Astral Tower, Star Ji

After soaking in the seawater for half an hour, Xu Mo finally washed the grime from his body.

Just as Xu Mo was preparing to leave, he saw a massive shark swimming toward him in the distance.

There was nothing strange about sharks inhabiting this wild stretch of sea.

Although the shark swam extremely fast, it looked like slow motion in Xu Mo's eyes.

Feeling the energy within him gradually recover.

Xu Mo lightly flicked a finger.

An energy sphere the size of a soybean shot from his hand.

It entered the shark's body almost in the blink of an eye.

After advancing to the Planetary Level, unlike those at the Apprentice Level who could only fight with their bodies, he could now release the energy within his body to attack.

The instant the energy sphere entered the shark's body, a tremendous explosion rang out.

The shark's body was instantly blasted into fragments.

Just then.

Xu Mo suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation from the Astral Tower in his sea of consciousness.

Before he could react, his figure flashed and vanished from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he was already inside a technologically advanced Main Hall.

The Main Hall was as large as a football field and shaped like a regular pentagon. Each wall had an enormous metal door.

At the very center of the Main Hall stood something resembling an open control console.

"Could this be the inside of the Astral Tower?"

Xu Mo easily guessed where he was.

At that moment, countless rays of light gathered in midair and eventually formed the image of a young woman.

She had an oval face and long silver-white hair. She wore a leather outfit that perfectly outlined her figure, with a slender waist that seemed impossible to grasp and two straight, long legs accounting for nearly sixty percent of her body's proportions.

She looked as though she had stepped straight out of a comic.

Her perfect figure seemed as though every inch had been precisely measured.

Once her form had fully condensed, the young woman slowly descended to the floor.

She gracefully walked up to Xu Mo, spun once in front of him, and asked with a smile.

"Well? Are you satisfied with this body of mine?"

Before Xu Mo could react.

Noticing his gaze, the young woman continued speaking to herself.

"It seems you're very satisfied!"

After saying that, she let out a string of silvery laughter.

"You humans really are interesting. Your hearts actually race just because of an appearance!"

Only then did Xu Mo get a chance to speak.

"You are..."

The young woman suddenly realized.

"I forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Star Ji. I'm an intelligent lifeform of the Mechanical Race, essentially the Astral Tower's artifact spirit—or perhaps control center would be more accurate! Now that Master has advanced to the Planetary Level, a small portion of the Astral Tower's abilities has been unlocked!"

Hearing this, Xu Mo's eyes lit up.

"Master, please follow me!"

After saying that, Star Ji turned and walked in one direction.

"This is located at the tip of the Astral Tower and serves as its control center! It also doubles as the tower master's residence, equipped with all kinds of auxiliary cultivation rooms!"

As she spoke, Star Ji stopped before a door, pushed it open, and walked inside.

Seeing this, Xu Mo followed without hesitation.

After all, he was the master of the Astral Tower. Surely he would not encounter any danger inside.

Upon entering the room, it felt as though he had stepped into a corridor suspended amid the stars.

"This leads to the Simulation Battle Room. You can freely choose to fight all kinds of opponents. Of course, the battles take place in virtual space, so you don't need to worry about being injured. Master can try it later; it will be very helpful for improving combat experience!"

After saying that, she continued leading Xu Mo into the next room.

"This is the lounge!"

"..."

She introduced one room after another.

Finally, Star Ji led Xu Mo to the last room.

"This is the cultivation room. Cultivating inside can accelerate the flow of time, but with Master's current strength, you can withstand at most a tenfold acceleration!"

Xu Mo's heart stirred upon hearing that.

"So as my strength increases, the rate of time acceleration inside can increase as well!"

"Of course!"

Star Ji nodded as though it were only natural.

"The time flow here can be accelerated by up to ten million times!"

Xu Mo's eyes shone with excitement upon hearing this.

Though he had reached the Planetary Level in just over two months, cultivation in this path would definitely not be fast in the later stages. Comprehending laws could easily take decades or even centuries.

With this time-accelerated cultivation room.

His cultivation speed would undoubtedly improve enormously.

"Oh, right!"

At that moment, Star Ji suddenly clapped her hands.

She lightly waved her right hand.

The two of them had already arrived on an enormous platform.

The platform seemed to have been built amid the boundless starry sky. Looking in every direction, countless planets as large as stars were scattered around them.

Star Ji noticed Xu Mo staring at those planets.

"This is one of the secret realm spaces within the Astral Tower. There are countless secret realm spaces like this throughout the Astral Tower, and what Master sees are all Sealing Stars. With Master's current strength, you have no way to control them for now!"

Xu Mo nodded.

According to the system, each of these Sealing Stars had reached the level of a Supreme Treasure.

With his current Planetary Level strength, let alone a Supreme Treasure, he probably could not even activate the lowest-grade Heavy Treasure even if every last bit of his energy were drained.

Led by Star Ji, the two arrived at the center of the platform.

At the center of the platform stood an altar. Above it were two pitch-black pillars of light stretching into the void.

The sources of those pillars of light were the two Darkhold books.

At this moment, the appearance of the two Darkhold books had undergone a drastic transformation.

Their pages were no longer made of paper, seeming instead to be entirely formed from condensed black energy.

The two pillars of light were streams of dark energy continuously pouring into the books.

"What is this?"

Xu Mo's eyes filled with surprise at the sight.

Star Ji chuckled softly.

"When I first sensed these two books, I discovered that they had a serious problem. Although the magic recorded within them is quite useful to Master at present, it carries enormous hidden risks!"

Xu Mo knew this very well.

After all, nearly everyone who cultivated the Darkhold would have their minds eroded by dark energy.

As she said this, a meaningful smile appeared on Star Ji's face.

"Simply put, this magic involves the user borrowing someone else's mana, while that party slips in some private goods—a special kind of energy—to erode the mind of the person using the magic!"

"So, for Master's sake, I thought I would directly borrow enough mana for Master to use magic for a thousand years. After removing the special energy from that mana, I stored it in these books!"

"From now on, when Master uses magic, it will be equivalent to borrowing the mana stored in the books, with no hidden risks whatsoever!"