Launching a "Satellite"

Within the cave dwelling in the heart of Eight Treasures Peak on Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain, dazzling light surged from the jade platform, and Shi Mo's figure appeared out of thin air.

"Kunpeng, just you wait. Sooner or later, I'll settle this score with you!" Feeling the injuries in his arm and within his body, Shi Mo gritted his teeth slightly, only to find himself with an even greater headache.

"Now that I've fought Ji Meng and caught Kunpeng's attention, it's even less realistic to go into the Primordial World's starry sky and study the operating patterns of the Heavenly Stellar Formation."

"What should I do? Am I supposed to just give up?" Shi Mo was unwilling to accept it. "Is there any way for me to understand the operating patterns of the Heavenly Stellar Formation without going into the Primordial World's starry sky?"

"If only I could launch a satellite in the Primordial World. Then I could easily observe the Primordial World's starry sky." The thought that suddenly sprang to mind made Shi Mo laugh wryly.

"I was terrible at math and physics, and I'm thinking of launching a satellite? That's simply not—"

"No, this is the Primordial World. It's not impossible to create something like a satellite, send it quietly into the Primordial World's starry sky, and secretly observe the operating patterns of the Heavenly Stellar Formation!" Shi Mo's eyes brightened as inspiration struck him.

"Flying won't be difficult. As long as it has enough energy, it can be done with formation techniques." The more Shi Mo thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed.

"The key is for this 'satellite' to be inconspicuous and keep its aura fluctuations restrained. But more importantly, how can I ensure that, after reaching the Primordial World's starry sky at such a distant location, it can still remain connected to me and serve as my eyes for observing the Heavenly Stellar Formation's operating patterns?"

"I've got it." After thinking carefully, Shi Mo was struck by an idea and immediately clenched his left hand into a fist, smashing it against his chest.

Crack! A piece of jade-like stone shattered from his chest. As light flowed through the hole and Shi Mo's chest rapidly healed, he looked thoughtfully at the piece of jade stone that emitted a mysterious glow.

A moment later, Shi Mo sat cross-legged upon the stone platform. With a thought, he circulated his mana and began inscribing patterns onto the jade stone floating before his chest.

As patterns resembling a network of earth veins were branded onto the jade stone, it soon drew upon the power of the earth veins, gradually forming a thick rocky shell over its surface. Its aura also became restrained, and it merely absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy at a slow pace.

Under Shi Mo's careful study and inscription, the jade stone, which shared the same origin as his physical body, eventually became a meteorite roughly a zhang in diameter. Only the faint, intermittently visible patterns on its surface revealed its extraordinary nature.

"It's done!" Delighted as he looked at the meteorite-like "satellite" before him, Shi Mo brought it directly to the Flat Peach Mother Tree atop Eight Treasures Peak. He poured mana into it to activate it, then drew upon the power of the earth veins and earthfire. Like a volcanic eruption, a pillar of energy launched it into the heavens.

Boom! At the same time, an active volcano near Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain erupted. Lava shot dozens of meters into the air, and violent, scorching heat spread through the surroundings, perfectly concealing the energy fluctuations from the "satellite" launch atop Eight Treasures Peak.

However, although Shi Mo had sent this special "satellite" to a great height in one go, it still took two or three months to reach the Nine Heavens Gale Layer.

After all, to avoid drawing attention, it could not recklessly absorb energy to accelerate. It had to disguise itself as a meteorite as much as possible.

Fortunately, it was formed from a fragment of Shi Mo's true body and had undergone special refinement. Though the "satellite" struggled somewhat, after several days it successfully passed through the Nine Heavens Gale Layer.

Next, Shi Mo became even more cautious. Sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed in the cave dwelling, he focused his entire mind on sensing the "satellite," controlling it to advance carefully, avoiding every slightly powerful aura fluctuation as it quietly headed toward the Primordial World's starry sky.

Through the "satellite's" observations and investigations along the way, Shi Mo gradually discovered that the so-called Thirty-Three Heavens were merely divisions created by different layers of clouds. There were no obvious barriers between them, and they posed no obstacle to the satellite Shi Mo had created.

At the same time, Shi Mo discovered that the Heavenly Court was truly vast. After all, the Thirty-Three Heavens covered an enormous expanse.

Moreover, the Monster Clan of this era truly could not yet be considered numerous and powerful, nor did they have many experts. They had not reached the point of occupying every corner of the Heavenly Court.

Otherwise, even if a meteorite flew through the Heavenly Court slowly, it would be impossible for it to go completely unnoticed over time.

Thankfully, after several years and without any real danger, the meteorite "satellite" finally crossed the Thirty-Three Heavens and entered the vast, dark Primordial World starry sky.

"Wow! It's so beautiful!" Shi Mo had seen the Primordial World's starry sky from Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain before, but viewing it through the "satellite's" perspective was entirely different.

At the very least, the stars appeared larger and brighter, and the power of the stars in the Primordial World's starry sky was far denser.

"The power of the stars truly is pure yin energy." Through the formation within the "satellite," Shi Mo absorbed and converted starlight energy. Feeling that pure, cool energy, his heart finally settled.

Then, Shi Mo controlled the "satellite" and sent it confidently deeper into the Primordial World's starry sky.

"The Heavenly Stellar Formation has three hundred and sixty-five celestial cycles? There should be more than that, shouldn't there?" First, Shi Mo used the "satellite" to observe the number and positions of the stars within the Primordial World's starry sky.

Only after gradually understanding the arrangement and distribution of the stars in the Heavenly Stellar Formation did Shi Mo begin carefully sensing the fluctuations of stellar power in the Primordial World's starry sky. Hidden within them were the profound mysteries of the energy circulation of the Heavenly Stellar Formation, which seemed unchanged for countless years.

The invisible energy of starlight also formed special trajectories. Like the network of earth veins within the land, starlight traced mysterious arcs through the starry sky.

These mysteries could never be understood without personally experiencing them.

And in the Primordial World, all paths were interconnected. Having understood the mysteries of the earth-vein network, Shi Mo now had traces to follow and clues to grasp as he studied the trajectories of starlight.

Time passed quietly. Atop Eight Treasures Peak on Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain, Shi Mo sat beneath the Flat Peach Mother Tree, gazing up at the starry sky. By comparing it with the Heavenly Stellar Formation observed through the "satellite," he explored the most fundamental operating patterns of the Heavenly Stellar Formation.

Before he realized it, twenty to thirty thousand years had passed. Deep within the Primordial World's starry sky, the "satellite" observing the Heavenly Stellar Formation also noticed certain meteorites among the countless stellar meteorites that had been tempered by starlight.

Gradually, Shi Mo realized that their distribution formed the nodes of the stellar energy's circulation trajectories.

Put another way, if the Heavenly Stellar Formation was a vast and complex grand formation, then the positions of those meteorites should be the locations of the formation flags in the Heavenly Stellar Formation that Di Jun had comprehended.

Having found the locations where the formation flags were placed and understood the patterns and paths of stellar power circulation, Shi Mo had effectively grasped the essence of the Heavenly Stellar Formation.

Thus, he began controlling the "satellite," which was equivalent to his own avatar, to study and inscribe patterns onto those meteorites, beginning his attempts to set up the formation.

This series of attempts lasted thousands more years in the blink of an eye. As Shi Mo inscribed mysterious patterns onto a full three hundred and sixty-five meteorites tempered by starlight, then finally activated those formation patterns, the meteorites were swiftly lit up one after another like lamps.