"Yang Kai, you absorbed the most starlight—how much of the power inside your body has been converted so far?" Gu Cangyun suddenly asked with concern.
At his words, everyone turned to look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai extended his senses inward slightly and said, "Approximately one percent."
"That much!" Wu Dao was visibly startled, and the others all stared at him with envy.
"A lot?" Yang Kai asked, bewildered.
Wu Dao smiled bitterly. "That's more than enough. The conversion of power inside this old man's body hasn't even reached one ten-thousandth—and even so, the benefits have been immeasurable. You've already converted one percent. It won't be long before all the power inside your body is fully converted!"
"Indeed. At my current rate, even if I stayed here the entire time, I'd need at least five or six years to convert all of my Saint Yuan," Chi Yue nodded.
"And Guild Master Ai'Ou?" Everyone shifted their gaze to the other person they were curious about.
"Much worse than the kid Yang—only about a tenth of his rate," Ai'Ou slowly shook his head.
"That's still quite fast." The group couldn't help but feel a pang of admiration.
No one had expected that as a Star Lord, Yang Kai would receive benefits far beyond what anyone else could obtain upon entering this place. The speed at which his internal power was being converted was something they simply couldn't hope to match.
The group chatted for a while longer before deciding they couldn't afford to waste any more time. After all, such opportunities couldn't simply be sought out at will. They split into two groups once more—one absorbing starlight, the other pressing onward.
……
Somewhere roughly over a hundred thousand li from where the group was located.
This place was similarly blanketed in starlight, identical in environment to where Yang Kai and the others were.
And here, there were three figures.
Among them were two men and one woman, none of them appearing particularly old—all dressed in the attire of young cultivators. Yet each of them radiated an enormously powerful aura.
Of the three, one man had a sinister, hawkish face. He sat cross-legged in the sea of starlight like a crouching predator. His aura was so menacing that the other two had positioned themselves at a considerable distance from him, unwilling to come too close.
All three were Third-stage Void King Realm cultivators.
Surrounding them was a hemispherical energy dome. It enveloped them completely, and the dome possessed some unknown mysterious properties that blocked the starlight from the surroundings from penetrating inward.
As a result, the space within roughly a dozen zhang of where the three sat was entirely clear and empty.
The man who resembled a crouching beast kept his eyes shut, his fingers forming a complex hand seal as he cultivated some secret technique. From time to time, violent waves of energy surged from within his body.
Although the other man and woman were also Third-stage Void King Realm cultivators, they were clearly far inferior when compared to him.
Suddenly, the bald man among the other two opened his eyes, his face revealing a look of impatience. He glanced around and muttered, "We've been waiting here for five years now. How much longer do we have to keep this up?"
Hearing his words, the woman beside him also opened her eyes. She glanced toward the center and said in a low voice, "Patience, Brother Feng De. Is five years really all that long for you and me? Thanks to the Yellow Springs Nether Domain Cover that Brother Yin Lesheng provided, we've been able to remain inside the Starlight Passage at all. The benefits we've already gained are tremendous."
At the mention of Yin Lesheng, the bald man, Feng De, shot a wary glance toward the figure exuding a terrifying killing intent ahead and nodded. "True enough. We could only stay here because Brother Yin provided his Yellow Springs Nether Domain Cover. Otherwise, the Starlight Passage would expel anyone after just two months. But... is this endless waiting really the way to go? What exactly is Brother Yin waiting for, Junior Sister Liu? Do you know?"
Liu Xianyun slowly shook her head. "I don't. Brother Yin must have his own plans, surely!"
Feng De smiled bitterly. "Forget it then—let's drop the subject. By the way, Junior Sister Liu, how much of your Saint Yuan has been converted?"
"About one-fifth." Liu Xianyun smiled ruefully, her gaze drifting toward Yin Lesheng with a hint of envy as she said in a low voice, "I can't compare to Brother Yin. From the looks of it, nearly all of his Saint Yuan has been converted into Origin Force! The moment he leaves this Starlight Passage, he'll most likely break through to the Dao Source Realm!"
"As a Star Lord, the difference truly is remarkable," Feng De sighed with deep emotion. "Had I known it would be like this, I should have refined a Cultivation Star of my own."
"Refining a Star Origin is far too dangerous," Liu Xianyun slowly shook her head. "Without extraordinary fortune, success is impossible. How many Third-stage Void King Realm powerhouses in our Great Desolation Star Domain have died attempting to refine a Star Origin over the past ten thousand years? I haven't dared to try precisely because I lack complete confidence. There's always the Star Boundary—I can search for a Star Origin later."
Feng De slowly shook his head. "That may be true, but I've heard that in the Star Boundary, Star Origins are exceedingly rare. Many powerhouses have even voluntarily crippled their own Cultivation and risked venturing back through the Starlight Passage into the various Star Domains. We missed our chance before—it may be very difficult to obtain a Star Origin in the future."
Liu Xianyun's expression dimmed, knowing full well that Feng De spoke the truth.
"Both of you—your chatter is disturbing this lord's concentration." Suddenly, a cold, sinister voice cut through the air.
Liu Xianyun and Feng De both shuddered involuntarily, raising their gazes warily toward the front—only to see that Yin Lesheng, who had been sitting cross-legged this entire time, had opened his eyes.