71: Chapter 71 Encountering a Star Ape on the Way, Engaging in a Fierce Battle and Obtaining a Strange Gold

The journey to the Inheritance Hall was stranger than expected.

Ye Qing piloted the Wind Spirit Wings, flying low above the Star Forest.

The metallic strange trees below were becoming increasingly bizarre; some branches were entangled into giant nest-like shapes, while others were twisted into altar-like forms, their surface star patterns flickering with light, like breathing.

The star source essence in the air was so thick it had almost condensed into tangible mist, carrying a cold, sharp sensation.

In the distance, the faint aftermath of spell battles and the roars of Yao Beasts could be heard; clearly, the depths of the Secret Realm were still lively.

Ye Qing ignored them and, following the map's guidance, proceeded along a relatively hidden route.

After flying for about half an hour, a broken canyon appeared ahead.

The canyon was bottomless, and the cliff walls on both sides were covered with honeycomb-like holes, within which faint star light flickered, emitting alluring fluctuations of star source essence.

The map marked this place as the "Star Marrow Ore Vein," and there were traces of mining by ancient Cultivators.

Ye Qing's heart stirred, and he lowered his flight speed, landing on the edge of the canyon.

With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he could clearly sense that deep within the holes of the cliff walls, there were high-quality star-type Ores; although not as good as Star Marrow Iron, they were numerous.

"I will collect some along the way to enrich my space's mineral reserves, and they can also be used for Artifact Refining practice."

Just as he was about to start, he suddenly frowned.

From the depths of the canyon, a violent, fierce Demonic Qi carrying star source essence surged up abruptly!

Immediately following, a huge black shadow soared from the bottom of the valley, bringing with it a whistling gale!

It was a giant ape nearly three zhang tall, its body covered in dark silver, metal-like fur!

The giant ape had golden-red eyes, exposed fangs, and exceptionally long arms that hung below its knees, its fingertips as sharp as hooks, gleaming with cold starlight. Its muscles were bulging, and it exuded a terrifying Demonic Qi at the Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage, even faintly touching the threshold of the Golden Core!

"A Star Meteor Demon Ape? And a mutated one at that? Judging by this aura, it likely has the strength of a False Core! Is this actually its nest?"

Ye Qing's gaze sharpened. The Star Meteor Demon Ape was a rare star-attribute Yao Beast; it was immensely strong, possessed a formidable Physical Body, and could manipulate star source essence, making it extremely difficult to deal with. The one before him had an aura far exceeding the ordinary, clearly a variant nourished by this Ore vein.

The giant ape clearly regarded Ye Qing as an intruder; its golden-red eyes locked onto Ye Qing, and it opened its bloody maw, letting out a deafening roar!

The sound waves were tangible, carrying star debris, and transformed into a visible silver ripple that swept over instantly; wherever it passed, the air twisted, and the rocky ground shattered inch by inch!

"Roar—!"

Ye Qing did not dodge or evade; he stepped forward with his right foot, and his Chaos spiritual power exploded, condensing into a thick Chaos Spirit Shield in front of him, flowing with points of starlight.

The ripple slammed into the Spirit Shield, erupting with a harsh roar.

The Spirit Shield vibrated violently, the star points on its surface flickering, but it held firm.

Ye Qing's figure did not move at all.

Seeing this, the giant ape's golden-red eyes gleamed with even fiercer light; its thick hind legs kicked the ground violently, and its massive body shot up like a cannonball. Its arms spread open, its sharp claws tearing through the air, bringing ten silver claw beams several zhang long, enveloping the space around Ye Qing!

Before the claw beams arrived, the peerlessly sharp star aura already made his skin sting.

"Good, come on!"

Battle Intent flashed in Ye Qing's eyes; this was his first full-power strike since reaching the Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage, and it was the perfect time to test his moves on this beast.

He stopped defending, raised his right hand, clenched his five fingers into a fist, and the Chaos spiritual power, star source essence, and Void Realm power within his body surged and converged. On his fist, a miniature star phantom burning with Chaos star flames condensed abruptly.

"Hunxu Star-Shattering Fist, first form, Star Collapse!"

He threw a punch, unadorned, directly meeting the sky full of claw beams.

As the punch was thrown, wind and thunder followed, and ripples in the Void Realm rippled. The Chaos star flame star left his hand, swelled against the wind, instantly becoming the size of a millstone, and collided heavily with the ten silver claw beams!

Boom!!!!

An earth-shattering explosion erupted above the canyon!

The silver light shattered, and star flames splashed everywhere.

The violent shockwave caused the cliff walls on both sides to shake, sending gravel falling, and smoke billowed in the canyon below.

The giant ape let out a miserable howl, its massive body knocked backward, several of its sharp claws snapped, its dark silver fur charred, and shock appeared in its eyes.

It clearly had not expected that this seemingly unremarkable Human Race Cultivator would possess such terrifying strength!

Ye Qing did not let up; his figure flickered as he activated Void Step, appearing instantly in front of the giant ape's backward trajectory. He pointed his left hand like a sword, a brilliant star point condensing at his fingertip, and the surrounding Void Realm twisted faintly.

"Void Star Finger, Star Erosion."

With a single point, the star light was silent, yet it carried a terrifying essence of erosion and annihilation, pointing at the center of the giant ape's brow.

The giant ape roared wildly, hurriedly opening its mouth to spew a condensed silver beam of light, attempting to block it.

However, the moment the star light made contact with the beam, it did not explode; instead, like a drop of water into hot oil, it instantly eroded a hole through the beam, its momentum undiminished as it sank into the giant ape's forehead.

Chi.

With a soft sound, a thumb-sized charred hole appeared at the center of the giant ape's brow, with star flames burning at the edges.

The giant ape's body stiffened abruptly, the light in its golden-red eyes quickly dimming and dissipating, and its massive body fell into the canyon like a collapsing mountain of gold and jade, splashing up dust into the sky.

The False Core-level Star Meteor Demon Ape was dead.

The battle lasted no more than five breaths from start to finish.

Ye Qing stood in the air, his breath steady, having a clearer understanding of his Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage strength.

"The combination of the Hunxu Star-Shattering Fist and the Void Star Finger is indeed astonishing in power. Combined with the power of the star source essence, I should have no rivals among those of the same stage. Even a typical Early Stage Golden Core Cultivator might suffer if caught off guard."

He nodded with satisfaction, floated down, and came to the side of the giant ape's corpse.

He first collected its corpse and Yao core into the space's waste area, then removed the snapped sharp claws, as well as a palm-sized, silver, star-shaped strange bone piece from the giant ape's chest; this object was called "Star Ape Heart Bone" and was an excellent material for refining star-attribute defensive Magic Treasures.

After clearing the battlefield, Ye Qing cast his gaze toward the star-flickering holes in the cliff wall.

Probing with his Divine Sense, he quickly found, deep within one of the larger holes, an Ore the size of a human head, silver-gray all over, with a natural miniature star map formed on its surface, emitting thick star source essence Qi.

"star pattern steel jade mother Ore? Such a big piece! And the quality is extremely high, close to Star Marrow Iron! No wonder it could nourish a False Core-level Star Meteor Demon Ape."

He dug out this mother Ore; it was heavy and cold to the touch, with pure star source essence.

He also collected all the other high-quality star pattern steel jade Ores in the nearby holes, totaling several hundred jin.

He collected everything into his space.

The space sent back joyful fluctuations, absorbing and digesting them rapidly.

The feedback energy rolled in, continuously consolidating his Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage cultivation and accumulating the foundation for breaking through to the Golden Core.

The canyon returned to silence.

Just as Ye Qing was about to leave, his gaze swept over where the giant ape had fallen, and he suddenly paused.

There, a shallow pit had been created by the giant ape's body, and in the mud at the bottom of the pit, a corner of a dark blue object, neither metal nor stone, was exposed.

He brushed away the mud, and the object revealed its full appearance.

It was actually a dark blue stone slab, about a foot long, a palm wide, and about an inch thick.

The edges of the stone slab were neat, clearly polished. The front was engraved with a few lines of twisted ancient characters and a simple route map.

Ye Qing did not recognize the characters, but the route map made his heart stir.

At the center of the map was a towering palace, which was seven or eight tenths similar in outline to the "Inheritance Hall" marked on the ancient palace map. Several dashed lines extended from the palace, pointing in different directions; at the end of one of the dashed lines, a star was drawn, and next to it were a few small characters. Ye Qing managed to identify them; it seemed to be "Star... Source... Pool"?

"Star Source Pool? Could it be another special location in the Secret Realm containing star source essence? Is this stone slab a guide left behind by ancient Cultivators?"

Ye Qing picked up the stone slab and sensed it carefully. The material of the stone slab was ordinary and had no spiritual power, but the carvings were ancient, clearly dating back a long time.

"Another potential target. It seems this Secret Realm is even more complex than the map indicates. The Inheritance Hall is the main target, but if this 'Star Source Pool' really exists, it might also be a great Opportunity."

He memorized the contents of the stone slab and put the slab itself away.

Without further delay, he piloted the Wind Spirit Wings and continued to speed toward the Inheritance Hall.

Within his body, the four-hundred-and-fifty-zhang cave heaven, due to the newly acquired Star Meteor Demon Ape corpse and the large amount of star pattern steel jade, sent back a satisfied throb, continuously feeding back pure and vast Hunxu spiritual power.

The star core hung high, shedding endless starlight, nourishing all things.

His Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage Dao foundation, in such an environment, became increasingly thick and solid, steadily advancing toward the ethereal Golden Core Dao.