The Blue Star world, after its sublimation and Fang You’s ascension to higher authority, allowed him to block the entry of outsiders by his own will.
However, he did not.
This was because Blue Star needed to trade with these Great Oases, and the only current method was for the Oasis people to enter the Blue Star world through a landing ceremony.
Without the landing ceremony, traveling solely on foot would be an exceedingly long journey, easily leading to getting lost in the vast grey mist, and it was not something mere triple or double-layered awakeners could accomplish.
Through trade, Blue Star acquired a considerable amount of materials unobtainable in the shallow layers, as well as numerous mid-to-low-tier mystical items.
For instance, the Imprint Crystal capable of recording images.
—Blue Star already had mobile phones and cameras, making photo and video recording more convenient. However, their resistance to interference was far from adequate. When filming malevolent entities, the images captured by mobile phones often appeared as mere shadows, or even a screen full of static. Nowadays, electronic products like mobile phones could only be used within the Dawn Zone. Even low-risk zones experienced severe interference, only a few could be used in the grey mist zones, and entering the Ghost Realm? They were all useless scrap.
He had already assigned Wang Chui the task of modifying electronic products, but Old Master Wang had dozens of tasks piled up, so this one would have to wait. Whether he could design electronic products suitable for the Ghost Realm environment, Fang You felt it was… difficult, and the cost would significantly increase.
Apart from the Imprint Crystal, there were also Rituals for detecting pollution levels, Ritual Formations that slightly accelerated the growth of medicinal herbs, landing ceremonies, reverse landing ceremonies, prayer ceremonies, mystical chariots, and so on.
For the relatively lower-tier of these, Blue Star had even acquired production blueprints. For the slightly higher-tier ones, they had placed orders for batches, then more batches.
These were still ‘generic products,’ but they were already things that many ordinary oases yearned for but could not obtain. Even the Great Oases had to strive for decades or even a century to achieve such basic accumulation.
By cooperating with these Great Oases, Blue Star could rapidly fill in various foundational aspects, eliminating the awkward situation of excelling in certain fields while utterly lacking in others.
According to Xiao Huan’s previous estimations, Blue Star would fully enter the Great Mystical Era…
Within a year!
“But the prerequisite is the ability to continue cooperating with these Great Oases, not to have it severed just as it begins.”
“Our Blue Star has strength, which is the foundation for cooperation. However, if those Great Oases cannot enter, there is nothing we can do.”
He looked up at the sky.
The sky of the Dawn Zone was a beautiful, deep blue. The entire Blue Star showed no signs of anomaly, and indeed, there were none. If high-level existences of the evil god faction were to attack Blue Star, the Blue Star world could retaliate on its own. However, the high-level existences behind the scenes had merely erected a blockade line outside the Blue Star world.
“This blockade line is aimed at the landing ceremony. Normal ingress and egress would not be affected.”
“But normal ingress and egress…”
He shook his head.
Not only was the journey arduous, but he was certain that at the Starfall Cave and other entry points, there would be existences of the evil god faction lying in wait.
Showing themselves would mean facing a head-on attack.
Huddling up would make it difficult for Blue Star to contact the outside world and hinder its development.
Was this the enemy’s objective?
“Mentor, what should we do?”
At the meeting, Pei Hongjing asked with a grave tone. He was the primary person in charge of foreign trade.
Present were Fan Anyuan, who was responsible for liaising with the mystical departments of various countries; Xu Tian, who assisted in managing the training camp affairs; office manager Gou Ping’an, Roland, and others.
Many of the former trainees had now become powerful figures in their own right.
Also present were Wang Chui, Yin Ling, and Liu Shang, the highest heads of three departments. Wang Chui was scrutinizing a blueprint in his hand, muttering to himself. Yin Ling was shaking a vial emitting a green-blue light, leaning lazily against her chair. Only Liu Shang sat upright and elegant, offering a series of feasible suggestions.
“…The following are materials that need to be acquired with priority.”
She said.
This was on the premise that foreign trade could still be conducted.
The possibility of this naturally existed, even though An Jianyōu was still out searching for oases.
After quickly agreeing on a response strategy, Fang You adjourned the meeting. Before leaving, he added a final remark.
“Do not worry about cooperation. Remember, all external matters are built upon strength. Strength is the fundamental basis. The war between us and the evil god faction is far from over.”
“Now, dismissed!”
Everyone stood up, clenched their fists and placed them across their chests, bowing slightly.
The meeting ended quickly, and everyone went about their tasks. As for the organization’s high-level members who were absent? They were naturally either working or training.
Black Blade had already immersed himself in the shallow layers of the Ghost Realm, honing his skills while killing as many malevolent entities as possible to accumulate mystery.
Upon seeing this, Xing Jinglei dared not relax for a moment and followed suit.
Yiluo Xi: This president wants to rest, but you guys are too competitive!
Xidina: Bang bang bang, bang bang bang bang (Crimson, one more round)!
Fang You glanced at the status of the key Apostles and returned to the training grounds to begin his daily cultivation.
…
…
In the City of Falling Stars, the Divine Resting Abode.
‘Bolaisemon’, the protector of Falling Stars, bathed in starlight, listened to the report from Xingler XIII.
After listening, he pondered for a moment.
“The entry channel to Blue Star has been blocked? It seems the high-level existences behind this situation attach great importance to the Blue Star world. Naturally, after all, three mythical avatars were destroyed by Blue Star powerhouses.”
“Ancestor, what are our plans?”
“Trade halted? Then let it be halted. We weren’t concerned about that small profit anyway.”
What he desired was to draw Blue Star into their ‘Stars’ faction, but Blue Star was still hesitating.
Since that was the case, letting the evil god faction exert more pressure on Blue Star was also a good option.
Young forces always lacked reverence. Without suffering a significant loss at the hands of the evil god faction, those Blue Star people would likely not awaken and understand that even myths have limits, and in the face of such unnamable existences, even myths are like ants.
To survive long-term, one needs a backer.
As for whether the Blue Star people would awaken? Bolaisemon felt it was fifty-fifty. It was not impossible for the Blue Star people, too arrogant, to be completely destroyed by the evil god faction.
At that time, he… would only feel a slight regret at most.
“Continue to pay attention to matters concerning Blue Star.”
“Compared to that, the mysterious myth that passed through our City of Falling Stars a while ago is more important. You must prioritize this matter and collect all relevant information.”
The effect of the Water of Origin had already been verified; its ability to enhance talent was terrifying.
Bolaisemon was absolutely certain, no one was more convinced than he was, because… those three portions of Water of Origin were used on himself!
His talent was not unprecedented. His advancement to mythology involved a degree of serendipity, but now, his own talent had undergone a metamorphosis. As long as he fully digested it, his combat power would increase significantly!
He would be able to become a powerhouse among myths.
And all of this was solely from the three portions of Water of Origin!
“Regardless of whether the Water of Origin can further enhance my talent, it is an extremely precious item. If used on a promising junior, perhaps it could cultivate the third myth for our City of Falling Stars.”
“Therefore, you must find that myth.”
Compared to this, the matters of Blue Star were indeed no longer that important.
…
…
In the shallow layers of the Ghost Realm, a few hundred kilometers away from the Water Marsh Base City.
*Whoosh*—
Accompanied by the settling of grey mist, Fang Tutor, clad in white robes, appeared leisurely.
No Ghost Realm teleportation gate had been established here, but at this moment, Fang You was like An Jianyōu during ‘Connecting the Nether,’ sinking from the real world to beneath the real world. This was not because he had shamelessly benefited from An Mei’zi’s talent; talent could not be pilfered. He had merely borrowed the power of the world to lightly pierce through that layer of membrane.
After all, the shallow layers of the Ghost Realm were also part of Blue Star, or rather, half of it.
Before Blue Star’s sublimation, even a mythical existence with their immense power could directly pierce this membrane, entering the shallow layers from Blue Star and returning to Blue Star from the shallow layers.
Fang You stepped onto the ground, which was a desolate grey, and looked ahead at the entrance resembling a giant sinkhole, covered with countless magnificent crystals.
Continuing forward meant entering the true Ghost Realm.
But within Fang You’s field of vision, he could still see a faint line. Inside and outside this line, separated by a single line, was a world apart.
“Here, I can still barely utilize the power of the world and the secret realm to resist enemies. But if I step beyond this line, even half a step, the power of the world cannot pass.”
This was the limitation of the World Power killing move.
After all, compared to the magnitude of the Ghost Realm, Blue Star was still far inferior.
Fang You stood still and gazed. There were no signs of evil god minions around, nor did he detect any high-level existences spying. The spiral-shaped sinkhole before him seemed like a devouring abyss; once entered, one would face boundless darkness.
“Therefore, let’s wait. Wait until An Jianyōu finds an oasis.”
“Oases have a special nature, equivalent to a semi-open secret realm. If my conjecture holds true, finding an oasis might even open a safe passage.”
He was not particularly anxious.
After all, the resources of the Sacred Fire were abundant, and within the Ghost Realm, there were An Jianyōu, Qian Qiu, and… the three anchor points of Qian Mian that he had secretly dispatched.
He was already contemplating how to expand his business into the Sea of Shattering.
“Distance is a problem.”
“Although I can reach the Sea of Shattering through divine descent, ordinary people cannot. Transportation is a major issue… This is also a problem that plagues many super oases.”
Fang Tutor mused.
Suddenly, a pleasant “ding” sounded in his ear. He was stunned, then quickly opened his panel and scrolled to the information notification bar.
One piece of information after another popped up, scrolling downwards rapidly. There were messages about Apostles executing missions, Apostles breaking through levels, most ordinary information was folded, and a few relatively important messages were marked in blue. The one that had just prompted was a notification he had specifically marked and pinned to the top of the information bar.
「Ding!」
「Notification: Your contracted illusory spirit (Xiao Huan) is nearing the end of its metamorphosis and will officially enter the Seventh Awakening, becoming a Mythical being.」
Three days and then three more days, three days and then three more days, Xiao Huan was finally advancing?!
Fang You’s face lit up with joy. In an instant, he retreated from the shallow layers to Blue Star, and with another step, he returned to the secret realm base, to the Apostle dormitory designated 001.
This was a level 5 Apostle dormitory, complete with a courtyard and a loft.
Of course, this was not important.
This dormitory 001 was Fang Tutor’s own residence.
This was also not important.
What was important was that Xiao Huan’s ‘Core of Illusion’ was housed here. Illusory spirits were extremely miraculous beings, existing between reality and illusion. They could not interfere with reality, and as long as the core existed, the illusory spirit would not perish. No matter how many times they died, they could be reborn from the core, at most, losing the ‘data’ accumulated during that period.
Dormitory 001, being the safest place on Blue Star, was the most suitable place to house the core.
“But, the previous Core of Illusion was clearly just a golden egg the size of a palm.”
So small.
He could hold it in his hand with one grasp at the time.
However, at present, the Core of Illusion was a golden cocoon, a giant ellipsoid shape as tall as a person, suspended in the storage room, emitting wisps of golden light, with illusions that seemed both real and unreal.
*Crack*—
The golden giant cocoon suddenly cracked open. Then, more and more cracks appeared, to the point of being somewhat heart-pounding. The next moment, it exploded.
Flying fragments swirled like stars, and after a few seconds, they swirled into the golden ball of light before him.
When the golden light dissipated,
A girl wearing a black Lolita dress stood suspended in the air. Her hands were clasped together, holding a golden sphere. Her feet, encased in black stockings, swayed like ripples.
She wore a serene smile as if in a dream, her eyelashes trembled gently, and a pair of large, captivating eyes slowly opened.
This was Xiao Huan’s usual appearance, with the difference that she now emanated a divine aura at all times, making her appear more noble, pure, and sacred.
She had grown up.
“Master~”
She lunged, clinging to Fang You like a koala.
As Fang You reached out to catch her, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
There was touch!
There was temperature!
And elasticity!
“Hehe~”
After getting down from Fang You, she floated around like an elf, touching this and that. She skillfully made a cup of coffee and then transformed into a maid outfit, presenting it to Fang You with a playful expression and saying,
“Master, please~”
Fang You took a sip.
Well, how to put it… too much sugar, and her skills still needed improvement.
But…
“You can interfere with reality now?”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh. Xiao Huan can now switch between the illusory and reality at will, and do anything in her real state~ Xiao Huan can also perform all the tasks of your little assistant!”
No, no, your coffee-making skills are not good, and probably tea-making too.
Xiao Huan couldn’t hear her heartless master’s grumbling. She was just enthusiastically talking about her changes.
With a thought, the coffee cup flew up, and in an instant, she could conjure a mental storm.
She rolled up her sleeves, bent her arm, and showed off her muscles.
“Xiao Huan is now very, very, very strong~!”
Although her arms were fair and slender, her claim of being strong was not false.
Xiao Huan, having advanced to the Seventh Awakening, had truly undergone a transformation.
It was as if everything before was merely preparation during her developmental phase. Now, the Illusory Spirit was truly complete, a true life form.
Fang You had indeed read about illusory spirits. They were a type of ‘divine life form’ that could enter mythology upon reaching adulthood, but these accounts, to the Oasis people, were more like myths, and the descriptions were extremely vague.
Now, Fang You was witnessing reality.
On his panel, Xiao Huan no longer had only ‘Spirit’ listed. She now possessed both dimensionality and life energy, along with divinity and divine particles.
She was a true, genuine myth.
“Well, Xiao Huan’s dimensionality is far inferior to mine and Xidina’s, mainly because her physique is too poor, worse than even a Sixth or Fifth Awakening. But regardless, she is the third myth of the Sacred Fire.”
“Moreover, she can now learn skills. With a little cultivation, she will be a decent combatant.”
“Can I really learn skills? Yes, yes, Xiao Huan wants to learn!”
Upon hearing this, she practically jumped up.
She spun around joyfully.
Soon, Fang You took Xiao Huan to the training grounds. When asked which skill she wanted to learn, Xiao Huan unhesitatingly chose ‘Palm Thunder.’
Perhaps his past embodiment of Xiao Huan and his impressive use of Palm Thunder had left a deep impression on her.
If she wanted to become stronger, an offensive skill was indispensable.
So be it.
The skill book warehouse had it. She could learn it with a tap, and then she tapped one cultivation card after another.
Xiao Huan closed her eyes, her brow furrowed, her little face looking miserable.
“To become strong, sacrifice is inevitable.”
“Wuwu, Xiao Huan… Xiao Huan wants to become strong!”
She gritted her teeth.
But by the time she had trained Palm Thunder to an expert level, she was somewhat dejected, tears welling up in her eyes, looking pathetic.
“Xiao Huan feels she has become strong already. How about we rest for a bit?”
She said weakly.
“Xiao Huan is truly very strong.”
She had the urge to fight again.
But not with Fang You.
“I can’t beat you, Master. If I’m going to fight, I should pick an equally matched opponent, right?”
“Alright, who do you want to pick?”
Xiao Huan was quite clear about the powerhouses within the organization. Her gaze swept past Crimson, past Xidina, past An Jianyōu, past Black Blade, and finally landed on…
Xing Jinglei’s avatar.
“Let’s pick this big guy.”
Fang You: “???”
This was her idea of an equally matched opponent? However, in terms of acting cautiously and striking the weak, Xiao Huan was quite like someone from their side.
Xing Jinglei was currently in the base.
“Master, you’re looking for me?”
“Uh… a sparring partner?”
After hearing Fang You’s words and looking at the slender, fragile Xiao Huan who would cry if hit with a single punch, Xing Jinglei pondered for a long time. “Her?”
Xiao Huan glared angrily.
Xing Jinglei was dismissive.
He dared not underestimate the slender and fragile girl, given the example of An Jianyōu. But Xiao Huan? Xiao Huan appeared in public infrequently, but as a core member of the organization, Xing, a man of the people, naturally recognized her.
Xiao Huan was a favored person by the Master, and she seemed to enjoy a certain master-servant dynamic.
*Ahem*,
The main point was that this girl was a civilian staff member, inherently frail, likely unable to defeat even an elite, yet she dared to challenge him, the organization’s… fourth strongest!
He couldn’t defeat Brother Black Blade, couldn’t defeat An Jianyōu, couldn’t defeat the organization’s hidden powerhouse Xidina, but…
How could he possibly lose to a civilian staff member!
“Master, I, Old Xing, am a rough man. I fear I might accidentally exert too much force.”
“Don’t worry, Xiao Huan… she’s not as weak as you imagine, and I’m here.”
He snapped his fingers.
Above the combat arena, light and shadow intertwined, forming a giant number.
The countdown began.
On the right was the nonchalant Xing Jinglei, and on the left was Xiao Huan, dressed in a black combat robe. When the countdown reached zero, the pouting Xiao Huan made the first move, raising her fair hand, and a bolt of sapphire lightning shot out.
Palm Thunder!
In its long-range form!
*Zzzzz*—
The lightning struck the unprepared Xing Jinglei, making his short hair stand on end and his body tingle all over.
He immediately tensed.
“Seems not weak?”
“No, very strong!”
One bolt of lightning after another struck him, and their destructive power grew, becoming so strong that he dared not continue to endure it.
Carelessness would lead to a downfall!
Xing Jinglei got serious.
He was the organization’s fourth strongest (excluding the Master and the Crimson puppet), the Martial Saint in the hearts of countless people, and he had charged in and out of waves of malevolent entities seven times.
He had his pride!
“Cannon Fist!”
The fist’s radiance transformed into a lifelike giant fist, blasting towards the black-robed girl not far away.
In just an instant.
It hit… and passed through?!
As the fist’s energy swept past, the girl remained standing in place. The force of the punch didn’t even stir her hair or the hem of her clothes.
“What happened?”
He widened his eyes.
Fang You was also watching intently.
The Xiao Huan in his vision suddenly disappeared. The next moment, she appeared behind Xing Jinglei.
There was no trace of movement at all.
Her palm already flashed with the brilliance of lightning, stretching out like a cone and piercing downwards.
But Xing Jinglei’s combat experience was immense. Without turning his head, he swung his fist.
The force of his punch made the air hum ominously, yet it passed directly through Xiao Huan, as if she were merely an illusion before him.
He froze for a moment.
The lightning blade was at his skin, and terrifying lightning energy erupted, breaking through his defense.
He counterattacked, unleashing a ferocious aura.
At this moment, Xiao Huan became somewhat flustered. Under the effect of powerful mental force, she barely reacted, instantly becoming illusory, then after a few more surprise attacks from behind, she finally defeated Xing Jinglei, this formidable enemy.
She panted, with lingering fear.
She then revealed a joyful smile of victory.
Some were happy, some were worried.
Looking at the black-robed girl whose combat techniques were clearly crude and immature, like a novice, yet had forcefully defeated him, Xing Jinglei couldn’t help but ask himself:
“Am I… really that weak?”
He glanced at Xiao Huan, then at himself, and fell into deep self-doubt.