Chapter Thirty-Four: The Star Spirit and the Feather

This was a sword technique known as the Three-Foot Sword. Chen Fan put down the jade slip and picked up the sword in his hand.

“This black sword is also three feet long. I doubt that’s just a coincidence…”

He had just finished practicing the “Stellar Body Forging Art,” leaving a slot open. He hadn’t been auto-training any other skills these past days, so he immediately began to auto-train now.

But this sword technique was far more difficult than the “Flowing Cloud Sword Technique,” requiring twice as much time to reach proficiency through auto-training.

Shaking his head, he went on to examine the other two high platforms. On one, there were five red feathers, their vivid colors as if aflame.

He couldn’t tell what their use was.

On the third platform, there was a ball of white radiance, exuding an inexplicable sense of comfort.

Chen Fan couldn’t help but reach out to touch the ball of light, and at once a wave of warmth flowed into him, so pleasant it drew an involuntary cry from his lips.

In the blink of an eye, all his injuries healed, and a wondrous power surged into his mind.

Images flickered through his thoughts: every art he had practiced replayed again and again in his mind.

His “Nine Yang Dominant Tiger Fist,” which had barely reached halfway, instantly became complete, and his “Three Thousand Thunderclaps” also advanced past ninety percent, almost at perfection!

He stared, eyes wide with shock and delight. In that single moment, both arts reached consummate mastery, and his strength increased dramatically!

“What is this power? It actually pours directly into my body, enhancing my understanding of the martial path?”

This ruin had brought him too many marvels.

With the “Nine Yang Dominant Tiger Fist” now perfected, he sensed a qualitative leap in his technique. Should he face the previous trial again, he could handle it with far greater ease.

At the same time, a peculiar green progress bar without numbers appeared once more after perfecting the “Nine Yang Dominant Tiger Fist.” It seemed to require further insight to step into a new realm…

Chen Fan understood that this new realm should be the legendary State of Unity.

Once he had taken the three items, the surrounding light gradually faded.

He saw, ahead of him, a path appear suddenly, like a narrow wooden bridge.

He stepped forward and soon entered a grand hall.

It was vast and splendid, yet empty and silent.

“So many years have passed, and finally someone has come again. To think that after the destruction of the Stellar Sect, someone could still complete the outside trial. Truly, a talent worth nurturing…”

Chen Fan was startled by the voice. Looking ahead, he noticed for the first time a figure, half-real and half-illusory, seated at the front of the hall.

The figure stared directly at him.

Chen Fan’s heart pounded, but remembering the ring on his finger, he calmed himself.

“Let me have a look…”

The figure stood up—a tall, handsome youth, not much older than Chen Fan himself, though his body was as ethereal as a ghost from legend, part real, part shadow.

His gaze swept over Chen Fan, and Chen Fan felt as if he’d been seen through completely, an even more terrifying sensation than when he’d met that suspected ninth-level martial cultivator at the Spirit God Dao Sect!

Even his master couldn’t see through him so directly!

“Oh? Such a solid foundation. Your true art doesn’t seem to be from the Stellar Sect. Are you a lucky soul who acquired the secrets of the Stellar Sect?”

Chen Fan was alarmed, but realized there was no point in hiding. He hurriedly took out the ring and nodded.

The ethereal youth shook his head slightly at Chen Fan’s reaction.

“There’s no need to be afraid. The Stellar Sect has long since vanished. Since you possess the token, you are its heir. I won’t harm you… nor could I, even if I wished.”

His tone, as he finished, carried a touch of melancholy.

Chen Fan dared not let down his guard.

Where there are people, there is strife. Treasures in deserted ruins mattered little, but if there was someone here, it was another matter entirely.

He clasped his fists respectfully and asked, “May I ask your identity, senior… and whether this unique ruin is a legacy of the Stellar Sect?”

The youth sighed.

“I am but a lost self, a spirit bound here by the sect master’s command, responsible for guiding those disciples who reach this place. As for my name… just call me Star Spirit.”

“And this place is not a relic left by the Stellar Sect. If the Stellar Sect had the ability to create so wondrous a secret realm, it would not have been wiped out by the Great Qian…”

Chen Fan was taken aback. “It’s not the Stellar Sect’s ruin? Then why…”

Star Spirit understood his confusion and explained, “This is a trial secret realm from ancient times, established by the Imperial Shang Dynasty to temper warriors. A predecessor of the Stellar Sect once stumbled upon its token and entered by chance, after which it became a secret of the sect—known only to each generation’s master and heir. The first time you enter, you must undergo the trial… I haven’t seen anyone come here in decades.”

“Imperial Shang Dynasty?”

Before starting the trial, Chen Fan had heard a similar name spoken, though the voice had said “Prime Shang.” He had read a few history books and knew that for a thousand years before Great Qian, dynasties had come and gone, but there was nothing called the Ancient Shang or Prime Shang Dynasty.

Clearly, what Star Spirit referred to as the Imperial Shang Dynasty was from an age far more remote.

“We are now in the Hall of Treasures. Since you passed the trial, you should have received the Vermilion Bird Feathers. Here in the Hall of Treasures, they can be exchanged for martial techniques, secret arts, or magical and spiritual artifacts.”

“And as your strength advances, every time your true art breaks through a level, you can come to take on another trial and receive corresponding rewards or more Vermilion Bird Feathers. But above all, the most important reward is the ‘Spirit of Nature’… a special ‘spirit’ stripped of self-will and distractions, leaving only pure natural force. This is the greatest reward the Imperial Shang Dynasty gave to those who passed the trial!”

Chen Fan understood that Star Spirit was talking about the peculiar white radiance. Though he still didn’t fully grasp it, knowing it could enhance his martial path and was a reward for passing the trial was enough.

“The trial is extremely difficult, each level more challenging than the last. Unless you’re confident your strength is at its limit, don’t participate lightly, or you’ll risk your life in vain.”

So the red feathers he’d obtained weren’t treasures themselves, but rather currency to be used within this ruin.

Chen Fan, listening to Star Spirit, felt a twinge of regret. Had he known, he would have completed the “Stellar Body Forging Art” earlier and come sooner, since every breakthrough allowed another challenge.

Star Spirit saw Chen Fan’s expression and guessed his thoughts.

“No need to regret. This trial realm is special—it will permanently remember your soul. However many times you challenged it, the ruin will keep record. If you haven’t come before, your current cultivation will accumulate, and as long as you pass once, all the rewards will be granted together.”

Chen Fan’s heart stirred. He couldn’t help but ask, “Then does that mean, after winning now, I don’t have to challenge at fifth level, but can wait until the sixth and accumulate even more rewards?”

Star Spirit nodded. “In theory, that’s true. But the higher your cultivation, the greater the potential for combat power at each stage, so the trials become harder. If you fail, you get nothing. It’s best to take on each trial at every breakthrough.”

“The Imperial Shang Dynasty was unfathomable. Even after all these ages, who knows how many treasures and elixirs have been taken by those who attempted the trials, but the most precious martial techniques and secret arts have all been preserved—arts that our era could never hope to see.”

“And besides the Hall of Treasures, there are other parts to this ruin. I’ve never been to them myself. Perhaps when your strength grows and your authority increases, you’ll have a chance to see the whole ruin and obtain even more treasures…”

Chen Fan understood.

Star Spirit was merely a spirit bound here by the Stellar Sect to guide disciples, not a relic of the Imperial Shang Dynasty itself, so naturally he couldn’t know everything.

Golden light suffused the center of the hall, and soon a screen of light unfolded before Chen Fan.

“I wonder—what treasures can I exchange for?”

Chen Fan took the five feathers and stepped forward.

At the top, the characters for “Prime Shang” were still inscribed.

Beneath, a densely packed list appeared.