395: Secret Realm News and Hidden Figures

A few days later, on the outskirts of the Starfall Continent, there was a large gathering place for Cultivators called Xingchen Square, which was far larger in scale than Star City.

The market was built upon a relatively stable group of meteorites; the massive rocks had been carved into shops and residences, with people coming and going in a bustling scene.

The air was filled with the scents of various star Ores, Spirit Medicines, and the heat of forge fires.

It was a den of dragons and snakes where news traveled the fastest.

Di Xingyun changed into a new set of green robes and restrained his aura, walking through the bustling streets like an ordinary traveling Cultivator.

His goal for this trip was to gather deeper intelligence, especially regarding any Opportunity that could help him rapidly increase his strength.

Inside the Gathering Star Pavilion, a shop specializing in purchasing star Materials, Di Xingyun sold several pieces of high-quality Star Essence Gold and a few stalks of Starshine Grass, exchanging them for a good amount of Spirit Stones.

The shopkeeper was a shrewd old man. While clicking away on his abacus, he chatted casually, "Fellow Daoist, you've had quite a harvest!"

Di Xingyun remained calm. "Just luck. Shopkeeper, besides the commotion surrounding the Ning Family and the Quan Family recently, is there any other special news?"

Upon hearing this, a sharp glint flashed in the shopkeeper's eyes, and he lowered his voice. "Heh, Fellow Daoist, you've asked the right person! The Shattered Star Secret Realm! Have you heard of it?"

"Shattered Star Secret Realm?"

Di Xingyun's heart stirred.

"Exactly!"

The shopkeeper grew excited, looked left and right, and lowered his voice even further:

"It's said to be formed from the core of a massive meteorite containing the Star Origin from ancient times. Every hundred years or so, the spatial barrier on its periphery weakens due to the Star Power tides, revealing the entrance!"

"It's said to be filled with Star Essence, and there are even rumors of Star Origin Crystals! Those are supreme treasures for tempering a Star Body and raising one's Realm!"

Di Xingyun's heart skipped a beat.

Star Origin Crystals!

"Is this news reliable? Where is the entrance to the Secret Realm?"

Di Xingyun pressed for more information, his tone carrying a hint of urgency.

"The news is absolutely reliable! The Star Taoist Temple, the Ning Family, the Quan Family, and even the Star Sacred Land have secretly sent people to investigate!"

The shopkeeper said with certainty, "The entrance is near the Starfall Sea Eye deep within the wasteland! It's said that within these few days, the spatial fluctuations will reach their peak, and the entrance will fully manifest! Right now, forces from all sides, as well as countless Loose Cultivators who caught wind of it, are rushing there! But, Fellow Daoist..."

The shopkeeper sized up Di Xingyun. "That place is a dragon's pool and a tiger's den right now. Without real skill, going there is just seeking death."

"Thank you for the information, Shopkeeper."

Di Xingyun tossed down a few Spirit Stones as a reward and turned to leave the Gathering Star Pavilion.

He already knew in his heart that he had to go to this Shattered Star Secret Realm!

The Star Origin Crystals—he was determined to get them!

However, just as he merged into the flow of people in the market and headed toward the area to buy supplies, an extremely subtle, cold, and snake-like sensation of being watched silently locked onto him.

Di Xingyun didn't stop his pace, but his brow twitched slightly.

The Star Body's perception of Star Power far exceeded that of ordinary people. He clearly captured that the observer seemed to have merged into the ubiquitous star energy around them, carrying a loathsome aura!

"I'm being watched... Is my identity exposed, or is it because of the commotion at the ruins earlier?"

Di Xingyun's mind raced, but his face remained impassive as if he hadn't noticed anything. He continued walking through the market, secretly pushing his Divine Thought to the limit. His Star Body operated slowly, his aura as restrained as a stone, while he quietly changed direction toward a sparsely populated area on the outskirts of the market.

He wanted to lure this venomous snake into the wasteland and then cut it down!

Leaving the market, he went a hundred miles deep into the wasteland.

All around was the eternal black star-sand earth and massive meteorite craters. The stars in the sky hung low, and it was so silent that only the sound of the wind remained.

Di Xingyun stopped beside a massive meteorite riddled with holes.

He stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from the path he came, his voice ringing out calmly and echoing clearly across the empty wasteland:

"Aren't you tired after following me for so long?"

As his voice fell, the deathly still air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Immediately afterward, the space ten feet behind Di Xingyun rippled like water.

Two figures emerged silently, as if peeling away from the starlight.

They were dressed in skin-tight clothes as black as night, their faces covered by equally black masks that lacked any features. Dark silver patterns flowed like living things on the masks, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of erosion.

The aura of the two was cold and obscure; they were both surprisingly at the Heaven-Reaching Realm Eighth Level!

"Jie jie... such keen perception."

The slightly taller person on the left let out a raspy, unpleasant laugh.

"A Star Body... such pure Origin aura... truly top-grade bait! Surrender obediently and offer up your Saint Body Origin, and you may suffer less from the pain of soul extraction and refinement!"

"Exposed! Who exactly are they?" Di Xingyun's heart tightened, but he was not afraid of these two.

"Why waste words with him! Do it!"

The shorter person on the right was more irritable, his eyes flashing with a greedy and cruel red light.

He thrust both hands forward, and ten dark silver threads, as thin as cow hair and nearly transparent, shot out from his fingertips!

These threads were composed of Star-Eroding Power. They moved silently, coiling toward Di Xingyun's major acupoints and Dantian vitals!

Star-Eroding Lock!

Once entangled, the circulation of Star Power would be obstructed.

At the same time, the tall man on the left also moved.

His figure flickered, disappearing from the spot like a phantom as he merged himself into the starlight shadows. His aura became ethereal and hard to find; he was clearly proficient in the arts of stealth and assassination.

A pitch-black needle, only three inches long and flashing with a ghostly blue cold light, appeared silently between his fingers—the Star-Eroding Needle!

It specialized in piercing Protective Aura and star defenses. It was highly toxic and could corrode the Divine Soul!

One in the light and one in the dark, one binding and one killing!

Their cooperation was seamless, ruthless, and cunning!

They were clearly veterans at dealing with star Cultivators!

"Hmph!"

Di Xingyun had long been prepared.

The moment the opponents moved, starlight suddenly erupted from his body!

"Star Aura Protection!"

Buzz!

A layer of star light shield instantly expanded. Vague shadows of rotating stars flowed across the shield, making it incredibly sturdy.

Chiii chiii chiii—!

The ten Star-Eroding Locks coiled tightly around the Star Aura Protection. The dark silver Star-Eroding Power frantically corroded the shield, trying to penetrate it!

The shield fluctuated violently, clearly under immense pressure.

And at the moment the shield was constrained by the chains, a speck of ghostly blue cold light suddenly flashed from the starlight shadows to Di Xingyun's left like a venomous snake's tongue!

It pierced straight for Di Xingyun's temple!

It was the tall man's long-prepared killing blow—the Star-Eroding Needle!

Just as the poison needle, containing terrifying corrosive power, was about to pierce the protective Star Aura!

A cold light burst from Di Xingyun's eyes! This was the moment he had been waiting for!

"Star Sword Array—Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Three-Kill Army Breaker!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three Flying Swords, like three bolts of lightning tearing through the starry sky, shot out in a triangular formation!

The target was none other than the short man on the right, who was focusing all his strength on the Star-Eroding Lock to constrain the protective Star Aura!

"What?!"

The short man was shocked, completely not expecting the opponent to launch such a sharp counterattack under the lethal threat of the Star-Eroding Needle!

What horrified him even more was that when his Star-Eroding Lock coiled around the opponent's protective Star Aura, he felt that the opponent's Star Power was so pure and stable beyond imagination that the erosion effect was greatly diminished!

Now that the three terrifying star sword lights were before his eyes, he could only hurriedly abandon the chains and exert all his strength to activate his protective Star-Eroding Aura!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The three sword lights were unstoppable, instantly tearing through the hurriedly formed Star-Eroding Aura.

The first sword pierced through his hurriedly blocking arm!

The second sword transfixed his Dantian where his Star Power was concentrated!

The third sword, carrying the unstoppable momentum of the Army Breaker, directly sliced off his head!

The short man couldn't even let out a scream as his headless corpse sprayed dark red foul blood and slumped to the ground.

"Old Third!"