Chapter 32 - 032: Shine Brighter
The very moment he grabbed a star akin to Halley’s Comet, Yang Zhen felt as if the heaven and earth collapsed, as if the entire world was destroyed in his hand, then he was thrown out of the Wudao Monument.
As for what the star he’d just grabbed actually was, Yang Zhen hardly had time to look closely, but it didn’t seem to be a cultivation method or martial skill, which distressed him somewhat.
Did the contents of the Wudao Monument actually depend on luck, rather than someone being able to comprehend the better things based on their aptitude?
Yang Zhen was feeling glum when he heard an excited voice sound out, “Yang Zhen, is that you?”
“No, it’s uh, Princess Changyang?” Yang Zhen turned around, only to find Princess Changyang approaching eagerly, looking as pleased as if she had met an old acquaintance in a foreign land.
Yang Zhen was taken aback. How did it happen that he always ended up with her whenever such a thing occurred?
Then Yang Zhen realized he was overthinking things. Behind Princess Changyang was a group of practitioners, including Su Qingyu, a woman whose veil obscured her face, and Fang Shenhe, the always silent heir of Turtle Serpent Island, who was thought to have a deep understanding of formations and was draped in golden light, a formidable figure indeed.
Zhang Zongjin, looking dazed, was being supported by his fellow sect members. His hollow eyes only revealed a deep fury when he saw Yang Zhen.
This guy had obviously been hit really hard. The calmer one was, the greater was the impact when their calm was shattered.
Upon seeing Yang Zhen, apart from Princess Changyang, everyone had peculiar expressions.
Princess Changyang strode up to Yang Zhen with a serene smile, “Someone triggered the restrictions of the Wudao Monument and we were trapped inside. What did you encounter inside the Wudao Monument?”
Yang Zhen suddenly understood. No wonder this place seemed odd – they were trapped within the restrictions of the Wudao Monument. That earlier sensation of the world turning upside down not only threw Yang Zhen out of the Wudao Monument but also triggered a terrifying restriction, enveloping everyone in the vicinity.
A group of people glared at Yang Zhen, waiting for him to respond to Princess Changyang’s question.
“Are you interrogating me?” Yang Zhen asked, looking at Princess Changyang in astonishment.
Princess Changyang quickly explained, “Don’t misunderstand. The Wudao Monument has never acted like this before. We’re simply trying to understand what happened. Since we’re all trapped here and can’t leave, we must understand every piece of the puzzle to find a solution.”
After saying this, Princess Changyang hesitated a bit before asking, “How many celastral lights did you encounter in the Wudao Monument?”
“What kind of celastral light?” Yang Zhen was confused, not understanding Princess Changyang’s question.
Princess Changyang looked equally surprised. She made a gesture as if holding something between her fingers, which emitted a glimmer of light, and then she asked, “This is a celastral light, how many times brighter was the one you saw?”
Under the gaze of the crowd, Yang Zhen sheepishly admitted, “It was … just a bit brighter!”
Snicker!
A sneer rang out from the darkness, followed by silence, but judging from the expressions on people’s faces, they seemed relieved.
How good could a light be if it is only a bit brighter than a single celastral light?
Su Qingyu, who presumably cultivated some mysterious method, encountered at least the light of eight celastrals, if not more. Even a Heaven-level cultivation method associated with the light of the eight celestial stars hadn’t triggered the restrictions of the Wudao Monument, so it was unlikely that Yang Zhen had done so.
All of a sudden, everyone breathed a sigh of relief but also felt regret. If Yang Zhen didn’t know why things had ended up this way, it would mean trouble, and they would have to look elsewhere for the reason.
Princess Changyang also looked much more relieved as if a huge problem hadn’t been caused by Yang Zhen. A sense of disappointment spontaneously flashed across her eyes.
“So…How about this?” Princess Changyang’s light beamed even brighter, “This is the light of the two celastrals!”
“It was just a little brighter than this one too!” Yang Zhen’s face turned even more sheepish as he grew increasingly astonished.
What the hell was this? This light that wasn’t even as bright as a firefly’s glow was called the light of the Two Celastrals?
Even the star that Yang Zhen initially chose with his “Rooster’s Beak” was far brighter than this, were these people idiots?
Princess Changyang’s eyes sparkled, “Everyone who enters the Wudao Monument comes across one star. These stars are the embodiment of practitioners’ talent and aptitude. The Wudao Monument grants them rewards based on this consolidated starlight. Therefore, the brightness of the star one encounters in the Wudao Monument is of utmost significance.”
Having heard Princess Changyang’s explanation, Yang Zhen finally understood.
“That’s how it is. Wait, you said… everyone who enters the Wudao Monument encounters ‘one’ star?” Yang Zhen suddenly felt as if something was off.
“Yes. Didn’t you see the celastral light?” Princess Changyang asked in confusion.
“I found them, I did.” Yang Zhen was sweating profusely.
He indeed found them, but it was not just one, it was a sky full of stars, just like the countless stars he used to see from the rooftops at his grandma’s house. An endless starscape, if not a hundred thousand, then at least eighty thousand.
Just one?
What kind of joke was that?
Yang Zhen indeed grabbed only one, and it seemed like he could only grab one, but this one was… somewhat large!
A hint of amusement appeared on Princess Changyang’s face: “With the Light of the Tri-stars, you should have grasped some decent cultivation methods and martial skills, right? I suppose you have gained quite a bit. How does it compare with this?”
Seemingly realizing that Yang Zhen did not understand ‘the Light of the Stars’ very well, Princess Changyang carefully explained to him. At the same time, she was quite curious about how many ‘Lights of the Stars’ he had comprehended.
The Light of the Tri-stars was already as bright as a candle, the crowd behind Princess Changyang also turned serious.
Clearly, these people realized that what Yang Zhen comprehended seemed a bit out of the ordinary.
“Uh… It’s a bit brighter than that!” Yang Zhen felt even more embarrassed, he was not sure how to explain properly. Would the truth scare them?
“Oh!” Princess Changyang exclaimed, her bright eyes full of curiosity, “Could it be the Light of the Four-stars?”
“No… It’s even brighter!”
“The Light of the Five-stars?”
“Bigger! Brighter!”
“Geez, the Light of the Six-stars?”
“Why don’t you try the Light of the Ten-stars for me!” Yang Zhen said seriously.
“Uh, are you sure?” Princess Changyang hesitated for a moment and then displayed a light as ordinary as a small light bulb.
Yang Zhen looked somewhat disappointed and said: “That’s not it, either. The star that I found seemed brighter than this!”
The crowd:”…”
“Crap, there’s a limit to bluffing!”
Within the crowd, Su Qinyin and Fang Shenhe exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.
Yang Zhen glanced at the guy who called him a bluffer, and said with some speechlessness: “Let me show you, I don’t really know how many ‘Lights’ the star I found represents, but I feel that all the ‘Lights’ you have seen are fakes.” Upon hearing Yang Zhen’s words, everyone present felt like cursing. They had seen shameless people, but none as shameless as him.
Fake, your sister is fake, ‘Lights’ are ‘Lights’, could the contents of the enlightenment stele be fake too?
‘Light’ above the six-stars was already extremely rare, let alone ten-stars. If a ten-star ‘Light’ appeared this year, all the major sects would probably be shocked.
Yang Zhen was claiming that what he saw was bigger and brighter than the Ten-star ‘Light’, which was outright nonsense.
Princess Changyang nodded with the same puzzled expression and said, “Alright, you demonstrate it yourself.”
The next moment, an enormous light sphere appeared before everyone’s eyes.
“It’s not good. What’s happening? I’ve gone blind, why can’t I see anything?”
There were continual cries of dismay from the crowd..