Chapter 64: Tears of the Stars

Chapter 64: Tears of the Stars

Whoosh!

An arrow pierced the skull of an Elite Stone Scythefiend.

As the leader of its pack, its death caused the surrounding fiends to scatter in fear, unable to pinpoint the source of the attack.

Ji Xinghuo emerged from his hiding spot and skillfully collected the exotic species from the slain fiends.

"Rockskin, tough..." He shook his head. The Stone Scythefiends had a limited number of exotic abilities, and he had seen most of them, rarely encountering any surprises.

With over a hundred rockskin exotics in his bag, this ability was not in high demand. Such a large quantity would not fetch a high price.

However, the exotic species were merely a byproduct. The most important thing was the spiritual source energy.

Ji Xinghuo opened the interface of the Myriad Star Pupils.

Ever since his ether sensitivity had advanced to ether affinity, he had continued hunting in the Absolute Peak Valley for five days, steadily progressing in his leveling. Currently, he was at (Level 3, 128/1439). The group of Stone Scythefiends he had just hunted provided him with 8 points of spiritual source energy, which he immediately invested.

Looking at the 136/1439 progress, Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but sigh, "This is too difficult!"

He had worked tirelessly over the past few days, traveling hundreds of kilometers and slaying dozens of monsters, yet his upgrade progress was barely a tenth of the way.

And this was just for ether affinity.

The spinning magnetic field and the Thousand Dexterity Hands required even more spiritual source energy, with little difference between them.

Ji Xinghuo rested for a moment before continuing his search for another group of Stone Scythefiends.

By now, he was very familiar with the Absolute Peak Valley. Upon arriving at a new location, he only needed a few glances to determine the presence of Stone Scythefiends, potential monster hideouts, and the most promising routes to gather spiritual source energy. He knew his way around as if it were his own backyard.

The Star Realm had entered the "Humming Moon" phase, with starry nights growing longer.

As the day's hunt came to a close, Ji Xinghuo found a camping spot as night fell.

In the latter half of the night, he suddenly sensed something and opened his eyes. The little green snake had resumed its form as Tie Jianqing, curling up in a corner of the tent, and now it, too, raised its head to look outside.

"Monster?" Ji Xinghuo wondered, but his magnetic field senses did not detect any monsters.

He quickly crawled out of the tent and looked up, only to be startled by what he saw.

The night sky, which had been pitch-black, now had a source of light coming from the distant horizon. It was not glaring and was moving at a high speed.

The light source was extremely fast, drawing closer and becoming clearer in his field of vision.

"Meteor!"

It was a bright meteor, radiating a dazzling array of colors and leaving a long tail in its trail as it streaked across the sky at an unimaginable height.

Wherever it passed, it illuminated the sky and land for dozens of kilometers.

Ji Xinghuo's gaze followed the meteor's trajectory. It passed directly overhead, though at a great distance—he estimated it to be about thirty thousand meters high. Only after it disappeared from view did he hear the rumbling sound waves echoing from the sky.

"So this is a stellar phenomenon..."

"It's indeed spectacular!"

Soon after humans entered the Star Realm, they discovered that various astronomical phenomena occurred frequently, seemingly without any pattern, and the causes behind most of these phenomena were impossible to study.

However, some astronomical phenomena yielded easily identifiable results.

For example, the phenomenon he was witnessing was called "Tears of the Stars." It was an exotic object falling into the Star Realm from another dimension, and upon landing, only its core remained, its radiance diminished, making it difficult to locate.

Finding the Tears of the Stars could lead to a windfall.

This was because the Tears of the Stars was an expansion exotic item. Super mutants or strong beings of the fourth rank and above who absorbed it could fuse with one additional exotic species.

Its effect was similar to that of a life spirit seed, but its value was more than ten times greater! A mutant could only use one life spirit seed in their lifetime but could use three Tears of the Stars.

Super, Legendary, and Celestial.

Each time a being evolved to one of these tiers, they could use one Tear of the Stars. If they obtained a Tear of the Stars at each tier, they could fuse with three additional exotic species.

The extent of enhancement from three additional abilities was immense.

Moreover, the Tears of the Stars contained a vast amount of ether energy, which could be directly absorbed and converted into stellar power, leading to a short-term surge in strength.

The Star Realm Defense Council had established three leaderboards in the previous century: the "Global Ladder," the "Legendary List," and the "Celestial List." The "Celestial List" was the highest in terms of strength among the three, recording a total of 49 celestial mutants worldwide.

Almost every celestial being in the top 20 had absorbed three Tears of the Stars.

Although the Tears of the Stars was not a necessary factor in becoming a celestial being, its importance was evident in some aspects.

Its value was measured in the billions!

Ji Xinghuo gazed in the direction of the meteor, which had descended slightly as it flew by.

"The crash site shouldn't be more than a hundred kilometers away."

"There must be others in the Absolute Peak Valley who saw the meteor as well. If I want to go, I have to hurry and get there before them."

Once the Tears of the Stars landed, its radiance would diminish, and its size was small, roughly the size of a fist. However, its crash site could span an area of several hundred square kilometers.

Finding it would not be easy and relied purely on luck.

"Finding things is my forte, and I'm so close. I can't miss this opportunity."

Ji Xinghuo did not hesitate for long.

He quickly packed up his tent and set off immediately, traveling through the night toward the direction of the falling meteor.

After traveling for six or seven hours overnight, Ji Xinghuo had covered over ninety kilometers by daybreak, entering the range of the meteor's crash site.

However, others had arrived before him.

Ji Xinghuo detected two teams of mutants through his magnetic field senses. They were closer to the meteor's crash site and were running frenziedly toward it.

He did not want to encounter anyone, so he carefully avoided them.

"This place..."

Ji Xinghuo climbed to the top of a rocky peak and gazed at the endless mountains, suddenly feeling that the scenery before him was familiar.

"Have I been here before?"

As he continued on his way and looked into the distant sky, he spotted a small floating mountain that resembled a potato, and suddenly, he realized where he was.

He had been here with Ren Jie, the very place where they had discovered the ether sensitivity exotic species.

"Which means the Flood-level Stone Scythefiend is likely somewhere in this area." Ji Xinghuo's heart skipped a beat. He had intentionally avoided this area during his recent trip to the Absolute Peak Valley, not wanting to encounter the formidable Flood-level monster. Yet, here he was.

Ji Xinghuo felt that he didn't need to worry too much and started searching for the Tears of the Stars.

The range of his magnetic field senses was 800 meters.

With a simple calculation, the area he could sense was just over 2 square kilometers.

Within this range, he could clearly sense the magnetic fields, but there was one problem: the Tears of the Stars were stationary and very small.

Usually, when using his magnetic field senses, Ji Xinghuo would ignore stationary objects with small magnetic fields.

Otherwise, countless magnetic fields overlapping each other would create a snowy interference, making it difficult to discern anything after just a few glances.

"I'll just have to take it slow," Ji Xinghuo thought to himself.

He adjusted his perception and, upon arriving at a new location, carefully observed all the magnetic fields, big and small, within his range of senses.

Although this method greatly reduced his efficiency, it was still hundreds or even thousands of times faster than what others could achieve.

For an entire morning, Ji Xinghuo searched an area of about 10 square kilometers.

However, he found nothing.

More and more Exotics arrived, including hunting teams, solitary hunters, Star Realm exploration groups, and even mercenaries.

Everyone was searching for the Tears of the Stars, combing the area inch by inch.

At first, Ji Xinghuo was able to avoid others using his magnetic field senses, but as the afternoon wore on, he encountered other searchers every two or three kilometers, making it impossible to steer clear of them all.

Fortunately, everyone was focused on finding the exotic object, and no conflicts arose.

Ji Xinghuo searched relentlessly for over forty hours, scanning nearly 50 square kilometers with his magnetic field senses, but he did not discover the Tears of the Stars. This intense search left him exhausted, both physically and mentally, and he had no choice but to temporarily retreat from the area to rest for a few hours.

The next day, he got up before dawn to continue his quest.

He searched until noon and finally sat down to rest under a tree. With his magnetic field senses, he detected two groups of people: one on the mountain and the other in the valley.

"So many people..." Ji Xinghuo shook his head helplessly.

At this rate, within three days, all the hunting teams in Absolute Peak Valley would arrive.

Although the valley was usually not crowded, with people scattered across the nearly 50,000 square kilometers of mountains, when they all gathered, there would still be a thousand or two thousand hunters.

Moreover, news of the Tears of the Stars would soon spread back to Olympia.

By the day after tomorrow, the first batch of hunting teams with flying mounts would arrive, and the number of people would increase day by day, reducing his chances of obtaining the Tears of the Stars.

As he was thinking about this, Ji Xinghuo suddenly turned his head to look east, toward Olympia.

Several dark shadows appeared on the horizon.

"So soon?" Ji Xinghuo was taken aback. Through his Thousand-Mile Star Pupils, he could make out the silhouettes in the sky.

They were three giant-beaked pterosaurs, the largest of which had a wingspan of over 15 meters. It had a disproportionately large, sharp beak, and its wings ended in sharp claws. It flew at a rapid speed, and on its back sat three to four people.

Accompanying the pterosaurs were other flying creatures.

There were five hawks, divided into two types: the wind-riding hawks with a wingspan of about three meters, and the smaller crimson-eyed condors.

In addition, there were two incredibly handsome silver-winged pegasi, each wearing specially crafted barding, with a fully armed Exotic rider on their backs.

A large group of blood crows surrounded one of the pegasi, accompanying their master in flight.

This flock of flying mounts glided over the trees and valleys, heading in their direction.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the pterosaurs and pegasi drew closer, a dense sound reverberated from below their position, causing the trees to shake and dust to fill the air.

Ji Xinghuo's magnetic field senses picked up a large group of monsters.

Ironback bears, Stone Scythefiends, Shadow Wolves, Poison Mist Spiders, Thousand Peak Retrievers, and more—there were at least five or six of each kind, and for some, there were even a dozen or more. They were all armed with human-crafted armor and weapons, right down to their teeth, forming a formidable monster legion.

A slight change came over Ji Xinghuo's face.

This was a hunting team from the Beast Garden Group, a very famous company.

The company built its hunting teams around tamers, with a fixed team size of twelve members. The team leader was always a super tamer, and the deputy leader was also a super Exotic.

The remaining ten members included three tamers, two trackers, and two rangers.

There was also one star torchbearer, one plant witch, and one white knight, responsible for healing and assisting the other members and their legion of battle pets in combat.

The biggest advantage of such hunting teams was their numbers. With four tamers and two trackers working together to control dozens of battle pets or even more, they resembled a sweeping legion. When they went out hunting, they did so in force, and almost no one dared to stand against them.

Ji Xinghuo had heard of them before.

Seeing the Beast Garden hunting team approaching, he quickly stepped aside to give way. Soon, the group of monsters rushed by a few hundred meters away, like a flood sweeping through the area.

Ji Xinghuo looked up at the sky and saw the two super Exotics riding on the silver-winged pegasi.

They were a man and a woman.

The woman, who appeared to be in her thirties, was the tamer leader of the hunting team. She had a delicate appearance and wore light armor, with a pure white parrot perched on her shoulder. Her cold gaze swept downward.

When she noticed Ji Xinghuo, she paused for a moment before moving on.

The man had his hair dyed a flamboyant purple and styled to look like flaming flames. He wore a stylish cape, and a long sword hung at his waist.

Ji Xinghuo noticed the ever-changing ether energy around him, constantly shifting into various colors like a dye vat, forming a rainbow around him that was invisible to the naked eye.

"He's a superconductorist!" Ji Xinghuo thought to himself.

This phenomenon of ether energy converging into a rainbow was consistent with the characteristics of a superconductorist, derived from their core ability, "Stellar Superconductivity."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end