108: Ziwei Star

After being briefly favored by the Seven Mansions of Fire Virtue, Qing Wu and his companion arrived at the Eastern Mansions.

The Seven Mansions of the East govern Wood Virtue, and their starlight nourishes the eastern lands.

While practicing here, Qing Wu gained a significant amount.

He attained a deeper understanding of the operational rules of the Primordial World.

They already knew that to walk their own Path of Primordial Chaos within the Primordial World, they had to deeply comprehend the world itself.

Ever since Pangu opened the heavens and created the Primordial World, this boundless Star Domain has contained the most primitive Laws of the Great Dao.

Just as the Primordial World is a whole, the power of these mansions does not exist in isolation.

The East governs Wood, and its starlight nourishes all things. The South governs Fire, and its essence flames burn away Impurities. The West governs Gold, and its sharp edge cuts through delusions. The North governs Water Virtue, and its gentle moisture nourishes spirituality... The operational rules of the Zhou Tian Star Dou echo the trends of the mountains and rivers and the distribution of Spiritual Veins on the Primordial Land, together maintaining the balance of heaven and earth.

When his Divine Sense extended downward along the starlight, he could clearly see how this starlight permeated every inch of the eastern Primordial Land, how it catalyzed the growth of Spiritual Plants, and how it fed back into the heavens through the breathing of flora.

The ultimate truths of heaven and earth are often hidden within the inadvertent movements and changes of all things... Similarly, after a brief period of favor, the Seven Mansions of the East also departed from him.

Regarding this, Qing Wu did not try to force them to stay.

After all, the Zhou Tian Starry Sky has its own Laws of operation; for them to pause briefly for him was already a massive Opportunity.

Withdrawing their thoughts, the two headed toward the celestial body at the very center, surrounded by the stars.

That was the Zi Wei Star, also known as the North Star. It is the center of the Zhou Tian Starry Sky, the most noble, and is also called the Zi Wei Imperial Star.

What had always puzzled Qing Wu was that, as the most noble Imperial Star, he had never heard of the Zi Wei Star nurturing any Innate Sacred Being.

One must know that the equally noble Sun Star and Taiyin Star had both given birth to Innate Sacred Beings, and two at that.

Dijun and Taiyi of the Sun Star, and Xi He and Chang Xi of the Taiyin Star, were all outstanding figures among the Innate Sacred Beings.

The Zi Wei Star's ability to nurture stars should only be greater than those two, yet it produced no Innate Sacred Being; this was truly hard to justify.

Soon, Qing Wu and his companion approached the range of the Zi Wei Star and landed upon it without much hindrance.

They didn't even trigger any of the conventional stellar Restrictions.

Furthermore, Qing Wu had a feeling that some existence within the Zi Wei Star had deliberately lifted the Restrictions for them, which couldn't help but make him curious.

A silence hung over the Zi Wei Star.

When the two stepped onto the soil of this star, what they felt beneath their feet was not the cold touch of stardust, but a texture as warm and smooth as jade.

Looking around, the surface of the entire star was covered in mysterious patterns. These patterns were not formed naturally but looked like Dao inscriptions carved by some great power.

As the two strolled through, wisps of stellar light rippled out along those patterns.

Observing their arrangement, they perfectly matched the operational Laws of the Zhou Tian Starry Sky.

In the distance, on a flat star platform, several jade tables were placed, each engraved with a different constellation pattern.

In the center of the platform, an Armillary Sphere floated quietly. It seemed to have gone unused for too long, gradually weathering away and losing its original function.

As they went deeper into the interior of the Zi Wei Star, more and more traces indicated that this place once had a master.

"Look at this." Yuan Feng suddenly pointed toward a half-collapsed palace in the distance.

Although the palace was dilapidated, the Star Bells hanging from the eaves still emitted crisp sounds from time to time.

With every ring of the bell, the Zhou Tian Starry Sky would flicker slightly.

The two looked at each other.

Their guess was correct; the Zi Wei Star not only had a master, but this existence seemed to have left a long time ago and had not returned for ages.

At this moment, Qing Wu suddenly felt a wisp of Qi descend.

Rather than calling it Qi, it was more like a signal of affinity.

And the only thing that could send him such a signal of affinity was... a Supreme-Grade Acquired Spiritual Root.

Stepping forward and following the direction indicated by the Qi, they soon saw a tall Spiritual Root that resembled a giant pillar supporting the sky.

Its presence was visible at a single glance.

The reason they hadn't noticed it earlier was that this massive Spiritual Root had merged with its surroundings, causing one to instinctively overlook it.

Arriving beneath this Spiritual Root, Qing Wu and Yuan Feng stopped and looked up to see a giant tree standing tall, connecting heaven and earth.

Its main trunk pierced into the clouds like a celestial pillar, its entire body showing the deep color of the starry sky. The brilliance of billions of stars flowed over its bark, and every line of its texture looked like a winding galaxy.

The canopy spread out like a royal parasol, and among the branches hung three hundred and sixty-five crystal-clear Star Fruits. Each fruit corresponded to a primary star of the Zhou Tian, emitting a unique stellar glow.

This Spiritual Root was not static. Its branches and leaves expanded and contracted rhythmically, and every expansion drew the Zhou Tian Star Power to gather, forming a rotating nebula vortex above the canopy.

Needless to say, this was the Supreme-Grade Acquired Spiritual Root born on the Zi Wei Star—the Star Fruit Tree.

Yuan Feng concentrated and looked closely, discovering that the seemingly random swaying of the branches and leaves actually matched the trajectories of the stars, as if the entire tree were a miniature Zhou Tian Star Array.

Then, Yuan Feng raised her hand, signaling that it was time for Qing Wu to do his part.

Qing Wu took a step forward, and a drop of three lights divine water fell from his fingertip.

After absorbing it, the Star Fruit Tree immediately woke up, radiating streaks of starlight.

Qing Wu raised his eyes slightly, already feeling that this Star Fruit Tree was somewhat different.

He then reached out to stroke the trunk. A lustrous green light surfaced around him, and a wisp of mysterious Dao sound emanated from him.

Divine Ability—Qingmu Sound.

Sensing this melody, the branches and leaves of the Star Fruit Tree trembled slightly.

The star patterns on the trunk lit up one by one, creating a wonderful resonance with Qing Wu's Dao sound.

The hanging Star Fruits swayed slightly, scattering bits of starlight that wove into ancient Innate Dao patterns in the Void Realm.

The entire Spiritual Root seemed to awaken from a deep sleep, emitting an unprecedented vitality.

As the communication deepened, Qing Wu's Dao sound gradually changed, and the Star Fruit Tree's response became clearer.

Suddenly, Qing Wu was startled awake.

"You fellow, you've already developed a complete intelligence!"

"You can communicate normally, yet you still play this game. It's truly quite unnecessary."

Star Fruit Tree: "You didn't ask me. I thought you liked it this way."

Since they could communicate, everything became easy.

To find out what happened on the Zi Wei Star, he could just ask it directly.

The Star Fruit Tree did not hide anything and began to tell its tale.