“Cease thy weeping.”

The elder, standing before the bamboo bed,
Offered another dry comfort.

Perhaps seeing its futility, he slowly spoke again,
“Once thou hast absorbed their life force,
And I have aided thee,
Thou canst regain thy fair appearance.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Thou knowest only to wait!”
Yanzi on the bamboo bed shrieked in rage,
“I do not wish to wait, not for a single moment!
Kill me, kill me, kill me!”

Yan Chunhui watched her, simply saying,
“Thou knowest I shall not do so.”

His voice could be called gentle,
But compared to Yanzi’s suffering,
It was inevitably somewhat cruel.

“Thou scoundrel! Yan, quickly kill me! Kill me!”
Yanzi wept and screamed, her voice growing hoarse.

“I do not wish… do not wish to live thus!
Not for a single moment! Do not wish…!”

As her pain deepened, her helplessness became more apparent.

But Yan Chunhui’s eyes quietly grew clouded again.
He seemed to drift off, “I always feel,
Have I perhaps forgotten something…”

He thought quietly for a while, to no avail.

He sighed, slightly stooped, “Alas…”
What matter in this world cannot be set aside?
What person in this world cannot be finished with?
Alas!

“Little snake, it has been three months since you left the valley,”
He said, frowning. “I wonder if the matter has been handled?”

As if only now did Yanzi’s weeping and wailing
Reach his ears.

He leaned forward, squinting at the woman on the bamboo bed…
Somewhat surprised, “Yanzi, how art thou so gravely injured?”

Yanzi, who had been weeping and screaming constantly,
Suddenly fell silent. Tears still flowed from her eyes,
But no sound escaped her mouth. Her pain seemed swallowed within her heart.

He had almost forgotten everything in the world…
Yet still remembered this name.

Jiang Wang sat alone in his military tent,
Quietly regulating his breath, seizing every moment to cultivate,
Not allowing it to pass away pointlessly through his fingertips.

Objectively speaking, even with his current strength,
Solely within the Inner Mansion realm,
There was still much room for exploration.

For instance, techniques for soul attacks,
Techniques for defensive spells,
Illusory techniques,
Medical spells…

But filling in any of these areas
Could not bring about a qualitative improvement.

Because he was already the strongest in the Inner Mansion.

Not merely the unrivaled first in the contemporary Inner Mansion,
But also the first in history, encompassing all ages.

On the path of the Inner Mansion,
Purely in terms of combat power,
He had reached a certain limit.

His current cultivation was more about self-examination,
Identifying and rectifying shortcomings,
Making the final perfections.

To raise the highest tower, one must lay the most solid foundation.

Invincibility at the Inner Mansion level
Was a matter that had already occurred.

Jiang Wang was not satisfied with this.
He always looked further.

The Fiery Bone Lotus absorbed the omnipresent star force.

Because this journey to the Star-Moon Plains was to participate
In the great battle between the forces of Qi and Jing,
And Grandmasters Jiang Mengxiong and Yu Que
Were clearly stationed nearby to oversee.

Thus, he had no thought of contacting Grandmaster Guanyan,
Only cultivating in silence.

After establishing the Star-Light Saint Tower,
Star-Light Tempering was a necessary step.
And the advantage of a Heavenly Mansion cultivator lay in this:
The Five Mansions Shining Together also included this tempering step.

The strengthening of the physical body by the light of the Five Divine Abilities
Was evident.

The Five Mansions Shining Together tempering
When he achieved the Heavenly Mansion
Played a significant role in Jiang Wang’s ability to battle on
Even with a shattered heart and broken leg.

The light of the divine abilities communicated and permeated every muscle,
Bringing greater defense, more strength, faster speed.

After the Five Mansions Shining Together tempering,
Jiang Wang’s physical body was so strong
That it could even be compared to those military cultivators skilled in body tempering.

For example, Chong Xuanzun, whose body tempering was already extremely strong,
After experiencing the Five Mansions Shining Together and Star-Light Tempering,
Once he activated his Heavenly Mansion state,
Could even suppress Mu Guo’s near-divine body.

Of course, for the current Jiang Wang to compare
His physical strength with Chong Xuanzun,
The possibility was truly not high.
After all, Chong Xuan was a divine ability perfectly suited for body tempering,
And the Chong Xuan family’s development of this divine ability
Had almost reached its limit…

Perhaps because of the distinctiveness of the Fiery Bone Lotus,
Jiang Wang had long ago been able to sense
That the ubiquitous “star force”
Was actually not the same.

Star force originating from different stars
Itself had extremely subtle differences…
Although it did not affect the Fiery Bone Lotus’s use of them,
This difference did exist.

This difference was like a certain “attribute,”
A certain “imprint,”
Like the different identities between people.

The purest star force he had encountered thus far
Was only the feedback received after slaying Star Beasts
In the Wuzhi Grottoes of the Floating Land world.

Any other star force
Carried different “imprints.”

For example, the star force of Yuheng
Was clearly more unpredictable compared to other star forces.

Imagining from this perspective.

Those endless star lights meeting in the vast universe…
Would they perhaps also exchange greetings?

“I am Yuheng,” “I am Ziwei,” “Long time no see, Yinghuo”…

With a myriad of thoughts in one’s mind,
Random thoughts during cultivation were unavoidable.

Jiang Wang naturally severed them,
Allowing himself to focus more on his cultivation.

Suddenly, a voice sounded by his ear—
“Little Friend Jiang.”

“Senior Guanyan?” Jiang Wang withdrew from his cultivation state, somewhat surprised.

He had not expected Grandmaster Guanyan
To transmit his voice to the Star-Moon Plains
In such an environment.

Aside from Grandmasters Yu Que and Jiang Mengxiong
Both paying attention here,
In a state of war, the Star-Moon Plains were already
Cut off from information transmission.

Even the Grand Illusory Realm could not be communicated with,
The difficulty of transmitting sound from the Forest Sea Source Realm
Would also be far greater than before.

What matter was it that Grandmaster Guanyan
Absolutely had to transmit his voice at this time?

“Little Friend, I have a matter to ask of thee.”
Guanyan’s voice came from the Yuheng star force.

Although no emotion was transmitted,
For Grandmaster Guanyan to break through the blockade at this time,
And transmit his voice from the distant Forest Sea world to here,
The matter must be extremely urgent.
He, who had always been calm when dealing with the terrifying powerhouses of the Equal Kingdom,
Tonight did not even exchange pleasantries,
But directly opened his mouth to ask Jiang Wang for help…

Jiang Wang did not have time to think much,
Immediately spoke with a solemn expression,
“Please feel free to command whatever you need me to do, Master.”

“Come to the Forest Sea Source Realm.
There are some matters here
That require your assistance in handling,” Guanyan said.

“I will go immediately,” Jiang Wang said.

After a pause, he added, “…How do I go?”

“You first go to the Seven Stars Valley,
I will receive and guide you there.”

The last time he went to the Forest Sea Source Realm was through the Seven Stars Tower secret realm
In the Seven Stars Valley. Jiang Wang was naturally not unfamiliar with that place.

He only asked, “After I reach the Seven Stars Valley,
How shall I inform you?”

“Once you reach the Seven Stars Valley, I will know.”

Jiang Wang did not hesitate in the slightest:
“Very well, I will depart immediately.”

He waited for a while,
The Yuheng star force no longer transmitted any sound.

Grandmaster Guanyan did not even leave a farewell…

The matter might be more urgent than imagined.

Over in the Forest Sea Source Realm…
What had happened again?

Jiang Wang gripped his long sword,
And lifted the curtain to step out into the night.