Astral Realm Shards, Swallowing the Starry Sky!

"Hmph, if I didn't show some real skill, you'd really think your Sister Ru had spent all these years messing around?"

Seeing the uncontrollable surprise on Lin Yuan's face, Wu Junru remained composed on the surface, but inwardly, she was thrilled.

She had finally held her head high for once.

Her talent might not compare to those monstrous geniuses, but she had eaten a few more years' worth of rice and trained for a few more years, after all.

Wasn't it just killing something with one sword strike?

Easy~

"Sister Ru is awesome~"

Seeing Wu Junru's domineering victory, the other members of the Goddess Luo Squad were equally jubilant, cheering in sweet voices.

Clearly, they felt the same way inside.

Those two youngsters had hit them hard before, leaving them slightly flustered. Now, these "senior veterans" had finally recovered a bit of their dignity.

"Wow, Sister Ru, you're amazing."

Gu Yiyi was clever too. Seeing this, her face immediately filled with admiration, her eyes sparkling.

Lin Yuan chimed in repeatedly from the side, barely holding back his laughter.

Their barrage of praise left the tall, regal beauty beaming and trembling with laughter. That flash of snowy white was especially imposing, nearly dazzling the innocent young man senseless.

Gu Shuangshuang silently watched her teammates joke around without stopping them. Little by little, their relationship grew more familiar like this.

Lin Yuan also took the opportunity to coax some information from Sister Ru about how Star Beasts of the same rank were categorized by strength—

In short, it depended on Star Patterns!

Star Patterns were the external projection of the most important "Boundary" within a Star Beast, making them the most accurate measure.

One Star Pattern meant the First Realm, two Star Patterns meant the Second Realm... and so on. Simple and straightforward.

Among Star Beasts of the same rank, the Star-Pattern Phenomenon further divided them into Common-Rank Star Beasts, Lord Grade, and the strongest King-Rank Star Beasts!

Most Common-Rank Star Beasts had dim Star Patterns, displaying only a "scattered starlight" phenomenon. They were the most common kind.

A small number of Star Beasts with outstanding talent and aptitude had bright Star Patterns, like "clouds of stars filling the sky." These were Lord Grade.

As for those with the most exceptional talent and bloodline among their rank, even if they possessed only one Star Pattern, their stellar force was already incomparably vast. The Star-Pattern Phenomenon they projected was dazzling beyond measure, reaching the level of "a radiant river of stars."

Those were the most powerful King-Rank Star Beasts of their rank!

Star Beast kings were exceedingly rare, peerless geniuses among Star Beasts with terrifying combat power. Even a One-Pattern King-Rank Star Beast could not be opposed without the strength of Ninth-Tier Transcendence.

Of course, if it encountered a Second Realm Starry-Sky Warrior, even a One-Pattern King-Rank Star Beast would have to flee for its life in panic.

After all, the massive gap between major realms was right there. It was not something that could easily be crossed...

Still, being king among those of the same rank was impressive enough. It was not something ordinary warriors could covet.

"A One-Pattern Lord-Grade Star Beast is worth much more than those Common-Rank Star Beasts. It will be recorded as 2 Contribution Points..."

"And if we collect its Star Beast materials, they can sell for a high price too."

Wu Junru and the others had already run over to gather valuable materials from the silver-white giant wolf.

The overall value of a Star Beast was far greater than that of an ordinary ferocious beast.

Besides Contribution Points, a One-Pattern Star Beast's flesh, fangs, hide, and even its Astral Realm Shards—

Any single one was worth millions. If they came from a Lord-Grade Star Beast, they would be worth even more.

"Astral Realm Shards have value too?"

Lin Yuan looked at the shattered blue Star Core fragments that had been split apart by a single sword strike, somewhat curious.

They were already smashed to pieces and scattered everywhere. What could they still be used for?

"Astral Realm Shards are good stuff."

Gu Shuangshuang immediately smiled.

"The Astral Realm is the most essential treasure nurtured within a Star Beast. It contains the stellar force the Star Beast absorbed and refined day and night since its birth."

"Although it has already shattered and most of the stellar force within has dissipated, leaving less than one-tenth behind, the Star Core itself is condensed from stellar force. Some pure stellar force can still be extracted from it."

"The most mainstream and cost-effective resource used by Starry-Sky Warriors on the market to increase the speed of refining Natal Stellar Force—the 'Stellar Force Potion'—uses Astral Realm Shards as its main ingredient!"

Stellar Force Potion?

Lin Yuan's eyes lit up. He knew about it.

It was a cultivation resource similar to Starflow Pulp, capable of greatly increasing the speed at which Starry-Sky Warriors refined their Natal Stellar Force.

Although it did not possess the miraculous effects of the heavenly treasure Starflow Pulp, where just a single drop contained one complete strand of stellar force—

It could still greatly shorten the time needed for a Starry-Sky Warrior to refine Natal Stellar Force. Originally, refining a single strand of Natal Stellar Force might take two months.

After taking a Stellar Force Potion, it might require only one month, cutting the time in half.

More importantly, Stellar Force Potions had been developed by human civilization and could be supplied steadily, meeting the cultivation needs of most warriors...

Provided that you had the money!

"At the Star-Martial Marketplace, one Stellar Force Potion is priced at 10 million Azure Coins, equivalent to 10 Contribution Points."

That price was not cheap either. After all, Stellar Force Potions were a long-term resource. The Mortal Transcendence Realm required eighty-one strands of Natal Stellar Force. If one relied on Stellar Force Potions to speed up the refinement of every strand, it would be an astronomical sum.

With that thought, Lin Yuan could not help looking at the several Astral Realm Shards in his hand—his spoils from the seven Star Beasts he had slain.

"The famous Stellar Force Potion actually uses these Astral Realm Shards as its main ingredient?"

"Astral Realm Shards are condensed from stellar force. Could I skip the potion-making step and directly absorb the remaining stellar force within the Astral Realm Shards?"

He could not help thinking that.

"That's impossible."

Gu Shuangshuang seemed to see through Lin Yuan's thoughts and spoke up.

"Astral Realm Shards are different from a complete Astral Realm. Nearly all of their flowing stellar force has dissipated, and what remains has been tempered by the Star Beast day and night, turning into solidified Astral Realm matter!"

"They cannot be directly absorbed at all. They can only be used after being processed into Stellar Force Potions through special methods."

"That's common knowledge."

Captain Gu explained patiently, but Lin Yuan remained noncommittal.

That's common knowledge to you, not to me.

You can't do it...

That doesn't mean I can't!

Lin Yuan was not blindly confident. He had a genuine feeling to support it—

Just moments ago, when he held the Astral Realm Shards—

A strange emotion resembling hunger, a desire to eat, had suddenly arisen within his body!

It made him vaguely realize—

He seemed capable of prying apart these incomparably solid Astral Realm Shards and directly absorbing the remaining stellar force within them?

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan quietly put away the Astral Realm Shards without revealing anything before the others.

But inwardly, he was immensely excited.

His eyes gleamed!

At the same time, he instantly understood why he was so special.

"The eleventh Talent Trait—'Swallowing the Starry Sky'!"

"You can extract pure cosmic stellar energy from any extreme environment..."

The effects of the Talent Trait were written clearly.

It could extract cosmic stellar energy from any extreme environment!

So why would a few Astral Realm Shards be a problem?

I've struck it rich...

Lin Yuan was incredibly excited inside.

He knew exactly what this meant!

No complicated processing, no need to pass through anyone else's hands, and no middlemen taking a cut...

He could directly absorb the pure stellar force contained within Astral Realm Shards!

This would greatly accelerate the speed at which he refined Natal Stellar Force, and he would not need to spend a fortune purchasing Stellar Force Potions!

His growth rate would also far surpass everyone else's!

"Astral Realm Shards..."

"These are the cultivation resources that can help me the most right now..."