Chapter 88: His Starry Sky Has Always Been There
Ji Dao Ren and Yu Ren walked across the wilderness.
They did not take the official road, nor did they board a boat to travel along the Luo River. Instead, they walked where human traces were fewest and the wild grass grew deepest. Their Daoist robes were covered in grass clippings, and beneath the tip of the walking stick lay a crushed mantis.
Because of his difficulty in walking, Yu Ren moved very slowly. Ji Dao Ren had to match his disciple’s pace, so naturally he could not go fast either. Yet just a few days ago, they had been in the snowy plains north of Cold Mountain. How could they now appear here, in this wilderness that could see that majestic city in the distance?
That city had no walls, but on a day like today, when the sky was as clear as if it had been washed, it could be seen from dozens of miles away. This was because the city had high platforms, high mounds outside its bounds, and countless buildings that soared into the clouds.
After so many years, returning to this place, Ji Dao Ren’s face showed no sign of emotion. He remained calm and indifferent, or perhaps one could say numb. Yu Ren had no memory of the capital and no feelings for it, but his face still revealed a hint of curiosity and longing. Yet in the next moment, those emotions on his face turned into gravity and unease.
He looked at a certain spot in the clear sky and stared for a very long time.
The slightly stifling wind in the wilderness stirred the black hair on his forehead.
He could only see with one eye, and staring into the distance like this easily made it ache. He rubbed his eyes and couldn’t help but wonder if he had been seeing things earlier.
“You did not see wrong. That is your junior brother’s destiny star.”
Ji Dao Ren, without anyone knowing when, had also looked up at the sky. On his face, which was usually calm and devoid of emotion, a faint smile finally appeared. Though the smile was light, the emotions hidden within it were deep.
So many years had passed that he had almost forgotten which direction the wind was blowing in the Daming Palace when Emperor Taizong had spoken those words to him before returning to the sea of stars.
Hearing Ji Dao Ren’s words, Yu Ren’s unease grew even stronger.
“Don’t worry. This is a good thing.”
After saying this, Ji Dao Ren continued walking forward.
Yu Ren watched his back, opened his mouth as if to call out, but no sound came. He raised his hand to gesture, but couldn’t make him see. He could only shake his head and follow along.
The wind brushed through the wild grass on the plain, parting a path through the greenery.
The master and disciple walked forward along this road through the grass—one with joy, the other with worry.
At the end of this road, the capital loomed faintly into view.
……
……
At the summit of Cold Mountain, by the shores of Heavenly Pool Lake, many people had now guessed what Chen Changsheng was doing, or rather, what he was experiencing. Countless shocked murmurs rose up, turning into a buzzing like wild bees swarming, then vanishing in an extremely short time, giving way to absolute stillness.
Staring at Chen Changsheng, who sat cross-legged, people’s faces were filled with shock.
He… was Gathering Stars!
Back during the Grand Examination duel, Chen Changsheng had broken through to Penetrating Obscurity on the spot. Could it be that today he was also going to break through to Gathering Stars on the spot? This genius of the National Church, who had already created so many miracles, was he going to shock the entire continent once again? And could he succeed?
Choosing to break through at such a moment was itself a shocking enough matter. But the real key to this matter was whether he could ultimately accomplish it.
If he could, it would be a miracle. If he could not, it would be a joke.
And merely being able to do it was not enough.
What was Gathering Stars? If people who did not understand cultivation read some relevant books, they might think that Gathering Stars was just a higher level of Marrow Cleansing, using the myriad starlight granted by the sea of stars at the moment of breaking through to directly elevate the body’s strength to an unimaginable degree… This view was not entirely without reason. Even without condensing a star domain, a human Gathering Stars expert could still face a demon expert head-on in terms of physical strength and power. This was the reason.
But the real key to Gathering Stars lay precisely in those two words: condensing a star domain.
By using the violent starlight, the cultivator directly opened up many meridian cycles within the body, lighting up as many of the three hundred or so energy apertures as possible. From then on, they possessed an endless, unceasing supply of true essence that, under normal conditions, could be called inexhaustible. The starlight manifested externally, forming a world of its own. Only at this moment could one be said to have entered the ranks of true experts!
The problem lay in how to distribute the amount of starlight? How to choose the order and number of energy apertures to light up? This was a very complex issue. Even disciples of famous and prestigious sects with deep foundations had to undergo long-term preparations with the help of their teachers before Gathering Stars. If there was the slightest carelessness, Gathering Stars could very likely fail, and there was even a possibility of starlight flowing backward, causing severe injury to the cultivator, greatly reducing their cultivation, or even extinguishing all hope of ever breaking through to Gathering Stars in this lifetime.
Among the several thresholds of cultivation, although Gathering Stars was not as dangerous as Penetrating Obscurity, it could not be taken lightly. It especially required the breaker to have sufficient experience and insight.
No matter how much of a genius Chen Changsheng was, he was still not yet seventeen years old. And unlike Qiu Shan Jun, who possessed the true dragon bloodline and had been immersed in the Dao sea since childhood, Chen Changsheng had been cultivating for less than two years. How could he possibly have had enough time to perceive, comprehend, and experience?
Even if he forcibly succeeded in breaking through and was lucky enough to avoid a reverse flow of starlight, if the order of opening the energy apertures was wrong, or if he forced the quantity, it could lead to flaws in the condensed star domain. Not to mention perfection, it might even be very ordinary.
For ordinary cultivators, being able to condense a star domain was an extremely remarkable achievement. Nowadays, the star domains of most Gathering Stars experts in the world could hardly be called perfect. But he was Chen Changsheng, the future Pope. The world’s expectations of him were naturally different—just as Su Li had mockingly said back in the wilderness, “Does that kind of star domain even deserve to be called a star domain?”
People waited for the result with different feelings, so their expressions were naturally different.
Gou Han Shi’s expression was very calm, Guan Fei Bai’s was very grave, and Liang Ban Hu’s was slightly despondent. This was because they knew Chen Changsheng well. Since he chose to break through to Gathering Stars at this moment, he must have already made ample preparations and had confidence.
Zhe Xiu’s expression was very indifferent, but his pupils were slightly contracted. Tang Thirty-Six’s face was somewhat pale, and his hands were clenched tightly. They knew Chen Changsheng better and believed he could successfully break through to Gathering Stars, but in the end, they were still a bit nervous. They were afraid that some accident might occur.
No one knew that the truly most nervous person was Xu You Rong. She sat behind the gauze curtain, her face expressionless, but her body leaned forward slightly, as if she might stand up at any moment.
A star brightened in the daytime sky. Starlight descended from the heavens and poured into Chen Changsheng’s body. The hard stone pavement sank half a foot as a result, and the lake and mountain scenery fell into silent stillness.
Chen Changsheng still had his eyes closed, but he had awakened and returned to the real world. He sat in self-observation, examining the situation inside his body. Confirming that the Nether Mansion was wide open, all his true essence had begun to burn, and the starlight pouring into his body was about to become uncontrollable, he knew it was time to make a choice.
Of course, he wanted to condense a perfect star domain, and he had the confidence to do so.
Did Gathering Stars require a long time to comprehend, perceive, experience, and prepare? Although he had only been cultivating for two years, he had already spent a lot of time on this. This was because his cultivation had always been different from others.
He had begun sitting in self-observation before he had even succeeded in Marrow Cleansing. When he was using starlight to cleanse his marrow, he was actually always in the process of Penetrating Obscurity. He had always been cultivating using methods that exceeded his true realm.
Last year at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, he, who was at the Penetrating Obscurity realm, had already begun Gathering Stars ahead of time.
In the wilderness, Su Li had taught him the Sword of Wisdom. When he was by the lake, gazing at the starry sky and thinking about how to break the star domain of a Gathering Stars expert, he was also thinking about how to project the sea of stars into his own body, in what order to light up the energy apertures, and what kind of star domain to condense.
His starry sky had always been there.
Just waiting for when to light it up.
……
……
(Because I got stuck on the specific way to narrate a certain plot, I thought about it for a long time but ultimately couldn’t decide. I’ve decided to move it to the next chapter and think about it for one more night. So I’ll stop here.)