Chapter 127: The Six-Element Bagua Furnace

"I must make a trip to Nine-Star City this time."

Tan Ya gazed at the starry sky, her small, snow-white hands clasped behind her back. Her dark, lustrous hair was swept up, though a few strands fell gracefully against her cheeks. A signature smile curled the corners of her lips, carrying an air of someone who could see through everything.

The young master of Nine-Star City was actually that little troublemaker who had been causing chaos everywhere.

For days, she had tried every possible method to find the source, but the means used to sever causality were simply too formidable. She had exhausted her own vital energy and mental focus, yet her divinations had all failed. To think she would discover the truth here by accident—if she didn't take this opportunity to extort a small fortune from that old man, it would be a disservice to the resentment she felt.

"Sect Leader, are you taking this opportunity to foster relations with Nine-Star City?" Old Yuan asked, rubbing his hands in excitement. "The fact that our young master and Young Master Feng have met and befriended each other is the perfect catalyst for a bond between Nine-Star City and the Yuchu Sect. If Young Master Feng inherits the Nine-Star Refining Dao arts in the future, it will be of immense benefit to us. You are truly brilliant, Sect Leader!"

Tan Ya slanted her beautiful eyes toward Old Yuan and said indifferently, "You stay here and wait for the little bumpkin. I will go to Nine-Star City and return shortly."

"As you command, Sect Leader."

Old Yuan bowed respectfully. In his eyes, Sect Leader Tan Ya was surely heading to Nine-Star City to forge an alliance; a power capable of refining Qi like Nine-Star City was long overdue for an alliance.

"Hmm." Tan Ya acknowledged. Her slender fingers glowed with a silvery light, like fine flowing water, as she traced a line in the void. A rift suddenly appeared.

Just as she was about to step through to traverse the domains, Tan Ya paused. Her gaze fell back upon the Nine-Myriad Meteor Mountains, where the sea of white mist was swirling slowly. She fell into thought.

"Is there anything else, Sect Leader?" Old Yuan asked.

"Come to think of it, the Jian God Realm opens in three months. For this cosmic era, named 'Qifang,' this first opening is of great significance," Tan Ya pondered.

"The Jian God Realm!"

Old Yuan’s eyes grew intense, though he soon shook his head. "That senior named Jian once said there was a chance for canonization within the God Realm, leaving it to the Nine Sages of the Star Sea to manage. Yet, through nine cosmic cycles, no one has ever found it. Everyone says it’s just a deceptive ruse."

"That is not necessarily true."

Tan Ya’s lips curled upward, and she spoke with a rare tone of admiration. "That Jian... he never lied. At the threshold of a new era, there might be some peculiar changes within the God Realm."

Hearing this, Old Yuan was startled. The rumor that a chance for canonization existed within the Jian God Realm had stirred the nerves of all factions since ancient times. However, as the ages passed and wave after wave of people failed to find it, interest had waned.

Nevertheless, the Jian God Realm still contained numerous divine medicines and divine mineral veins—treasures of immense value that made people covetous. Every time it opened, the great powers of the starry sky would send a wave of their geniuses as a matter of custom.

Did Sect Leader Tan Ya sense a major change coming?

"In that case, won't the young master miss it?" Old Yuan realized, looking back at the Nine-Myriad Meteor Mountains with concern.

The little bald boy was currently in the Primordial Meteor Mountain undergoing the so-called Shang Gate inheritance. If it dragged on too long, he might miss the opening of the Jian God Realm.

"Inside these meteor mountains, the flow of time is slow, several times different from the outside world. I estimate that in the deepest parts, the disparity is even greater. The little bumpkin should have enough time inside. If not, we shall see when I return."

After speaking lightly, Tan Ya vanished in a flash, merging into the void. Endless distances retreated like light as she teleported away from the Hurricane World.

In the dark void, Tan Ya traveled alone. Looking up, one could faintly see massive cultivation star seas, their mutual gravitational pull causing the distortion and fusion of galaxies. Among these cultivation star seas, a few emitted extremely powerful fluctuations, their majesty and vastness threatening to collapse the celestial vault.

Those were the Ten Great Cultivation Domains.

...

At the ramparts of Nine-Star City.

A fragrance of wine permeated the air, intoxicating to the soul. A disheveled old man lay drunkenly on the ground, snoring like thunder, sound asleep with various wine gourds scattered around him. Most were empty, but a few still held a crystal-clear liquid that was clearly no ordinary vintage.

Beneath this divine wall, many cultivators had gathered, puzzled for days as to why a faint, lingering fragrance always drifted down from above. In truth, the area above was concealed by arrays; otherwise, the soaring aroma would have long since overwhelmed the divine city.

"Mmm..."

The disheveled old man drooped his eyelids and rolled over, refusing to open his eyes. He fumbled on the ground until he picked up a golden-orange gourd, tilted it, and a fire-red, sword-shaped liquid flowed out.

Gulping down two large mouthfuls, the old man’s face grew even redder. He chuckled, and in a good mood, his left hand began to calculate.

It didn't matter until he calculated; once he did, the old man’s mood soured.

"That Feng boy... I told you not to show off in front of others, but you wouldn't listen. Now, this saintly girl... she’s coming with a fierce momentum to settle scores. Nine-Star City will have no peace."

The disheveled old man spoke with a flushed face. One might think he was just rambling, but in reality, he had divined the movements of a saint without being sensed by her. Such god-like, unfathomable ability was truly astounding.

...

At the center of the Nine-Layer World.

The Ten-Thousand-Yuan Divine Tree towered over ten thousand feet high, its aura sacred and solemn. Six white divine fruits hung there, shining brightly like dazzling suns.

This heaven-defying spiritual object was of a much higher generation than the Flower Sea’s Lord Li. Although it had not taken human form, it was walking a different, peak path of spiritual evolution—a path that was extremely difficult and long.

At the top of its dense branches, amidst the drifting spiritual energy, a wisp of divine radiance—difficult to notice—emitted a faint glow, connecting to a mysterious space. This was the place where the Star-Refining of Nine Stars took place.

A cauldron, combining the Six-Yuan and Eight-Trigrams, hung in the center of this space. It was magnificent and grand, its walls engraved with numerous star patterns that were mysterious and ancient. Beneath it, a raging eight-colored flame burned, constantly scorching the furnace.

"One more is missing."

Da Jiuxing stroked his long beard, gazing intently at the furnace mouth where the fire roared. Faintly, dozens of special divine auras swirled in the center.

Under the forging of the eight-colored flame, the star-refining treasures within the furnace became increasingly active, appearing to gain great nourishment from the process.

Among these many star-refining treasures, one was the Yuling Heaven-Defying Aura. Yet, this very aura—for which the Flower Sea had poured out countless divine materials and favors—was merely sitting near the edge of the cauldron, unable to approach the mysterious treasures at the center.

This red cauldron was Da Jiuxing’s pride, a Chaos Universe Treasure obtained with great difficulty. The eight-colored flame beneath it was gathered from a mysterious place at the edge of the universe, capable of constantly nourishing the spirit of the treasures, making them even more powerful than when they were first refined.

If an outsider were to see this, they would surely gasp in terror.

Any one of the treasures within this cauldron was of immeasurable value. Once revealed in the spiritual universe, it would cause countless factions to break their heads in a desperate scramble.