Chapter 519: Speed 517 one

Seeing the teacher entering meditation, although Yu Hong had countless doubts in his heart, he also knew that continuing to ask at this moment would yield no results.

After a moment of silence, Yu Hong put on the hand ring, bowed, and then turned to leave.

On the way back to Black Black Spirit, he didn’t see that peculiar broken hole again, nor did he encounter that mysterious trader.

Not only that, but for the next ten days or so, everything seemed to return to a safe and normal daily routine.

Perhaps it was the hand ring taking effect, or perhaps it was just a period of stability.

The kind of sword cultivator monster from before certainly hadn’t appeared again since Yu Hong wore the hand ring.

Woosh!

Inside Black Black Spirit.

In the spacious bathroom on the second floor.

Yu Hong immersed his entire head in the warm water of the bathtub, relaxing his body as much as possible.

Since arriving at this mining star, his progress had been forced to halt, whether due to the threat of the Ultimate Sun or the increasing danger of his subsequent journey, compelling him to pause and solidify his foundation.

‘But… what’s really going on with Wanxue Palace? Is Yu Xuezi’s master still alive? Or perhaps something similar to that half-human, half-Black Disaster I encountered before?’

The warm water enveloped him as if providing a layer of cozy protection. But he knew this was merely an illusion.

The only true protection comes from oneself.

Continuously enhancing strength, reinforcing the defensive power of the safe house, venturing out for investigation and exploration, and returning to rest after exhaustion–this cycle of tension and relaxation is the right path.

After the bath, Yu Hong dried himself with Inner Strength, changed clothes, and headed to the first floor.

He extended his hand and pressed it on the box of elixirs on the table.

Thunder Sound Pill.

This was a supplementary cultivation medicine given by Yu Xuezi, but not to assist the Qingyuan Heavenly River Miao Technique; rather, it was for aiding in the refinement of Mortal Martial Heavenly Thunder Palm.

Although Yu Xuezi found his request strange–Mortal Martial was fine to broaden one’s mind and perspective, but spending too much time on it would undoubtedly delay cultivation progress.

So after repeatedly asking Yu Hong for assurance that it wouldn’t delay his primary Qi Cultivation, only then did he consent to provide the Heavenly Thunder Palm cultivation elixir.

‘Enhance Thunder Sound Pill. Direction: Accelerate the body’s refining speed.’

Yu Hong skillfully issued instructions to the Black Mark.

A black line flashed, and a countdown quickly appeared: 3 days, 11 hours, 7 minutes.

Inner Strength surged rapidly, but to Yu Hong, this consumption was negligible.

After confirming the Thunder Sound Pill began strengthening, he glanced at the sky and decided to pause cultivation for a while today.

The sword cultivator monsters he encountered previously, along with the unusual behavior of his teacher, senior brother, and senior sister, made him feel uneasy.

Thus, once he confirmed the situation was stable, he decided to visit the Book Collection Pavilion again to research the history of Qinghe Mountain.

Indeed, since the last attack, he hadn’t been back to the Book Collection Pavilion.

‘But I must understand who my enemies are.’

Yu Hong was well aware of the danger of the Black Disaster. Many monsters within the Black Disaster, if encountering them without knowledge, indeed possessed terrifying first-sight killing power.

Therefore, information was critical.

Adjusting his hand ring, he sat cross-legged and continued cultivating the Heavenly Thunder Palm with eyes closed.

One hour later.

Yu Hong’s entire body shimmered with electric light, resembling the lightning in his palm.

This state didn’t last long, swiftly dissipating within a few minutes.

In the instant it dissipated, he retrieved the previously enhanced elixir and stuffed it into his mouth as if it cost nothing.

Crack!

Electric light brightened again, refining his entire body, including muscles, bones, and skin.

This time, the electric light lingered longer, lasting over two hours.

Puff.

Finally, as the electric light extinguished, a faint crackling sound echoed from both of Yu Hong’s hands.

He raised his hand, observing the surface of his hand, which had already been firm and resilient, now covered with dense blue-purple cracks.

“Is this the Fifth Layer?” Just moments ago, Yu Hong had successfully surpassed the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly Thunder Palm, advancing to the Fifth Layer.

Only one more layer remains to master this Mortal Martial art fully.

Noting the sky growing darker, Yu Hong calculated the time and stood up. With a thought, instantly shadowy figures of Cai Jing Taoist appeared around, guarding the safe house.

Additionally, more than a dozen accompanied him to the Book Collection Pavilion.

Since the attack last time, whenever heading somewhere alone, he preferred summoning a crowd to cover himself.

After checking the hand ring, ensuring everything was alright, he opened the door.

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Yu Hong sped towards the Book Collection Pavilion.

The Book Collection Pavilion was located inside Wanxue Palace, and after several visits, he gradually became familiar.

About a dozen minutes later.

Yu Hong stood once more in front of the Book Collection Pavilion, with Cai Jing Taoists automatically scattering around, protecting his safety.

Entering with strides, he headed straight for the history section bookshelves area.

Following his previous position, flipping back, he soon found another thick collection of historical maps.

Yu Hong skipped the maps and glanced through the rest, scanning the covers one by one.

“Overview of Star Disaster Creatures”

Suddenly, a book that stirred his interest appeared in his sight.

“Such bold claims, an overview–let’s see what it contains.”

He quickly drew out this book.

Without flipping through it on the spot, he continued searching for several more books on the shelf before swiftly exiting the Book Collection Pavilion.

‘The Book Collection Pavilion isn’t a safe zone; just occasionally coming here to switch books is sufficient.’

Taking the books, Yu Hong made his way back, quickly returning to the safe house, where he closed the door and started reading.

He urgently needed to know why the Black Disaster Monsters here were so strong. Were there any other patterns, and any yet unseen dangers?

Sitting at the desk, he placed today’s books on it and first opened Qinghe Chronicles.

It still introduced Qinghe Mountain’s background, its power, and long history, mentioning that this Qinghe Chronicles had been recorded since the inhabitants landed on this planet.

Page by page, words were turned over, and Yu Hong saw that this mining star was originally a paradise with nothing unusual, just an ordinary planet.

But disaster struck inexplicably one day.

‘At first, countless void shadows could possess various beings, indistinguishable between friend and foe, dividing everyone into small groups.’

‘Fortunately, the mentors possessed transcendent cultivation, quickly eradicating the first wave of monsters after a brief adaptation. These monsters were weak, but everything was just starting.’

‘Subsequently, the second wave of monsters emerged, whose power was vastly stronger than before. Many monster corpses even became excellent materials for crafting artifacts. Therefore, people didn’t consider it a disaster, but merely resources.’

‘By the third time, Nascent Soul Stage monsters appeared, constructing Night Pools to amplify themselves. The catastrophe affected 80% of the Star Domain in Qinghe Mountain. A great battle erupted again. Nobody took this attack seriously. With Heavenly Venerate present, could there be a stronger monster than him?’

‘But unfortunately… post-third battle, Heavenly Venerate vanished without a trace. Countless planets of Qinghe Mountain were destroyed, turning into dead zones.’

Reading this, Yu Hong quickly turned to the corresponding section in the monster overview.

Soon, he found the descriptions matching those monsters.

‘Soul Devouring Body: Lacking actual killing power, relying only on possession of cultivators to control their bodies for fighting. Strength equivalent to the Golden Core Stage.’

‘Eight-Armed Giant Divine Weapon: A war machine with strong defensive and regenerative capabilities. Strength equivalent to Golden Core Perfection.’

‘Pale Six-eyed Black Dragon: Highly intelligent, excellent at disguise, specializing in assassination. Strength equivalent to Nascent Soul Early Stage.’

“Isn’t this Pale Six-eyed Black Dragon Marissa’s true form?” Yu Hong recalled having faced that Black Disaster Surrender Faction before.

“To find it’s the same category, turns out there are quite a few.” Though Yu Hong had speculated earlier, seeing it now still left him silent.

Because there were several other major level monsters listed thereafter.

A chain of monsters, along with diagrams, lay before him. Scanning these unfamiliar monster data, he could only memorize them firmly, for later use if necessary.

Finally, he directed his attention to the last page of the monster overview.

He wanted to see what the ultimate source of the Black Disaster was.

‘Star: The source of all the Black Disaster’s power, possessing a unique ability to corrupt everything. It can manifest corresponding Black Disaster monsters based on the life form’s former power level. Strength equivalent: Unknown.’

Beneath ‘Star’, there was a black pattern resembling a locust tree.

‘Night Mother Tree: Suspected as one of the external forms of the star, the source of Chaos Body’s derivation, existing at the boundary of reality and void. It can infect countless planetary worlds and spacetime. The main body possesses a spacetime superimposition state, incapable of complete destruction, only capable of sealing. Strength equivalent: Unknown.’

As expected.

Yu Hong reflected on these ultimate sources of the Black Disaster.

Xing is the Star, and the Night Mother Tree… it seems to be quite formidable indeed…

‘If it is through infection, then the sword cultivator monsters I encountered might be the original sword cultivation disciples of this planet. Otherwise, such a large Wanxue Palace couldn’t possibly house only three people for cultivation. With only three people, there’s no need to build such a vast space.’ Yu Hong pondered.

‘Moreover, what exactly is this Chaos Body?’

He sought its origin in the book and soon found the Chaos Body reference.

In the monster overview, it mentions: ‘Chaos Body: When a creature is infected by the Star Disaster source, it enters a continuous Chaos State. The period for continuous Chaos State depends on the creature’s cultivation level. During this time, the infected creature will gradually experience structural collapse and annihilation phenomena.’

There was also a brief warning below.

‘Warning: Chaos Body is only a temporary state. Those who are overly close may be influenced by the Chaos State, thereby showing similar infection and collapse.’

Yu Hong pondered over this.

Then, he turned back to the Qinghe Chronicles, page by page. Soon, he found the record of Yu Xuezi and his disciples arriving here.

But it only contained a brief statement.

‘Disappearance, after fruitless searching, this mining star was sealed, isolating all response coordinates.’

“What can be confirmed now is that I’m indeed facing the Black Disaster, but of a higher grade, approaching the source, so their power is extremely strong.”

Yu Hong organized the information.

“Also, based on the book’s content, it’s clear that once cultivation reaches the pinnacle here, one can indeed seal the Source Disaster Core head-on. Only something unexpected occurred midway, possibly affecting Heavenly Venerate.”

“In other words, this path is truly formidable, with an extremely high strength limit. It offers a reliable path forward!”

He continued reading, hoping to find more information about Qinghe Mountain’s later happenings.

But to no avail.

Instead, he managed to find some records on Heavenly Venerate suppressing the Star Disaster.