Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  This is what Uncle Lan personally said. Judging from Uncle Lan’s expression and tone, Qin Yu knows that Uncle Lan did not lie.

  “Uncle Lan, you said there are all kinds of strange things in the universe and nature but don’t many Xiuzhen books all say that teleportation is a magic power only immortals possess? Could you tell me why …?” Qin Yu keeps asking. He cannot believe that so many Xiuzhen books are all wrong about this.

  Uncle Lan ponders for a while then looks at Qin Yu and says: “Xiao Yu, the boundless universe has many secrets but the countless Xiuzhenists and also mortals all live in a normal world and within the boundary of normal rules. You … should just think of me as a loose immortal expert.”

  Qin Yu is startled.

  In the end Uncle Lan does not reveal his background. Instead, he wants Qin Yu to think of him as a loose immortal.

  Qin Yu is sure that Uncle Lan is not a loose immortal.

  “Uncle Lan, could you be an immortal, one that descended to the mortal world?” Qin Yu presses again.

  Uncle Lan says with a shake of his head: “Don’t keep asking me. This is something you shouldn’t know now. It’s already okay for you think of me as a pretty strong loose immortal, right?”

  “All right, then I won’t ask again. Uncle Lan, when will Li’er come to this place for a visit? I haven’t seen her for a very long time.” Qin Yu says smilingly to Uncle Lan, who says with a smile: “Perhaps she’ll be here in a while. You’d better race against time to build the Stellar Tower.”

  Putting his cup down, Uncle Lan stands up and walks out of the room immediately.

  Looking at Uncle Lan’s elegant figure from behind, Qin Yu has a feeling that Uncle Lan seems to have become one with nature. He also puts his cup down and thinks to himself with a sigh: “Uncle Lan, what’s your real identity and power? You’re not a loose immortal but why do you want me to consider you one?”

  Mysterious.

  Regarding Uncle Lan’s mystery, because Uncle Lan is unwilling to tell Qin Yu, what else can he do? He can only bury his doubts at the bottom of his heart. Maybe someday Uncle Lan will voluntarily tell him.

  ……

  The construction of the Stellar Tower is immediately started according to schedule.

  The Stellar Tower occupies the same area as the former Blood-red Cave did. There is no expansion. It is just that its architectural style is totally different from the Blood-red Cave’s. Under Uncle Lan’s personal direction, the Blood-red Cave is torn apart completely and then various new pavilions, terraces and towers are erected.

  Uncle Lan personally works out the designs and positions for the components of the Stellar Tower.

  According to Uncle Lan, the layout of this Stellar Tower is based on the long lost, legendary Great Heavenly Stellar Formation. Its main theme is to be close to nature so it does not have those huge, pompous palaces, but its structures and decorations are still made from valuable materials such as pearl, agate, black iron, refined gold and so on.

  Clouds and mists float under the Great Heavenly Stellar Formation, making the place look like fairyland. Moonlight and the morning glow also appear in the Stellar Tower, which is really marvelous.

  In the entire Stellar Tower, there is a storied building every 10 steps and a pavilion every 5 steps. Thanks to those floating clouds and mists in the Stellar Tower, those structures look as if they are built in the sky. Qin Yu, Hou Fei and the guardians all marvel at this nonstop.

  In building the Stellar Tower, several tens thousand Xiuyaoists and even millions of demonic beasts were deployed. Most of them were assigned the task of extracting some materials such as purple copper, black iron, refined gold and so on. After 6 months and 3 days, the Stellar Tower was finally completed.

  ……

  Thanks to the Great Heavenly Stellar Formation, there is an astonishing abundance of holy energy in the Stellar Tower. The density of holy energy in it is 100 times higher than usual. Holy energy even spreads into the vicinity of the Stellar Tower, giving this area a holy energy density 10 times higher than that of a normal place.

  Immediately, all kinds of structures are built around the Stellar Tower. They occupy an area 10 times as large as the area of the Stellar Tower and surround the Stellar Tower in the very center like stars surrounding the moon. The holy energy that disperses from the Stellar Tower in all directions fills those structures.

  The Stellar Tower has been built, as have the structures in which the guards live around it. Because those structures used normal materials, naturally their construction was easy and fast. The Stellar Tower used valuable materials and required the planting of various kinds of rare grasses and trees everywhere in it so it took more time to complete.

  Outside the Stellar Tower,

  Qin Yu, Hou Fei, Hei Yu, Uncle Lan and a large number of guardians and guards are all looking at it in admiration. Going for a stroll in such a wonderful place is even a kind of luxury. Only the guard leaders, the guardians, the 3 tower masters and some specialized ladies-in-waiting live in the Stellar Tower.

  “Boohoo!”

  Hou Fei opens his fiery eyes wide, looking at the Stellar Tower in front of him.

  “Boohoo! Boohoo!”

  He exclaims a few times then looks at Uncle Lan on one side with tearful eyes: “Master, you treat me and big brother so differently, too differently. This makes my heart hurt so much. When I was still in the ravine, you told me to casually find a cave to live, but now you’ve built for big brother … such a great place.”

  Uncle Lan gives him a tap on the head: “Little monkey, you want to be hit?”

  “Doesn’t this Stellar Tower belonging to Xiao Yu mean it’s yours as well?” Uncle Lan deliberately says with a solemn expression.

  Hou Fei immediately says joyfully: “Ha-ha, I was joking, master. But this Great Heavenly Stellar Formation is really formidable. As soon as it’s activated, the enemies from the outside can’t even go inside while the enemies inside are plunged into illusions. Not only does it have confining effects, it also has illusive effects. It can even gather natural holy energy and starlight.”

  Qin Yu’s heart is also filled with satisfaction.

  He thinks that the Nine Demons Hall’s Twelve Capital Gates Formation he saw before is very good, but it is pale in comparison with his own Great Heavenly Stellar Formation. Not only can this formation attack, it can also gather holy energy, sunlight, moonlight and starlight from nature.

  Once its attack is activated, it will become a matchless confining, killing great formation.

  Moreover, this great formation was set up by Uncle Lan personally. Qin Yu believes that at least nobody in this overseas Xiuzhen world can have a glimmer of hope of breaking it.

  Afterwards, everybody happily comes into the Stellar Tower.

  That day, after Uncle Lan left with Qin Yu and Hou Fei, Azure Dragon, Grand Founder Three-Eyed and Di Long immediately told 2 caves under them each to obey Qin Yu’s Stellar Tower completely. Those caves are not far from the Blood-red Cave and they all came to pay their respects to Qin Yu 3 months before the completion of the Stellar Tower.

  Originally, the 2 caves under the Nine Demons Hall nearest Qin Yu were the Great Shell Cave and the Roaming Wind Cave. However, when Di Jian, Di Qing and Di Luan were taking Qin Yu back to the Nine Demons Hall, because Di Qing died in the Great Shell Cave, Di Jian and Di Luan massacred this entire cave. Therefore, the Great Shell Cave was destroyed and the new cave built to replace it is called the Sharp Horn Cave.

  The Sharp Horn Cave and the Roaming Wind Cave under the Nine Demons Hall,

  The Black Aquatic Dragon Cave and the Six Suns Cave under the Azure Dragon Palace,

  The Orange Wing Cave and the Snowy Feather Cave under the Blue Water Mansion,

  These 6 caves were turned over completely to the Stellar Tower. The central territory of the Stellar Tower is the former territory of the Blood-red Cave. The Stellar Tower has declared that the 6 caves under it are -- Sharp Horn, Roaming Wind, Black Aqua
tic Dragon, Six Suns, Orange Wing and Snowy Feather.

  Now the Stellar Tower has such a large territory and is so powerful that it has even surpassed the Nine Demons Hall to become the no. 3 superpower in the underwater Xiuyao world, lower than the Azure Dragon Palace and the Blue Water Mansion only. It has also become one of the 6 major powers in the overseas Xiuzhen world.

  The new jade identity cards already started to be made very quickly a half year ago.

  There are 7 types of jade identity cards, which are Stellar; Stellar - Sharp Horn; Stellar - Roaming Wind; Stellar - Black Aquatic Dragon; Stellar - Six Suns; Stellar - Orange Wing; and Stellar - Snowy Feather. The guards raced against time to make them and finally succeeded.

  Moreover, after the appearance of the Stellar Tower, many experts who had been hiding deep in secret places began to emerge and recommend themselves, wanting to become its guardians.

  Qin Yu had never expected that there were so many experts so he announced directly that the minimum requirement for being a guardian was to have the offense of the early Dongxu stage. Thus, Teng Bi is the only original guardian who was able to keep his position.

  There are now 8 guardians in the Stellar Tower. Teng Bi is unexpectedly the weakest among them.

  Qin Yu still left the other original guardians like Zhuang Zhong a way by only demoting them to company leaders.

  Because the Stellar Tower is now a major power, the number of guards has increased from around 5000 in the past to 30,000. 100 guards form a squad and 10 squads form a company. There are 30 company leaders in total.

  The Stellar Tower’s area is about the same as that of the former Blood-red Cave.

  The Blood-red Cave was able to accommodate 5000 guards and many other Xiuyaoists, so naturally the 8 guardians, the 30 company leaders, the 300 squad leaders and some necessary ladies-in-waiting and guards all come to live in the Stellar Tower.

  Thus, it can be said that the Stellar Tower has lived up to its reputation as a major power comparable to the Azure Dragon Palace and the Blue Water Mansion.

  Chapter 14: Guests From All Sides

  The Stellar Tower has its layout based entirely on the Great Heavenly Stellar Formation. Not only is it filled with a lot of natural holy energy, it even gathers sunlight, moonlight and starlight. The most dazzling place in the Stellar Tower is its center -- the Sun Moon Hall.

  This is the place where the guardians, company leaders and squad leaders have audiences with the 3 tower masters.

  The Sun Moon Hall does not have a roof. By looking up, one can see countless stars hanging high. The area behind the seats of the 3 tower masters on the raised platform in the hall even shines with sunlight and moonlight all the time. When someone steps into the Sun Moon Hall, they will feel as if they have entered a different world. It is exceptionally fantastic.

  It has been almost 2 years since the completion of the Stellar Tower. During the past 2 years, the Stellar Tower has come into routine operation completely. Uncle Lan, Miss Li’er, Yan Zi and the others from the ravine have often come over here for a stroll and Qin Yu has welcomed them happily.

  At the moment, in the Sun Moon Hall of the Stellar Tower,

  On the raised platform in the hall, Qin Yu is sitting in the center while Hou Fei and Hei Yu are sitting on either side of him. Behind the 3 of them are the sunlight and moonlight gathered by the Great Heavenly Stellar Formation. These lights shine high into the air, giving the 3 tower masters an aura of dominance.

  The 8 guardians, 30 company leaders and 300 squad leaders are standing in 2 rows on the left and right sides of the hall in order.

  Qin Yu always thinks that this Sun Moon Hall is even more luxurious and also more imposing than the imperial audience halls on the Qian Long continent. In this hall, with starlight taking the place of the sky, sunlight and moonlight being the background and holy energy floating like clouds and mists, his subordinates all look like immortals.

  “1st master! 2nd master! 3rd master!”

  More than 300 Xiuyaoists all bow and shout respectfully. Their voices resound through the hall.

  After saying so, they look at Qin Yu with respect, waiting for his orders. The looks in the eyes of the 8 guardians and 30 company leaders are very hot because today is the day the manager of the Stellar Tower is chosen.

  The manager will be in charge of nearly everything so their status will be very high, inferior only to the 3 tower masters and superior to the 8 guardians.

  Theoretically, a manager should have been appointed long ago, but Hou Fei likes to supervise subordinates so he has been the acting manager for the last 2 years. Qin Yu also knew Hou Fei’s temperament. Indeed, after his managerial craving was satisfied, he has lost interest in handling those trivialities.

  Therefore, a manager has to be appointed.

  The manager must be capable and at least decently powerful as they will only rank lower than the tower masters after all. So, the candidates are the 8 guardians and the 30 company leaders.

  “1st master, last time you said you wanted to choose a manager. May I ask if you have made your decision?”

  A guardian on the left stands in the middle of the hall then bows and says. This is none other than Yan Rui, the leader of the Stellar Tower’s current 8 guardians. After gaining the ability to take the human form, she transformed into a woman. And she is powerful, having even reached the late Dongxu stage.

  Hearing Yan Rui’s words, the other guardians and the 30 company leaders all look at Qin Yu with blazing eyes.

  Qin Yu is sitting in the middle, dressed in a black robe. Actually, his subordinates in the Stellar Tower have prepared very luxurious clothes for him, but he likes some clothes his master Lei Wei made in the past.

  Even though the robes made by Lei Wei look very simple, they are much more comfortable to wear than the luxurious clothes proffered by the Stellar Tower’s subordinates. They may not look good from the outside but very useful inside.

  “Please don’t be anxious, guardian Yan Rui. The 3 of us brothers have already made the decision and now 2nd master is going to reveal it.” Qin Yu looks smilingly at Hou Fei. Immediately, the over 300 pairs of eyes present are focused on Hou Fei.

  Hou Fei gives a smile, baring his teeth: “This manager position of the Stellar Tower is of course extremely important. Therefore, the 3 of us had to choose very carefully. Ahem, and now I’m going to announce the chosen one.”

  Qin Yu gives a smile.

  This Hou Fei fellow is unexpectedly even raising the tension.

  The 8 guardians and 30 company leaders all look at him. One of them can become the manager, who is second only to the 3 tower masters. The manager will be in charge of all ordinary matters so this is a very lucrative, advantageous post.

  “Kaka, this manager is … Zhuang Zhong.”

  Hou Fei finally announces the decision.

  Zhuang Zhong cannot help getting excited. He goes to the center of the hall right away and gets down on one knee, saying: “Thank you for your kindness, tower masters. I shall definitely manage the affairs of the Stellar Tower well and absolutely shall not disappoint you.” His voice is very loud because he simply cannot contain his excitement.

  As a company leader, he already had quite a lot of authority, but now he has leapfrogged the 8 guardians to become the manager, who is only lower ranked than the 3 tower masters, so how can he possibly not be delighted?

  This is not an ordinary manager position, but the manager position of the Stellar Tower, which is in the same league as the Azure Dragon Palace, the Blue Water Mansion and the Nine Demons Hall. It has a lot more authority than a company leader position does. Today Zhuang Zhong has really become an important and influential figure.

  “All right, from now on, Zhuang Zhong will start to serve as manager.” Qin Yu says directly. “The opening ceremony of the Stellar Tower is coming up in a half year. At that time, members of the Penglai Immortal Region, the Purple Flame Devilish Dungeon, the Azure Dragon Palace, the Blue Water Mansion, and the N
ine Demons Hall will come to congratulate us, therefore …”

  As soon as Qin Yu says this, everyone on the lower part of the hall focuses their entire attention on this matter.

  The opening ceremony will be a big event because the Stellar Tower is in a high position of power. It will cause quite a stir in the entire overseas Xiuzhen world. When the time comes, the other major powers will all send representatives to attend it. This event will definitely be a big gathering of the overseas Xiuzhen world’s experts.

  “Zhuang Zhong, you immediately make arrangements. The Stellar Tower still has quite a lot of dwelling places. You must make the other 5 powers experience our generosity, and the feast for the opening day must also be prepared in advance. This is your first task as manager.”

  Qin Yu says while staring at Zhuang Zhong. He does not doubt Zhuang Zhong’s abilities at all and Zhuang Zhong has been following him for a long time, therefore, he has given Zhuang Zhong the manager position.