This ma.s.sive mountain was most likely the aforementioned Huge Starry Mountain, so An Lin's target was made quite clear—find the Stardust Fruit!
An Lin flew slowly around the mountain as he a.s.sessed his surroundings. He was in no hurry to travel directly to the summit as there was no guarantee that the Stardust Fruit would be found at the peak of the mountain.
Rocks, cliffs, mounds… Everything on this ma.s.sive mountain was completely pitch black in color. It was exactly because of this that all the white specks of light on the mountain appeared so dazzling and eye-catching in comparison. It was as if the mountain were the night sky and the specks of light were the beautiful stars s.h.i.+ning in the night.
An Lin descended upon one of the specks of white light to find that the white light existed within the rocky surface of the mountain.
The black rock was semi-transparent, thereby allowing the white light to s.h.i.+ne through.
He was a little curious about what they were, so he pulled out his Evil-Slaying Sword before plowing through the black rock.
After a long while, he finally managed to reach the substance that was emanating the white light. This was a white, glowing powder, which reminded him of fluorescent powder.
An Lin used the Divine Inspection Technique on the powder, immediately following which a string of information appeared within his mind.
Star Essence—a substance created from the energy of the stars absorbed by the Huge Starry Mountain.
The description was a very concise one. There was no further information, such as the effect of the powder or anything like that.
An Lin thought about it for a moment before collecting some Star Essence in case it would be useful sometime in the future.
After flying for a while longer, he saw a patch of ground in the distance that was protruding slightly and emanating a bright, white light.
"Huh? That Star Essence looks quite bright!" An Lin exclaimed in amazement.
However, after drawing a bit closer and getting a better look at the source of the light, his eyes abruptly widened as if he had seen a ghost.
This was a creature that was about half the size of a grown man with a round, golden body that had about a dozen angular protrusions. The creature had a pair of feelers that appeared to be acting as its feet, and its entire body glowed with a faint light, as if it were an actual star in the sky…
This wasn't some Star Essence, this was a f*cking living star!
Xue Zhantian was also staring at the creature with shock on its face. "Holy sh*t! Who would have thought that my dream of plucking a star from the sky could be achieved so soon! Let me capture this star!"
An Lin: "…"
Xue Zhantian had already thrown itself at the star before An Lin had a chance to reply.
Two particularly bright spots suddenly appeared on the living star, which was presumably its eyes. Its two eyes instantly focused on Xue Zhantian as it let loose a surprised yelp before throwing itself at Xue Zhantian. The method through which it attacked was remarkably similar to Xue Zhantian's, in that they both used their bodies as rams!
Boom!
A blue streak of light crashed into the golden streak of light to create an extremely powerful explosion of energy, which caused the mountain in a radius of over a thousand feet to collapse.
The golden star was knocked back a few steps, and its body swayed slightly, having clearly come out second best after that collision. However, it was unwilling to accept defeat, and it let loose a war cry before cras.h.i.+ng toward Xue Zhantian again.
Boom boom boom…
A series of collisions ensued, thus triggering a series of explosive shockwaves.
Xue Zhantian was the leader of the snow soul beasts as well as an extremely powerful beast at the pinnacle of True Power Stage. In contrast, the golden star was quite a bit weaker, so it collapsed onto the ground while panting like a fish out of water after just a few collisions.
Xue Zhantian chortled with glee as it manifested a small hand from its wings before plucking the golden star from the ground, which it then carried to An Lin with a triumphant expression. "Hehe, care for a little star, Master? I've plucked it for you!"
An Lin's lips twitched slightly, but he still nodded. "Thanks!"
He carried the golden star in his hand and appraised it with a curious gaze.
The golden star had been knocked to the brink of unconsciousness by Xue Zhantian, so it was completely unable to resist An Lin.
The star was warm and soft to the touch, as if it were a giant eraser. A light, fluorescent glow emanated from its body. The light was very gentle and quite pleasing to the eye.
There were two duck-like webbed feet that were attached to its body by a pair of feelers. There were also three particularly bright spots of light, two of which were its eyes while the third one was its mouth.
"Patrick Star? Is that you?" An Lin asked.
Golden star: "???"
An Lin felt like this should one of the Star Beasts Emperor Ziwei had mentioned before. He had initially thought that the Star Beasts would be some sort of extremely fearsome and ruthless creature, but after seeing one now… that didn't really appear to be the case.
"Release me at once! The stars will deliver judgment on you if you dare to harm me!" A light, neutral voice suddenly sounded, and An Lin almost dropped the star in shock.
The Star Beast just spoke in the Ancient Man Language!
"Are you a Star Beast?" An Lin asked with curiosity on his face.
"I am a member of the mighty Starry Sky Tribe! Release me at once, you idiotic human! Otherwise, you will be rammed to death by countless stars!" the star yelled with rage.
"Oh." An Lin nodded before letting the star go.
The star faltered slightly before blinking its eyes with a vacant expression. It clearly wasn't expecting An Lin to react in the way he did.
He released me just like that?
It cleared its throat to compose itself before continuing in a calm voice, "It's good to see that you know your place and are fearful of our Starry Sky Tribe. I'll let you go just this once out of the kindness of my heart."
An Lin nodded with an earnest expression. "You're right! I just want to ask if you know anything about the Stardust Fruit?"
"Stardust Fruit? You're trying to steal the Stardust Fruit?! That is the holy treasure of our tribe, which grows on the Stardust Tree at the summit of this mountain! You'll be slain on sight by my fellow tribe members if you dare to approach it! I won't tell you anything about it no matter what!" The star gave an extremely animated response.
An Lin's lips twitched upon hearing this. Didn't the star just reveal all the information he wanted to know?
So the Stardust Fruit really was at the summit of the Huge Starry Mountain…
Nice!
"Hehe, I don't believe you! How strong are the members of your tribe? They can't kill me!" An Lin sneered coldly.
"Hmph! My tribe is the guardian of the Stardust Tree, among which there are over a hundred Star Beasts more powerful than myself! There are even about a dozen of them with strength that rival that white furball's! You still say they can't kill you now?!" The star harrumphed coldly as it looked down at An Lin with contempt.
An Lin was very satisfied with the star's reply.
He didn't think that it would be so easy to swindle the star into giving him all the information he wanted. A sense of superiority from interacting with someone with an inferior IQ began to well up in his heart…
This star appeared to possess combat prowess comparable to a Soul Formation Initial Stage or Soul Formation Intermediate Stage cultivator. Which meant that there were over a hundred Soul Formation Initial Stage or Soul Formation Intermediate Stage stars, among which about a dozen were at the Soul Formation Pinnacle Stage. Such a formidable lineup might well be enough to kill him.
He had to think of a plan.
Wait!
An Lin's eyes lit up when he suddenly thought of the Illusionary Star Robe that Emperor Ziwei had given him prior to entering this realm. Apparently, the robe had extremely potent camouflage and concealment abilities that would allow him to escape the detection of the Star Beasts. Wasn't this a perfect opportunity to use the robe right now?!
With this in mind, he pulled out the Illusionary Star Robe from his storage ring. This was a black robe with specks of stardust s.h.i.+ning on the material, giving it a mysterious appearance.
An Lin donned the Illusionary Star Robe to find that it fit him perfectly! The black material coupled with the specks of stardust was almost identical to the appearance of the surface of the Huge Starry Mountain, thereby making it the perfect camouflage.
"So I advise you to leave here as soon as possible and refrain from your original plan…" The star turned to An Lin as it spoke before its pupils contracted drastically, and its mouth gaped open in shock. "Where did he go?"
"Holy f*ck! I told you to leave, but did you have to be so obedient and depart instantly?!" the star cried out in shock.
An Lin stood still before the star, feeling a little dumbstruck himself.
An Lin: "…"
