Chapter 451 – [Star Forgemaster], [Luminous Carp]

That said, having someone to delegate tasks to is always better than handling everything personally.

“Lu Feng…”

Lu Yuan casually spoke as he watched the spaceship he was on rapidly approach the massive fleet ahead. “I’ve always forgotten to ask, what level pilot are you?”

Lu Feng’s eyes showed a flicker at Lu Yuan’s question, and then he answered.

“Level 5.”

“Level 5… seems not so impressive… Are you sure you can protect me?”

Lu Yuan looked at Lu Feng with “clear” eyes, asking “sincerely.”

Although Lu Feng managed his expression well, Lu Yuan could still tell from the slight twitch of his eye muscles that Lu Feng’s emotions were stirred.

“I’ll do my best,” Lu Feng responded calmly. “I can assure you, if we ever face a crisis beyond my control, I will die before you, Young Master…”

In truth, Lu Feng’s words gave Lu Yuan a slight “touch” of emotion.

But then, Lu Feng’s next words quickly erased that small “emotion.”

“Just a reminder to the Young Master. Once we leave Planet Dadu, we might encounter all sorts of people and situations.

My abilities are limited, and the safety I can provide you is only as much.

So, please be careful not to provoke troubles that we can’t afford… Losing your life over it would be really not worth it…”

With that, Lu Feng turned around and left without further notice.

“This guy… average skills and poor emotional intelligence… Is this how you serve your employer?”

Lu Yuan looked back at Lu Feng’s retreating figure, quite speechless.

Just teasing him a bit, and he got upset.

He’s like a camera, watching me all the time, except for not following me to the bathroom, and yet, I haven’t lost my temper.

A guy who can’t take a joke…

Lu Yuan shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and continued looking out the window.

By now, the spaceship he was on had already merged into the vast fleet in the Starry Sky.

The outermost circle of this fleet was filled with a variety of medium and small spaceships, similar to the one Lu Yuan was on.

As you moved inward, the design and specifications of the spaceships grew more uniform.

At the very center was an enormous spaceship, shaped like a shining golden sword, emblazoned with a large scarlet star emblem.

Eternal Day Guild.

As a top-tier guild in the main star circle of the Duoling Star System, the Eternal Day Guild’s trade extended across the entire Empire, and even ventured beyond its borders.

Every so often, top-tier guilds like the Eternal Day Guild would dispatch caravans to traverse between their various trading points.

During these times, many small to medium-sized merchant ships, or private spaceships like Lu Yuan’s, would join the caravan.

This was safer and avoided many potential dangers and troubles along the way.

It was also cheaper.

Hitching a ride with a top-tier caravan was much more cost-effective than hiring a team of bodyguards.

Typically, a top-tier guild caravan’s trip meant a significant and important trade run.

Many small to medium-sized guilds relied on these opportunities to safely and successfully complete their business transactions.

To say they “lived off the scraps” would not be an exaggeration, as top-tier guilds held the lifeline of countless small to medium-sized businesses.

Just like now, surrounding the Eternal Day Guild’s caravan were numerous merchant ships from various guilds.

In fact, the number of these merchant ships even exceeded the Eternal Day Guild’s fleet several times over, quite a spectacle indeed.

“Half a month with the caravan, then three days solo to reach Planet Lirva…”

Lu Yuan reviewed the itinerary and silently planned in his mind.

“These twenty days or so will be perfect for trying to cultivate in the Starry Sky Martial Arts.”

Starry Sky Martial Arts was another route to help restore his power and could potentially be a major focus for his future Cultivation.

Lu Yuan decided to take this opportunity to try to get a start in Starry Sky Martial Arts.

On the spaceship, Lu Yuan had his own private cultivation room.

It wasn’t small; thanks to space-folding technology, it was many times larger than it appeared from the outside. Even taking out a Mecha for practice was more than feasible.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged in a random spot within the spacious and quiet cultivation room, relaxing his body.

The introductory method for learning Starry Sky Martial Arts in Duoling was not much different from that on his Home Planet.

Both involved sensing the universe will and then activating Star Acupoints.

In Duoling, not much emphasis was placed on Star Martial Arts cultivation for those in the star spirit realm.

Or rather, they didn’t value the Star Martial Arts cultivation of those with average talent.

If you were tested and found to have outstanding talent in this area, you would be protected like a “cherished animal,” given various resources, and guided all the way up.

“For Duoling, unless you have great potential to ascend to the Star Lord Realm, you’d better just learn to control Mechas. Practicing martial arts in the star spirit realm is a waste of time…”

This mainstream belief stemmed from the unique national situation of Duoling.

While surfing the internet, Lu Yuan learned that the neighboring empire-level powers approached things differently, balancing both Mecha and martial arts.

In some sense, Duoling’s current developmental model was somewhat skewed.

It seemed that the leaders in Duoling had also become aware of this and had slowly started elevating the status of Star Martial Arts, releasing many supportive policies over recent years.

Of course, this didn’t relate much to Lu Yuan at the moment.

What he was curious about now was…

“If I start activating Star Acupoints and practicing Star Martial Arts now, will the talent be considered Lu Qiyuan’s or my own?”

This body of Lu Qiyuan had previously been initiated into Star Martial Arts.

The aptitude was somewhat better than Lu Yuan’s, with nearly eighteen or twenty Star Acupoints on the natal star diagram.

As Lu Yuan resumed cultivation, it would be a second initiation, and he wasn’t sure if the awakened natal star diagram would still be Lu Qiyuan’s.

“It doesn’t matter whose it is. With the Spirit Devourer Clan’s devouring ability in me, even if the awakened natal star diagram is trash, I can slowly change and enhance it through devouring…”

Talent, in front of the Spirit Devourer Clan, held little true significance.

The path to power for the Spirit Devourer Clan has always been straightforward: devour, devour, devour!

Unless there is a talent so extraordinarily powerful that it can directly compete with the Clan’s devouring ability, there really isn’t much of a distinction between having a slightly better or worse talent.

Either way, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Spirit Devourer Clan’s [Devour] talent.

“But what kind of talent could stand toe-to-toe with the Spirit Devourer Clan’s devouring ability? How powerful must it be?… It must exist somewhere in the Starry Sky, or else the Spirit Devourer Clan would’ve dominated the universe by now…”

The Spirit Devourer Clan is undeniably strong, and they like to boast, but Lu Yuan never believed these guys were truly invincible.

At least… his professional panel’s assessment didn’t hold them in such undefeatable regard.

“Let’s begin.”

Calming his mind, Lu Yuan closed his eyes and began his cultivation.

Thanks to his mental power reaching the first level, he could skip the series of physical movements that were necessary for practicing the [Origin Heart Sutra] and directly proceed to sensing the universe will.

As the vast and boundless sea of stars appeared before Lu Yuan’s eyes, with the stars shining, spectacular and beautiful, he knew that he had successfully completed the step of sensing the universe will.

“Now, all that’s left is to awaken the natal star diagram and activate the first star acupoint…”

Lu Yuan thought to himself.

This was the step that had always been an insurmountable barrier for him in the past.

Now that the obstacle had disappeared, he still couldn’t bring himself to smile.

Mainly because… the cost was too high.

“Practicing Star Martial Arts feels like abandoning pure martial artistry for something else…”

As he took this step, Lu Yuan’s emotions were mixed.

Is there really no way to have the best of both worlds? Must one always give something up to gain something else?

Lu Yuan stared into the sea of stars, silently calling out with his consciousness to awaken the star diagram treasure hidden deep within his bloodline.

Finally, a star diagram formed by eighteen brilliant light spots quietly emerged before his eyes.

Its shape was somewhat reminiscent of a fish with its fins spread wide.

“So it’s Lu Qiyuan’s…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered.

He wasn’t exactly disappointed; it was more or less expected.

Just as he was about to choose a spot among the light points as the location for his first star acupoint…

Suddenly…

“Boom!”

The fish-shaped natal star diagram before him burst apart like fireworks, with its eighteen brilliant light spots scattering like rolling glass marbles, starting to move around.

Before Lu Yuan could even feel surprised, he saw more light spots lighting up in the vast sea of stars behind the diagram.

These brilliant lights quickly merged into the scattered “star marbles” in front of him.

Then, all the light spots began rotating clockwise, forming a vortex composed of countless bands of light.

More and more stars merged into this vortex, and the vortex grew larger and larger. Lu Yuan was almost dizzy from the sight and completely lost track of how many stars had fused into this vortex.

He sensed a slight pulsation in the core of his actual body.

And before him, the vortex composed of countless brilliant lights seemed to be nurturing something.

Just as the vortex expanded to the point it seemed to overshadow the entire sea of stars behind it…

“Boom!”

The vortex shattered.

Lu Yuan’s consciousness snapped back, and he abruptly opened his eyes in the cultivation room.

“Failed to nurture…”

Unconsciously, Lu Yuan reached out and gently pressed the area over his heart, his expression an unusual mix of intrigue and contemplation.

“Is it because my core is severely damaged and hasn’t fully recovered?”

“Of course, after that battle in the ancestral land secret realm, my body fused with the bloodline of a Phoenix, Yuwen Tong’s bloodline, combined with my foundation, which had been evolved to a significant degree after three limit breaks.

The integration led to destruction and rebirth, thereby naturally reshaping my original trash talent. The change in the natal star diagram is quite normal…”

What surprised Lu Yuan was that this reshaped natal star diagram seemed to be of a very high tier-so high it seemed almost absurd.

“Just how many stars were contained within that enormous vortex?”

One brilliant light represents one natal star acupoint.

A natal star diagram composed of so many star acupoints… how powerful must it be?

“I’m afraid even Yuwen Tong’s natal star diagram might not compare to mine.”

Lu Yuan suddenly felt a rush of excitement.

Any guilt or melancholy he had felt earlier for “betraying” pure martial arts in favor of Star Martial Arts had completely vanished.

If the future prospects in Star Martial Arts were this expansive…

Then what’s wrong with being a “rogue”?

“There’s yet another reason to restore my core as soon as possible.”

Lu Yuan was incredibly eager to find out what his reshaped natal star diagram looked like and what tier it belonged to.

He was as impatient as a cat on a hot tin roof.

He wished he could fly straight to Planet Lirva right now, grab all the Source Worms and bismuth metal waste ore he could find, and wildly feast on them.

With Life Energy surging like a torrent, his core would be instantly restored.

Then he could return as a war god, sweeping through the vast Starry Sky…

“Life’s looking more hopeful by the day…”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.

Since he couldn’t currently awaken the star diagram of his reshaped body, Lu Yuan decided to temporarily use Lu Qiyuan’s star diagram for cultivation.

All he needed right now was to activate a few star acupoints to channel universal energy and help restore his core.

Once his core was fully restored, everything related to Lu Qiyuan’s body could be discarded.

Lu Yuan went through the process once more.

After awakening Lu Qiyuan’s natal star diagram, he didn’t wait for the vortex of his own star diagram to appear. He directly selected one of the brilliant light spots on the star diagram to activate the star acupoint.

Executing this step with mental power already at level one felt incredibly easy.

With a light “boom,” Lu Yuan officially succeeded in activating his first star acupoint.

[Congratulations! You’ve successfully comprehended the skill-lv1 Guidance by Starlight]!

[Congratulations! You’ve unlocked a new profession-[Star Forgemaster (Extraordinary)]]!

The two successive notifications on his professional panel momentarily distracted Lu Yuan from examining the star acupoint he had just activated.

“A new professional panel, [Star Forgemaster (Extraordinary)].”

Looking at this newly unlocked professional panel, Lu Yuan realized that practitioners of the Starry Sky martial arts were known as “Star Forgemasters.”

Considering the division of star spirits and the Star Lord Realm, and the operation of merging the will of a planet in the Star Lord Realm, being called a “Star Forgemaster” seemed quite fitting after all.

Lu Yuan examined the newly unlocked panel and noticed that besides the illuminated lv1 [Guidance by Starlight] skill, there was an independent fish-shaped icon beneath the name [Star Forgemaster (Extraordinary)].

Clicking on the icon, a level 2 panel popped up-

[Awakened Star Diagram: Luminous Carp]

[Number of Activated Star Acupoints: 1]

[Awakened Star Diagram Ability: None]

[Developed Star Diagram Secret Treasure: None]

So, Lu Qiyuan’s fish-like natal star diagram was called “Luminous Carp.” The name itself gave off an impression of mediocrity…

Shaking his head, Lu Yuan wasn’t particularly concerned about it.

All he needed right now was a star acupoint to absorb cosmic energy; the quality of the star diagram didn’t matter much.

However, the last item in the detailed information of the star diagram did catch his attention for a while.

“Could the star diagram secret treasure refer to the Fate Mech?”

He wasn’t sure, but he felt it wasn’t the case.

Or not entirely, at least.

Without delving further into it, Lu Yuan glanced at the panel and then refocused his attention on himself.

The location of the first star acupoint he activated according to the “Luminous Carp” star diagram was just below the throat, at a hollow area connected to the clavicles on either side.

He tried to activate the lv1 [Guidance by Starlight] skill, and immediately he could sense stray cosmic energy continuously flowing into that spot, filling the newly activated, empty star acupoint.