Primordial Starry Sky

After flying for over a kalpa, Xuan Qing and Han Xi arrived at the Nine Heavens Gale Layer.

"Brother, is this the Nine Heavens Gale?"

The Nine Heavens Gale was derived from the nine origins of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, and darkness between heaven and earth.

Heaven and earth had always contained Malicious Qi, and countless living beings fought and slaughtered one another. The Malicious Qi rose from the Primordial Land, where it was absorbed and condensed by the Nine Heavens Gale, gradually forming the Nine Heavens Gale Layer.

One needed the physical body of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal to pass through the Nine Heavens Gale Layer. There were already few living beings in the Prehistoric Era, and even fewer whose physical bodies had reached Grand Unity.

They could barely occupy much of the land, let alone anything else. Thus, no one had ever thought to set their sights on the Starry Sky.

In the early stage of the eighth Measure Tribulation, Three Heavens led numerous Star Gods from the Starry Sky to the Primordial Land. In the end, all the Star Gods and Three Heavens were slain by Fierce Beasts, their origins returning to heaven and earth.

All the stars were also damaged at their origins after losing their Star Gods. Not only did they need to restore their origins, but they also needed to nurture new Star Gods.

This greatly weakened the operation of the Zhou Tian Stars. Coupled with the Malicious Qi throughout the Prehistoric Era during the Fierce Beast Tribulation, countless traces of Malicious Qi could not be neutralized by Star Power and gradually began to merge into the Nine Heavens Gale Layer.

Ordinarily, even Golden Immortals could pass through the gale layer. Now, even one's physical body had to break through to Grand Unity Golden Immortal. Those Three Heavens were really a piece of work.

When the Primordial Stars operated normally, they could absorb currents from Chaos and transform them into Innate Spiritual Qi, nourishing the Primordial Land.

Star Gods were like modern civil servants, clocking in and out every day. Not only did they receive gifts from Star Essence that accelerated their cultivation, but they could also continuously obtain Merit.

Those closest to the water got to see the moon first. The Innate Spiritual Qi nourishing the Prehistoric Era would first supply the Primordial Starry Sky. Wasn't that the finest Blessed Land?

Yet Three Heavens abandoned the stars and took the Star Gods away for their own ambitions, all for a little Auspicious Qi to speed up their cultivation. They threw away a watermelon to pick up sesame seeds—utter fools.

Ever since Three Heavens fell, the stars had grown much dimmer. Xuan Qing sensed the density of the spiritual qi, and it was not even comparable to that of the Primordial Land.

Other than him, who was pursuing the Five Innate Origin Essences, who would go suffer in the Starry Sky after eating their fill?

"This gale qi is good stuff. Your physical body is only at the early-stage of Taiyi, so this is the perfect chance to temper it. Opportunities like this are rare."

Malicious Qi was a kind of turbid qi from the earth. Ordinary people did not dare absorb such things. Aside from Luohu and the Twelve Ancestral Witches, no one in the Prehistoric Era relied on it to improve their cultivation.

Absorbing Malicious Qi was like stuffing knives into one's body, and it could easily fry one's brain.

"Will it hurt a lot, Brother? You're not tricking Sister, are you?"

Han Xi shook her head like a rattle-drum.

"Don't worry, it'll only hurt for a while. The Three Lights Divine Water will help you recover from your injuries. Endure it, and it'll pass. The strong never complain about their environment!"

Xuan Qing took out a ball of Three Lights Divine Water and tossed it to Han Xi.

"I'm scared of pain, ⊙﹏⊙!"

The little girl tried to weasel out of it. She truly did not want to cross over using only her physical body.

Xuan Qing pulled out the Jade Bamboo of Creation and gave the little girl a whack.

"Smack!"

Han Xi instantly felt that she could no longer use her Magic Power. Only her physical body could still feel anything. She turned back and looked at Xuan Qing pitifully.

Xuan Qing ignored her pleas and directly threw her into the gale layer.

If she did not experience the tempering of pain, she might one day follow in her Sister's footsteps. Suffering more now meant suffering less later. How could the little girl not understand such a simple truth?

The moment the little girl was pushed inside, her entire body began to tremble, and her feet kept shrinking backward.

"Brother, this is too painful. I don't want to cultivate my physical body anymore."

The little girl began to back out again.

Xuan Qing ignored her little schemes and struck her with another blow.

"If one day I'm not by your side and you encounter an enemy you can't defeat, what then? Am I supposed to collect your corpse?"

The little girl immediately stopped crying, wiped away her tears, and walked forward resolutely.

Thus, they slowly flew upward. Whenever Han Xi could not bear it any longer and wanted to give up, Xuan Qing would whip her with a stick.

One day, the gale qi began to riot. Countless currents of Malicious Qi swirled through the air, and Han Xi was swept up by a violent wind, rapidly flying toward the center of the gale layer.

"Brother, ooh..." Countless gusts poured into her mouth, leaving the little girl unable to speak.

Xuan Qing instantly panicked and hurried after her.

Not long afterward, the little girl was struck by a pearl and came to a stop. The surrounding gales instantly dispersed.

Han Xi picked up the pearl and examined it. It was a High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure called the Wind-Quelling Pearl, nurtured by Wind Origin.

It had originally been the Mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure Wind Spirit Pearl, but after absorbing part of the Malicious Qi and Star Power, it advanced into a Spiritual Treasure capable of influencing Wind Origin.

Thus, it was rejected by Wind Origin. Han Xi was truly lucky. She just happened to be stopped by the pearl that had been thrown out, and not only was she saved, but she also obtained a Spiritual Treasure.

"Brother, there's actually an Innate Spiritual Treasure in this gale layer. There might be one in the next layer too. Let's hurry and look for it."

Han Xi's physical body had now adapted to the gale layer, and she was not far from the Middle Stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. The gales no longer had much effect on her.

Thus, they searched their way down little by little. Five kalpas passed, and the two searched every gale layer without finding anything else.

"Looks like only a Wind Origin Spiritual Treasure was born. The others haven't been nurtured yet. We'll come back to look for them later. It's time for us to leave."

The two passed through the gale layer and arrived in the Primordial Starry Sky.

A desolate, ruined scene entered their sight.

"This... shouldn't be."

Although the origins of the Primordial Stars had been damaged, the spiritual qi should not have been so thin.

Looking up, only the distant Solar Star, Lunar Star, and Ziwei Star shone with light, as though they were healing the entire Starry Sky.

"Roar!"

A tremendous roar came from the nearest star. A fierce beast sensed living vitality and pounced directly at the two of them.

"Fierce Beasts? What's going on? Why are Fierce Beasts appearing in the Primordial Starry Sky? Could some of them have fled here after losing the great battle?"

Xuan Qing could only assume that the Fierce Beasts of the Primordial Starry Sky had come from the Northern Continent.

That seemed right. The Fierce Beasts on the continent had nearly been exterminated. Other than fleeing to the Starry Sky, they had nowhere else to take refuge.

Han Xi casually destroyed the fierce beast, which had the cultivation of a Golden Immortal.

"Brother, didn't killing Fierce Beasts earn Merit? Why isn't there any now?"

Han Xi said gloomily.

"The Fierce Beast Tribulation has already passed. The Great Dao is impartial, so he surely left the Fierce Beasts a way out. Having survived their death tribulation, they should have gained a sliver of life."

Xuan Qing then said to the little girl:

"Even if there's no Merit to gain, Fierce Beasts destroying the Prehistoric Era means destroying our future cultivation environment. Since we've encountered them, let's destroy them."

With that, he took Han Xi and flew toward the nearest star. The entire star was deathly still, without the slightest trace of life.

Xuan Qing was immediately suspicious. Even if the Star God had died, a Golden Immortal fierce beast could never completely destroy a star. There had to be something strange at work.

Xuan Qing and Han Xi split up and began inspecting the entire star.

"Brother, come quickly!"

Not long after, Han Xi's voice entered Xuan Qing's mind. This little girl was fast—she had already found something.

Xuan Qing hurried over and saw a massive abyss embedded in the ground before him, as though someone had slashed the entire celestial body with a blade.

Xuan Qing used his Divine Sense to probe it. Below lay dense Star Power, yet it was not radiating outward. Instead, it was being absorbed.

Xuan Qing did not hesitate further. He took the little girl and jumped down. As they continued descending, the Star Power grew increasingly dense.

When the two reached the bottom, a massive Beast Nest came into view. It clung to the star's core and absorbed the star's origin.

As the star's origin was absorbed, the spiritual qi of the entire star also began to disappear. Its vitality was extinguished, and cracks began to appear across the celestial body.

This was only the first star he had encountered, yet it was already in such a state. Though this star was not among the Zhou Tian Stars, it had still evolved through countless years in the Primordial Starry Sky. It should not be destroyed by Fierce Beasts like this.

Xuan Qing used his Divine Sense and sensed a large number of black cocoons being nurtured within the Beast Nest. These black cocoons slowly absorbed Star Power.

The largest black cocoon shattered, and a giant beast resembling Godzilla emerged.

"Senior, this is the birthplace of us Starry Sky Giant Beasts. As outsiders, isn't it improper for you to pry like this?"

After absorbing Star Essence, this fierce beast could actually transform into a Starry Sky Giant Beast and gain the intelligence of an ordinary living being. It was already no different from normal living beings of the Prehistoric Era.

However, they were destroying the entire Starry Sky to achieve their goal. They had quite the plan, thinking that becoming living beings of the Prehistoric Era would keep them from being rejected by heaven and earth.

"Your Fierce Beast Clan is courting death! You actually dare destroy the Primordial Starry Sky!"

Xuan Qing was furious. A birthplace? These Fierce Beasts were digging up the roots of the entire Prehistoric Era. It was no different from the Fierce Beast Tribulation.