Chapter 650: Nebula Barrier

Chapter 650: Nebula Barrier

Xiao Ze suddenly paused in thought. According to legend, the Stellar Emperor didn't acquire the Heart of the Stars at the nine star Dou Saint stage but rather before reaching the Dou Saint stage. Legends also describe how the Stellar Emperor effortlessly broke through the Dou Saint realm, as easily as eating and drinking.

Does this mean that the Stellar Emperor had an extremely rare opportunity to seize the Heart of the Stars from a nine star Dou Saint who obtained but did not use it? Xiao Ze shook his head at this thought, leaning towards another speculation. The rise of the Stellar Emperor occurred in an ancient era when Dou Emperors were not yet extinct. Thus, it's more likely that the Stellar Emperor obtained the Heart of the Stars because of "my nine star Dou Saint father" or "my Dou Emperor ancestor."

Of course, facing such a treasure of heaven and earth, having a Dou Emperor father seems more plausible if it were a Dou Saint, they would have used it themselves. However, to align with the legend that the Stellar Emperor advanced to Dou Saint with the help of the Heart of the Stars, "Dou Emperor father" conflicts with the story since the advancement of direct descendants of a Dou Emperor, given their powerful lineage, doesn't need any treasures to break through to Dou Saint. With an activated Dou Emperor lineage, advancing to Dou Saint is simpler than eating and drinking.

Xiao Ze's mind was filled with various wild ideas, but he then focused his attention on the present. With no danger apparent, his only concern now was how to obtain the Heart of the Stars. The reason Xiao Ze had time to ponder was because his Emperor level soul had yet to fully explore the situation.

He had yet to understand what exactly was the flickering light surrounding the Heart of the Stars. With treasures of this caliber that exist only in legend, there are no ancient texts to rely on. Even after scouring numerous ancient texts, Xiao Ze found no records. Such high level treasures are not simply grabbed and run. They're like the Earth Core Condensation Milk Xiao Ze once obtained if not handled correctly, they can be rendered useless.

Now, the seemingly fragile layer of flickering light completely blocked Xiao Ze's investigations. To his soul perception, it felt like entering a universe between his fingers. The Heart of the Stars was wrapped in what seemed like a nebula, shielding it layer by layer.

Xiao Ze's soul power extended for a long time but had yet to reach the Heart of the Stars itself. "If I don't break through this nebula barrier, I won't be able to get to the Heart of the Stars... But this seemingly thin nebula barrier feels like a universe in itself, with infinite space!"

"Destroying it could take decades!" Xiao Ze thought to himself, convinced that his soul perception was not delusory. If his body were to enter this nebula barrier, it would likely be just like his soul perceived an entire universe in itself.

"If I use the Primordial Emperor Flame to burn through, its power to annihilate everything could indeed speed up the process..." Yet, Xiao Ze hesitated. He didn't want to destroy this nebula barrier completely until absolutely necessary. Such a high level treasure is extremely difficult for the Dou Qi Continent to regenerate, perhaps this is the only one. If the Heart of the Stars could be extracted while preserving the nebula barrier, perhaps in tens of thousands of years, another Heart of the Stars might be nurtured within it. Destroying the nebula barrier might make it impossible to cultivate another Heart of the Stars in the future.

As an alchemist, Xiao Ze was very reluctant to see such a result, similar to how he handled the Earth Core Condensation Milk leaving some behind to continue nurturing rather than destroying the site entirely.

"Not until the last moment, I really don't want to use such a method." Xiao Ze pressed his brow, feeling a bit troubled. "If only I knew how the Stellar Emperor extracted the Heart of the Stars, but unfortunately..."

Xiao Ze sighed regretfully and then refocused on studying the nebula barrier. After days of research, he started to understand something. He noticed the nebula barrier was just enveloping the Heart of the Stars, constantly channeling massive stellar forces. But between the nebula barrier and the stellar barrier he had broken, there was a lengthy gap devoid of any stellar force.

Xiao Ze didn't believe the nebula barrier had an infinite supply of stellar force to nourish the Heart of the Stars it must be drawing from the stellar barrier above. This process of drawing might just be the opportunity Xiao Ze was waiting for.

Realizing all this, Xiao Ze settled down to wait patiently for the right moment. Meanwhile, he chatted through the Origin Tree with Xun Er, Medusa, and others, telling them not to worry and to focus on their cultivation.

As Xiao Ze observed the Heart of the Stars within the nebula barrier, his gaze became contemplative, considering how to maximize the use of the Heart of the Stars. Then, naturally, his thoughts turned to Xun Er. With her tenfold feedback reward, his gains could be enormous!

While Xiao Ze was carefully planning, half a year flew by. During this time, Xiao Ze fully developed the Saintly Heart Glazed Pill recipe using the Heart of the Stars as the main ingredient, and it was highly successful. Just as he was feeling joyful, the soul power he focused on the nebula barrier was suddenly disturbed.

Without a second thought, Xiao Ze used spatial displacement to move his body outside the stellar barrier. The gap between the nebula and the stellar barriers gave Xiao Ze a lot of speculation, always feeling that the barrier didn't appear out of nowhere.

Now, with time to look at the Heart of the Stars, he saw the outer nebula barrier pulsing like a beating heart, suddenly exploding outward. In an instant, like a massive explosion, the nebula spread rapidly to the stellar barrier. Xiao Ze quickly used his soul power to control the fragments of stellar force around him, plugging the hole.

Then, in Xiao Ze's perception, the spreading nebula harshly scraped a layer off the stellar barrier, absorbing an infinite amount of stellar force. "It seems this is the process of the nebula barrier drawing stellar force."

Xiao Ze's focus was now on the central Heart of the Stars. Seeing the core of the nebula around the Heart of the Stars, Xiao Ze smiled slightly, realizing his opportunity had arrived.

(End of Chapter 650)

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