One by one, brilliant stars streaked past. Qian Yue felt as though she could reach out and touch them, but she knew that these seemingly real stars were nothing more than reflections within the star chart—not actually real.
Traveling through the world of the star chart, Qian Yue felt as though she were immersed in a dream.
Here, there were not only sun-stars blazing with blinding radiance, but also moon-stars emanating a soft, ethereal glow, and countless lifeless dead stars, along with that sea of meteorites that made her face pale at the mere sight. Everything seemed as though an entire star domain had been shrunk countless times over and placed right here.
Without a word, she flew along behind Yang Kai. It seemed like the blink of an eye, yet also as though an eternity had passed before Yang Kai suddenly halted, a complicated expression crossing his face as he stared ahead in silence.
Following his gaze, Qian Yue caught sight of a faintly blue star. Within the entirety of the star domain, it was hardly conspicuous—there were countless stars larger and more brilliant than it. But in this moment, that single star had become the whole of Qian Yue's world.
She stared at it blankly, and a feeling of seeing home slowly welled up within her, warmth flooding her heart.
Tongxuan Continent!
This star was the homeland she had yearned for day and night—the Tongxuan Continent that had borne and raised her.
When she had first entered the starry sky from the Ice Sect all those years ago, she had once looked back. The sight she had seen then was exactly the same as what she saw now—that faintly blue star, like a magnificent blue rose, had captivated her, made her long to stay. But at the time, she had no choice but to follow Ice Master Qingya away from that homeland.
Qian Yue burst into tears.
Even though she was a Saint King Realm martial artist, even though she had cultivated for decades, she still could not control her emotions at this moment. Like a wanderer far from home, the longing buried deep within her heart erupted all at once.
Yang Kai said nothing. When he had explored the star chart alone and found the star where Tongxuan Continent lay, his emotions had been no better than Qian Yue's. He was simply a man, so the way he expressed his feelings was different.
A long while passed before Qian Yue gradually stopped sobbing. She turned her head and asked Yang Kai softly, "Yang Kai... can we ever go back there?"
"Yes!" Yang Kai nodded, his voice firm and resolute.
A light of surprised joy bloomed in Qian Yue's eyes. Though Yang Kai's answer had no basis behind it and she could see no hope at present, hearing those words instantly filled the emptiness deep within her heart.
"Thank you. Thank you!" Qian Yue suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed. Losing composure like this in front of a junior was truly unseemly. But when she had seen that homeland, she simply could not restrain her emotions. All the grievances she had endured over the years at the Hehuan Tower surged like a tide.
Fortunately, all of that was now far behind her, and she gradually calmed herself.
Yang Kai smiled faintly. His Divine Sense burst forth, enveloping Qian Yue once more as they gradually moved away from that blue star.
After a short while, the two stopped at some location within the world of the star chart. Yang Kai asked, "Look carefully—is this where you and Su Yan parted ways?"
Qian Yue looked around, then slowly shook her head after a moment. "It's not here. I remember the sea of meteorites back then was larger than this one."
Yang Kai nodded and wrapped Qian Yue in his energy once more, continuing to travel.
...
Half a day later, the restrictions on the stone residence opened, and Qian Yue stepped out. Yang Kai sat alone inside the stone residence, a faint smile playing at the corner of his lips.
Through Qian Yue's identification, he had finally found the location where she and Su Yan's group had parted ways. Although Su Yan and the others had also passed through the void passage and vanished to who-knew-where, this was still an incredibly valuable clue.
As long as his strength grew sufficient, he could head directly to that location. Find the void passage, and he could follow the trail—there might yet be a chance to see Su Yan again.
Of course, all of this depended on having sufficient strength. It was still too early to think about such things now.
Straightening his thoughts, Yang Kai took out his alchemy furnace. Then he produced a great many medicinal herbs and began using pill refinement to calm his mood.
A month passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, the grand protective array on Dragon Cave Mountain was opened, and two figures slowly emerged from within—Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
The two of them were, naturally, heading to attend the Treasure Gathering Tower's auction.
In truth, Yang Kai had originally been indifferent about the auction—attending or not made no difference to him. But after spotting a particular item listed on the invitation, he immediately changed his mind.
That thing would be enormously useful to him. No matter what, he had to get his hands on it. To that end, he had even taken all of Wu Yi's Saint Crystals, preparing to go all in.