Chapter 483: Ascending to the Celestial King

Chapter 483: Ascending to the Celestial King

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【Stellar Power: 108,793/108,793】

Ji Xinghuo looked at the stellar power value displayed on the interface and silently nodded, confirming that he had reached the peak of the Legendary realm.

Since yesterday, the growth of his stellar power had become exceptionally difficult.

Today, after continuously cultivating for several hours, his stellar power hadn't increased at all, and the value remained stagnant.

"108,793 points of stellar power," Ji Xinghuo stood up from his cultivation chamber and thought, "Most Paramount Second Level Celestials have stellar power cultivation at this level, but I've only reached the peak of the Legendary realm. This far exceeds the norm."

Of course, he had never intended to compare himself to ordinary Celestials.

If he were to make a comparison, it would be with the exceptional beings on the Rising Star Sequence, or at least those on the Hidden Dragon Sequence, like Guxingli.

"When we were in Titanium Ring City, Guxingli was also at the peak of the Legendary realm."

"His stellar power should be around 100,000 points as well."

Ji Xinghuo pondered, Guxingli's situation was rather unique. His profession was "Legion," and each of his clone bodies could cultivate and merge with exotic species independently, giving him a natural advantage in stellar power cultivation.

Guxingli's combined stellar power of his eight clone bodies allowed him to break through the 100,000-point mark.

Whereas Ji Xinghuo had only one body.

Excluding special cases like the Legion profession, even the top Legendary exceptions in the True Dragon Dynasty, including those four heaven-defying geniuses on the Infinite Sequence, in Ji Xinghuo's opinion, their stellar power at the peak of the Legendary realm would not match his own.

The upper limit of stellar power is determined by the number and grade of exotic abilities.

As well as ether-sensitive exotic abilities.

Then, by using the Essence of the Azure Sea to break through the limit, which is also related to ether sensitivity. He had used a whole 15 portions of it! Ji Xinghuo believed that throughout the history of the Stellar World and the Milky Way Galaxy, the number of exceptions that could match him at the Legendary stage was extremely rare.

"I'm so damn strong!"

A somewhat proud mutter escaped his lips, but Ji Xinghuo soon became self-deprecating. "Ji Xinghuo, you haven't even become a Celestial yet, and you're still far from being a Star Shepherd. Don't get too carried away."

He shook his head with a smile and walked out of the cultivation chamber.

The weather was scorching hot.

It was the middle of Sheng Month, the last month of the hot season and the hottest time of the year in the Stellar World. The secret realm's weather synchronized with that of the Stellar World, and this was still within the depths of the sea; otherwise, it would be even hotter.

Ji Xinghuo's eyes swept across the distance, his gaze traveling over a dozen kilometers to the beach where Qinghong was grilling a large fish over five meters long. Qinghong had somehow managed to find spices and was quite the professional chef.

Meanwhile, Doomsday had claimed another island for himself and was curled up napping in the shade of a tree.

"Time really flies..."

Ji Xinghuo sighed.

A month in the Stellar World had 36 or 37 days.

The entire "Flaming Month" plus half of the "Prosperous Month" was nearly 50 days in the Stellar World, equivalent to three months on Earth. He had spent all this time dedicated to cultivation in the secret realm, and now, unknowingly, the cold season was approaching again.

In the blink of an eye, a year had passed since he left Earth.

Ji Xinghuo's gaze pierced through the void, looking toward the direction of the True Dragon Dynasty. His eyes quickly swept past the Sea Abyss and toward the south.

As the distance exceeded 300,000 kilometers, he automatically entered the Myriad Phenomena ability.

His stellar power was rapidly depleted.

With his stellar power now three times stronger than before, he could maintain the ability for a few more seconds. Just before his stellar power ran out, a scene of Olympia finally appeared before his eyes, and everything was just as he remembered it, with not much change.

His gaze paused only briefly on Olympia before shifting west, scanning across the Bloody Highlands several thousand kilometers away.

The scene of Peach Blossom Valley unfolded before him.

Ji Xinghuo saw Ye Zhen.

Her belly was more prominent than a year ago, looking similar to a normal woman in her seventh month of pregnancy. At the moment, she was tending to the plants in the garden. Pregnancy hadn't hindered her movements, and she looked radiant, her beautiful face glowing with maternal warmth.

The vision lasted for two seconds before Ji Xinghuo voluntarily interrupted the Macro Cosmic Eye; the distance was too far, and his stellar power was completely exhausted.

Originally, the Macro Cosmic Eye had been obstructed, with many areas blocked from view.

The dimensional space of the secret realm, the metal barriers, and the earth itself would all affect the ability's field of vision.

However, after fusing with the "Void Kun Giant Abyss" ability, the Macro Cosmic Eye could bypass these obstructions and see through the void, allowing him to view more scenes directly.

Nevertheless, seeing through the void affected the clarity of the vision.

It also increased stellar power consumption.

"Sister Ren has advanced to the Legendary realm." With just a couple of glances, Ji Xinghuo determined that Ye Zhen was now a Legendary exception. She had been a Celestial before, and with "Rebirth," she could retrace the path of evolution, making her advancement to the Legendary realm a simple matter.

"The expected date of delivery should be in about ten months."

"Before the child is born, I must return to Sister Ren's side." Ji Xinghuo calculated the time. Ye Zhen's previous estimate of the delivery date had been quite inaccurate, with a significant margin of error, so he needed to return earlier.

After a while, Ji Xinghuo's stellar power recovered to its peak of 108,793 points, and he thought, "It's time to prepare for the ascension to Celestial King."

Advancing from the Legendary realm to the Celestial King realm, from the fifth stage to the sixth, was extremely challenging.

For the vast majority of Legendary exceptions, the most difficult part was actually cultivating their stellar power. At the first stage, they accumulated stellar power, and at the second stage, they released it outward. Many exceptions spent their entire lives unable to reach the bottleneck required for ascending to the Celestial King realm.

However, ascending to the Celestial King realm was inherently similar to a Super Exception ascending to the Legendary realm.

It was a matter of compressing stellar power and increasing its density.

By enabling the body and star glands to accommodate more stellar power, one could then promote evolutionary changes.

The minimum requirement for ascending to the Celestial King realm was around 20,000 points of stellar power, a threshold Ji Xinghuo had surpassed by more than fivefold.

The stellar power of a Legendary exception was in a gaseous state, similar to a gas but not quite the same.

Further compression of stellar power resulted in a superfluid state.

This transformation would turn stellar power into a quasi-liquid superfluid, possessing the properties of a superfluid without the need for extremely low temperatures. The stellar power in this state would be completely devoid of viscosity and friction, allowing it to flow endlessly.

Superfluid stellar power offered numerous advantages.

For instance, the star glands could store a significantly larger amount of stellar power, the output power would be higher, and there would be reduced conduction loss, among other benefits.

The method of ascension was similar to advancing to a Super Legendary, and one could utilize the "Stellar Ascension Instrument."

While the Stellar Ascension Instrument at the Ethereal Research Institute of the Asia-Pacific Community could only assist in advancing to the Legendary realm, in the True Dragon Dynasty, these instruments were commonplace. Many True Dragon families had crafted their own Stellar Ascension Instruments, offering them not only to their clan members but also renting them out to outsiders.

Even some of the tributary nations of the True Dragon Dynasty had gained control of these instruments.

Most of the Celestial Kings on Earth had achieved their ascension by borrowing the Stellar Ascension Instrument from the Celestial King Court.

However, the cost was exorbitantly high.

Ji Xinghuo recalled what Ye Zhen had told him in the past. Using the Stellar Ascension Instrument of the Celestial King Court would require a starting price of a thousand ether crystals, and any ether crystals consumed during the ascension process would be an additional cost.

This price was enough to deter most Legendary exceptions, as failure meant bankruptcy.

Of course, one could choose not to use a Stellar Ascension Instrument.

By relying solely on oneself and enduring a lengthy cultivation process, one could gradually increase their stellar power to the critical density point, causing the compression to trigger an evolutionary change, and thus achieve the ascension to Celestial King. However, this path was incredibly difficult, and most Legendary exceptions, even after cultivating for over a hundred years, might not succeed.

"What's difficult for others is simple for me," Ji Xinghuo said to himself, feeling the surging stellar power within his body, almost as if it wanted to burst out.

With over ten thousand eight thousand points of stellar power, the Magnetic Spirit Star Core was completely filled.

The density of his stellar power had already reached the critical point.

Ji Xinghuo estimated that even if he did nothing and made no special effort to cultivate, he would still break through within a year or two.

He wouldn't need a Stellar Ascension Instrument at all.

"I'll give it a try myself," Ji Xinghuo thought. "If I can't break through and ascend within three days, I'll return to Donghuang Island and borrow a Stellar Ascension Instrument from any random True Dragon family."

He returned to the cultivation chamber and summoned Jiu You, asking him to stand guard by his side.

Without any preparation or the use of supplementary medicines and equipment to aid in the ascension to Celestial King, Ji Xinghuo stood still, his eyes focused intently.

In an instant, the ether energy in the surrounding area began to boil.

With the combination of Ether Resonance, Ether Clarity, and the Light-Gathering Ring, Ji Xinghuo manipulated the ether energy within a three-kilometer radius, drawing it toward himself. Within a few seconds, an invisible storm formed, centered on his body.

He gathered the ether energy around him, increasing its density, and the outer layer of space was immediately filled with more ether energy.

While maintaining the compression, he continued to draw in more ether energy.

He repeated this process multiple times.

The ether energy density around Ji Xinghuo surged, quickly reaching more than ten times the normal level. However, as his body had already reached its saturation point and couldn't absorb any more ether energy to convert into stellar power, this phenomenon didn't cause any noticeable impact.

Yet, he didn't stop. He continued to manipulate the ether energy, gathering it relentlessly. The energy density within the cultivation chamber climbed higher and higher.

Ten times, twenty times, thirty times! Under Ji Xinghuo's control, the energy density in an ordinary cultivation chamber surpassed that of an ether energy concentration chamber, reaching the level of a Stellar Ascension Instrument.

Once the ether energy density exceeded thirty times the normal level, Ji Xinghuo began to feel a strain.

He focused his entire being on maintaining control.

Again and again, he gathered the energy, compressing and controlling it with each repetition. The ether energy disturbance was such that even the air in the cultivation chamber started to stir, and a wind picked up. As the ether energy density surpassed fifty times the normal level, beads of sweat appeared on Ji Xinghuo's forehead.

"Almost there," he muttered.

Ji Xinghuo's brain was operating at a high speed, having already entered a state of super-frequency thinking.

Seventy times!

After another half a minute, Ji Xinghuo's control over the ether energy neared its limit, reaching a density of seventy times.

And it couldn't be maintained for long, at most a minute.

"Now's the time!"

Without hesitation, Ji Xinghuo activated his Macro Cosmic Eye and gazed into the distance, his gaze piercing through the void and flying over the Sea Abyss. In an instant, his stellar power seemed to burst forth uncontrollably, draining his star glands in the blink of an eye.

His idea was that since his stellar power had reached its limit and couldn't increase any further, consuming it would allow him to absorb ether energy and recover.

If that was the case, then he would go all out.

He would completely deplete his stellar power and then frantically absorb the surrounding ether energy, providing an outlet for the gathered ether energy to surge into him.

This was an extremely dangerous move.

If he wasn't careful, his body could be severely injured, or even his star glands could be destroyed.

But Ji Xinghuo was unafraid. His body was strong enough to easily withstand the impact of the ether energy, and the output power and conversion efficiency of his Magnetic Spirit Star Core far exceeded that of a normal star gland. Even if he failed, there wouldn't be much danger.

Boom!

A muffled sound reverberated in the cultivation chamber as if the air itself had stirred.

In the moment his stellar power was drained, Ji Xinghuo controlled the gathered ether energy around him, forcing it to rush towards him with unrestrained intensity.

The energy surge was violent.

Ji Xinghuo stood unwavering in the midst of the invisible energy storm and swiftly interrupted the Macro Cosmic Eye. As his stellar power reached its bottom, his body and star glands emptied, and he immediately began to absorb the ether energy to recover his stellar power.

At this moment, the ether energy surged into him, triggering a chain reaction.

The high-pressure, high-density energy seemed to have found a breach, rushing into Ji Xinghuo's body as if competing to be the first.

He felt a twinge of pain.

But that was all.

Ji Xinghuo opened the interface of the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil, and the stellar power value fluctuated wildly, recovering at a rate of over a thousand points per second. Every part of his body tingled with fullness, and his mind felt slightly dizzy, but he remained steadfast, maintaining the high-density ether energy.

In less than a hundred seconds, his stellar power had recovered to over 100,000 points.

He watched as it rapidly approached 108,793.

Ji Xinghuo focused intently, and a few seconds later, his stellar power reached its peak. However, the influx of ether energy showed no signs of stopping.

The boiling ether energy enveloped Ji Xinghuo's entire body, like a surging tide crashing into him relentlessly.

The stellar power value flickered.

108,794 points! The number had only increased by one, but it had broken through the limit, surpassing the critical point of stellar power density.

Boom...

A low rumble reverberated within Ji Xinghuo's body, as if something had broken free from its shackles.

Immediately afterward, more ether energy poured into his body, transforming into stellar power. The numbers on the interface flickered faster and faster. At the same time, his existing stellar power underwent a drastic change, transitioning from a gaseous state to a superfluid state!

Initially, only a small amount of stellar power was in the superfluid state, but as the compressed stellar power increased and spread throughout his body, it immediately enhanced his physical form.

Ji Xinghuo felt a familiar sensation.

Evolution!

The sixth evolution of his life had commenced.

The superfluid stellar power continued to grow, permeating every corner of his body. Each of his tens of trillions of cells greedily absorbed the energy, strengthening from within and evolving to a higher form of life.

His stellar power soared, and his exotic abilities progressed as well.

Every evolution was a rare opportunity for an exotic being, as it could lead to an upgrade in their abilities.

However, since Ji Xinghuo's abilities were already at high levels, the effect wasn't noticeable.

He didn't mind this, though.

What Ji Xinghuo cared about was his evolution and stellar power. On the interface, he saw that his stellar power had broken through 110,000 points and was still increasing.

Two and a half hours passed.

All the vast ether energy gathered in the cultivation chamber had been absorbed by Ji Xinghuo, transformed into his stellar power. Every bit of his stellar power had been compressed into a superfluid state, flowing endlessly.

Gradually, the energy storm subsided, and the evolution came to an end.

【Stellar Power: 157,649/157,649】

The cultivation chamber fell silent.

Ji Xinghuo sensed the qualitative change in his stellar power, which was now robust and abundant. In just a little over two hours, it had skyrocketed by nearly 50,000 points.

Moreover, the evolution process had been effortless, with almost no difficulty at all.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he muttered to himself, "They say ascending to Celestial King is challenging, with countless legends stuck at this point. Is that all there is to it?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end