Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  Qin Yu bursts out laughing.

  “Ha-ha, Xiao Hei, with a brother who sticks by me through life and death like you, I have no regrets in this life.” Qin Yu feels a coziness surging in his heart.

  “That’s good, big brother. But we’re not going to throw our lives away. We should plan carefully how to deal with Xiang Yang, no matter what.” Xiao Hei uses holy sense communication. His intelligence is really not lower than that of any normal human.

  Qin Yu nods. His mind starts to consider.

  Xiao Hei suddenly says using his holy sense: “Big brother, there’ll be a full moon tomorrow night. In my hereditary memories, there is a special skill that is even much more powerful than my Flaming Lightning if executed in a full moon night. Humph, isn’t it just Xiang Yang? … This special skill of mine will injure him badly at least.”

  Xiao Hei is very proud but he only says that he will injure Xiang Yang badly at least. Qin Yu thus understands that he is also somewhat afraid of an early Yuanying Xiang Yang.

  “Good, but … should we go check out Xiang Yang’s power a bit right now?” Qin Yu gives a faint smile.

  Xiao Hei immediately utters an eagle cry.

  A person can always win only if he knows his situation and that of his enemy. Qin Yu’s and Xiao Hei’s speeds are even faster than that of a Yuanying stage Golden Flame eagle. In general, a human when flying on a sword is slower than a bird of the same power level which excels at flying. Qin Yu and Xiao Hei, therefore, believe that Xiang Yang’s speed is inferior to theirs.

  They turn into 2 blurs and fly into the airspace of the Imperial Palace in Ba Chu County in just a short while.

  Both of them, a man and an eagle, stand side by side in midair. Qin Yu is being engulfed in his indistinct light silvery stellar energy. His entire body is a blur through the stellar energy, which looks like a thick fog. Xiao Hei spreads his huge wings. Various electric sparks begin to cover them.

  Their powerful auras sweep across the whole Imperial Palace like a storm.

  “Xiang Yang, quickly come out.”

  Qin Yu says in a clear voice. Transmitted by the stellar energy, his voice is like ripples, spreading out downwards from him. It resounds through the entire capital and at the same time causes the air right above the capital to vibrate continuously.

  In a short while, the people in the whole capital are astonished. All of them look into the sky. Those who are slightly powerful can see an indistinct silhouette and a black eagle as well in the sky.

  “Xiang Yang, quickly come out!”

  Qin Yu’s voice resounds nonstop through the air and pierces the walls so all of the people in the Imperial Palace, including the Xiang clan’s members, can hear it.

  At the same time, a sharp eagle cry resounds through the sky.

  Seemingly wanting to compete with Qin Yu, Xiao Hei cries very loudly. His cry resounds continuously and resonates with Qin Yu’s voice. The people in the entire capital all freeze with shock because of these sounds.

  ……

  “Standing in midair, oh my, it’s a Shangxian, Shangxian!!!” After looking into the sky and seeing Qin Yu’s indistinct silhouette, an internal expert on a street of the capital cannot help getting horrified. “That Shangxian mentioned Xiang Yang. Ah, Xiang Yang, could he be the 1st emperor of our Chu dynasty? Are they 2 peope with the same name or are they the same person?”

  The people in the capital are discussing with each other. All of them have great reverence for that man in the sky.

  Only Shangxian can stand in midair. And Shangxian, of course, are not the same as mortals.

  ……

  In Wu De’s place of residence, hearing that loud and clear voice, Wu De immediately throws open the door of his room and walks out. As he looks into the sky and sees that vague silhouette, his heart is filled with shock.

  “Xiang Yang, this man has unexpectedly issued a challenge to Xiang Yang. It looks like he’s extremely strong as well.” He quickly rejects the idea of fighting that vague silhouette because an expert who dares to fight early Yuanying stage Xiang Yang is basically not someone he can compare with.

  ……

  Bang!

  In Xiang Guang’s resting place, Xiang Guang suddenly pushes open his room’s door and rushes out. Dressed in only a yellow pair of pyjamas, he stands outside his house and looks up at the indistinct silhouette in the sky. He is scared stiff all over instantly.

  “Shangxian, does this Shangxian want to fight Great Ancestor?”

  Xiang Guang starts to panic at once. At the moment, the Great Ancestor is the only thing that the Xiang clan can rely on. If Xiang Yang is killed by this Shangxian, who has appeared all of a sudden, that will be terrible.

  Suddenly --

  “Who are you, petty thief? You even dared to shout in the sky above the Imperial Palace.”

  Similarly, a powerful voice comes out from Eternal House. It is not less resonant than Qin Yu’s voice and is even somewhat superior to his. As the voice resounds, a black-robed silhouette soars directly into the sky from Eternal House.

  With his black robe fluttering and his long black hair flowing freely, Xiang Yang focuses his extremely sharp and ice-cold eyes on Qin Yu and Xiao Hei. At the moment his aura is frenzied like a storm. It sweeps across the sky, coming at them.

  In an instant, all of the people in the capital, the Xiang clan’s members in the Imperial Palace and even Shangxian Wu De look up into the sky.

  Because of the indistinct stellar energy which is wafting around Qin Yu’s body like mist, that aura cannot touch him at all. As for Xiao Hei, flashes of lightning are flickering and flames are blazing on his body. His fierce aura is rising nonstop.

  “A man and an eagle who haven’t even reached the Yuanying stage like you dare to mess with me? Why don’t you ask yourself if you’re qualified to do this?” Xiang Yang says coldly. His heart is filled with anger. Just now Qin Yu shouting ‘Xiang Yang, quickly come out!’ has made he feel like he has been ordered around at will.

  Qin Yu looks at Xiang Yang in front of him. His holy sense is expanded to the utmost.

  His holy sense is very strong. The Meteoric Tear is not very useful for improving his raw power and can only heal his injuries but it has been nourishing his soul nonstop with its warm streams, resulting in Qin Yu’s very powerful and tough holy sense.

  “Early Yuanying stage, Xiang Yang, you’re pretty good, too bad … you must’ve been practicing all by yourself, right?” Qin Yu says indifferently.

  “I’ve been practicing hard for nearly 1000 years. I broke through the Jindan stage to reach the Yuanying stage all by myself, using my own enlightenment. This is the reason the Xiang clan’s technique now also has the method for reaching the Yuanying stage.” Xiang Yang however says very haughtily.

  The Xiang clan has an heirloom technique as well, which is similar to the Qin clan’s Ancestral Dragon Art. In the past Xiang Yu created the method for reaching the Jindan stage and now Xiang Yang has created the method for reaching the Yuanying stage.

  However, Qin Yu bursts out laughing.

  “Xiang Yang, your talent is not bad. Pity … you’ve learned only from your experience. I ask you, how many flying sword techniques do you know? How many restrictive spells do you know? And do you know the secret, mysterious art of forging?” Qin Yu says with a cold laugh.

  Xiang Yang’s face slightly changes color.

  A person who practices alone has limited energy. It is already exceptional that he was able to reach the Yuanying stage. Those so-called flying sword techniques, secret restrictive spells and forging secrets were only able to come into existence thanks to the efforts of countless genius disciples of some Xiuzhen schools for nobody knows how many tens of thousands of years.

  So, how can Xiang Yang possibly create them by himself?

  Qin Yu suddenly makes a movement with his body, turning into a blur. He comes up to Xiang Yang’s face in an instant and forms a finger sword with the forefinger and middle finger of a hand. S
everal indistinct beams of stellar energy are shot out from the finger sword. Concurrently with that, he clenches a fist with the other hand and throws a punch at Xiang Yang.

  “Humph!”

  Xiang Yang utters a cold humph. His overwhelming elemental energy forms a seemingly real suit of armor around him. When the sword beams of stellar energy hit the suit of armor, it shakes for a while.

  Bang!

  Qin Yu’s fist smashes into Xiang Yang’s body. That suit of armor shakes violently again, but it is not damaged in the slightest. With a movement of his body, Qin Yu returns to his original position.

  “So that’s all you’ve got?” Xiang Yang says disdainfully in a cold voice. However, he is secretly amazed by Qin Yu’s speed. Qin Yu gives a laugh. Just now he did not even use the Flaming Gloves and only relied on his fist’s own offensive power. Now he has gained some understanding of Xiang Yang’s power.

  “Xiang Yang, your father, the West Chu Conqueror, died on the River Wu, right?” He suddenly says.

  Xiang Yang’s eyes flash with coldness. What he hates the most is other people mentioning his father’s death. In his heart, his father Xiang Yu was an invincible conqueror. However, his father was ganged up on by the Qin clan’s Shangxian and was killed on the River Wu.

  “Tomorrow, in a full moon night on the River Wu, I and my brother here will be respectfully awaiting your arrival. But if you don’t dare to come, then let’s forget about it … Ha-ha …”

  Qin Yu laughs out loud then steps on his flying sword. In an instant, his entire body disappears from Xiang Yang’s vision like a bolt of lightning or a meteor. Xiao Hei also slightly shakes his wings. Using the Passing Lightning Flashing Nine Times technique, he disappears in a short while.

  Xiang Yang’s face changes color. He is frightened again by the speeds of this mysterious man and this mysterious eagle.

  “Tomorrow, in a full moon night on the River Wu … Xiang Yang, let’s see if you’ll dare to come …” That loud and clear voice comes again from the horizon and continuously resounds through the air. The look in Xiang Yang’s eyes becomes even more ice-cold.

  Chapter 22: The Death of Wu De

  Qin Yu and Xiao Hei fly side by side through the air.

  “The River Wu, 2000 km long and sinuous, is the largest river of Ba Chu County. It runs through several tens cities of the county. The place where the West Chu Conqueror died in battle is not far from the capital either.” Qin Yu tells Xiao Hei using holy sense communication.

  “Big brother, the River Wu is so long but you only told Xiang Yang to fight it out on this river, who can know where you mean to fight him? You haven’t told Xiang Yang the exact location of the battle.” Xiao Hei says doubtfully. He was also doubtful just now, but because both Xiang Yang and Qin Yu are not careless people, he guessed that both of them must have understood each other and therefore did not ask. Only now does he ask Qin Yu.

  Qin Yu gives a smile: “Do you still remember what I said just now?”

  After Xiao Hei recalls what Qin Yu said just now and thinks about it for a while, he also understands: “Ha-ha, big brother, you’re really cunning. No wonder when Xiang Yang heard your words his face immediately changed color.” Xiao Hei is very intelligent too so he only needed to ponder a little to understand.

  While talking to Xiang Yang, Qin Yu suddenly asked: “Xiang Yang, your father, the West Chu Conqueror, died on the River Wu, right?” Then he challenged Xiang Yang to a fight. Xiang Yang is no ordinary person so he understood at once that the fight was going to take place at the location of the West Chu Conqueror’s death.

  Qin Yu’s meaning was very clear, that is, your old man, the West Chu Conqueror, died at this place and this time you are going to be killed by me at this place as well.

  “Humph, 1000 years ago my Qin clan’s Shangxian killed a Jindan stage Xiang Yu on the River Wu. Now both of us are going to kill the even more formidable Xiang Yang at the same place.” Qin Yu says laughingly.

  Xiao Hei says with a cold laugh using his holy sense: “Since we’re going to let them die at the same place, Xiang Yang should be satisfied with this.”

  Except for Qin Yu, Xiao Hei is unwilling to interact with humans. He is somewhat friendly to the Qin clan’s members mostly because of their relationships with Qin Yu. And he simply does not care about the other people. As for the Xiang clan’s members, because there is a feud between them and Qin Yu, he is also extremely hostile to them.

  “Xiao Hei, tonight I’ll still have to handle a business. Can you guess what it is going to be?” Qin Yu says laughingly.

  “There’s still another business?” Xiao Hei considers for a while. “Big brother, according to what you told your family, in theory there should be no other problems. Oh, I know already.” Xiao Hei’s sharp eyes glitter. “It’s Wu De, right?”

  Qin Yu says using his holy sense: “You’re smart. There must be no mistakes during the fight between us and Xiang Yang on the River Wu in tomorrow’s full moon night. This fight is not only going to decide our fate, but also the fate of the Qin clan. Therefore … if a late Jindan expert like Wu De lives, I won’t be able to fight unworried.”

  Qin Yu’s intention is very clear.

  If Wu De uses a sneak attack at a crucial moment in Qin Yu and Xiao Hei’s battle against Xiang Yang, perhaps the situation of the battle will change. This is one possibility. Another possibility is, if they perish together with Xiang Yang, leaving Wu De, who holds a grudge against the Qin clan, alive, he will become a serious menace to the Qin clan.

  No matter what happens, Wu De must die first.

  “Good, Wu De, his martial younger brother almost killed you, just let me burn this bastard up directly.” Xiao Hei says with hatred.

  “Xiao Hei, you don’t have to get into action. I’m going to be the one who’s going to send both him and his martial younger brother off to Hell.” Qin Yu’s eyes radiate a hint of coldness. He already killed Wu Xing so there is an irreconcilable blood feud between him and Wu De. Even though Qin Yu treats other people sincerely, he has absolutely no mercy for enemies.

  Xiao Hei says in agreement: “All right, then let me see your abilities, big brother.”

  “Tonight, Wu De is going to get killed in the capital. Xiao Hei, let’s find a place to rest and wait until tonight before getting into action.” They immediately dive down. Both of them, one man and one eagle, then casually choose a mountain peak and rest quietly on it.

  The capital was the Chu dynasty’s center in the past. Because it was well lit at night by the lamplight of tens of thousands of families, it was called the Nightless City. The capital was lively and extremely flourishing and bustling, but since the Qin clan went to war, its luxurious and corrupted atmosphere has grown weaker and weaker.

  However, after that Shangxian issued a challenge to battle in broad daylight that resounded through the capital, tonight the capital is even under martial law. Due to this, nobody dares to roam the streets late at night.

  In a quiet courtyard house, there are a stone table and nothing but 2 stone stools beside it. In the past Wu De and Wu Xing often sat on these stone stools but now Wu Xing is already dead so one of the stools is no longer used.

  On the jade bed in the house, there is a tea table in the center of the jade bed. Wu De is sitting with eyes closed and legs crossed on the left hand side of the tea table, his long hair hanging about his shoulders.

  “Alas …” Wu De opens his eyes, looking at the right side of the jade bed. The tea table divides the jade bed into two and in the past he and Wu Xing would sit on either side, practicing calmly. They lived together for nearly 1000 years but now Wu Xing is already dead so Wu De cannot help feeling somewhat unaccustomed to this.

  “Don’t worry, martial younger brother. Xiang Yang will cause trouble to the Qin clan very quickly. When the time comes I’ll definitely exterminate that clan to avenge your death.” Wu De’s eyes flash with coldness. He has never forgotten that he has to seek revenge for his martial younger
brother’s death.

  Suddenly the door of his room automatically opens. Cold winds of the late night rush into the room, causing Wu De’s long hair to flutter. He however narrows his eyes. His entire body’s aura starts to become fierce.

  “Who?” When Qin De has just finished saying, his face suddenly changes color.

  Bang!

  Wu De’s jade bed is put against a stone wall of the room. That wall unexpectedly shatters as if blown up, shooting stone fragments in all directions. A fist strikes out directly from the middle of the stone fragments like a glittering iron sledgehammer.

  Wu De turns into a blur and moves forwards, but that fist is even faster than he is!