Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Black Hole Realm!

In the quiet chamber of the Stone Palace, Yang Ye sat cross-legged and, after bringing his body and mind to their finest condition, took a black bead from his storage ring and swallowed it.

Beside him, Long Xiaoqing widened her eyes, watching him with anxious anticipation.

The butler Mu remained as composed as ever. “Miss, please rest assured. Young Master’s physical body has been tempered to a sufficiently strong degree. He will be fine.”

Only then did Long Xiaoqing relax.

A moment later, immense power erupted within Yang Ye’s abdomen.

Inside his star sea, the golden light of his sunlike star flared as its rotation accelerated, madly devouring the energy released by the bead.

Gradually, Yang Ye’s flesh and skin swelled, and blue veins rose sharply beneath the surface.

The vast energy coursed through his meridians. As he endured the swelling pain throughout his body, he could even hear a faint rustling, like a whisper of wind.

At this time, not only his star sea but also his physical body was absorbing energy at extreme speed. Every cell in his body had entered its most active state and was undergoing transformation.

Yang Ye’s advancement process was entirely different from that of Zhou Hun, Mao Li, and the others.

About half an hour later, the flesh and skin all over Yang Ye’s body slowly shriveled, and a layer of epidermis peeled away to reveal a fresh, blood-red new skin.

By then, the power of one energy bead had been completely absorbed.

Within the star sea, after consuming such a great amount of energy, the sunlike star had not expanded; instead, it had shrunk by one-fifth, and its structure had become even more tightly condensed.

“Mu Butler, Xiaoqing, I feel the energy is still a little insufficient. And there is something strange in my heart, as though... if I advance now, I’ll miss something.”

After opening his eyes, Yang Ye frowned and said.

The power of a single energy bead was enough to transform his sunlike star, but Yang Ye felt it was still not enough.

Without sufficient energy, he would certainly advance, but there were still four energy beads left.

“Young Master, no one knows your own cultivation better than you do. In this situation, this old servant cannot offer any useful advice,” Mu Butler said calmly.

“True.” Yang Ye nodded, and without hesitation took another energy bead from his storage ring and swallowed it.

As the energy was absorbed, the changes in Yang Ye’s body were the same as before.

Having already gone through it once, he now found the process less painful.

This time, the absorption was even faster.

That was because his physical body had already transformed, his internal meridians were broader, and the star within his star sea absorbed energy with greater speed as well.

“Still not enough!”

After absorbing the second energy bead, Yang Ye shook his head.

Next, Yang Ye took out a third...

Twenty minutes later, a fourth.

Another fifteen minutes passed, and the fifth energy bead was absorbed by Yang Ye.

Still, the energy was not enough. Yang Ye always felt that he was missing just a little more.

At this moment, not only Long Xiaoqing, but even Mu Butler showed a trace of surprise in his eyes.

As Yang Ye felt regretful, Mu Butler extended his hand, and two blue crystals appeared in his palm. “Young Master, these Star River Crystals may be of use to you.”

With that, he tossed the two blue crystals, each larger than a thumb, to Yang Ye.

Yang Ye caught them in his hand.

He remembered them. These two crystals were the blue crystals that had flown out when Mu Butler had slain the guardian of the Land of the Rising Sun before, though these were much smaller.

Mu Butler added, “Young Master, these two Star River Crystals are of poor quality, but this old servant has already refined them. Together, the energy they contain should be roughly equal to that of a super-star level beast core.”

“Thank you, Mu Butler!”

Yang Ye said gratefully, crushed the two crystals, and swallowed them.

A moment later, after absorbing the two Star River Crystals, Yang Ye finally felt satisfied.

Then something astonishing happened.

Within the star sea, the sunlike star, now many times smaller than before and blazing with a fierce golden radiance, suddenly shrank at incredible speed until it became a tiny, pitch-black dot.

A thunderous rumble echoed.

The star sea shook violently.

Yang Ye could clearly feel that the barrier of his star sea had contracted by half in an instant!

Still, that was nothing. Yang Ye’s star sea was originally many times larger than those of ordinary cultivators. Even after shrinking by half, it remained far broader than theirs.

But now, the entire star sea had fallen into complete darkness.

“What is happening? Where is my star?”

Yang Ye was shocked, and the voice of his consciousness reverberated throughout the star sea.

At that moment, he could not feel the star’s existence at all.

He had never heard of such a phenomenon in cultivation.

Forcing himself to remain calm, he was just about to spread his consciousness across the entire star sea to search for the star that had shrunk beyond measure when, suddenly, the star sea lit up and turned a pale red.

Rumble...

The star sea trembled once more, and the barrier contracted by another half.

At the same time, a powerful force of attraction appeared at the very center of the star sea.

This was Yang Ye’s own star sea, and he could sense the immense pull, though it did not affect his consciousness.

A tiny black dot appeared and enlarged at astonishing speed.

In an instant, a “black sphere” several times larger than the former star appeared at the very center of Yang Ye’s star sea.

“No, this is no longer a star—it is... a black hole!”

Yang Ye’s astonished voice echoed through the star sea.

A black hole was the most terrifying existence in the universe, capable of devouring every star, endlessly and without limit.

“Bad! My star power!”

Yang Ye cried out and focused his will.

Soon, however, he relaxed, for under the control of his will, the black hole was actually releasing star power.

No, perhaps it could no longer be called star power...

Under the guidance of his consciousness, a vast amount of energy released by the black hole left the star sea and entered Yang Ye’s physical body.

The strange energy coursed through his body, causing every cell to undergo marvelous change.

At this moment, Yang Ye gave off an aura both mysterious and unsettling.

A long while later.

He let out a long breath and opened his eyes.

“Husband, what happened? Xiaoqing cannot sense the star within your body at all,” Long Xiaoqing asked with furrowed brows, her face full of worry.

Yang Ye shook his head. “I don’t know either. In my star sea, the star has actually transformed into a black hole.”

Then Yang Ye looked at Mu Butler and asked, “Mu Butler, do you know what is going on?”

Mu Butler shook his head. “This old servant has never encountered such a situation, so I do not know. However, human cultivators construct a star sea within the body and imitate the evolution of the cosmos. Anything that exists in the starry heavens can become a vessel for storing energy. A black hole is also one of the celestial forms in the universe. Therefore, Young Master need not worry too much.”

“That’s good!”

A great weight lifted from Yang Ye’s heart, and he smiled. “Then I’m not at the super-star realm anymore, but should be... at the black-hole realm!”