"Why don't we go deeper and take a look? The Origin Power in there is incredibly dense and pure. Absorbing and refining it would be tremendously beneficial for future Cultivation." Yang Kai, seeing that the tension had eased, quickly made the suggestion.
Lan Xun nodded. "I was just about to go have a look. If Brother Yang doesn't mind, how about we travel together?"
Since she had put it that way, Yang Kai couldn't very well refuse. He could only nod. "An invitation from the Princess — it would be my honor."
Lan Xun smiled faintly. "Just call me the same way you address Little Seven, Brother Yang. There's no need for the title 'Princess.'"
During their previous encounter in the Four Seasons Land, she had had some contact with Yang Kai and had already sensed that he was no ordinary person. Now it seemed her judgment had been spot-on. Though Yang Kai was currently only at the third-level Dao Source Realm and his cultivation lagged behind the likes of Xiao Chen, Lan Xun had a feeling that Yang Kai's eventual achievements would far surpass Xiao Chen's.
Unlike Mo Xiaoqi, whose experience was limited, Lan Xun had exceptionally keen insight when it came to reading people.
The group set off together toward the depths of the Origin Sea.
They had not been flying for long when a sudden cry of alarm rang out from ahead. Immediately after, a dazzling light rose slowly from within the Origin Sea, as brilliant and radiant as a full moon.
An incredibly clear wave of Origin Power rippled outward in all directions.
"A Star Origin!" Xiao Chen cried out in shock.
Yang Kai's eyes lit up as well. He let out a low exclamation: "It's a complete Star Origin!"
He had been inside the Shattered Star Sea for quite some time now. Although he had absorbed and refined a fair amount of Origin Power, he had never once laid eyes on a complete Star Origin. Every fragment of Origin Power he had absorbed over the past few years had been broken and incomplete. While still beneficial to his growth, it was far inferior to a whole, undamaged Star Origin.
Before entering the Origin Sea, Yang Kai had heard people say that complete Star Origins could be found within.
He hadn't expected to actually witness one.
The moment this complete Star Origin appeared, even someone like Lan Xun — daughter of a Great Emperor — drew a sharp breath, a feverish gleam flashing across her delicate features. That alone spoke volumes about how irresistible such a thing was to any martial artist.
But before Yang Kai and the others could even make a move to contest it, countless martial artists from every direction had already surged forward. Every pair of eyes locked onto the complete Star Origin, and they chased, fought, and clashed without restraint. The scene turned bloody in an instant.
In the span of five heartbeats, more than twenty martial artists had already screamed and tumbled from the sky into the Origin Sea below.
And five heartbeats after that, the complete Star Origin vanished without a trace — snatched away by someone. The remaining cultivators seethed with fury and hurled curses into the air.
"So there really are complete Star Origins here." Yang Kai had watched the entire affair from start to finish and couldn't help but sigh.
"The Origin Sea is an extremely peculiar place," Lan Xun said, her expression grave. "No one can explain how it was formed or why it contains so much Origin Power. There is, however, an ancient rumor about the Origin Sea — one known only to a very select few."
"What rumor?" Yang Kai turned to her in surprise.
She was the daughter of the Bright Moon Great Emperor. There was very little in this world that she wouldn't know. Yang Kai had harbored his own questions about the Origin Sea for some time, and hearing her bring it up now, his interest was immediately piqued.
Xiao Chen also looked at Lan Xun with an inquiring gaze, clearly unaware of any such rumor.
Lan Xun did not answer right away. Instead, she turned to Mo Xiaoqi. "This rumor — I imagine Lord Beast Martial has mentioned it to you as well, Little Seven?"
Mo Xiaoqi's expression grew uncharacteristically solemn. She nodded. "Before I came to the Shattered Star Sea, Father did speak to me about something. He said that the formation of the Origin Sea is directly related to the lord who was besieged and fell here in ancient times."
"What?" Yang Kai and Xiao Chen exclaimed in unison, both stunned.
Though Mo Xiaoqi had not explicitly named the fallen lord, her meaning was unmistakable.
The Heaven-Devouring Great Emperor!
Who else could it be?
Lan Xun continued. "In those days, that lord roamed the Star Boundary without equal, doing as he pleased — even tearing through the barriers between planes and venturing into those lower-grade Star Regions. Wherever he went, entire Star Regions were destroyed, Stars crumbled, and the Star Origins of every Cultivation World were devoured down to the last shred. He single-handedly annihilated no fewer than a dozen Star Regions, large and small, which gives you some idea of just how many Star Origins he consumed. Later, during the great battle of the Shattered Star Sea, he was slain here. But after his death, all of those Origin Powers he had devoured remained behind in a strange twist, coalescing into the vast Origin Sea we see today."
"That actually happened?" Xiao Chen's eyes went wide, his face a mask of disbelief.
Yang Kai listened with a pale complexion, a chill running through him. "Then you're saying the Origin Sea is actually the place where that lord fell?"
Lan Xun nodded. "That's one way to put it. However, the location of the Origin Sea shifts, and it doesn't appear every time, so where exactly that lord perished is no longer known. But the Origin Sea's formation is almost certainly directly connected to him."
"No wonder there's so much Origin Power here. No wonder even complete Star Origins exist." Yang Kai sighed several times, the doubts that had accumulated over these past days suddenly dissolving into clarity.
He had been puzzled before — how could a place as devastated and ruined as the Shattered Star Sea give rise to something as bizarre as the Origin Sea? But after hearing Lan Xun's explanation, he finally understood.
The Heaven-Devouring Great Emperor had devoured countless Origins. After his death, those Origins remained — and so the Origin Sea had come into being.