fix. Unless he dedicated a prolonged period to nurturing his mind, the gray mist would inevitably return.
"Heart Demon Contamination," he muttered.
In his eagerness to advance his Mind Realm to the Fourth Layer, he had refined too many Heart Demons, inevitably contaminating his spiritual core.
Any other cultivator in this situation would have retreated immediately, avoiding all contact with Heart Demons.
But Li Chunjun...
"The mental resilience granted by the first three layers of the Heavenly Heart Eternal Method gives me sufficient resistance to Heart Demon Contamination. Therefore, my true course of action is to seize this opportunity and complete the advancement of my Life Level before the contamination resurfaces!"
(End of the Chapter)
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