Stellar Transformation-Chapter 528: Episode 15 - 37 Harrowing

The Nine-leaf Lotus, adorned with nine leaves.

The Seven-colored Lotus, also known as the Seven-leaf Lotus, while larger in size compared to the Nine-leaf Lotus, only has the Lotus Heart on its seed pod. However, though smaller in size, the seed pod of the Nine-leaf Lotus contains three evenly distributed, crystal-clear lotus seeds!

The three crystal-clear lotus seeds are all milky white, emitting a faint white halo.

The core of the Nine-leaf Lotus’s seed pod, namely the central part of the three lotus seeds, is a black Lotus Heart as clear and translucent as ice. This black Lotus Heart emits a black halo whilst also giving off a cold aura.

"No wonder two Seven-colored Lotuses grew, it turns out they were nourished by the essence given off by the Nine-leaf Lotus, which then exerted its dominance by directly absorbing the essence of the two Seven-colored Lotuses, allowing them to fully mature," Qin Yu finally understood why the two Seven-colored Lotuses grew together.

Meanwhile, Qin Yu envisioned the contents of the Golden Scroll about the Nine-leaf Lotus: "The Nine-leaf Lotus, a step above the Seven-colored Lotus, is a legendary treasure. In the history of the Divine World, only one Nine-leaf Lotus was ever found. The most precious part of the Nine-leaf Lotus is the Lotus Heart, which is nurtured by absorbing the Hongmeng Spiritual Energy. Refining it can create a Hua Lian’s Avatar! The three lotus seeds are milky white, and consuming just one has the power to bring the dead back to life, and the effects are even better when refined... The nine lotus leaves are all extremely valuable medicinal materials. Its roots are likewise treasures, as precious as one lotus seed."

The Nine-leaf Lotus, though a single plant, is considered a Hongmeng Spiritual Treasure.

"Once the Lotus Heart is refined, it can actually turn into a Hua Lian’s Avatar!" Qin Yu was filled with excitement. The Golden Scroll left behind by the Mishen Palace detailed the uses of each part of the Nine-leaf Lotus and the method and benefits of refining a ’Hua Lian’s Avatar’, described very clearly.

The clearer it became, the more excited Qin Yu got.

The preciousness of the Nine-leaf Lotus even surpassed that of typical second-class Hongmeng Spiritual Treasures!

Even possessing the Mishen Palace, Qin Yu was very eager to obtain the Nine-leaf Lotus. He wasn’t too concerned about the medicinal effects of the three lotus seeds, the nine leaves, or the rootstock, but he valued that black Lotus Heart the most.

"The information about the Nine-leaf Lotus is only known to a few among the upper echelons in the Divine World; I reckon even Tan Jiu and Liu Yuxi do not know the true value of this Nine-leaf Lotus!" Qin Yu shifted his focus to Liu Yuxi and Tan Jiu.

...

Qin Yu was right; the Nine-leaf Lotus had only appeared once in the history of the Divine World, and its uses were not something the Middle Level Heavenly Gods of a city like Wei Chi City could know. Even many Upper Heavenly Gods were ignorant of it.

Upon witnessing the sudden appearance of the Nine-leaf Lotus, Liu Yuxi was shaken, "It actually absorbed the essence of two Seven-colored Lotuses, it must be more valuable than the Seven-colored Lotus. Nine leaves? Could it be... Could it be the legendary Nine-leaf Lotus?"

When Liu Yuxi and Tan Jiu first discovered this place, they also found the two Seven-colored Lotuses that were still growing.

Back then, neither Liu Yuxi nor Tan Jiu knew about the great reputation of the Seven-colored Lotus; they confirmed the lotus to be a treasure purely by seeing the One-element Heavy Water. Therefore, Liu Yuxi went back and used the connections of Wei Chi City to investigate.

Eventually, he found a piece of information which elaborated on the preciousness of the Seven-colored Lotus, to Liu Yuxi’s delight. However, the information merely mentioned briefly about the Nine-leaf Lotus at the end, stating that "above the Seven-colored Lotus, there is the mythical Nine-leaf Lotus". As for the specific functions of each part of the Nine-leaf Lotus, nothing was clearly stated.

Neither Tan Jiu nor Liu Yuxi knew the exact benefits of each part of the Nine-leaf Lotus.

But one thing was absolutely certain—the Nine-leaf Lotus was much more important than the Seven-leaf Lotus!

The two Seven-colored Lotuses weren’t difficult for Tan Jiu and Liu Yuxi to divide, but with only one Nine-leaf Lotus, how should it be shared?

"Not good!"

Liu Yuxi, who was just about to discuss the division with Tan Jiu, suddenly changed his expression, his body ready to retreat swiftly, but a staggeringly heavy blow smacked down on Liu Yuxi’s head.

"Bang!"

Liu Yuxi was sent flying like a ball, crashing fiercely against the courtyard’s stone wall, which immediately cracked open with long, deep fissures.

Oddly, his skin appeared to ripple like waves across his entire body, and the heavy blow to his head only resulted in a split that oozed blood.

Liu Yuxi shot out from the large hole in the wall like lightning, a pair of golden gloves appearing on his hands.

Tan Jiu raised an eyebrow, his crimson sword-like brows arching as he sneered, "Liu Yuxi, your defense is indeed strong. Back when we were in the Demon Kill World, I had the strongest attack and you had the strongest defense. Now, facing the full force of my Middle Grade Heavenly Divine Artifact, it’s merely left you injured. Admirable, truly admirable."

"Tan Jiu, you actually went for a killing blow, all for that Nine-leaf Lotus!" Liu Yuxi’s face was extremely unsightly.

To outsiders, Liu Yuxi’s injuries seemed light. But he was acutely aware that he had been lucky to survive Tan Jiu’s full-force sneak attack at all.

Now, his strength was reduced to a mere sixty percent.

Beneath Tan Jiu’s crimson brows, his sullen eyes sparkled with threads of red light!

"Liu Yuxi, your Soul Nascent Soul must have been affected too, right? How much strength do you have left? Fifty percent? Sixty percent? Ha ha... Liu Yuxi, seeing as we have fought for so many years from the Demon Kill World to the Divine World, and have a bit of a connection, I’ll let you live if you leave now," said Tan Jiu generously.

Liu Yuxi’s face looked miserable, his silver eyebrows knitting together as he spoke in a deep voice, "Tan Jiu, we have been enemies since our powers were low, fighting for over a hundred billion years. We ascended together and reached the Heavenly God Realm at about the same time; today we are both Middle Level Heavenly Gods... To be honest, deep down, I even considered you a close friend. I even dreamt of the day we both became Divine Kings; that would be interesting. But I truly didn’t expect you to launch a sneak attack over the Nine-leaf Lotus!"

"Over the many years in the Divine World, we’ve clashed a few times, and I noticed you didn’t strike to kill. I thought that over the years, like me, you considered me a close friend. Now it seems..." Liu Yuxi’s voice carried a hint of sorrow.

"A close friend?" Tan Jiu was taken aback, and his expression changed.

However, Tan Jiu chuckled coldly, "Ha ha... What a joke. Do I, Tan Jiu, have close friends? Hmph, anyone who stands in my way needs to be eliminated. I didn’t strike you down before because I wasn’t sure I could kill you, and having an opponent pushed me to progress faster. But this time... the Nine-leaf Lotus is precious enough to be comparable to an Upper Grade Heavenly Divine Artifact. Of course, I have to be ruthless for it."

"Now, it’s your choice whether to flee for your life or to fight me over this treasure!" Tan Jiu stated coldly.

With only sixty percent of his strength left, Liu Yuxi still posed a threat to Tan Jiu. If Liu Yuxi fought with a resolve to die, Tan Jiu feared he would sustain severe injuries to defeat his opponent.

Liu Yuxi looked at Tan Jiu, nodded slightly, and said, "Fine, the Nine-leaf Lotus is yours. Let me go."

...

Inside a room not far from the courtyard, Qin Yu was watching all this unfold.

Qin Yu understood the sequence of events and couldn’t help but inwardly sigh, "Liu Yuxi must be utterly disappointed, believing the other to be a close friend, only to be met with such a heartless attack."

Immediately, Qin Yu calmed himself.

"The Residual Snow Divine Spear, which up to now hasn’t absorbed even one-thousandth of the Xuanhuang Energy, seems my only hope to kill Tan Jiu," Qin Yu had already prepared himself to take action.

Even though it had absorbed less than one-thousandth of the Xuanhuang Energy, the Residual Snow Divine Spear’s power had already increased significantly, a fact Qin Yu was acutely aware of.

...

In the corridors of the underground mansion, as Tan Jiu pressed a mechanism button, a passage leading to the bottom of Black Dragon Pond opened.

Liu Yuxi walked directly towards the entrance of the passageway.

The entrance was right beside Tan Jiu, and it was when Liu Yuxi reached a distance of three meters from him that Liu Yuxi suddenly exploded into action, his fists emitting a blinding golden light.

At the same moment Liu Yuxi made his move, the nine-section whip in Tan Jiu’s hand transformed into a long staff and smashed towards Liu Yuxi once again.

"Bang!"

Liu Yuxi’s two golden fists simultaneously struck the nine-section whip.

Both of their bodies were shaken, and they retreated swiftly.

Liu Yuxi’s face was filled with coldness, "Tan Jiu, you really are ruthless. You had no intention of letting me go, but rather, you wanted to attack me by surprise again to kill me even more easily, right!"

Tan Jiu, having been seen through, showed no embarrassment as he sneered, "Liu Yuxi, stop with the nonsense. I’m ambushing you, and aren’t you doing the same to me? Those words about being close friends, I suppose they were against your true feelings too."

Liu Yuxi said coldly, "Before you ambushed me, I truly regarded you as a close friend. But the moment you ambushed me, I knew... after over ten billion years of interaction, you’re still the same -- heartless and ruthless. So, I knew... you definitely would not let me go this time, and I planned to ambush you first. Consider yourself lucky."

Qin Yu, upon witnessing this scene, couldn’t help but be inwardly shocked.

These two indeed were ruthless; Tan Jiu’s offer of a chance to live was actually a ruse to launch another surprise attack.

Liu Yuxi stopped talking nonsense and charged again, while Tan Jiu also wielded the nine-section whip and entered the fray once more. The two knew each other’s strengths all too well and made incredibly quick moves.

"Neither of them is using the Space Domain, yet the courtyard doesn’t seem to suffer much damage!"

Qin Yu’s Space Power could clearly sense the astonishing prowess of their close combat.

Wherever the nine-section whip and the fists passed, that section of space was completely distorted, as the two concentrated their Heavenly God Power and strength completely onto their weapons. Their attacks were insanely fierce.

"Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!"...

Liu Yuxi’s body was occasionally struck by the bizarre nine-section whip, but his skin would ripple like waves and easily block the opposing attacks.

His defense was indeed monstrous.

Numerous afterimages appeared in the courtyard, resembling dozens of Tan Jius and Liu Yuxis battling it out. In the blinking of an eye, they had exchanged blows over a hundred times.

"How long will this close combat go on?" Qin Yu inwardly sighed.

But just as Qin Yu was sighing!

Qin Yu suddenly changed his expression, "Clones!"

Right, Tan Jiu had suddenly created two clones during the fight. Because their battle was so fast, so many afterimages were formed. If two additional ’Tan Jius’ were added, they would be indistinguishable to the naked eye.

Qin Yu noticed it, and so did Liu Yuxi.

The two clones surged toward Liu Yuxi like madmen, flanking him from both sides. Then, there was a loud—

"Boom!"

It was as if hundreds of Heavenly Thunders exploded right beside one’s ears, and parts of the Underground Mansion began to collapse. Qin Yu was hiding in the corner of the room, as a pillar fell beside him. He paid no attention to it, his focus entirely on the courtyard.

"Tan Jiu is truly ruthless, having his clones self-destruct," Qin Yu thought, deeply shocked.

Tan Jiu’s nine major clones could all be considered as the original. To lose two major clones all at once displayed a resolute determination.

"You’re still not dead?" Tan Jiu’s indifferent voice came through.

In the courtyard, Liu Yuxi was kneeling on one knee, covered in blood, and staring coldly at Tan Jiu in front of him, "Tan Jiu, did you really think you could kill me just with two clones? Have you forgotten that what I’m best at is defense!"

A smirk of mockery appeared on Tan Jiu’s impassive face.

His defense might be strong, but with two clones self-destructing, Liu Yuxi was now even more heavily injured.

"Heh~~~"

Liu Yuxi suddenly raised his head and let out a fierce roar. His head began to emit trails of light, and instantly, the space within the entire courtyard seemed to freeze; even Tan Jiu’s expression changed, "You..."

"Let’s die together," Liu Yuxi said with madness flickering in his eyes.

Tan Jiu was very clear that at this moment, Liu Yuxi was burning his Soul Nascent Soul. The Soul Nascent Soul, being the physical manifestation of Soul Power, possessed incredible energy. Once the energy of the Soul Nascent Soul burst forth, the Divine Sense became its strongest, with even greater control over the ’Space Domain’.

At the same time, Liu Yuxi launched a final, hysterical Divine Sense Attack at Tan Jiu!

Divine Sense is the power of the soul, and their Soul Powers could attack each other. Such attacks, however, meant taking a heavy toll on oneself, a thousand for the enemy and eight hundred for oneself. Unless one was determined to die, most people would not resort to this.

"Ahh~~~"

Tan Jiu roared furiously, his body suddenly splitting into seven figures, and three of those clones lit up entirely, heads included. Those three clones charged straight at Liu Yuxi.

Refining clones in the Divine World is very difficult. The reason Tan Jiu was able to have nine clones is because he had nine heads, which allowed him to divide into nine souls. Only clones with souls are considered true clones.

The first two clones self-destructed, and he was able to retrieve their souls. However, for these three clones, he had burned the souls of the three clones.

"Ahh~~~" Only madness was visible in Liu Yuxi’s eyes.

The three clones showed the same madness, and then a louder explosion than before rang out, "Boom!" The Middle Level Heavenly God Liu Yuxi and the three Tan Jius vanished in smoke and ash.

And at the same time, the Underground Mansion suffered a more severe collapse, turning into a complete mess.

(End of Chapter One!)

(To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM, where more Chapters are available and you can support the author and genuine reading!)