Piloting the Star Shuttle through the starry void, with a stunning beauty like Xueyue by his side, Yang Kai found the journey surprisingly pleasant rather than tedious.
Xueyue, it seemed, was experiencing an entirely different life as well.
All along, she had maintained the identity of Third Young Master Xueyue in public, living as a man.
She had lived this way for countless years. Only a handful of people in the entire Hengluo Merchant Guild knew her true gender, and she had never been able to show her true face.
This chance encounter had allowed her to shed all pretense, interacting with Yang Kai as the woman she truly was. And because of the Soul Chain's effects, she harbored little wariness toward him, feeling that this man was somehow dear—seemingly an important part of her life.
Her mood was buoyant, and her already breathtaking beauty radiated with even greater brilliance—a feast for the eyes. Her lovely face was forever graced with an intoxicating charm.
Time passed swiftly. After more than a month of traveling through the starry void, the two finally arrived at a brilliantly colored star—Rainfall Star!
Yang Kai had assumed the star was named that because of gentle rains, but upon seeing it from the starry void, he realized Rainfall Star was nothing like he had imagined.
The star wasn't large—only about a third the size of Water Moon Star—but it brimmed with vibrant life energy. Multicolored radiance enveloped the entire star, draping it in a dreamlike hue.
The light of a nearby massive Sun Star shone down, refracted through those colors, making Rainfall Star look even more enchanting, like a celestial paradise.
Xueyue's beautiful eyes clearly showed a hint of mesmerized wonder as she gazed at Rainfall Star in a daze.
Even Yang Kai couldn't help but marvel at the star's beauty.
"Some day, when I'm strong enough, I'm going to become the Star Lord of Rainfall Star and bring it under my control!" Xueyue exclaimed, setting herself an ambitious goal.
"You'd have to work pretty hard for that—at the very least, you'd need to be able to defeat the current Star Lord!" Yang Kai smiled, not taking her seriously, dismissing it as girlish daydreaming.
Xueyue's eyes narrowed into crescent moons. She covered her mouth and laughed sweetly. "Rainfall Star doesn't have a Star Lord. I know you come from a lower-level continent, but don't pretend to know things you don't."
"No Star Lord?" Yang Kai was taken aback. "Why not? Doesn't your guild have any powerhouses?"
He knew that Star Lord-level figures were generally Void King Realm experts, and while such experts weren't numerous, every major force had at least a few.
The Hengluo Merchant Guild was a well-known power in the Star Domain—it couldn't possibly lack Void King Realm experts.
"Our guild naturally has concealed experts whose strength is more than sufficient to serve as Rainfall Star's Star Lord. But the thing is... becoming the Star Lord of a Cultivation Star isn't just about having enough strength. You need to imprint your life brand into the Star's Origin. This process carries enormous danger—even Void King Realm experts could meet with disaster, being rejected by the Star Origin and losing their lives."
Yang Kai's expression changed.
Xueyue continued patiently. "Void King Realm experts aren't numerous. Some of them would rather live in seclusion than risk merging with a Star Origin. Moreover, once you become a Cultivation Star's Star Lord, you're essentially tying your life to that star. If the Cultivation Star were to undergo a catastrophic change or be destroyed one day, the Star Lord would certainly die as well. This has happened before—a Cultivation Star's destruction led to the death of its Star Lord."
"Just like us—if one is harmed, both suffer?" Yang Kai exclaimed.
"Something like that. But this connection is one-directional. That's why some Cultivation Stars in the Star Domain don't have Star Lords, and Rainfall Star is one of them."
"Then why do you still want to become a Star Lord?" Yang Kai looked at her with a peculiar expression.
Xueyue smiled. "There are many inconveniences, but becoming a Star Lord also brings enormous benefits. Otherwise, why would any expert willingly become one? Everything has its pros and cons—it just depends on how you look at it."
She seemed quite at peace with the idea, and Yang Kai found himself agreeing. He couldn't help but recall the Floating Continent, where he had once been stranded.
Back then, when he'd been forced by the Ghost Ancestor to find a way out, his Thought Strands had inadvertently penetrated deep into the Floating Continent's interior, where he had sensed an incredibly powerful surge of energy.
That energy had nourished his Divine Soul's Thought Strands, transforming what had been nearly depleted into something full and vigorous in an instant.
That cluster of energy had seemed somewhat like a Star Origin. Unfortunately, when he'd later tried to probe the Ghost Ancestor for more information through roundabout means, he hadn't been able to get anything concrete.
Now, chatting with Xueyue about these matters, he was increasingly certain that what he'd sensed back then was indeed a Star Origin.
"Do you know how to merge with a Star Origin?" Yang Kai asked.
"Why are you asking about that?" Xueyue looked at him with surprise.
"Just curious." Yang Kai shrugged, putting on an air of indifference.
Xueyue regarded him suspiciously, clearly not entirely trusting his casual demeanor, but she didn't press further. Instead, she voluntarily shared some of the information she knew.
She felt that even if she didn't tell him, Yang Kai would eventually figure these things out on his own, so there was no harm in saying it.