Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  Mr. Hei receives the glass bottle. Suddenly his hands start to redden. A heat flow starts to permeate through the air.

  The eyes of the 3 bare-chested large men on one side all glitter.

  “Master is finally getting into action. It’s been a very long time since we saw he was this serious.”

  “Master’s Sky Burning Art has already reached the highest level. How formidable it is in action, I wonder?” The 3 large men are discussing with each other. These men are none other than Mr. Hei’s 3 personal disciples so naturally the East Vanquishing Prince mansion has placed emphasis on training them as well.

  Qin Yu, Qin Feng, Qin Zheng, Lian Yan and Ge Min are all also watching this Mr. Hei.

  Mr. Hei removes the glass bottle’s stopper. At the same time, he slightly tilts the bottle in his hand. The Blue Flaming Water immediately drops onto the flaming red crystal at once, causing a series of “ss ss” noises. The Blue Flaming Water is changing violently.

  “This flaming red crystal is truly formidable. Even the Blue Flaming Water can’t leave a mark on it.” A disciple of Mr. Hei’s says in amazement.

  After a while, that Blue Flaming Water has turned into a membrane which completely covers the flaming red crystal.

  “Humph!” Mr. Hei utters a cold humph. His eyes suddenly glitter. His 2 hands immediately spew 2 streams of incandescent flames out directly onto the membrane on the surface of the flaming red crystal. That membrane is what the Blue Flaming Water changed into. However, the flaming red crystal unexpectedly remains unaffected.

  “Martial brother, even Master’s Sky Burning Flames coupled with the Blue Flaming Water couldn’t leave a mark on it. How is this possible?” A disciple of Mr. Hei’s is shocked.

  “Not even high-Xian-grade crystals can remain intact under Master’s Sky Burning Flames. This …” Another disciple also becomes doubtful.

  The excitement in Mr. Hei’s eyes heightens. Suddenly his face becomes very red then turns ashen. At the same time the flames on his hands start to shrink. However, the temperature in the courtyard suddenly increases.

  “So strong.” Qin Yu is shocked. He can totally feel how terrifying the flames are. In his mind, he has a feeling that … he is definitely no match for Mr. Hei. He even feels that the air in the entire courtyard has started to vibrate because of the high temperature.

  Qin Yu’s guess is totally correct. Not only is this Mr. Hei a forging grandmaster, he has also reached the peak of the Xiantian level. He is one of the very best experts among East Vanquishing Prince’s subordinates.

  “The special flames produced from Xiantian internal energy are much more formidable than ordinary flames. General Xian-grade ores can only be melted by flames like these.” Qin Yu praises Mr. Hei highly in his mind. But as soon as he takes a look at that flaming red crystal, he is dumbfounded.

  Under such conditions, the flaming red crystal is still unimpaired.

  “Humph!” Mr. Hei’s face suddenly blackens. “Bang!” With a loud bang, Mr. Hei’s entire body sends forth flames, which even burn away all of his clothes, except for his shorts. This pair of shorts is unexpectedly made of black gold threads.

  Mr. Hei’s school obviously knew that when he utilized his internal energy to the utmost his whole body would send forth flames, therefore this black gold pair of shorts was passed down to him. Because they were knitted out of black gold threads, they are a real masterpiece. Only after saving for a long time did the elders in Mr. Hei’s school have that much black gold.

  “That pair of shorts seems to be made of the same material as my black gold undershirt.” Qin Yu thinks to himself.

  At the same time, the flames on Mr. Hei’s hands shrink even more, but they also become increasingly more incandescent. Heat waves start rolling in the entire courtyard one after another. All of the people around cannot help backing away a long distance.

  “What flames! Even Xiantian experts’ bodies will be burnt up by them without leaving any ashes.” Qin Yu praises highly in his mind. Such flames can even melt Xian-grade ores, not to mention the human body.

  Qin Yu and his 2 brothers, Lian Yan … and the 3 disciples as well all stare at the flaming red crystal, hoping that this crystal can melt. If it cannot even be melted, how are they going to forge something out of it? As every second goes by, everybody’s eyes totally focus on the flaming red crystal.

  Suddenly --

  “Pu!” Mr. Hei spits out a mouthful of blood. The color of his face changes from being black to very white. In an instant, the flames on his whole body disappear as well.

  “Master!” A disciple from behind immediately hands clothes to him. After getting dressed, Mr. Hei looks at the flaming red crystal and lets out a deep sigh. Then he turns around, looks at Qin Yu and the other people and says: “Gentlemen, I have no way to deal with this flaming red crystal.”

  Seeing that Mr. Hei’s face is so pale, everybody knows that this forging grandmaster has tried his best.

  “How is this possible? Mr. Hei, didn’t you forge this superb high-Xian-grade weapon for me some years ago? How come you can’t even melt the crystal now?” Qin Feng, grasping the battle knife on his waist, asks Mr. Hei. When Qin Feng reached the Xiantian level, in order to reward him, Qin De had a chunk of a high-Xian-grade ore forged into a superb weapon and gave it to Qin Feng.

  Mr. Hei looks at the battle knife, shakes his head and says with a smile: “Idiot, you still don’t get it? This is certainly because this flaming red crystal is already superior to the high Xian-grade.”

  Startled, Qin Yu asks doubtfully: “Could it be the highest grade of ores isn’t the high Xian-grade?” In Qin Yu’s mind, weapons are divided into mundane-grade ones and Xian-grade ones. In theory, the high Xian-grade should represent the best quality possible. How can there still be something ranked higher than the high Xian-grade?

  “All of you know nothing.” Mr. Hei’s eyes radiate loftiness.

  In the forging business, he is definitely a figure at the top of the pyramid.

  “That so-called division of weapons into the mundane grade and the Xian grade only applies to us mortals. I’m asking you, what weapons do Shangxian use? Humph, even a high-Xian-grade battle knife, when coming up against a Shangxian’s flying sword, will be pierced through easily like paper.” There is a hint of loftiness on the corners of Mr. Hei’s mouth.

  Everybody present is immediately shocked.

  That is true. Because Shangxian can hover on the 9th level of the sky and kill an enemy from thousands of li away, what must the grade of their weapons be? Actually, Qin Yu and the others have heard that those flying swords can fly extremely far and kill someone from thousands of li away and, moreover, not even high Xian-grade weapons can withstand them.

  “Mundane grade and Xian grade are merely terms coined by us mortals. The scope of our understanding is only that big. It’s simply impossible for us to imagine the world of Shangxian. This flaming red crystal, if I guess correctly, should be a material to forge Shangxian weapons.” Staring at the flaming red crystal, Mr. Hei says very firmly.

  Qin Yu looks at the flaming red crystal. It is still intact and emits a light red glow.

  “What’s the use of this flaming red crystal? It can’t even be melted, how can it be forged into weapons?” Qin Feng shakes his head and says. Everybody, including Lian Yan and Qin Yu, has a powerless expression on his face. That is right. They cannot even melt it, how can they make weapons out of it?

  Qin Yu shakes his head and says with a smile: “Forget it. When even Mr. Hei can’t melt it, there aren’t any people in the world who can melt and forge it.”

  “Well, don’t be so disappointed, Third Prince. I have no way to melt it. But there’s still a real forging grandmaster who can melt and forge it,” says Mr. Hei with a smile. Hearing this, everyone looks at him in doubt, including his 3 disciples.

  A real forging grandmaster?

  “There’s still a forging grandmaster more capable than Mr. Hei?” Qin Zheng says doubtfully.
All the people present are looking at Mr. Hei in doubt.

  Mr. Hei says with a confident smile: “All of you don’t know about this so I’ll tell you a secret, but don’t spread it. Actually, not only is a Shangxian an invincible expert, at the same time … he is definitely a forging expert as well.”

  “Oh?” All of the people present know that Shangxian are invincible and that their flying swords can kill people very easily. However, they do not know anything about Shangxian’s level in forging.

  “All Shangxian can use a kind of flame. That flame is much more formidable than the flame of my internal energy. With that kind of flame, won’t it be very easy to forge a weapon? In fact, you’ll all understand if you think about it. Every Shangxian has at least a flying sword, but where do their flying swords come from? Could they be dropped from the sky, or are they forged?” Mr. Hei says to everyone in a mysterious manner.

  Only now does everyone realize what he means.

  “Right, I’ll send for Shangxian Fengyuzi at once,” says Lian Yan immediately.

  However, Qin Yu looks up and gives a whistle. He then looks at everyone and says: “Xiao Hei has the fastest speed. Xiao Hei and I will go to invite Uncle Feng.” In a moment, a beam of black light shoots down directly from the sky. It is none other than the black eagle. Qin Yu gets on its back like a flash. The black eagle then utters an eagle cry and flies outward directly extremely fast.

  Chapter 14 The Xiuzhen world (1)

  The Qian Long continent has a strangely large number of species of wild beasts. Quite a few people have tamed wild birds and beasts. However, these tamed birds and beasts in general are only loyal to their own masters, therefore other people basically cannot ride them and, moreover, it is difficult to domesticate wild beasts on a large scale. Ordinarily, their job is to help deliver messages or invitations as Qin Yu is doing.

  When war breaks out, most of those bird owners will become military intelligence personnel or form airborne raiding squadrons. There is a wide variety of ways to fight a battle on the Qian Long continent. The use of various kinds of birds and beasts makes the fighting even more colorful and unpredictable. Moreover, everyone in an army does internal practice. For example, in the army under East Vanquishing Prince’s command, any junior soldier who has joined the army for a year is eligible to practice the lowest consummate technique of the Five Consummate Military Combat Techniques. Every junior soldier in this army is powerful enough to kill 7 or 8 ordinary people. When a soldier has more military merit, he will have a higher status, which will also allow him to practice the higher levels of the Five Consummate Military Combat Techniques.

  On the Qian Long continent, when war breaks out, urgently recruited soldiers simply cannot compare with regular soldiers. At least in terms of quality, they are so much inferior to regular soldiers. A 200,000 strong regular corps can eliminate a large army of 1,000,000 ordinary people who have been enlisted forcibly.

  Sitting on the back of the black eagle, Qin Yu looks down at the ground. In a short while he has already gone out of Yan City.

  “In terms of speed, it seems I’ve never heard of any kind of bird which can match the black eagle.” Qin Yu strokes the black eagle’s neck while smiling.

  The speed of the black eagle is astonishingly fast. At least according to Qin Yu’s knowledge, there are no birds as fast as the black eagle. After all, eagles are already always extremely fast, and Qin Yu’s black eagle is a special kind of eagle which is even 2 or 3 times faster than ordinary eagles.

  The black eagle dives down, heading directly for a thatched cottage. This thatched cottage is exactly where Fengyuzi usually lives. There is a lake in its surroundings. The area around the cottage is very quiet. Since it shows no signs of human habitation, no one will come to disturb him.

  At this moment, a Xian crane flies up from the lake nearby on one side of the house. It is none other than Fengyuzi’s transport. Fengyuzi himself is standing outside the thatched cottage. Looking up at Qin Yu, who is descending from the sky, he smiles broadly.

  “Uncle Feng,” shouts Qin Yu in excitement after jumping down directly from the back of the black eagle.

  “Xiao Yu, why have you come to my place?” Fengyuzi says with a smile. Fengyuzi himself is so much older than even Lian Yan but he and Qin De treat each other like brothers. He is the kind of person who does not regard age as important.

  When Qin Yu is about to say, he suddenly notices that Fengyuzi’s eyes are unexpectedly totally focusing on the black eagle.

  “Uncle Feng, what’s the matter? You know what Xiao Hei is, don’t you?” asks Qin Yu doubtfully. Fengyuzi is staring at the black eagle but the black eagle simply does not give him a look. After a long time, Fengyuzi shakes his head and says: “That’s strange. Judging by the crown of its head, this seems to be a Golden Flame Eagle, the king of eagles. But not only does a Golden Flame Eagle have a flame-like golden crown, its entire body’s feathers are also golden. Moreover, it is covered in blazing flames while this black eagle’s body is pitch-black and its claws also have an ice-cold black color.”

  For the present, Fengyuzi still cannot tell what it is.

  “Moreover, the Golden Flame Eagle is extremely powerful. Even when it’s just a few years old, using its body-protecting golden flame alone it can already cope with Jindan-stage Xiuzhenists. But obviously this black eagle is equal to a Xiantian-level mortal at best. It’s much weaker than a Golden Flame Eagle,” says Fengyuzi while frowning.

  Hearing Fengyuzi’s words, Qin Yu also knows he cannot recognize what kind of bird the black eagle is either.

  “Uncle Feng, you mentioned Jindan-stage Xiuzhenists or something, who are they? According to your meaning, they seem to be even more formidable than Xiantian experts. Aren’t Shangxian the ones superior to Xiantian experts?” asks Qin Yu doubtfully.

  “Ah …” Only now does Fengyuzi shift his attention away from the black eagle. Seeing Qin Yu’s doubtful expression, he shakes his head and says with a smile: “Jindan-stage Xiuzhenists, I, your Uncle Feng, am a Jindan-stage Xiuzhenist.”

  “Uncle Feng?” Qin Yu immediately frowns deeply.

  In his mind, Xiantian experts are already extremely formidable and Shangxian, who are superior to Xiantian experts, are invincible beings. Now that Qin Yu has heard Fengyuzi say he is only a Jindan-stage Xiuzhenist, he is wondering what Fengyuzi means. What is a Xiuzhenist? And what is the Jindan-stage?

  Fengyuzi says with a smile: “Alright, let’s talk about this later. Ah, why have you come to find me? You can’t be here just to see your Uncle Feng, right?”

  Only now does Qin Yu remember why he has come here. He quickly puts the matter regarding the Jindan stage and Xiuzhenists aside and says: “Uncle Feng, I obtained a flaming red crystal. That crystal is too hard. Even Mr. Hei using his entire power couldn’t leave a mark on it. Mr. Hei said …”

  “What?!” Fengyuzi suddenly says in astonishment.

  Qin Yu is startled by Fengyuzi’s amazement. In his mind, Fengyuzi is always collected with a smiling expression as if nothing in the world, not even world-shattering events, would be able to shock him. However, unexpectedly the eyes of this Shangxian are popping out of his head in front of Qin Yu.

  “Even that brat with the last name Hei in the princely mansion couldn’t leave a mark on it?” Fengyuzi asks again to confirm.

  Qin Yu can only nod without understanding Fengyuzi’s meaning.

  Fengyuzi’s eyes immediately glitter: “That brat Hei’s Sky Burning Art or something has reached the highest level, added to that his school’s unique Blue Flaming Water, then even pretty good ores can be melted easily. But this flaming red crystal didn’t even get scratched. What precious kind of ore is this flaming red crystal actually?”

  “Where is this flaming red crystal?” Fengyuzi stares at Qin Yu and asks.

  “In the princely mansion.” Qin Yu immediately replies.

  “Good, let’s go now.” Fengyuzi does not call the Xian crane. A flying sword suddenly appear
s under his feet and expands. He grabs Qin Yu and makes him also stand on the sword. Then, paying no attention to the black eagle, he thus flies directly toward Yan City.

  “Uncle Feng, we want you to come to …” Qin Yu hurriedly says. Even though he came to ask Fengyuzi to forge the flaming red crystal, he has not told him about this yet.

  Fengyuzi says with a smile: “You needn’t say. I know why you came. That precious kind of ore simply isn’t something any of you can forge. Only the Samadhi flame of Xiuzhenists can help forge it.” Qin Yu also understands what Fengyuzi says. However, he is curious about what the Samadhi flame is.

  In just a while, Qin Yu’s attention has totally been shifted onto the flying sword. As for the black eagle, he is not worried about it. He knows the black eagle can find him easily. It does not matter where he is, the eagle can always find him. This is perhaps because a special telepathy has been formed between him and the eagle after being together for the last 11 years.