Somewhere in the Star Spirit Flower spaceship, in a room bathed in silver-gray light, lounge of Zi Yanxin, the Star Spirit Flower's highest executive officer.
Yanxin was communicating with someone through a communication device. A dignified-looking middle-aged man who harbored a prominent mark of the Star Spirit Flower family, with far more purple stars on his forehead than Yanxin on hers.
"...That's roughly it. I've sent you a detailed video recording; you can check it later."
She had recounted in detail the thrilling events experienced by the Star Spirit Flower spaceship. A deep look of shock lingered on the middle-aged man's face in the video.
"Five Space Pirates. A super martial arts genius who comprehended an Extreme Rank Law?! Are you sure it really is an Extreme Law?" The middle-aged man couldn't help but ask again.
Yanxin nodded, "Lord Wu Tian, and the other two level 13 warriors on this ship, all agree. The elders can also have the video verified by others."
The middle-aged man nodded, a strange look appearing on his face, and said, "Then you've turned misfortune into blessing this time. If you can successfully recruit such a super martial arts genius who comprehended an Extreme Law at level 12, coupled with your contributions on this trip, the family elders will definitely reward you handsomely. Yanxin, I knew I hadn't misjudged you."
"Elder, you flatter me."
Zi Yanxin shook her head somewhat embarrassedly. This time, she had actually made a big mistake in her decision-making. If it weren't for Lu Sheng suddenly appearing out of nowhere, she would probably be facing exile instead of reward.
"Anyway, the outcome is good."
The middle-aged man offered a word of comfort, then asked, "By the way, how do you plan to win him over?"
Yanxin thought to herself, "I took ten third-tier Blue Cosmos Star Cores from the Star Spirit Flower's cargo during this voyage without permission. I gave them to him as a thank-you gift. But don't worry, Elder, I'll make up for the cost myself later."
"Good."
The middle-aged man smiled and nodded approvingly, "For a martial arts genius like him, Star Cores that aid in cultivation are indeed the best gift. You don't need to pay out of your own pocket; just remember this and get reimbursed by the Elders' Council later. Oh, by the way."
The middle-aged man continued, "The Star Spirit Flower needs to replenish its cargo on its return voyage, plus we need to curry favor with that genius you mentioned who comprehended an Extreme Law. Do you have enough funds? Should I help you apply for some funds from the Elders' Council?"
Yanxin thought for a moment and declined his offer.
"Thank you, Elder, but I have some savings myself, which should be enough for now."
She had her own plans. She came from a collateral branch of the family, and although she was exceptionally capable, she had always been disliked by some members of the Elders' Council. This time, leading the Immortal-class Star Spirit Flower spaceship on a trade trip was something she had painstakingly obtained through various means.
Yanxin held her breath, determined to make a name for herself in front of those who looked down on her upon her return. Lu Sheng's appearance gave her the best opportunity, and she didn't want the rest of the family to know before it was all done.
After all, she had seen quite a few cases in the family over the years where the person who made the greatest contribution was subsequently ousted.
"You have your own plans, so I won't say anything more."
The middle-aged man understood her concerns, nodded and cut off the communication, presumably because he was eager to check the information and videos about Lu Sheng that she had sent.
Yanxin turned off the communicator and let out a soft breath. For the past few days, her mind had been constantly tense. Only now could she completely relax.
"After hardship comes smooth sailing."
She suddenly remembered this sentence she had read in a book and thought of how similar it was to her current situation.
"The Space Pirate crisis has been resolved, and I've met such a monstrous martial arts genius. Upon my return, I must make a name for myself in the family and impress the elders. Of course, the most urgent task is to seize this opportunity and cultivate a good relationship with that martial arts genius who has comprehended an Extreme Law."
"What does a martial arts genius value most? Naturally, it's cultivation! As long as I can provide him with sufficient cultivation resources, he should have no reason to refuse my friendship!"
Zi Yanxin had a clear plan. She had put in quite the effort in this regard.
"After arriving at the Hunting Bow, I'll equip him with several sets of top-tier weapons and gear, and a vehicle. That's the biggest expense, but I should have enough money on me right now. These things won't need frequent replacements in the short term. The main cost will be for daily cultivation expenses."
Thinking of this, Zi Yanxin couldn't help but take something out of her storage bracelet.
It was a palm-sized silver plate, inlaid with ten azure gems.
This was an energy monitor paired with the third-tier Blue Cosmos Star Cores, its function being to monitor the energy changes within the ten Star Cores in real time.
When sending them out, Zi Yanxin had used a little trick, deliberately leaving this energy monitor behind. Her purpose was to observe the rate at which Sheng consumed them.
Firstly, it allowed her to control the timing, in order to send new Star Cores at the appropriate time, achieving a timely and crucial effect. Secondly, it also controlled costs; after all, a third-tier Blue Universe Star Core was quite valuable, and even a large and well-established starry sky family like the Star Spirit Flower clan couldn't afford to waste it carelessly.
Looking at the energy monitor in her hand, Yanxin muttered to herself, "In terms of daily cultivation needs, these ten Star Cores should be enough for that person for a long time. No need to replenish it for a short time. When the next batch needs to be sent, we can simply retrieve it from the family. There's no need to worry about that..."
Zi Yanxin was thinking this when she was about to put the silver plate away. But just then, the plate in her hand suddenly trembled slightly. One of the ten azure gems on it rapidly dimmed. In just a few breaths, it completely lost all its luster.
Before she could even be surprised, the second azure gem on the silver plate did the same thing. It too completely dimmed within a few breaths. Then the third, the fourth... Then the anomaly finally stopped when the azure of the fifth gem had faded by nearly half.
Yanxin stared blankly at the silver plate in her hand, completely stunned. She looked dumbfounded, almost unable to believe what she was seeing.
"Is this thing... broken?" She blinked, examining the silver plate from all angles.
Her mind was in turmoil. Damn it. These were third-tier Blue Cosmos Star Cores! Each one contained energy comparable to the light and heat released by a million stars simultaneously. Even a level 13 martial arts expert would need at least a hundred years, or even longer, to completely absorb the energy from a single one of them.
Take Wu Tian, the level 13 expert who accompanied her. As one of the Star Spirit Flower Clan's top retainers, his quota was only one second-tierStar Core every hundred years. This was the most precise cultivation resource quota calculated by the family based on Wu Tian's strength and cultivation speed. In other words, A level 13 Wu Tian, in a hundred years, could at most absorb one second-tier Star Core.
Yet she gave that person a full ten third-tier Blue Universe Star Cores. That was incredibly generous; she originally thought he wouldn't have to worry about cultivation resources for at least several hundred years. But what happened next?
In just a few breaths, he absorbed the energy from four and a half third-tier Star Cores! That amount of energy alone would be enough to kill Wu Tian a hundred times over.
'Ahem, Wu Tian absolutely cannot know this. It's even more outrageous that his actual cultivation level is only level 12!'
For a moment, Yanxin was completely dumbfounded.
"At this rate, ten third-tier Star Cores would only be enough for him to cultivate for a few days. If advancing from level 12 to level 13 requires such a huge consumption of resources, then when he grows to a level sufficient to protect the Star Spirit Flower family… How much cultivation resources will he need in total?"
Even for a woman like Yanxin, born into a prestigious family in the starry sky, managing an entire immortal-class spaceship, and possessing trillions of dollars in wealth... she considered herself quite worldly and the thought of the enormous sum she might have to bear in the future made her feel dizzy.
She had previously thought her personal savings would be enough to initially win over the other party, until she returned to her family. Now she realized that the money in her personal savings seemed like a drop in the ocean. More importantly, "If the elders knew that I had brought back such a starry sky money-devouring beast for the family, should they be happy or angry?"
For a moment, Zi Yanxin felt completely lost. She could only mutter to herself blankly.
"A super martial arts prodigy who can comprehend an Extreme Law at level 12, is he really this terrifying?"
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"Hiss—"
Lu Sheng took a deep breath.
The countless scattered blue star core energies floating in the vast room were all absorbed into his mouth and integrated into his body.
"Crackling—"
With this final energy intake, his body emitted a series of explosive crackling sounds. An indescribable, terrifying aura now naturally emanated from it. This aura was like light and shadow, like mist, like a flowing galaxy in the universe. Upon its appearance, it directly crushed the void, distorting and folding the space around him.
And Lu Sheng, surrounded by this aura, was like a whitehole, constantly releasing an incredibly terrifying repulsive force in all directions.
"Fifty million Immortal Cells, Extreme Yang Seeds!" Lu Sheng opened his eyes, placed the star core he hadn't fully absorbed back into the silver-white storage box, and his face showed a deep sense of surprise and satisfaction.
Thank you for the reward!
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Translation notes by dhoo
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Star Core, second-tier Star Core, third-tier Star Core aka Blue Universe Star Cores
Zi Yanxin gave Lu Sheng ten third-tier Blue Universe Star Core: 十顆三階的藍熾星核, shí kē sān jiē de lán chì xīng hé十顆 ten 三階, third rank, 的 's, 藍熾 blue uuniverse, 星核, star nucleus (顆 is a counter, 十 means ten and 十顆 means ten small round objects)
Blue Universe aka Blue Cosmos is a NEW term introduced in this chapter. I found 22 occurrences of 藍宇星核 in chapters 618 (x9), 619 (x2), 620 (x2), 621 (x5), 622 (x3), 625.
Second-tier and third-tier Star Cores are a NEW concept introduced in this chapter. I found 22 occurrences of 三階星核 in chapters 618 (x2), 620, 621, 623, 624 (x7), 625 (x2), 627 (x3), 629 (x3), 631, 634
Star Cores were introduced in chapter 597. I found 82 occurrences of 星核 in chapters 597, 617 (x20), 618 (x18), 619 (x5), 620 (x3), 621 (x7), 622 (x3), 623, 624 (x10), 625 (x3), 627 (x5), 629 (x3), 630, 631, 634.
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50 million Immortal Cells
五千萬顆不朽細胞: 五 five 千 thousand 萬 myriad aka ten-thousand 顆 (counter for small round objects) 不朽 immortal 細胞 cells
The number of these upgraded Immortal Cells keeps increasing. The new number of such cells in Lu Sheng's body is 50 million.
Lu Sheng's avatar had already reached 50 million immortal cells in chapter 607: "From thirty million to forty million, fifty million, sixty million. The number of alienated immortal cells within the avatar's body rapidly approached the level 12 limit of one hundred million alien immortal cells."
I found 5 occurrences of 五千萬顆 in chapters 607, 618 (x2), 619, 627. I found 117 occurrences of 不朽細胞 in chapters 505, ..., 525 (x5), ..., 528 (x8), 531, ..., 552 (x4), ..., 607 (x3), ..., 618, 619 (x5), ..., 627 (x5), ..., 643.
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Extreme Yang Seeds
极阳种子 (trad. 極陽種子), jí yáng zhǒngzǐ: 極 extreme 陽 yang 種子 seed
Immortal cells were previously called Star Seeds; they evolved and are now called Extreme Yang Seeds. Yang, as in yin and yang, means "heat" and encompasses fire, stars, etc.
I found 8 occurrences of 極陽種子 in chapters 614, 615, 616 (x4), 618, 658.
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Star Spirit Flower
The spaceship's name, see previous chapters
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Star Spirit Flower family, guild, clan
The family name, see previous chapters
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Hunting Bow
Hunting Bow is the name of the star district located at the center of the galaxy, made of ten starr regions, shaped like a bow, and introduced in chapter #595. It is the place where the Celestial Academy is and the next destination for Lu Sheng after the interdimensional battlefield. I call this arc of the story the Hunting Bow arc.
I found 48 occurrences of 狩獵之弓 in chapters 595 (x4), 596 (x6), ..., 621 (x7), ..., 646.
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Extreme Law aka Extreme Rank Law
A very rare and powerful law (or type of law?). All three level 13 martial artists who witnessed Lu Sheng wielding it were amazed and dumbfounded.
I found 31 occurrences of 極位法則 in chapters 613 (x2), 615 (x8), 616, 617 (x5), 618 (x6), ..., 644 (x2).