Chapter 3

Watching Bai Qingsong and the others leave, Qin Wentian felt a chill like that of winter. In just one night, everything had changed. The kind and gentle Uncle Bai had actually brought people to try to kill him.

Even though Qin Wentian had an extraordinary character, he still felt a numbness in his heart that he couldn't shake off for a long time. Finally, he took a deep breath, and that radiant smile reappeared on his young and innocent face. No matter how cold the world was, he only needed to be true to himself. Hadn't his adoptive father treated him with great kindness? And there was Qing'er, who had risked betraying her father to warn him of the danger.

However, Qin Wentian seemed to have no time to dwell on these thoughts. He needed to escape his current predicament, and for that, he could only focus on cultivation.

Qin Wentian sat cross-legged and glanced at the stone hanging around his neck, saying, "Deadbeat dad, Black Uncle said you left me only a broken stone. Don't drag me away so soon."

As he spoke, Qin Wentian took out nine silver needles and inserted them into his head. He then closed his eyes, focused his mind, and entered a meditative state, imagining himself as a container. Soon, he sensed the presence of the elemental forces of heaven and earth and the power of the stars. This was the effect of meditation. To gauge the strength of the elemental forces of heaven and earth and the star forces, one needed to have a strong perception of them.

Qin Wentian had an exceptionally strong perception of the star forces. This strength was not only due to his innate abilities but also the result of his daily hard work. Even during the day, he quickly entered a meditative state, guiding the star forces to circulate within his body, performing the cycle of the heavens.

At this moment, Qin Wentian's meridians were completely shattered, but he didn't care. He continued to make the star forces circulate, and as night fell, the light of the stars enveloped his body.

Qin Wentian then imagined the existence of a channel. His perception followed this channel, rising continuously. This self-hypnosis was something Black Uncle had taught him. Sometimes, one needed to hypnotize oneself to gain a stronger will.

As his perception rose, Qin Wentian clearly felt a faint pressure, but this did not stop him. Soon, he felt as if he was standing amidst an endless expanse of stars, having arrived at the first celestial river.

Every time he came here, Qin Wentian's heart would deeply tremble. The nine celestial rivers were incredibly magnificent. Standing here, he felt so small, like a grain of sand in the vast sea, with the sky filled with stars.

"Comet Star." Qin Wentian sensed a nearby star, shaped like a broom, which was the Comet Star.

"Willow Star. If I communicate with it and awaken the star soul, it might make my body incredibly flexible."

"Water Snake Star, Lyra Star." Qin Wentian took a deep breath. It seemed that as long as he was willing, he could communicate with any martial destiny star, even those generally considered very powerful. However, he still gave up, and his perception continued to rise, crossing the first and second celestial rivers, reaching the third heaven.

The pressure was increasing, and he could no longer choose martial destiny stars as freely as in the first heaven. If others knew his situation, they would likely praise him as a celestial being. He was unaware of the extent of his perception of the stars. Bai Qiuxue had communicated with a martial destiny star in this celestial river and was now famous in the Chu Kingdom.

"The martial destiny stars in the third heaven clearly contain more powerful energy than those in the first two heavens. I'll go further up and see; this is not the limit."

Qin Wentian's perception continued to rise. He felt the pressure on his perception growing stronger, as if it were trying to push him back. His head began to throb, but he gritted his teeth and persisted.

"Pain is just a thought. Empty your mind, and the pain will pass like a dream."

Qin Wentian reached the fourth heaven. The terrifying energy contained in the stars here made him feel a strong urge to communicate with them. If he were willing now, he might become a genius never seen before in the Chu Kingdom.

"Black Uncle had prepared a lot of information about the stars in the first five heavens for me, showing his high hopes for me." Qin Wentian clenched his teeth, and his perception continued to rise.

"Communicating with a martial destiny star and awakening the star soul is difficult. Besides talent, it requires great willpower." Qin Wentian told himself, enduring the throbbing pain in his head as he continued to rise. Finally, he leaped over another celestial river, and his perception reached the fifth heaven.

In front of him was a star that resembled a skull, exuding an evil aura.

"Skull Star." Qin Wentian glanced at it and immediately moved his perception away, drifting to the side. Now, he could no longer easily perceive all the stars as he did in the first heaven. He could only sense them one by one. After a moment, he sensed a star filled with fiery energy, the Fire Lion Star.

"It's the Fire Lion Star. If I communicate with it, I will surely possess powerful flames and dominant strength." Qin Wentian thought for a moment but still gave up, wanting to see more stars.

Next, he sensed a huge hammer-shaped star, the Celestial Hammer Star.

"Celestial Hammer Star." Qin Wentian recalled the information about the Celestial Hammer Star in Black Uncle's records and made a bold decision.

His perception surged toward the Celestial Hammer Star, communicating with it and imagining himself as a consciousness, merging with the Celestial Hammer Star. The pain in his head grew more intense.

Rays of starlight descended from the sky, passing through the celestial rivers and falling on Qin Wentian, who was in meditation. The light enveloped his body but did not directly enter his body. Instead, it gathered on the stone around his neck.

At this moment, the terrifying starlight shone on the stone, which suddenly emitted a fearsome light. It then gradually disintegrated and merged into Qin Wentian's skin, disappearing completely. Only then did the starlight truly shine on Qin Wentian's body, gradually gathering, and the vast star energy was extremely powerful.

A shadow of the Celestial Hammer appeared on Qin Wentian's body, and his head felt as if it was about to explode. He gritted his teeth, making a clacking sound, but he still persisted, guiding the star energy to circulate through his shattered meridians, forming a cyclic vortex. At the same time, he desperately tried to form the star soul. Only then would he truly become a martial destiny cultivator.

"Rumble!" Qin Wentian's body emitted a humming sound. The shattered meridians seemed to be filled with boundless star energy, constantly circulating and gradually forming a terrifying vortex, spinning wildly. He knew that the most critical moment had arrived. If he succeeded, he would complete his transformation.

This inhuman pain was unbearable, and more terrifyingly, Qin Wentian had to focus on two tasks: forming the star soul and reconstructing a complete meridian.

"Pain, a dream that passes." Qin Wentian's heart was incredibly resilient. The terrifying vortex in his body opened a channel for the star energy, spreading throughout his body, as if completely unblocked, forming a unique star meridian.

At the same time, the shadow of the Celestial Hammer gradually solidified. Blood seeped from the corners of Qin Wentian's mouth. Finally, he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed, unconscious.

At the same time Qin Wentian fell unconscious, outside the Bai family estate, there was a Qingfeng Wine House. Mo Shang stood by the window, with a star soul shadow above his head. This star soul was a pair of celestial eyes, one of Mo Shang's three star souls, the Celestial Eye Star Soul.

"Such a strong beam of starlight. If Bai Qiuxue's talent is truly this strong, she will definitely pass this assessment." Mo Shang saw the starlight disappear and retracted his star soul, thinking to himself. The starlight just now was at least from the third heaven. In the Bai family, besides Bai Qiuxue, there seemed to be no one else who had communicated with stars in the third heaven.

Stretching lazily, Mo Shang went to rest. After hearing that Bai Qiuxue in Tianyong City had communicated with a star in the third heaven, a large number of powerful forces from the Chu Kingdom's capital came to assess her. These forces included the one Mo Shang belonged to. However, Mo Shang was not worried that other forces could snatch her away, because he came from the Imperial Star Academy.