Chapter 31  : Chapter 031: Eccentric Stars

The crowd had grown accustomed to Yang Zhen’s peculiar behavior; had he suddenly started playing by the rules, they might have felt uncomfortable.

Zhang Zongjin, lying on the ground with a brooding, dispirited expression on his face, was too busy pondering why he had been defeated to even respond to Yang Zhen. He didn’t so much as blink when Yang Zhen pried the secret manual from his arms.

Watching Yang Zhen thoroughly examine the Martial Skill manual inside and out, as if checking its authenticity, left everyone feeling a chill down their spine. They all resolved that they would rather risk their lives fighting a Great Sect disciple like Zhang Zongjin than provoke a freak like Yang Zhen.

Among the people present, the majority were Rogue Practitioners or disciples from small sects. Disciples of Great Sects had always monopolized the prime spots around the Wisdom Stone, much to their quiet resentment. The news of Yang Zhen’s defeat of Zhang Zongjin did surprise them, but they soon moved on, speculating that others might soon challenge the status quo. However, that was a conversation for another day.

Everyone was intrigued by what insights Yang Zhen might glean from the Wisdom Stone. After all, he was the first disciple of a minor sect to have an opportunity to closely study it.

They were all too familiar with Yang Zhen’s freakish abilities. If he managed to grasp spiritual or even heaven-level Cultivation Methods and Martial Skills, wouldn’t that be a hefty slap in the face for the Great Sect disciples?

With this thought, some of the onlookers began to regard Yang Zhen with newfound eagerness.

Despite Yang Zhen’s audacity, he consistently seemed to trouble those stronger than him, while being reasonably amicable with those less powerful.

The truth was, Yang Zhen wasn’t amicable towards these people; he just didn t consider them worth his time because they were poor. One could only wonder what they would think if they realized this.

It wasn’t until Yang Zhen had verified the manual and sat down in Zhang Zongjin’s former spot that the onlookers snapped out of their reverie. Princess Changyang looked at Yang Zhen with an incredulous expression and asked, “Are you… alright?”

Hearing this, Zhang Zongjin spurted yet another mouthful of fresh blood. Shouldn’t she have been asking him that instead?

A group of people surrounding them watched Zhang Zongjin with schadenfreude, silently commiserating with his misfortune for having crossed paths with Yang Zhen, a beastly figure.

Yang Zhen grimaced at his wounds and replied, “It hurts a bit!”

Chuckles echoed.

Princess Changyang just couldn’t suppress her laughter and chided, “That’s what you get for showing off.”

After saying this, Princess Changyang shot Yang Zhen a gaze and sat back down because she hadn’t been able to comprehend the Wisdom Stone yet.

Her laughter startled the surrounding crowd, leaving them utterly transfixed.

For a moment, they were rather envious of Yang Zhen.

“If I were as powerful as Yang Zhen, I’d show off, too! After all, he’s not only beaten a Great Sect disciple to a pulp and vented his grievances, he’s also acquired a Heaven-level Martial Skill. Most importantly he’s even managed to get a laugh out of Princess Changyang. As they say, if you compare yourself to others… Well, better stop comparing.”

The onlookers watched Yang Zhen and Princess Changyang with a hint of envy before they eventually chose a spot to sit and resumed their attempts to comprehend the Wisdom Stone.

Zhang Zongjin was helped up by his fellow disciples. After settling down, he glared at Yang Zhen, but Yang Zhen paid him no attention.

Indeed, Yang Zhen was ignoring Zhang Zongjin and disciples from his sect. As soon as he sat down, he felt as though he had entered a different world.

Boom!

Yang Zhen’s Spirit Soul wavered as he experienced a dizzying sensation. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a world full of stars.

Yang Zhen’s eyes widened in comprehension, knowing that he was within the Wisdom Stone’s internal world, although he wasn’t sure if everyone else experienced the same environment.

He was amazed by the vividness of the world within the Wisdom Stone. The endless expanse of the starry sky felt incredibly real. Rather than rushing to comprehend its contents, Yang Zhen started running around this world. Countless stars twinkled all around him, each one a distant celestial body. They seemed light-years away, yet he felt like he could almost reach out and touch them.

Yang Zhen ran for a long time but could not find the edge of this universe. Even the ground under his feet mirrored the endless expanse of the heavenly bodies around him.

Once he was sure he wasn’t going to find the edge of this world, Yang Zhen sat cross-legged in a random spot and started quietly absorbing the surrounding ‘aura’.

As time went by, astonishment increasingly displayed on Yang Zhen’s face. Each of the stars here were somehow individual insights, yet in the cosmic world of stars, a practitioner throughout his life could only choose one star. Looking at the myriad twinkling stars, Yang Zhen found it a bit challenging. There were numerous bright spots, not less than eighty, maybe even a hundred thousand, and the brightest stars weren’t necessarily the best insights; this made it a bit hard to choose.

-If I’d known, I would’ve asked Princess Changyang how to make the choice!” Yang Zhen felt regret, as if it had something to do with luck, talent didn’t hold too much value here.

Was he to just random pick one?

Yang Zhen rubbed his chin, pondering carefully. His eyes lit up, he rubbed his hands, wiping them clean, and with the utmost serious expression, he scrutinized the bright star above him. Displaying the most earnest demeanor, he slowly lifted a finger.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,” he chanted.

Following his finger, a star so weak it was almost extinguishing appeared in front of him.

Looking at this unimpressive star, Yang Zhen exhibited a solemn expression, nodding to himself, he muttered, “Hmm, although it looks quite weak, it might be different from those flashy ones out there, it might actually represent an extremely powerful martial skill or cultivation method… Oh, forget it, it’s just too unappealing!”

Yang Zhen shook his head, discarding this unrealistic idea.

What kind of joke was this? Would something that looked unappealing be good on the inside?

Whoever goes to buy groceries picks the rotten ones?

Just then, a terrifying radiance descended from the sky, almost blinding Yang Zhen. After his initial shock, he squinted his eyes towards the direction from which the light had come.

Having discerned the object, Yang Zhen’s eyes sparked joy, he jumped up suddenly, slapping his thigh, he declared, “This is it!

A celestial sphere, countless times larger than the dazzling starlets, descended from the sky. It was protruding with a long tail, as if deliberately provoking Yang Zhen, flashing a blinding light, it darted past him.

Without any delay, Yang Zhen bolted after it. His feet erupted with a cloud of smoke whilst he dashed towards the celestial object, riding on it were hke a launching cannonball.

All the quiet blinking stars surrounding him were dormant, only this one was restless, irresistibly like a Halley’s Comet, flashing a burning light, agitating, it scurried around. Normal this was not, none would believe.

Next to the Stele of Enlightenment, everyone seemed to sense something, they suddenly opened their eyes, simultaneously looking at Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen’s body slowly flickered with mottled light spots, like numerous little fairies dancing around him.

This bizarre phenomenon was startling to the onlookers.

“What the hell did this guy perceive?”

‘■Never seen such a situation before, has he perceived something exceptional?” All the practitioners looked at each other in confusion, not sure what was going on. Only Su Qingyu’s body shook, looking at Yang Zhen, her eyes filled with horror.

At that moment, a silent wave of energy emanated from the Stele of Enlightenment, spreading rapidly in all directions, in the blink of an eye, it engulfed everyone.

“I… I can’t see!”

“Is anyone there, what happened, where am I?”

“What the hell is this place, why it is so dark?”

Voices filled with panic and confusion grew louder. A jolt ran through Yang Zhen’s body.. He looked up at the endless sky, his expression complex: “This looks like trouble!”