Chapter 29

After drinking the chicken soup, Tang Xiaotang felt much better. Although her star meridian was only slightly damaged, Meng Fenghua insisted on leaving the half bottle of Purple Gold Flower Water in her room.

"Has my father not returned yet?" Tang Xiaotang asked a clan sister beside her after finishing the soup.

"Not yet. I guess he won't be back until tomorrow."

"Uncle Two and Uncle Three are also not here. Where have they gone?"

Tang Xiaotang mumbled and then turned to look at Tang Zheng. After examining him from head to toe for a while, she suddenly smiled. "You've reached the initial stage of the first star."

Tang Zheng's eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"I told you, once you make up your mind to do something, it's never too late!" Tang Xiaotang clenched her fist and shook it. "Although I don't know why the innate first star only showed up now, at least it means you have the potential of a powerful star pattern. In the future, I'll have to work even harder, or I'll be caught up by you, a late bloomer."

Tang Xiaotang laughed, then used her star power to regulate her breathing and fell asleep quietly.

After she was sound asleep, Tang Zheng and Meng Fenghua left her room.

On the way, Meng Fenghua sighed. "Xiaotang started cultivating star power at the age of three, but by the time she was eight or nine, her star power was still less than a hundred. At that time, some of her peers of the same age had already lit their first life palace... Now, for her to stand out and reach the peak of the first star at fifteen, about to touch the second life palace, it's really not easy."

"Didn't you say she was a genius of Tang Family Castle?" Tang Zheng hadn't heard Tang Xiaotang talk about these things.

"Genius, ha ha... That's a term people only start using after someone has already become a 'genius.'" Meng Fenghua looked at the bright moon in the sky, her faint smile like the moonlight. "She can persist because her Flame Thorn Flower is the most likely star pattern in Tang Family Castle to reach the seventh star. So no matter how difficult it is, she will find a way to do it. Because once she becomes a seventh-star martial artist, Tang Family Castle won't have to struggle to survive in the gap between the摘Star Sect and the钦Heaven Sect in Wulong Town anymore."

Meng Fenghua's gaze turned to the vast starry sky.

Tang Zheng nodded. He had met someone like this before, and that was Tian Meng.

Tian Meng had always hoped to step onto the battlefield and advance westward like his ancestors, wielding his sword straight to the Demon King's Hall. However, his living environment was not as chaotic as Wulong Town, and his personality was not as determined as Tang Xiaotang's, so he only dared to think about it but never made up his mind to do it.

"Then, what about you?" Tang Zheng asked casually.

"Nine stars all lit, ranked as a Star Lord!" Meng Fenghua's voice was not loud, but she spoke without hesitation. "On the Starlight Continent, only the strongest have the right to protect those they want to protect."

"Nine stars... That doesn't sound easy, does it?" Tang Zheng, of course, knew she was talking about Little Lingdang.

Tang Zheng was no longer a newcomer. He knew that martial artists above the third star were already respected as strong, and those at the fifth or sixth star could establish their own sects. Once they crossed the critical threshold of the seventh star, they would become well-known figures across the entire Starlight Continent!

If one wanted to advance beyond the seventh star, strength, effort, and wealth were all essential!

Of course, strength and effort were not lacking for martial artists who had cultivated to the seventh star. As for wealth, even if a seventh-star martial artist didn't have it, they wouldn't lack for those willing to support them. However, if these were the only factors, it still wouldn't be enough. Without the right opportunities and luck, one would likely remain at the seventh star no matter how hard they tried.

"If it were that easy, everyone would be a Star Lord." Meng Fenghua turned to Tang Zheng. "Then... what about you?"

"Me?" Tang Zheng laughed dryly.

Just now, he was thinking about the height Meng Fenghua wanted to reach, which seemed too difficult.

But when he thought about what he needed to do...

The small words etched on the game pod, every stroke still fresh in his mind.

"One day, I won't have to run around for money anymore. At that time, I will make the whole world remember who I am! — Tang Zheng."

He wasn't fighting for the glory of his ancestors like Tian Meng, nor for the survival of his family like Tang Xiaotang, nor for the people he wanted to protect like Meng Fenghua.

What he wanted was just to give himself an answer!

"Did I overstep? Is it hard to say?" Meng Fenghua asked.

"Not really... Let me think of a more specific way to put it," Tang Zheng gestured. "Um! I want... to have a statue of myself erected in every major city in the world!"

"..." Meng Fenghua was indeed stunned by this silly idea.

Tang Zheng coughed a couple of times. He was just starting out, and the more specific plans were still far away. "Well, you don't have to look at me like that. I always think that one must transcend the three realms to die in the five elements..."

To his surprise, Meng Fenghua looked at him intently. "Your meaning is that you want to complete... the Six Paths Heaven-Same Great Array?"

"Six Paths Heaven-Same Great Array? What's that?"

"The Six Paths Heaven-Same Great Array consists of the Lesser Derivation Twenty-Eight Arrays, the Greater Derivation Nine-Tower Extreme Circle Array, and the Two Instruments Heaven-Thorough Earth Array, a total of three sets of arrays, requiring the erection of thirty-nine high towers... It is said that once completed, you will be the sky, the earth, the essence of the Starlight Continent itself... However, this is just a legend, and no one has ever achieved it."

"Wow, sounds great!" Tang Zheng was genuinely interested.

"It just sounds great, but it's impossible to complete!" Meng Fenghua shook her head.

"Oh? Why?"

"The Lesser Derivation Twenty-Eight Arrays are relatively easy, mostly in remote areas, but the Greater Derivation Nine-Tower Extreme Circle Array covers a vast area, from the northwest wasteland of the Demon King's Hall to the eastern end of the Worry-Free Island, from the Cloud Sea's Thousand Jade Palace to the underground maze of the Netherworld Castle, and involves several top families... Even for a Star Lord, it would be a great achievement just to visit these places, let alone erect towers and set up arrays there."

"Oh, this ice cream cone array... no, the Heaven-Same Array, is quite interesting." Tang Zheng's interest was piqued.

In his previous life in the game, the top players on the leaderboard usually gained statues by grinding reputation points. If that didn't work, they could always buy reputation points with money.

Meng Fenghua looked at him seriously. "Are you serious?"

"When am I not serious?"

"..." Never.

"Then, does this ice cream cone array, with its thirty-nine high towers, have a placement map?" Tang Zheng's enthusiasm was growing.

"How could it?" Meng Fenghua felt like she was discussing famous family tunes with a beginner. "Each person who completes the Six Paths Heaven-Same Great Array has a different placement for the thirty-nine high towers!"

"Then what should I do?"

"Opportunity. If one day you meet a master of star movement and star prediction, you can ask him to design the placement of your Six Paths Heaven-Same Great Array." Meng Fenghua's cold voice drifted in the night wind. "By the way, now that you've just advanced to the first star, you should quickly consider choosing a martial technique!"

"Right!" Tang Zheng understood the principle of "looking to the future while focusing on the present."

"Tomorrow morning, there's class, so Master, please rest early." They had already reached the entrance to Tang Zheng's courtyard, and Meng Fenghua said goodbye.

"Sure, you too..." Tang Zheng stepped into his courtyard. "Wait! Rest... rest?"

Tang Zheng's courtyard was brightly lit, and the craftsmen of Tang Family Castle were working overnight to repair it.

However, because some of the supporting structures were damaged, it would take some time to fix.

In short, Tang Zheng was homeless for the night!

He had to go back to his room, retrieve the Jade Soul Pendant and the King of Flowers, and then return to Tang Xiaotang's place, finding a corner in the outer room to spend the night.

...

Throughout the night, clan brothers and sisters came to check on Tang Xiaotang's condition.

All was well.

The next morning, Tang Zheng quickly tidied up and rushed to the lecture hall.

"Trouble." Tang Zheng scratched his head.

Last night, when he advanced to the first star, he had made a mess of the entire room. The "Star Attraction Formula" given by Tang Xiaotang, the "Mountain Splitting Axe," and the "Purple Gold Empire Spring and Autumn History" were all buried under the dust and rubble along with the bookshelf.

So, he came to the lecture hall empty-handed.

As soon as he pushed open the door of the lecture hall, a chorus of cheers greeted him...

"Congratulations, Master! Congratulations, Master!" All the students shouted in unison.

"Phew..." Tang Zheng darted out again. "Who's getting married inside?"

"Congratulations to Master Tang for advancing to the first star, with one palace and two stars, a bright future..." Little Lingdang called out loudly, her face puffed up.

"Damn, it's about this?" Tang Zheng finally walked back in, winking at Little Lingdang.

It seemed that children were easy to bully, didn't hold grudges, and just needed a bit of coaxing.

On the octagonal table, the ink, brush, and paper were still laid out, and a large sheet of white paper hung above.

"Master, you didn't bring any books today?" A young boy tilted his head and asked.

"Um... those books met with some misfortune." Tang Zheng coughed. "So, we won't be reading from the books today."

"Then what will we do?" Everyone stared at him.

Right, without books, what would they do?

Tang Zheng squinted, turned around, and wrote two large characters on the white paper— "Hehe."

All the children looked puzzled.

"Today, we will discuss the wisdom of life contained in the two characters 'hehe'..."

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Thank you to Yan Huang Hun for the 10,000 reward and 5,888 starting coins, and to Jia Xiao Qi for the 10,000 reward!

Thank you to Sima Yimin for the 1,888 starting coins, Mo Yun Zhe Yue for the 588 starting coins, Zhen Tianlong Wushang for the 400 starting coins, Xue Yu Huoteng and Azhihe for the 300 starting coins, Tuifei Xiaoyan 123, Zhu Jujie, Xue Ye Xingchen, Tianya Fengli, and others for the 200 starting coins, Xiao Jianke, Shouhu Zhe Pingfan Yisheng, Kong Long Ling, Chen Bin, Xue Shang Chenxi, Shui He Zhi Wu, Ye Zui Han^Shang, Tao Dayu, Feng Zhi Jingtudi, and others for the 100 starting coins.

Thank you to Mo Shang Youyang for the 200 plum blossoms, Sima Yimin for the bowl of Laba porridge, and Deng Ai LOVE for the plum blossom.

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