My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 364: The War Begins?

“How much money is in this account?” Qi Yuan asked, looking at Zero-One.

As he studied the iron machine, he found her somewhat charming. Qi Yuan realized that this was because Zero-One had accessed the data here and undergone an evolution. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked him the strange question about what love was.

For a robot, evolution and awakening intelligence were similar but fundamentally different. The current Zero-One was entirely different from her previous self.

“I don’t know,” Zero-One shook her head.

Qi Yuan thought for a moment and understood. This was just an account and a password; they would need to access a banking system to figure out how much money it held.

Standing nearby, Ningtao asked curiously, “Could this be breakup money?”

In the mural, the male lead’s mother had offered a large sum to make the female lead leave.

“I don’t know,” Qi Yuan shook his head.

Right now, he found this account and password intriguing. It was a new system—one that wasn’t entirely technological nor completely mystical.

“This spaceship had only the woman in the coffin, so she’s technically the legal owner. Everything on this ship belongs to her. Wu Shi is her grandmother and legal guardian, so she has the authority to decide the distribution of assets. So, taking this account and password isn’t stealing, it’s not robbing—it’s my payment for eliminating the robbers!”

The "robbers" naturally referred to the Nascent Soul cultivators Qi Yuan had easily slain.

“Who agrees, and who disagrees?” Qi Yuan asked, looking at the remaining cultivators.

The Purple Mansion cultivator quickly responded, “I agree!”

“I agree!” Xie Tang also followed.

As for the lone, trembling Nascent Soul cultivator, he responded nervously, “I agree.”

He even handed over the Sky Eye he had obtained. “This belongs to Senior!”

By "Senior," he was referring to Qi Yuan, implying that everything in the relic was now his.

Seeing this, the Purple Mansion cultivator also handed over his Sky Eye.

“Fair,” Qi Yuan said calmly.

He valued peace and fairness. He and Ningtao had already taken the coffin. The remaining items should naturally be divided among the four remaining cultivators.

These four were quick to understand what Qi Yuan meant by “fairness” and immediately divided up the Sky Eyes. They did so quickly and evenly, even going so far as to split one Sky Eye into four parts to ensure complete fairness. None of them wanted to end up like the dead Nascent Soul cultivators.

…

“How can there be an 80-year-old cat?”

In the room, Xie Xinsu had a smug smile on her face, feeling triumphant. She dashed around the room, running back and forth.

“Hahaha, everyone’s gone, even that stupid robot Zero-One is gone!”

Wasn’t this her perfect opportunity? Time to escape!

“This owner is ridiculously lucky. Not only does he have me, the cutest cat in the mortal realm, but also the beautiful Canary as his wife, helping him step onto the path of immortality. He hasn’t aged at all—he’s probably a Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivator by now. But so what? Whether he’s Foundation Establishment or Golden Core, it’s time for this cat to rise up and take charge!”

Xie Xinsu smirked coldly, already fantasizing about escaping and finding the Xuantian Sect, where her junior sister and master would take revenge on her owner.

By then, she’d make sure Zero-One was filming everything. As for the owner? Heh, daring to pet her! From now on, it would be the cat petting the owner!

With these thoughts, Xie Xinsu leaped gracefully and twisted the door handle open. Strangely, before leaving, she felt a hint of reluctance. But the thought of petting her owner made her gleeful, and she left without hesitation.

The room was now empty.

…

A few days later, on Cangxing.

A wild-haired man sat high in the clouds, his hair billowing in the wind, hiding countless black eyes. Suddenly, beams of light burst from the clouds, and the man let out a chilling howl that sounded like the wailing of ghosts.

The high-ranking nobles gathered in the grand hall below all wore grim expressions as they witnessed the scene. The terrifying figure in the clouds was a powerful being from the Myriad Demon Realm.

Currently, nine-tenths of Cangxing’s power lay in the hands of the Myriad Demon Realm. The king was merely a puppet.

A princess stood in a corner, watching the terrifying demon in the sky with deep dread in her eyes. Beside her stood a pale, frail man, staring at the terrifying figure in the sky with eyes full of hatred.

“The demons of the Demon Court are getting restless. War… is about to begin,” said the frail man, Fang Hun, who was also a demon. But unlike the Demon Court demons who controlled Cangxing, he belonged to the original inhabitants of the Myriad Demon Realm, who had been enslaved by the invading demons. His hatred for the Demon Court demons ran deep.

“Damn it, if war breaks out, the citizens of Cangxing will become nothing but cannon fodder!” The tall princess gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with frustration.

Although Cangxing had once gone to war with Gongxing, the new king’s policy had been to focus on recuperation and rebuilding. But if the Myriad Demon Realm demons incited war, it would be the innocent people of Cangxing who would suffer.

“They’ve always been barbaric, cold-blooded, and brutal!” Fang Hun spat.

When the ancestral demons vanished, the demons from the upper realms descended, establishing the Demon Court and enslaving the original demon inhabitants. Now, they were repeating the same tactics on Cangxing.

“Fang Hun, can’t your grandfather help us?” The princess turned to Fang Hun with a pleading look.

Fang Hun’s grandfather was a powerful cultivator, a force to be reckoned with.

“My… grandfather can’t do anything,” Fang Hun replied bitterly. If his grandfather could stop the Demon Court demons, they wouldn’t be living in secret realms, scraping by.

“Even your grandfather can’t help?” The princess was disheartened.

Just then, a strange sound echoed from the clouds.

The terrifying figure in the clouds suddenly shouted, “Blood will spill on Gongxing! Heaven and earth will dance! In one hundred days, war will begin!”

As his voice rang out, the other demons roared with excitement.

“War begins!”

“War begins!”

On Cangxing, the war factions echoed the cry, their voices filled with fanaticism.

“War!”

“War!”

“War!”

The sound spread like a tide, echoing through the city.

The princess watched in horror, as if she could already see broken spaceships and lands drenched in blood and fire.

War… was finally about to begin.

And the intelligence agents hidden on Cangxing, upon learning this news, felt as if the sky was falling.

Gongxing… was doomed.

The news soon reached Gongxing as well. The Seven Martial Star families and the royal family were immediately thrown into a state of panic.

Although Cangxing had supported Wu Gui in the past, that support had been limited.

Now, with war on the horizon, could Gongxing withstand it? Especially when rumors hinted that behind Cangxing stood a mighty and unmatched Myriad Demon Realm?

The Myriad Demon Realm was far stronger than the three realms of cultivation.

In the grand hall, the king sat at the head, and the heads of the Seven Martial Star families gathered together.

The last time all the Seven Martial Star heads gathered was to deal with Qi Yuan.

But now, the king had changed. The new king was the former Seventh Prince.

Nearly a hundred years had passed, yet the Seventh Prince still looked young and in his prime.

“Everyone, Cangxing has sent word. In one hundred days, war will begin,” the king said, his voice calm but with an underlying urgency.

“Cangxing’s power surpasses ours, and the Myriad Demon Realm behind them is shrouded in mystery. This war… will likely be brutal!”

“Hmph! Our Sky Eyes aren’t for show. If they dare come, we’ll make sure they don’t return!” one middle-aged patriarch said confidently, his face full of defiance.

Clearly, the Sky Eyes had given him great confidence.

“War—what more is there to say?”

“Right! War is inevitable. We must prepare for it and declare a nationwide wartime state!”

“Today’s Qin Yuan is not the Qin Yuan of the past!”

Facing the threat from Cangxing, the Seven Martial Star families of Qin Yuan chose to confront it head-on.

Even if the Myriad Demon Realm was strong, they believed it couldn’t be that much stronger than the three realms.

With over a hundred Sky Eyes, they felt they could protect themselves.

“This matter must also be reported to that person,” the king said.

The room fell silent.

They all knew exactly who he was referring to—that person was not only the most solid pillar of Gongxing but also the sword hanging over their heads.

When Qin Yuan declared a wartime state, Qi Yuan had already entered the stronghold.

Or rather, at this moment, he was on the Black Sea.

To enter the Origin Land from the stronghold, one had to cross the Black Sea.

All the ships departing for the Origin Land from the strongholds were divided into twelve routes.

On the route Qi Yuan was taking, there were not many people on board, only about a hundred Martial Kings.

At that moment, Qi Yuan was lying on a recliner, looking completely relaxed and carefree.

Mu Yan approached with a smile on his face. “Brother Qi, you’re living quite the leisurely life.”

“Not really. To be honest, I feel a little sentimental,” Qi Yuan said casually.

He had a vague feeling that this game was nearing its end.

Once the game was over, he would face a great tribulation.

After overcoming that tribulation, he would go to the upper realm, meet Jin Li, and search for his master.

He felt sentimental.

Leaving this game would mean no more civil affairs bureau.

Once he met Jin Li and his master, there would be no way to get a marriage certificate.

“Leaving the world of deathly energy and heading to the Origin Land… To be honest, I’m also a bit reluctant,” Mu Yan said, his tone tinged with melancholy.

When they first entered the world of deathly energy, they completed tasks day and night, constantly struggling on the edge of life and death.

Now, entering the Origin Land meant the end of that chapter.

Once he became a Martial Lord, he would no longer be a pawn but a player.

“Where are your followers? Why aren’t they with you?” Qi Yuan asked casually, glancing at Mu Yan.

Mu Yan had been accompanied by several ancient martial peak Martial Kings, who were supposed to follow him to the Origin Land.

Mu Yan’s expression dimmed slightly. “They… didn’t make it. It’s my fault…”

This journey to the Origin Land was officially starting.

In fact, there had been many previous test voyages, during which routes were explored.

On one such voyage, many new martial peak Martial Kings were trapped in a certain location.

That place was extremely peculiar—new martial kings were weakened to the point that their combat power was less than one percent of normal, making them even weaker than Martial Spirits.

At that time, dozens of Martial Kings had been trapped.

Eventually, someone discovered that in that place, ancient martial cultivators were only weakened by half.

Afterward, an army of ancient martial cultivators was assembled to rescue the trapped group.

But even then, the ancient martial cultivators suffered heavy casualties.

Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan mused, “It reminds me of a train being stuck and having to ask the steam ancestor for help.”

Just then, a monkey-faced woman approached and said softly, “Brother Qi, Mu Yan is short on manpower right now. Why don’t you join him? If you follow him, when he reaches the Martial Lord realm, he might help you break through to Martial Lord too.”

Among the Martial Kings on the ship, there were typically two types:

One was those with the Martial Lord imprint, who would be granted a baptism of ancestral blood upon passing the trial in the Origin Land, allowing them to break through to the Martial Lord realm.

The other type was those like Qi Yuan, who lacked the Martial Lord imprint. Despite being strong peak Martial Kings, their future prospects were not as bright as those with the imprint.

“No need,” Qi Yuan smiled. “I’m used to being free.”

Mu Yan felt a little disappointed. “Brother Qi, if you help me, I’ll do everything I can to help you break through to the Martial Lord realm!”

Those heading to the Origin Land would undergo a hundred-day ancestral blood war.

During this time, Martial Lords would act as examiners, observing the participants’ performance.

Those who performed well would be granted more ancestral blood.

Different levels and quantities of ancestral blood represented different potential for them.

Qi Yuan listened to Mu Yan’s words, then lazily replied, “I want to become a Spiritual Martial Lord. Can you help me achieve that?”

Mu Yan was stunned.

Spiritual Martial Lord? He had never heard of such a term.

“I’ve never heard of that before,” Mu Yan admitted, “so I can’t promise I can help you.”

He was an honest man.

Qi Yuan said nothing more.

Becoming a Spiritual Martial Lord was still a mystery to him.

Even the Thunder Lord and others in the Origin Land had yet to discover any information about the Spiritual Martial Lord.

It remained a puzzle.

The monkey-faced woman felt a pang of sympathy as she glanced at Qi Yuan. She was about to say something when Mu Yan led her away.

Once they were below deck, the monkey-faced woman couldn’t help but comment, “Qi Yuan doesn’t know what he’s missing. Mu Yan, with your talent, you’re bound to become a great Martial Lord one day! If he misses this chance, he won’t even get to see you again in the future.”

Mu Yan’s talent was indeed outstanding.

In fact, among the Martial Kings on this ship, his talent ranked in the top three.

Across all the Martial Kings heading to the Origin Land, his talent ranked in the top thirty.

“Sigh, everyone has their own path. There’s no need to force them. After all we’ve been through in the Mountain and Sea Scrolls, after all the life-and-death situations we’ve faced, we should have already learned to let go of everything,” Mu Yan said.

The monkey-faced woman, seeing his demeanor, didn’t press the matter further. Instead, she said, “Mu Yan, I heard that your ancestor will be one of the examiners for this ancestral blood war. Do you think you could ask him to look out for me?”

Her tone was humble.

There would be thirty-six examiners for this ancestral blood war, three of whom were the main examiners.

Mu Yan’s bloodline ancestor was a great Martial Lord and one of the chief examiners.

If an examiner offered their help, even if a participant didn’t perform well, they could still be marked as “excellent.”

“I can’t promise anything. Everyone has to rely on their own performance,” Mu Yan replied.

He didn’t want to get too entangled with the monkey-faced woman.

Meanwhile, Qi Yuan lay on his recliner, gazing at the sky and occasionally glancing at the Black Sea. Countless streams of information were flowing through his mind.

“This place is quite interesting, filled with traces of time. Our ship seems to be sailing against time, traveling from the present to the past, along the shores of the river of time. It’s the perfect place for Canary.”

Canary’s divine domain was closely tied to time.

Bringing Canary here to comprehend the mysteries of time might allow her to rapidly increase her strength.