Sage of Humanity-Chapter 1562 - 1560: Qingfeng World
The speed of the azure bird is incomparable to Lu Ye's piloting of the starboat, with at least a tenfold difference, and this is even when the azure bird is clearly not exerting its full strength. Who knows how fast it would be if it did?
It's hard to determine just how powerful this azure bird is, but the only thing Lu Ye is sure of is that it's stronger than Yaya.
After using her own power, Yaya indeed weakened again, curling up in Lu Ye's arms to sleep. Lu Ye sat upright on the azure bird's back, letting it carry him forward, constantly taking out the star map to check against the surrounding stellar space.
Previously being swept into that geomagnetic storm slightly disoriented him. Losing direction in stellar space is quite troublesome, so he needed to quickly reorient himself.
Luckily, the star map provided by the Reincarnation Tree was fairly detailed. After spending a little time, Lu Ye confirmed one thing: the direction the azure bird is heading is exactly where he needs to go.
That's nice, he can hitch a ride.
Lu Ye hadn't clearly seen how the stellar space geomagnetic storm disappeared earlier, though he had a faint suspicion. Now, after following the azure bird for two days, he finally witnessed it firsthand.
The azure bird seemed to come here specifically looking for geomagnetic storms. Any time it found one, it would dive in enthusiastically, and then its massive beak would open to swallow the enormous tornado, even ingesting the meteorites within it.
Lu Ye couldn't figure out what this azure bird's background was; it could devour things from the Thousand Mounds Cemetery, and now it could also eat the geomagnetic storm.
In just ten days, Lu Ye was amazed to find himself almost through this geomagnetic turbulence zone.
Bear in mind, in his original plan it would take about half a year to traverse this zone, and this was with the azure bird occasionally stopping to eat the geomagnetic storms.
If it hadn't been distracted, it would have been even faster.
The azure bird changed its flying direction, clearly unwilling to leave the geomagnetic turbulence zone so quickly. Seeing this, Lu Ye quickly jumped off its back, watching it depart.
In the span of a few breaths, the azure bird's massive silhouette shank to a tiny dot in the distance, and Lu Ye summoned his starboat once more, pulling Yaya aboard.
Following the guidance of the star map, they flew safely for about twenty days, finally exiting the range of the geomagnetic turbulence zone.
Strictly speaking, they've reached the Jade Conch Star System, though this is merely the border of Jade Conch.
Lu Ye's spirits lifted as he recalled being chased by Tang Jun long ago, falling unintentionally into the Insect Path and entering the All Phenomena Ocean. Years have passed in the blink of an eye, and after enduring hardships, he finally returned to Jade Conch!
I wonder how things are in the Nine Provinces. However, before he left, he distributed some purple talismans to his senior brothers, so in the broader environment of Jade Conch, they should have no problem with self-preservation.
Gazing at the surrounding stellar space, it's unfamiliar. Lu Ye had never been to this region before, so he couldn't recognize any familiar constellations. According to the guidance of the star map provided by the Reincarnation Tree, it would take about four or five months to return to the Nine Provinces.
Jade Conch, while remote and poor compared to mainstream star systems, still covers a vast area. When Lu Ye first arrived at Constellation, one exploration took a year. At that time, he'd just ascended to Constellation and had no starboat to use, so the speed of flying through stellar space was slow.
Now, a journey that originally took a year could be done in at most a month with the starboat.
That's the plight of cultivators just ascending to large domains: they're inefficient at everything and need many generations to gradually reach a normal level.
However, Lu Ye didn't plan to return directly to the Nine Provinces, because this trip back to the All Phenomena Galaxy is not just about the Nine Provinces, but the entire Jade Conch.
Thus, he planned to first visit Qingli Dao World or Jade Conch World, to give them advance notice and have them prepare. This way, once he brings people from the Nine Provinces, they can assemble and set off without wasting time.
But the star map from the Reincarnation Tree only marked the location of the Nine Provinces. He genuinely didn't know where Qingli Dao World and Jade Conch World were.
But since everyone is in the same star system, there must be Constellation cultivators wandering outside from these two worlds, and with any luck, he might encounter them and seek information.
With these thoughts, Lu Ye chose to follow the route to the Nine Provinces. However, as he advanced, he became more disappointed, because there were many signs of spirit stones in the stellar space, indicating that few or no Constellation cultivators had been here, or the spirit stones wouldn't still be there.
Places rich in spirit stones are sparsely populated and even rarely frequented by star beasts.
Lu Ye wasn't interested in harvesting those spirit stones — he'd become accustomed to extravagance, and one or two spirit stones couldn't pique his interest. With that time, he could casually catch a White Spirit in the All Phenomena Ocean worth several thousand spirit stones.
After flying for over a month, Lu Ye's spirits lifted again. The signs of spirit stones in the area were decreasing, indicating that either Constellation cultivators frequented this place or star beasts were active. Indeed, before long, he encountered some star beasts.
His initial anticipation turned to inevitable disappointment...
A few days later, a domain appeared ahead. Lu Ye focused his senses, discovering it was indeed a domain — not a dead star or desolate planet, as the domain was teeming with life, surely there were living beings active within it. To determine the level of this domain, he'd need to explore it more deeply.
The only certainty is that this place is neither Qingli Dao World nor Jade Conch World, because outside the domain, there is no sign of Constellation cultivators.
Currently, only three large domains have been confirmed in the Jade Conch Galaxy: one is Jade Conch, another is Qingli Dao World, and the last one is Nine Provinces. However, there are far more domains that nurture vitality and where living beings thrive. Many domains merely possess vitality without births of living creatures in the conventional sense, whereas some have life, but only ordinary flora and fauna.
Alternatively, some domains have stepped onto the path of cultivation, albeit at a low level.
Just like the Blood Refinement World, where the Divine Sea Blood Race is active, yet due to the absence of Constellations, it cannot be considered a large domain.
The Jade Conch Galaxy likely has some domains like that.
Lu Ye is not quite sure about the situation of this domain ahead. After thinking for a moment, he retracts the starboat and, with Yaya, heads towards the domain.
Since he's passing by, there's no harm in a quick look, as it shouldn't take too long.
Breaking through the thick cloud layers, Lu Ye immediately sees the checkerboard pattern of cities and villages below. With his Ocular Power at full capacity, he even spots some lively figures within those cities and villages.
It's a domain occupied by the human race! Moreover, judging by various indications, the human race in this domain has somehow reached the cultivation level, as Lu Ye sees traces of spirit arks flying about.
Without sensing hostility from the domain, it seems the domain's will is not very strong.
Nevertheless, Lu Ye's brows slowly furrow because he faintly feels something unusual about this domain. From outer space, it's clearly full of vitality—a vigorously growing domain. However, delving deeper, Lu Ye feels an odd sensation, a suspicion that something might be amiss in this domain.
Since he can't figure it out, Lu Ye calls for Lih Shang. She flashes out from his Divine Sea, carefully inspects the surroundings, and nods, saying, "There's definitely something wrong."
Yet she can't quite articulate what the issue is.
She softly asks the Yaya in Lu Ye's arms, "Yaya, did you notice anything?"
Both she and Lu Ye are Constellations with limited eyesight; it's normal. Although Yaya's consciousness is damaged, she has Sun Blaze heritage and might unravel some mysteries.
Yaya bites her thumb and points in a direction, "There's something over there!"
"What is it?" Lu Ye asks urgently.
"Don't know!" Yaya shakes her head and then glances to another spot, happily saying, "Daddy, it's so lively there! Let's go."
Lu Ye had long noticed the liveliness there. Unclear about the day's significance, every city and gathering area within this domain is festooned with decorations, especially the city Yaya pointed at, teeming with people.
Seeing Yaya's enthusiasm, Lu Ye simply couldn't refuse her wishes and said, "Alright, let's go!" After traveling in the stellar space for so long, Lu Ye also wanted to join the festivities.
Yaya became even happier, climbing onto Lu Ye's shoulders like a monkey, riding on his neck.
Lu Ye flashed forward to that place, with Lih Shang closely following.
Though cultivators exist in this domain, the highest level is merely True Lake Realm. With Lu Ye and Lih Shang intentionally concealing themselves, no one could possibly notice them.
Very soon, they entered a bustling city, where everyone was cheerfully celebrating as if it were the New Year.
Lu Ye expanded his Mental Consciousness, intently listening, gradually understanding the situation.
This domain is called Qingfeng World. Every ten years, a strong cultivator from the upper world arrives to select suitable cultivation seeds, bringing them to the upper world for cultivation. Hence, this is the grandest festival in Qingfeng World: welcoming the strong cultivator from the upper world and selecting the best cultivation seeds from the domain.
To Lu Ye's surprise and joy, information from the conversations of local cultivators revealed that the so-called upper world is actually Qingli Dao World!
What a coincidence!
Lu Ye had been searching the stellar space for traces of cultivators from Qingli Dao World or Jade Conch World, but after a month of fruitless efforts, he accidentally stumbled upon Qingfeng World and discovered information about Qingli Dao World.
It appears Qingfeng World is a lower world under Qingli Dao World, much like the relationship between Blood Refinement World and Nine Provinces now.
In Blood Refinement World, there are currently no Blood Race entities, only a large number of humans surviving. The big sects from Nine Provinces have carved out pieces of territory there, where talented cultivators born within these territories have chances to be invited for cultivation in Nine Provinces.
Although the methods differ, the result is the same—selecting the best talents.
