38: Arrived at the Chaotic Star Sea! Is this the graveyard of body cultivators?

Half a month later.

The sea god finally arrived at its destination—Star City of the Chaotic Star Sea.

This was a super city built on a massive floating island, surrounded by countless satellite islands like scattered stars.

Countless flying boats rose and fell, shimmering with light; its prosperity far exceeded the capital of the Human Realm by ten thousand times.

But beneath this prosperity, a more naked law of the jungle was hidden.

Gu Yang carried all his belongings (mainly the remaining dried grilled squid and that ten thousand soldiers sphere) as he stepped off the sea god.

As soon as he landed, he felt strange looks from all around.

"Look at that wild man, covered in muscles without any spiritual energy fluctuations. Probably some big, dumb Body Cultivator."

"Hehe, Body Cultivators are good; they can take a beating. The 'Slave Arena' is short on stock right now; a big guy like that could sell for a good price."

A few shifty-looking Cultivators whispered in the shadows, their eyes unfriendly.

Gu Yang frowned slightly.

In the Human Realm, he was the Marquis who Guards the Nation, but here, he seemed to have become... merchandise?

"It seems Body Cultivators don't have it too well here."

He didn't bother with these small fry and headed straight for the city's marketplace.

The priority was to find out the specific situation regarding the Giant Spirit Sect ruins.

Tower of Know-It-Alls.

"What? An entry fee of fifty thousand Spirit Stones?!"

Gu Yang slapped the counter, the force making the shopkeeper's teacup jump.

"Why don't you just rob me?!"

The shopkeeper glanced at him, unperturbed, and spoke slowly:

"Guest, these are the Giant Spirit Sect ruins, which contain the Opportunity for Nascent Soul formation. Fifty thousand Spirit Stones is just the ticket price, and it's enforced by the Three Major Sects together. Without a 'Giant Spirit Token,' even if you were a Golden Core Old Ancestor, you'd still have to pay."

"Of course, if you're a Body Cultivator..."

The shopkeeper sized Gu Yang up and down with a hint of mockery, "Then don't even think about it. These days, Body Cultivator is synonymous with cannon fodder; going in is just seeking death."

Gu Yang felt his pocket, which only had a few thousand Spirit Stones left (having spent most of it on the boat ticket and food), and felt a bit of a headache.

A single penny can stump a hero.

Would he have to go back to his old trade, robbing people or performing in the Beast Arena?

But Star City was a big place after all, with quite a few Nascent Soul Old Monsters; being too high-profile could easily get him killed.

Gu Yang walked out of the Tower of Know-It-Alls dejectedly, wandering aimlessly through the messy Lower City.

This was a gathering place for Loose Cultivators and low-level Cultivators, filled with the smell of sweat and metal.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A rhythmic sound of blacksmithing caught his attention.

The sound was dull and powerful, not like Artifact Refining using magic power, but more like pure physical hammering.

Gu Yang followed the sound into a dilapidated blacksmith shop.

Heat waves rolled through the shop where a one-armed old man, his muscles knotted like gnarled tree roots, was bare-chested, swinging a large iron hammer and striking a piece of red-hot Profound Iron.

He didn't use a hint of spiritual energy; with every strike, the Profound Iron deformed, and sparks flew everywhere.

Pure strength!

Moreover, Gu Yang could sense that although the old man's blood and Qi were declining, there was an overbearing aura in his bones that shared the same source as his own.

"Good hammer technique."

Gu Yang couldn't help but praise.

The old man paused, raised his cloudy eyes to look at Gu Yang, and said coldly:

"Not doing business, get lost."

Gu Yang wasn't annoyed; he put down the ten thousand soldiers sphere from his shoulder and pointed at the large iron ball:

"I'm not buying anything. I want to borrow your furnace to reforge this thing."

"By the way, do you know how to enter the Giant Spirit Sect ruins without spending money?"

Hearing the words 'Giant Spirit Sect,' the old man's pupils suddenly contracted.

He stared intently at Gu Yang, his gaze like a knife scraping over Gu Yang's glazed red skin.

"You're a Body Cultivator? And... you've already reached the Physical Body Foundation Establishment Perfection?"

The old man's voice was raspy, tinged with disbelief, "In this day and age, there are still fools practicing this dead-end path?"

"Dead-end path?"

Gu Yang grinned, picked up a piece of discarded Fine Gold Ore nearby, and pinched a finger-print into it like it was clay.

"I don't think it's a dead-end path. I think this path... is quite wide."

The old man looked at the finger-print and remained silent for a long time.

Suddenly, he threw down his hammer and rummaged through a messy pile of junk, pulling out an ancient fragment of a green stone tablet.

"I can take you into the ruins."

"I know an abandoned secret passage that can bypass the blockade of the Three Major Sects."

"In exchange, you must help me retrieve something from the depths of the ruins—the Giant Spirit Sect's Legacy stone tablet, the 'Giant Spirit Mountain Moving Art'!"

"I am a descendant of an outcast of the Giant Spirit Sect; I want to take back what belongs to my ancestors."

"Deal."

Gu Yang agreed readily.

"But before that..."

He pointed at the Earth-Fire Furnace, "Can you help me refine an artifact first? This sphere of mine is a bit light; I want to add some 'ingredients'."

Gu Yang took out the half-section of the heavenly demons severed finger from his robe (though the energy was sucked dry, the bone was a god-demon level material, indestructible).

"Melt this into it."

The old man took one look at the severed finger, his hand shook, and he almost fell to his knees.

"This... what level of bone is this?! Even Earth-Fire can't melt it!"

"It's fine, I'll blow the fire."

Gu Yang took a deep breath, fully activating his Wind and Thunder Lungs and Blazing Fire Golden Body.

Whoosh—

A blast of True Fire, containing the aura of an exotic flame, was spat into the furnace.