Chapter 1168: Target Big Dipper
The Eternal Main Star was in an uproar. Hidden currents surged today, and all sides could no longer remain calm. The Great Expansion Era had arrived, with unprecedented opportunities laid before them.
Every major clan was recruiting soldiers. As long as one had sufficient strength, they would definitely be accepted. All wanted to seize the initiative in the future territorial struggles.
"The Primordial Ancient Mine, truly something to look forward to. Having such a place, I believe we can definitely dig out a certain amount of Primordial Life Stone. Since there is this kind of divine main material, then perhaps we can find others as well. It's truly exciting. Who knows, we might even be able to refine fifth-stage, or even sixth-stage Evolution Immortal Liquid!"
Beautiful prospects, grand blueprints. Many major clans were excited. For them, it might become a sacred land of revival, recreating the glory of the Eternal Kingdom of old.
Only Ye Fan frowned. These people wanted to dig the Primordial Ancient Mine? Were they tired of living? Did this ancient star have a few Quasi-Emperors who would bring the mechas left behind by ancient gods to go there?
"This will trigger a great revolution. Back then, we found a similar resource star, which advanced our civilization's progress by fifty thousand years in one go!"
This time, would it be a hundred thousand years, or even longer? Let's wait and see!
Ye Fan was busy, going in and out of various recruitment outposts. He was choosing major powers, wanting to find a royal clan with enough strength that he could join among the ten clans.
In fact, all clans were recruiting, but the advance force plus the Lanto Clan themselves only made eleven clans. Others had to wait until after exploration to set out. Ye Fan was unwilling to wait long.
The entire star system was recruiting soldiers. Mercenary armies became unprecedentedly sought after, recruited by major clans. All humans seemed to be undergoing a great migration.
The Star Network was boiling. Every day, people discussed and argued, always revolving around this topic. Naturally, some accused this of being an invasion, protesting that it was bullying weak indigenous people.
But no major power took this seriously. In their eyes, there was only profit. No resource could be let go.
Ye Fan chose and wavered among mercenary armies and major powers. With his strength, he would definitely be welcomed wherever he went. But his ambition didn't stop there; he wanted to rise in rank, to be able to plunder a mothership when the time came.
While the major clans made their moves, only the Pluto Clan remained calm. They didn't prepare at all, always watching coldly from the sidelines. They only warned a few friendly major clans, saying that place would likely be hard to find.
Back then, their ancestors had come out from that place. Now, few people knew, and even their ancestors hadn't found the way back. They felt the Lanto Clan might not succeed.
When the Lanto Clan learned of this, the person in charge shook his head and smiled, saying that the Demon God was extraordinary, possessing ancient Demon Clan methods used to record star coordinates, paying great attention to measurement along the way.
And the Lanto Clan, based on these primitive, almost archaic coordinates, could gradually deduce and calculate, traveling in reverse to trace back and find that mysterious star domain.
When the Pluto Clan learned of this, they also began to prepare. But their true intention was not to participate, because they vaguely remembered their ancestors' teachings: the Big Dipper Star Domain had an Immortal Path, and ancient Great Emperors had all pursued that place. It was by no means simple.
However, they buried all this in their hearts and didn't speak of it. They prepared on the surface while secretly watching from the shadows.
Aside from the Pluto Clan, the Immortal Feather Qi Clan also had other plans, because the old sage Qi Yaoguang personally consulted Ye Fan, saying he would follow his advice.
"Don't go. Going there to plunder will lead to no good end." Ye Fan only said this one sentence, not mentioning the situation in Big Dipper.
The Qi Clan immediately ceased all activity, being very cautious and not wanting to wade into this muddy water. They sensed a killing intent from Ye Fan's calm words.
"If you don't prepare, that won't work either. People are watching you. Everyone knows you once helped me, and some major clans have deduced that I come from the Big Dipper Star Domain. For example, that Zhao Qingchuan has very meticulous thoughts. He must be observing your movements."
"Kid, you're really not being straightforward. Isn't this setting us up?" Qi Yaoguang said.
Ye Fan's expression was serious. "They want to invade the Big Dipper Star Domain, launching a cross-star domain war. Who lives and who dies is hard to say. I just don't want you to stand out and attract others' attention."
This was a protracted preparation for war, because an expedition was no child's play. At any moment, there was a possibility of being defeated outside the domain. The people of the Eternal Main Star were not blindly arrogant; they had learned enough information from the "Demon God."
Recruiting experts, building warships, repairing motherships—all this was proceeding intensively. Various expedition plans were also being discussed.
During this time, besides pondering which major power to join, Ye Fan was also actively preparing. He was doing his homework, analyzing and studying various minerals.
He learned about the various divine main materials needed to refine the strongest Evolution Liquid. Truly rare in ten thousand ages, hard to come by even if sought, but perhaps some could be found in Big Dipper.
Now, he urgently wanted to improve his realm. The ancient mirror left by Ji Haoyue recorded the dangers ahead. The nine pieces of information made him uneasy. To advance, he had to become a sage. Otherwise, the road ahead would be full of calamities. Chasing like this would likely lead to his fall, with little hope of achievement.
"This divine mineral that appears once in ten thousand ages is... the Creation Source Eye?!"
Ye Fan was shocked. No wonder the Evolution Liquid was priceless. None of the required materials were ordinary; all were peerless rarities. Especially the nine main materials, each more precious than the last.
Destiny Rock, Creation Source Eye, Great Luo Immortal Vine, Primordial Life Stone, Dead World Heart... Which of these wasn't a heaven-defying thing?!
In a sense, having just one type of divine main mineral could refine the first stage of Evolution Liquid. Other main materials could be replaced with substitutes, plus dozens of auxiliary rare minerals, and success would be almost guaranteed.
In fact, having several types of divine main materials determined which stage of Evolution Liquid could be refined.
For example, last time at the Pure Land of Heaven, they didn't have the Great Luo Immortal Vine and used Meteor Star Withered Vine Heart instead. With only Destiny Rock, Primordial Life Stone, and a small piece of Dead World Heart, they successfully refined the third stage of Evolution Liquid.
Of course, their preparations were very thorough. They had gathered all kinds of auxiliary rare minerals, and they were of top quality. The missing main materials all had some decent substitutes.
After learning the details, Ye Fan pondered. To refine the ninth stage, the perfected immortal-grade Evolution Liquid, was simply impossible!
Not to mention the ninth stage, even the eighth, seventh, and sixth stages were hard to refine. In the past fifty thousand years, the most sensational event on the Eternal Main Star was when someone barely managed to refine the sixth stage of Evolution Liquid.
"I left the Destiny Rock at Heavenly Village after initially melting it at the Immortal Mountain when I robbed that purple-eyed woman. It had only just extracted the first stage of Evolution Liquid. It should still be useful. Also, I can ask the Holy Prince to request help from the Battle Victory Buddha. Maybe we can get a piece of Primordial Life Stone from the Primordial Ancient Mine. As for the Dead World Heart... it seems I have one on me!"
During his journey on the Stellar Ancient Path, he had stayed for a time on a star full of bones. He had seen a sage-level bone creature fighting a golden sage ship. In the end, he went deep into the planet's core and took a piece of mineral full of death energy. Now that he was here, he finally learned it was the Dead World Heart.
This kind of mineral could only be born in places of extreme death, with a one-in-ten-thousand chance. The black mineral contained the miracle of immortality within, making it the rarest of the rare!
Ye Fan studied seriously, learning in detail, and finally obtained much valuable information. If he could return to Big Dipper this time, he would pay special attention to collecting these things.
Doing so would bring immense benefits to both him and his old friends. It would allow for qualitative transformations, shortening the time needed for each step of cultivation by a hundred years. The significance was enormous!
Four months passed in the blink of an eye. The various clans on the Eternal Main Star were busy with intensive preparations, which had reached their final stages. It was clear they were very serious and valued this expedition.
Ye Fan chose to join a super royal giant clan known as the Never-Setting Sun. Such ancient families had produced Great Sages in history, and some even had Saint Kings in residence, hence they were called royal lords.
The Cao Clan, the Fan Clan of Immortal Feather Star Sea, the Mo Clan of Primordial Demon Star Sea, the Zhao Clan where Zhao Qingchuan belonged, the Never-Setting Sun Royal Clan... Including the Lanto Clan themselves, there were eleven major clans in total.
Pre-war preparations were almost complete. The assembly was about to begin, and they would embark on the expedition. A cross-star domain war was about to unfold.
Ye Fan was no longer so optimistic. This star domain really had experts. It wasn't as simple as he had thought. If a Great Sage were to pilot a god's mecha on the road, it would likely be a disaster.
Of course, he wasn't pessimistic either. Since he couldn't stop it, he could only follow. When the time came, he would go ahead and inform the sages of Big Dipper. Perhaps there would be a spectacular clash between ancient Great Emperor weapons and ancient god mechas.
"I should prepare some 'gifts' for them. For example, give some sketch maps to the eleven royal clans. It would be best to lead them to places like the Primordial Ancient Mine and the ancient clan gathering grounds."
But doing this was very difficult. Who would believe him? If he presented a map, he would likely be immediately watched and exposed.
Finally, an opportunity came. The next event triggered a huge uproar.
A pair of siblings from the Purple Cloud Clan, who had been lost in the cosmos for many years, returned. They brought shocking news. They claimed to have been to the Big Dipper Star Domain, crashing near a strange region called the Immortal Mountain.
They had lain low there for many years, but in the end, an accident occurred. The Evolution Liquid they had refined was taken by a native.
"That place is truly a treasure land. Based on the description from the Purple Cloud Clan siblings, the Lanto Clan's words are credible. That native is one of the strongest physiques in the universe. That land might indeed have many powerful bloodlines."
"Miss Ziyan has finally returned. She is the pride of the Purple Cloud Royal Clan. Venturing into the stars with her brother for so many years to refine Evolution Liquid is truly admirable. She is the most beautiful spirit of the Eternal Main Star, comparable to Qi Meng and Fan Xian of the Immortal Feather Star Domain."
When Ye Fan received the news, he was stunned for a moment. That pair of "alien" siblings had escaped and returned. They had once been his prisoners, and now they had finally made it back to their home star.
The girl as beautiful as an elf, Ziyan, and her group had suffered greatly. Their mothership was taken, leaving only the golden mecha's divine spirit within. They had made continuous space jumps, getting lost more than a dozen times in the cold, dark cosmos. They nearly died outside, returning only after a narrow escape from death.
The warriors who returned with them were immediately secretly divided up by the various royal clans, lured with heavy rewards, all to learn about that ancient star.
Unfortunately, these people had limited knowledge. They had been focused on refining Evolution Liquid for years and didn't truly understand what kind of sacred land the Big Dipper Star Domain really was. They also mentioned some important matters, saying that when they were about to leave, they had captured many strange races with extraordinary bloodline power. This only made the people of the Eternal Main Star even more excited.
Ye Fan began to act, spreading various versions of secret maps, making people mistakenly believe these were secrets revealed by those who had returned.
After doing this, he had only one thing left to handle: rescuing the Southern Demon. For the past few months, he had been trying hard to confirm his identity, but it was always difficult to get close. The Lanto Clan's defenses were too tight.
Finally, just before departure, the ancient sage Qi Yaoguang brought him an important piece of news. Recently, rumors were everywhere. Various maps of the Big Dipper Star Domain were flying around, making the royal clans uneasy. They jointly pressured the Lanto Clan, demanding they reveal all the secrets the Demon God knew.
In the end, the ten royal clans about to embark on the expedition applied pressure. The Lanto Clan had no choice but to reveal the truth, allowing them to observe the Demon God's sea of consciousness. Nothing would be a secret anymore.
"What? The Demon God is a replica, not the real person?" Ye Fan was slightly surprised, but not too shocked. He had suspected as much. That was likely not the real Southern Demon.
"Correct. His sea of consciousness contains a wisp of the Southern Demon's imprint, but most of it is dominated by a Half-Saint of the Lanto Clan," Qi Yaoguang said.
The Southern Demon had once fought a great battle with the Lanto Clan. To save his sister Qi Huoshui, he almost fell, spilling a lot of Demon God blood. The Lanto Clan used this to forge that Demon God body.
Qi Yaoguang said, "A few years later, that terrifying man, like a Demon God, came back. He killed many experts of the Lanto Clan, but under the intervention of an ancient sage, he lost an incarnation and fled, severely wounded and near death."
Ye Fan was shocked. The Southern Demon was truly extraordinary. To escape from an ancient sage's hands, he was either well-prepared or had reached an unimaginable level of power.
"So, the current Demon God's sea of consciousness contains the imprint of the Southern Demon's incarnation?"
"Correct." Qi Yaoguang nodded.
"Since the Lanto Clan made the secret public, did they let anyone see the incarnation's divine consciousness?" Ye Fan asked.
"I saw it myself." Qi Yaoguang showed him.
In the end, Ye Fan was dumbfounded. The Southern Demon was truly ruthless. Losing his incarnation and nearly bleeding to death were absolutely intentional.
Because these imprints were all deadly traps. The Big Dipper in the Demon God's mind seemed to have few ancient sages. The map in his sea of consciousness clearly marked some important locations of the ancient clans, indicating they held divine treasures.
That incarnation had definitely been tampered with by the Southern Demon. It was left behind on purpose!
"This... is a killing calamity aimed at the ancient clans. Drive the tiger to devour the wolf, making the people of the Eternal Main Star and the ancient clans kill each other!"
When the Southern Demon left, the Big Dipper Star Domain was in deep trouble. The threat from the various ancient clans was too great. They could sweep across the world at any time, leaving billions of corpses.
In a sense, the Southern Demon was forced to leave!
Ye Fan had also thought of spreading maps to do the same, but his were very incomplete. He hadn't fallen into the same predicament as the Southern Demon, so he couldn't use the current situation.
The Southern Demon's setup was very thorough, fully displaying the intentions Ye Fan had wanted to carry out. The two coincided without prior agreement.
"Ruthless enough!" Ye Fan chuckled. The Southern Demon was indeed formidable.
"Woo..." The ancient war horn left by a Great Sage from antiquity sounded. The motherships of the Eternal Main Star rose into the air one after another, heading toward the star gates that had already been opened.
The Purple Cloud Royal Clan also joined in. A total of twelve royal clans set out. Each clan dispatched at least four motherships. As for ancient sage mechas, they were more than sufficient. There were even Saint Kings and other powerful beings overseeing the operation! (To be continued)