Enlightenment Under the Stars

Yellow-Haired Great Bear looked at Lei Zhan. "Since you were able to become a God-Devil Body Refining cultivator at the Purple Mansion level in the outside world, you must know how powerful and precious divine abilities are. The divine abilities left behind by my master are all secret techniques that are never passed on, and they are even more precious than those circulating in the outside world!"

"Divine ability techniques more precious than those in the outside world?" Lei Zhan nodded. "I will strive to cultivate in the coming years. Naturally, the more powerful the divine ability, the better!"

Yellow-Haired Great Bear smiled. It clearly saw the determination in Lei Zhan's eyes, and then it spoke.

"Since you are determined to obtain them, then seize the time and grasp every opportunity to improve your strength!"

If not for the fact that this little fellow before it knew how to respect his teacher and follow the Dao, and was polite and disciplined—most importantly, that he had the hope of inheriting its master's mantle—how could it, with its arrogant nature, patiently offer pointers to a Purple Mansion level cultivator?

Yellow-Haired Great Bear looked at Lei Zhan. "After all, the stronger your strength, the greater your chance of passing. Given the talent you have displayed, if you wait until you are ten to attempt it, you should have a sliver of a chance."

"Only a sliver of a chance?"

"Correct, only a sliver! Let's go. With your current strength, there is no point in thinking too much. Let's go see the other three branch halls first." Yellow-Haired Great Bear glanced at Lei Zhan, then led him along an ancient corridor to a towering bronze gate that was also shut tight.

The bronze gate was carved with axes and spears, its surface faintly glowing with a bloody red light, and waves of intense killing intent surged toward them.

"Such dense, bloody killing intent..." Lei Zhan had seen plenty of bloody slaughter in the mortal world, but the aura emanating from this ancient, towering bronze gate still left him shaken.

"This is the War God Hall!" A faint smile appeared on Yellow-Haired Great Bear's face.

"In this War God Hall, you have two chances to attempt it for every realm you reach in God-Devil Body Refining. Since you are already at the Purple Mansion realm, you have pointlessly lost the two chances to attempt the War God Hall at the Xiantian realm, which also means two fewer opportunities to exchange for treasures in the Hall of Treasures!"

"Two fewer opportunities to exchange for treasures in the Hall of Treasures?" Lei Zhan was stunned.

From the moment he awakened his past-life memories until now, less than an hour had passed, and Lei Zhan hadn't thought that far ahead. Hearing the Yellow-Haired Great Bear's words now, he felt a fleeting moment of regret.

However, having experienced the baptism of life and death, his Dao heart had improved significantly, and this feeling of regret vanished in an instant.

Lei Zhan looked at the smiling Yellow-Haired Great Bear and laughed. "Since the Hall of Treasures in the Immortal Mansion bears the name of 'treasures,' the items within must surely be extraordinary. But if they are lost, then so be it. If not for my God-Devil Body Refining reaching the Purple Mansion level, I would have struggled to overcome the many hardships to reach this North Dark Sea."

"And to successfully pass the three trials set by my master—it is my fortune to gain them, and no great loss if I miss them. I will simply work twice as hard to make up for it elsewhere!"

"Oh!"

Yellow-Haired Great Bear was surprised. "Juhua actually took in a good disciple! Your Dao heart is truly carefree!"

"Then let's head to the Hall of Treasures next. I would love to see the look of utter disappointment on your face when you see the various precious treasures within." Yellow-Haired Great Bear teased him immediately.

Over endless years, although it was a magic treasure spirit, a powerful magic treasure spirit could cultivate as long as it possessed intelligence. As long as it could cultivate, it was no different from a true living being and would experience loneliness.

Immortal Juhua had always been an incredibly dull person, and now that there was an interesting little fellow in the Star-Plucking Mansion, it finally felt the emotions a living being should have.

"Disappointment?"

Lei Zhan smiled. Although he hadn't seen the magic treasures in the Hall of Treasures, he generally knew what they were—nothing more than the countless precious treasures left behind by Daoist Sanshou to help his disciples grow.

But given his nature, over two lifetimes, he had only felt a moment of cowardice once, let alone a useless emotion like disappointment.

He would only do his utmost to strive and to obtain.

"Look, this is the Hall of Treasures." Yellow-Haired Great Bear pointed to a spot not far away, where an ancient bronze gate stood. Unlike the previous one, it was not shut tight but stood wide open.

Lei Zhan looked in the direction Yellow-Haired Great Bear pointed, peering inside through the open bronze gate.

He saw that inside was a massive hall, and suspended high in the air were pieces of magic treasure—ancient magic treasures radiating powerful auras. The fluctuations emitted by some of the powerful treasures were enough to make space itself stagnate, almost causing Lei Zhan to feel a slight sense of suffocation.

The mere fluctuations are enough to make me feel suffocated; these must be Immortal-grade magic treasures or Pure Yang magic treasures! Lei Zhan thought to himself as he watched the treasures floating high in the hall.

After all, the Hall of Treasures could not possibly store higher-level Xiantian Spirit Treasures; he knew that Daoist Sanshou had placed the Xiantian Spirit Treasures he left behind in a separate palace.

However, one needed to cultivate the Star-Plucking Hand to the fifth level to break the restrictions left by Daoist Sanshou and obtain the treasures within.

"This Hall of Treasures stores the countless treasures my master collected, ranging from Human-Grade magic treasures used by Purple Mansion cultivators to Pure Yang magic treasures used by Celestial Gods and True Immortals. Even Chaos Items from when Pangu opened the world are inside. If you want to obtain these treasures, you only need to follow the rules set by my master and meet the corresponding conditions."

Yellow-Haired Great Bear spoke. "Now, do you realize how precious those two chances were?"

"Senior Great Bear, I still hold the same view. Rather than lamenting what has already been missed and cannot be recovered, it is better to look forward."

Lei Zhan looked at Yellow-Haired Great Bear with a calm gaze.

"I wonder what the rules of this Hall of Treasures are so that I may obtain the treasures?"

"Hmm, good!" Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded in satisfaction and pointed to a wall.

"Look over there; all the rules are recorded on it."

Lei Zhan looked in the direction Yellow-Haired Great Bear pointed and saw that the wall was covered in dense, tiny characters, all recorded in the God-Devil Script.

"As you can see, if you want to obtain my master's treasures in the Hall of Treasures, there are only two ways."

Yellow-Haired Great Bear continued, "The first is to improve your God-Devil Body Refining realm and break through a major realm. For example, since you have reached the Purple Mansion level in God-Devil Body Refining, you can immediately choose one Human-Grade magic treasure or a treasure of equivalent value in the Hall of Treasures later. If you reach the Myriad Phenomena level in God-Devil Body Refining, you can choose one Earth-Grade magic treasure or a rare item..."

"The other way is to attempt the War God Hall. My master stipulated that there are two chances to attempt the War God Hall for every realm of God-Devil Body Refining, and the War God Hall has ten levels in total. If you pass the first or second level of the War God Hall, you can choose one Human-Grade magic treasure or a rare item of equivalent value. If you pass the third or fourth level, you can choose one Earth-Grade magic treasure..."

"And since you, Lei Zhan, are already at the Purple Mansion realm and have only just become the reserve master of my Immortal Mansion, those two chances from the Xiantian level are gone."

Lei Zhan looked at Yellow-Haired Great Bear. "Senior Great Bear, does this mean that at the Purple Mansion realm, I can now exchange for one Human-Grade treasure? And I still have two chances to attempt the War God Hall?"

"Exactly! With your current strength, you should have a seventy percent chance of passing the first level of the War God Hall, but you have less than a ten percent chance of passing the second level."

A seventy percent chance of passing the first level of the War God Hall was an evaluation Yellow-Haired Great Bear only gave after watching Lei Zhan participate in the trials.

As one of the most important ways Daoist Sanshou cultivated his successors, the War God Hall was naturally not that easy to pass.

Yellow-Haired Great Bear looked at Lei Zhan. "Do you want to attempt the War God Hall now?"

"Wait a moment. Senior Yellow-Haired Great Bear said I am now able to enter the four branch halls, and there is still one left that you haven't shown me yet!" Lei Zhan shook his head.

Since the Yellow-Haired Great Bear had stated plainly that his current strength gave him less than a ten percent chance of clearing the second level of the War God Hall, he naturally would not rush in recklessly.

Furthermore, there was still the final place he was extremely eager to visit, the Star Hall, so he would naturally visit the Star Hall before attempting the War God Hall.

Enlightenment in the Star Hall allowed one to observe the complete Dao evolving within at close range, which could greatly improve one's strength. Lei Zhan had already lost his two chances to challenge the War God Hall at the Xiantian level, so he would certainly not waste this opportunity lightly.

"Hmm." The Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded. "In that case, let us head to this final branch hall, the Star Hall."

"Among these four branch halls, the one that helped your master Juhua the most was this Star Hall. The Star Hall is filled with the mysteries of the Dao; practicing and contemplating within it makes it easiest to achieve enlightenment."

"However, no matter how much is said, you will only truly understand once you experience it for yourself!"

Exiting the Hall of Treasures, the man and the bear walked along the corridor until they reached the very depths, arriving at the main entrance of the Star Hall.

The gate of the Star Hall was not like the previous branch halls, whose gates were all cast from bronze; this one was a towering wooden gate that exuded an ancient, natural aura.

The wood shimmered with a cold, cyan light. Under the signal of the Yellow-Haired Great Bear, Lei Zhan pushed open the heavy doors directly. Although the gates looked incredibly cold, they felt warm to the touch.

Walking through the passage behind the wooden gate, Lei Zhan gazed quietly at the scenery before him, feeling his heart and mind expand.

"This is the Star Hall! A treasure ground that aids in enlightenment!"

Lei Zhan looked at the scenes unfolding before his eyes.

What met his eyes was a vibrant, living mountain covered in a vast array of trees and weeds, yet at the foot of the mountain, there was almost no vegetation, save for a few tufts of grass growing occasionally among the scattered rocks.

At the base of this barren mountain sat a thatched cottage.

In front of the seemingly ordinary thatched cottage flowed a stream, winding its way down from the mountain through the rocks.

In the sky, there were massive, brilliant stars; they seemed incredibly distant, yet also within reach.

"This is the Star Hall, which can help cultivators achieve enlightenment." The Yellow-Haired Great Bear led Lei Zhan to the front of the thatched cottage and said, "Lei Zhan, go inside the house, take out Star Scroll One, and sit on that stone stool to read it."

"Understood." Lei Zhan nodded gently.

He then walked into the house, retrieved a copy of Star Scroll One, and walked back out.

Lei Zhan sat on the stone stool, opened the black pages, and looked at the golden God-Devil Script.

Seeing this, the Yellow-Haired Great Bear spoke up at the right moment.

"Lei Zhan, you must read it aloud!"

Lei Zhan opened the pages and began to read directly.

"Today, Chang came to pay his respects to me..."

Suddenly, the only sound in front of the thatched cottage was Lei Zhan's clear, rhythmic reading. Though the words he read were incredibly simple, they contained an inexplicable meaning.

"The Star Hall left behind by my master... daily accumulation and comprehension are of the utmost importance. The more one accumulates, the better the effect of the enlightenment. I wonder if this little fellow..."

The Yellow-Haired Great Bear watched the youth in the distance with a lingering gaze. As the artifact spirit of the entire Star-Plucking Mansion, it had seen too many geniuses, yet it inexplicably felt a glimmer of anticipation for this Lei Zhan.

Suddenly.

BOOM!

The moment Lei Zhan finished reading Star Scroll One, the countless stars above the Star Hall shone brightly.

"This... this is!"

The Yellow-Haired Great Bear watched as paths containing different auras were stirred, its eyes filled with astonishment.

"To think... he directly triggered the resonance of several Daos?"