Chapter 401 – The Star Spirit Key, Anomalies, and Undercurrents Stirring!

“You’re right.”

The handsome youth nodded and then asked, “You just mentioned that many clan veins are aware of the existence of the Immortal Bloodline; what’s the attitude from above now? How do they plan to handle it?”

The bespectacled old man gave the handsome youth an odd look and replied, “What do you think they would do? Naturally, they would preserve the bloodline.”

The handsome youth thought for a moment and said, “From what I know of that young one, she might not be willing.”

The bespectacled old man picked up his teacup, gently swirling it in his hands, and said lightly, “And what if she’s unwilling?

This is an unprecedented opportunity for our Bai Family’s rise-not something she can simply refuse by not wanting to. If she cooperates, well and good, but if she doesn’t…”

The bespectacled old man brought the teacup to his lips and took a sip, casually adding, “What awaits her is nothing but the extraction of her bloodline.”

The handsome youth frowned slightly, wanting to say something, but in the end, he just let out a soft sigh of “Ah.”

Unperturbed, the bespectacled old man continued to drink his tea, rambling on, “…with the aid of this trace of the Immortal Bloodline, given time, our Bai Family might well reach the Peak of Moyun, and even making advances into Tianlan might not be impossible…”

The light swirled, silent and still.

…

“Humming-“

Lu Yuan spread his fingers wide; platinum ripples emanated from his pale, slender palms.

The platinum ripples vibrated in the void, creating waves of ripples, and at the center of his palm, it seemed as if a platinum vortex had formed, emitting an indescribable, terrifying suction force.

In the face of this suction force, the dark shadow in front of him had almost no power to resist and was tightly grasped by Lu Yuan’s fingers, firmly held in his hand.

Lu Yuan scrutinized the full appearance of the shadow in his palm.

It was a mutated monster.

Its body was covered with short, thick, sharp black fur; its limbs were long, and its hands and feet were beast-like claws with incredibly sharp nails.

Its appearance was even uglier-canine teeth, a pig’s nose, and fox ears…

It looked like a bat that had become a spirit, except it lacked a pair of black flesh wings on its back.

When Lu Yuan grasped the Bat Demon, it was still desperately struggling, constantly emitting circles of red halos while opening its mouth.

From its gaping maw, waves of intense sonic booms erupted, cascading towards Lu Yuan along with the red light, like a relentless tide.

Unfortunately, in front of Lu Yuan’s Protective Shield of platinum ripples, all these attacks were blocked.

“It’s like a creature from the evil deity sect…”

After sizing it up, Lu Yuan felt as if he was holding a “screaming chicken,” annoyingly loud and piercing, so he tightened his grip and directly crushed the ugly Bat Demon.

“Bang!”

The head of the Bat Demon burst like a balloon, followed by its body dissipating into a puff of black smoke.

Nothing was left behind.

“The creatures I’ve encountered in the previous stages were all from the evil deity system, using the power of that system…

The strength of the monsters has been gradually increasing; the monsters on the Fifth Stage have already reached the peak of fifth-stage…”

Lu Yuan slowly retracted his hand, his eyes flickering, pondering at random.

These trial monsters, resembling creatures of the evil deity sect, are generated through some sophisticated technological means, not actual creatures of the sect.

“Most of the participants in this trial practice martial arts of the cosmic starry sky, yet the opponents in the first stage of the trial are derived from various evil deity sects…”

There’s a subtle implication in all this.

“So it seems… even within the cosmic starry sky, the evil deity system is still treated like a pariah, universally scorned, isn’t it?”

Lu Yuan lightly exhaled and couldn’t help shaking his head.

The closer he got to the starry sky, the more he felt that the path ahead was not easy.

While he was thinking, the three portals after clearing the stage had already appeared before him.

“Enter through the middle portal on the Fifth Stage…”

Lu Yuan remembered the instructions from Yuwen Tong before the trial.

Having battled through the five stages, he somewhat understood that the red portal on the far left likely represented the entrance to the “next level.”

As for the middle and right portals…

“One of them probably represents the exit.

Is that the one I should choose now?

And what does the other portal represent?”

Lu Yuan didn’t know.

Although Lu Yuan was somewhat curious, he had no intention of doing anything unconventional.

He decided to play by the rules.

Everything about the extraterrestrial trial was unfamiliar to him, and he certainly didn’t want to make a mess by being too clever.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to choose the middle one of the three portals, a blue one.

Suddenly, a stir in his bosom interrupted his thought.

Before Lu Yuan could react, a streak of emerald green shot out from the wrapping of his combat suit.

Lu Yuan instinctively tried to grab it, but his speed was no match for the swift darting of the green streak.

All Lu Yuan could do was watch as the green streak swooshed into the red portal on the far left.

Then, the middle and right portals gradually disappeared, leaving only the red portal in front of him.

The cuckoo bird suddenly flew out at this moment… making the decision for him!

“Damn!”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

Every time he was with the cuckoo bird, the creature seemed to emerge at critical moments to cause trouble, leaving him in a difficult position.

From the time of the Secret Realm of Embers Mountain until now, it had happened several times.

It was for this reason that Lu Yuan had so readily handed over the Phoenix Egg containing the cuckoo bird initially.

Who would have thought that the creature could make its way back?

“Don’t wait until I achieve a breakthrough where my speed surpasses yours. When that time comes, you’ll be in trouble…”

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth, watching as the space began to collapse after the portal was chosen.

The red portal in front of him also began to flicker uncertainly, as if urging him to hurry inside.

Biting his lip, after weighing his options, he reluctantly stepped into the red portal entrance.

He just hoped that this time… nothing bizarre would happen.

Beneath a cold, quiet starry sky.

Above an ancient, desolate planet, a colossal aircraft, shaped like a prism, rests on the surface.

Surrounding this pillar-shaped aircraft, numerous small disc-shaped aircraft float densely packed.

On every aircraft stand one or two young men and women, uniformly dressed in white robes.

Each of these men and women wears beautifully crafted jade head ornaments with intricate openwork patterns, their features handsome and their demeanor distinguished.

In front of these people and their aircraft floats a transparent crystal column, over half a person tall.

The entire column radiates dazzling, brilliant light, emitting a faint, mysterious ancient aura as it continuously rotates.

Suddenly, a dark blue light spot drifts out from the radiant column.

The elegantly dressed youths surrounding the crystal column immediately show a change in expression, all staring intently at the light spot, their faces revealing a look of longing.

Eventually, the dark blue light spot is captured by a young person closest to the crystal column.

After seizing the light spot, the young man crushes it in his hand, and immediately a blue vortex-like entrance appears in the void before him.

With a smile playing on his lips, the young man steps into it confidently, and the blue vortex vanishes behind him.

As the young man disappears into the vortex, new blue light spots continue to emerge from within the crystal column.

These light spots are quickly claimed by the young men and women surrounding the column, each summoning a vortex entrance and disappearing through it.

After some time, most of the elegantly dressed youths have vanished, and after releasing numerous light spots, the crystal column becomes still and quiet.

The remaining youths who failed to secure a light spot cast reluctant glances towards a dignified white-haired middle-aged man at the front of the crowd.

The white-haired middle-aged man, with a short beard, stands with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze lightly sweeping over the person beside him.

The latter immediately reports: “A total of six hundred thirty-two natives from the ancestral star participated in this trial. Two hundred thirteen passed through the fifth level of the Star Spirit Tower. Currently, two hundred twelve Star Spirit Keys have been generated…”

The white-haired middle-aged man frowns slightly and asks, “Why is there still one missing?”

“Perhaps it’s their first time participating in the trial and they unknowingly entered the sixth level without understanding the rules…”

“Despite repeatedly emphasizing these things before each trial, there are always some fools who appear… Never mind.”

The white-haired middle-aged man spoke with a cold expression, “Losing one is just losing one.

Remember, after the trial ends, someone must make sure that rule-breaker is left behind.

The rewards from the Star Spirit Tower must be handed over by him.

Those items are not something these unenlightened, lower-civilized natives should possess…”

“Yes.”

The reporter nodded, then stretched out his hand to emphasize and mark the name “Lu Yuan” on the light screen list in front of him.

The conversation between the two white-haired middle-aged men was overheard by a group of young men and women waiting nearby.

These descendants of the Bai Family, who had not qualified to enter the Star Spirit Tower, couldn’t help but curse under their breath at the native from the ancestral star who had forcefully taken one of their trial spots.

Similar situations often occurred in previous trials.

These participating natives from the ancestral star, top “powerhouses” on their own planets, were used to being protected and praised, which made them arrogant and difficult to discipline.

Little did they know, they were merely frogs in a well. Only after participating in a trial would they settle down.

What a pity for that one spot in the Star Spirit Tower.

If it were given to one of them, the levels they could reach and the rewards they could obtain from the Star Spirit Tower would undoubtedly be much greater…

…

Meanwhile, on this desolate planet where the Bai Family’s “Star Spirit Trial” ceremony was taking place, a handsome youth and a bespectacled old man sitting on a pale white platform in the Starry Sky also slightly raised their heads to look at the huge light vortex in front of them.

Tiny ripples began to appear on the light vortex.

Each ripple represented a native from the ancestral star who had just emerged from the Star Spirit Trial and entered the “Ancestral Land Secret Realm.”

“I wonder how many resources they will bring out from the ancestral realm this time…”

The handsome youth murmured softly, “I heard that the supreme elder in our family is waiting for these resources to attempt the fourth strike at the Grand Star Lord title.

If successful, our Bai Family’s life in the Moyun Galaxy will be much easier from here on out…”

“It’s just a drop in the bucket… Relying on these, not even a few young children can gather enough resources to reach the higher levels of Star Spirit.

You don’t know, our clan has been selling off those low-level resource planets in bulk.

If the Supreme fails to secure the position of Grand Star Lord this time, I fear… there won’t be much hope left…”

The bespectacled old man beside him couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s still those great families that have it comfortable, occupying the best entrances to the Ancestral Land and having more than one Grand Star Lord in place.

With the power of a Grand Star Lord, they could easily create several rifts right at the entrance of the Ancestral Land, escorting their younger generations inside.

They can enter whenever they want, and loot as they please…

Unlike us, we have to choose the right Ancestral Star for nurturing, wait for the native life to grow, and then send them in for exploration.

It’s as cumbersome as ants moving house, extremely intricate and inefficient.”

The handsome youth glanced at the old man and said indifferently, “Every drink and every peck is preordained; if it weren’t for this, we wouldn’t have discovered the Immortal Bloodline…”

“That’s true.”

The bespectacled old man nodded in agreement and picked up his teacup to take a sip.

The two continued their sporadic conversation in front of the swirling vortex of light, killing the long and boring time.

…

Within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.

“Whoosh!”

A figure suddenly appeared on the ancient and desolate ground.

The Purple-haired man squinted his eyes, scanning the world filled with an ancient and old aura, and slightly bent down to place his hand lightly on the ground.

His broad bronze palm exuded a large amount of sticky black liquid, which seeped into the ground and spread around.

A moment later.

“Boom!”

A pale blue thunderbolt suddenly flashed across the gray-white sky, and the ground shook slightly.

The Purple-haired man grunted, quickly withdrew his hand, and stood up with a slightly pale face.

“A Star Area’s Ancestral Land is indeed terrifying; at my current level, I simply cannot absorb… not even a trace of its essence…”

“Phew-“

The Purple-haired man exhaled deeply, quickly regaining his composure.

He looked around, his deep purple eyes turning pitch black for a moment before reverting to deep purple.

Then, choosing a direction, his body erupted with a massive amount of Purple Thunder, transforming into a streak of purple lightning that quickly disappeared over the vast horizon.

Meanwhile, at another location within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.

In a secluded hollow of the mountains, a man dressed in the uniform of the Distant Star Federation glanced around with a flickering gaze. He quickly touched his wrist, pulling out a silver-white metal sphere covered with circular holes, resembling a honeycomb, from the storage ring he wore on his hand.

He pressed a button on the metal sphere and placed it on the ground in front of him, then quickly stepped back several paces.

The silver-white metal sphere soon levitated off the ground.

Beams of silver light emitted from the circular holes on the sphere’s surface, swiftly forming a vine-like pattern in the air.

The silver vine pattern flickered intensely.

The space around the pattern seemed to boil and churn.

Shortly after, the void cracked open, and two figures appeared, one after the other.

Seeing the arrival of these two individuals, the man who activated the metal sphere showed a face filled with excitement and joy, eagerly stepping forward, about to speak.