There was a period of time I hadn’t returned to Star Moon Origin. It remained much the same as before.

Neither the Elephant Country nor the Rising Sun Country held sway here; instead, a few small factions idled their existence within its bounds. While termed “factions,” they lacked even cultivators of the Inner Mansion level, with their highest combat prowess reaching only the Soaring Dragon Realm.

These minor factions had likely changed hands several times, or perhaps they were the same ones as before, though Jiang Wang held no recollection either way. In any case, it was of no import.

His return to this place again involved avoiding areas of dense population, choosing instead to sit alone under the night sky.

His daily cultivation was already complete. At this time, he opened his body and mind, and through the Blazing Fire Bone Lotus on his back, in this place in the mortal realm “closest” to the Star Dome, he communed with the power of the stars.

While accumulating starlight, he also attempted to transmit information to Guan Yan, embedding his request for emotional exchange within the starlight of Jade Balance—though whether Master Guan Yan could perceive it remained uncertain.

Master Guan Yan had his own affairs in the Forest Sea Origin Realm, and he, too, endured a rigorous and lengthy cultivation. He couldn’t possibly gaze upon the mortal realm every day, nor could he naturally await Jiang Wang’s news on a daily basis. In truth, his not disliking Jiang Wang’s incessant inquiries was already a display of remarkable gentleness.

From Jiang Wang’s perspective, Master Guan Yan communicated with him each time through the power of Jade Balance’s starlight.

This method was extremely covert. Outwardly, the only manifestation was a slightly greater density of Jade Balance starlight, and his focused effort on accumulating Jade Balance starlight at that moment also concealed this point of “abnormality.”

Considering this, if he were to exchange with Master Guan Yan, it should be impossible for outsiders to detect. After all, communicating with cultivators in the mortal realm by borrowing starlight from the immeasurably distant Forest Sea Origin Realm was indeed rather difficult to conceive.

However, whether or not to exchange still depended on Master Guan Yan’s disposition.

After all, only Guan Yan possessed the ability to establish the channel of exchange; he could only choose whether or not to participate.

After waiting for a while without a response, Jiang Wang simply continued to accumulate starlight in silence, undertaking no other activities.

The Blazing Fire Bone Lotus, having undergone the celestial bath, was even more agile.

And through the refinement of the Fire Realm techniques, Jiang Wang’s development regarding the totem had also deepened, unlike before.

A clear manifestation of this was… the speed of accumulating starlight had significantly increased.

The last time he had come to Star Moon Origin, he had spent three evenings just to barely fill the Blazing Fire Bone Lotus with starlight.

Calculating by the current speed, it would only take approximately two evenings.

The first night in Star Moon Origin passed solely in the accumulation of starlight.

After dawn, he performed his morning lessons. By noon, he cultivated his Dry Yang Pupil as scheduled, and then advanced his evening lessons slightly. Upon entering the night, he continued to accumulate starlight.

In his current stage of cultivation, Jiang Wang’s morning lesson consisted of circulating Dao Yuan and sorting the heaven and earth isolated islands, while his evening lesson was opening up Inner Mansion rooms and exploring himself. These two were tasks requiring persistent effort.

Furthermore, he still needed to use his divine ability to nurture Long Xiang Si, and cultivate the Fire Realm techniques, Sound Hearing Immortal State… various techniques. His sword techniques also could not be neglected.

In short, his daily cultivation could be arranged to be very full.

Outside the boundary of Star Moon Origin, it was still that nameless barren mountain.

“Is there anything abnormal?”

Having waited for a considerable time, Li You Jiu couldn’t help but ask.

Yue Leng, staring at his compass, shook his head.

“It seems they won’t come,” Li You Jiu said with a slight hint of regret.

The “they” he referred to were naturally the Equality Country.

With him and Yue Leng, two Blue Plaques at the Divine Arrival level, taking action, simply escorting Jiang Wang for a journey would be undeniably extravagant. They desired some harvest.

To induce the Equality Country to act, the Patrol Inspection Office had exerted great effort, making this matter appear as if Jiang Wang had secretly left the border.

And in the eyes of many, Yue Leng and Li You Jiu were at this time one overseas and one in Lin Zi.

At least on the surface, none of the Divine Arrival Realm powerhouses among the Blue Plaques had been mobilized.

Of course, in reality, not only Yue Leng and Li You Jiu were here; they also carried with them the transfer order signed by the Political Affairs Hall, ready at any time to request assistance from the powerhouses of the Rising Sun Country nearby. If the prodigy of Qi Country were to suffer an accident not far from the Rising Sun Country, and the powerhouses of the Rising Sun Country failed to respond to the transfer order in a timely manner… the consequences were imaginable.

For Jiang Wang’s safety, the Patrol Inspection Office could be said to have deployed heavy safeguards, striving for absolute security.

At the same time, they also needed to utilize these preparations to capture a significant figure from the Equality Country.

Yue Leng was skilled in trapping and locking, while Li You Jiu was sensitive in his perception. Together, they were truly seamless. These two were also renowned experts in capture. Ordinary Divine Arrival cultivators would find it impossible to escape their grasp.

“Indeed,” Yue Leng also felt some regret.

However, his regret was not for the Equality Country, but for Jiang Wang, who was fully focused on accumulating starlight.

He truly admired this diligence.

Initially, he had even considered taking Jiang Wang as his disciple, but at that time, Jiang Wang hadn’t taken the initiative, nor had he been particularly proactive. Now, of course, such a possibility no longer existed. Jiang Wang was already on the verge of achieving Divine Arrival, and he himself was only at the Divine Arrival realm. The guidance he could offer others was extremely limited; how could he still have the audacity to propose such a thing?

Only top-tier Divine Arrivals like Fierce Slaughter were still capable…

“It’s also good that they didn’t come,” Li You Jiu said. “This Equality Country is quite peculiar. Thus far, we’ve only captured three living individuals, and the intelligence we’ve dug out is all outdated… We naturally aren’t afraid to capture them ourselves, but in case we fail to keep a close watch on the talents participating in the Yellow River Meeting, we would inevitably suffer losses on the Political Affairs Hall’s side.”

Yue Leng laughed, “I didn’t expect the renowned Li You Jiu to comfort himself in such a manner!”

Li You Jiu also laughed, “For those of us in this line of work, if we don’t, how can we endure?”

With the elevation of his status and position, only when in the company of Blue Plaques of almost equal standing like Yue Leng could he slightly reclaim the feeling of handling cases in his youth… During those many tedious stakeouts, he and his equally young companions would always encourage each other in this way. Thus, step by step, slowly walking through the years, he also became a renowned capturer with a third-rank Blue Plaque hanging from his waist.

Although Yue Leng was somewhat senior in age and belonged to the ranks of retired old seniors, he didn’t mind chatting with Li You Jiu for a few sentences: “In your youth, who was the most glorious figure among the Blue Plaques at that time?”

“Yes,” Li You Jiu laughed. “First was Old Wu, and then Lin Kuang. After that came Adult Yue! The name Capture God, truly awe-inspiring!”

Yue Leng smiled, accepting this small flattery.

His age was greater than Lin Kuang’s, but Lin Kuang had achieved fame earlier than him, and at that time, equally renowned with Lin Kuang was the more senior Wu Lie. Thus, in a sense, Lin Kuang was actually his senior.

However, compared to Li You Jiu, he who had retired two years prior could indeed be considered an old senior. Therefore, receiving a few praises was nothing to him.

Li You Jiu sighed again, “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Old Wu in a long time. He also avoids seeing old friends… Instead, I often see that child, You Evil.”

Yue Leng didn’t know how to respond to this either, only saying, “He has his own path.”

“After so many years, does he still want to overturn the case for Lin Kuang?” Li You Jiu asked.

“They are friends across ages…” Yue Leng sighed, “Let’s not talk about this.”

Li You Jiu then no longer mentioned the matter, slightly adjusted his breathing, and raised his head to look at the sky again, a sharp light bursting in his eyes.

In his vision, Jiang Wang, sitting cross-legged within Star Moon Origin, was so clear.

“He absorbs starlight so purely!” Li You Jiu couldn’t help but praise.

Yue Leng, staring at his compass, said, “Star Moon Origin was originally a treasure land. Building Star Towers here is relatively simple. We and Jing Country have a portion of the quota each year… It’s a pity that the amount allocated to our Patrol Inspection Office isn’t much.”

“Tsk, it would be good if we could occupy it exclusively.”

Li You Jiu looked for a while longer, still seeing nothing abnormal, and then withdrew his gaze.

But just as he withdrew his gaze…

Changes occurred.