Stellar Transformations
chapter-57

“Milord, you have finally arrived. Of the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts’ first world beasts, this leader is called ‘Shou Yan’.”

A seductive woman with a figure-hugging white robe, stood respectfully at attention, her voice echoed in Qin Yu’s mind.

“Shou Yan?”

Qin Yu nodded: “I find the beasts of the Atlas’ first world to be quite weak. The Level of the Demons are all around seven, but level 9 Demon Divine Beasts seems to number around several hundred. Why is it like this?”

As the master of the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts, he still has deep understanding of the first layer world. Although he is unable to access the second and third layers of the Atlas.

In this first layer’s world, the weakest are the Level 7 Demon Divine Beasts and the strongest are Level 9 Demon Divine Beasts.

There are around two hundred to three hundred Level 9 Demons, while Level 8 and Level 7 are at least several hundred. Together there should be around a thousand. This discovery completely puzzles Qin Yu. He was unable to understand why the weakest Demon are at Level 7.

“Milord, back when we followed Immortal Emperor Ni Yang across all of the upper Realms: Demon, Immortal and Devil, in this first world had many Level 2 and Level 3 Divine Beasts. Since the Emperor’s death, many years has passed. Such a long time have passed, most of the beasts who had good aptitudes have already ascended into the second layer’s world as Demon Kings. The remaining…….we have poorer aptitudes.” Shou Yan answered with a voice laced in disappointment.

Qin Yu felt slightly startled.

He finally understood.

The Emperor had been dead for a very long time, long enough that the ascended ones have already become Demon Kings. This was why the first layer’s weakest inhabitants were Level 7 Demons.

“You are all the low end Demons? Could it be that……that in the second layer world, there a greater number of Beasts?” Qin Yu inquired.

Shou Yan’s mind deduced as such, “Milord does not know the status of the second layer world. Yes, that’s right, second layer world should definitely have more beasts than the first layer. Simply from the number of transfers from the first layer to the second layer, number over a thousand.”

Qin Yu was shocked.

This Atlas contains so many powerful creatures.

Isn’t Level 9 Demon Divine Beasts equivalent to 12th Tribulations Loose Demons? Then he has about 200-300 of those, and many more Level 8 and Level 7 Demon Divine Beasts. The enormity of it all only added to his rising delight.

“No wonder Man Gan, Ao Feng and the others was so desperate to acquire this Atlas. Since they were at the Demon King level, with the Atlas, they can open up to the second layer world. With that, they can control all the beasts up to and including the Demon Kings of the Atlas.” Following this train of thought gave Qin Yu quite a scare.

Even with one level 9 Golden Immortal Sword Puppet has made himself quite powerful, imagine an army of them!

If the others were to get the Atlas doesn’t that mean their forces would be bolstered by an army of Level 9 Demon Kings? So even if I had the Immortal Sword Puppet, I would not be able to obtain any of the treasures.

“Thankfully, I seized it.” He felt so much more relieved and secretly glad he decided to snatch it before the others.

He was not afraid that the beast may riot, because any changes in their hearts would instantly alert the master. And, with the slightest thought from the master, the offenders will immediately die.

If the Divine Beasts wish to regain their freedom, there are only two methods.

The first method is where the beast practices until the soul could be separated from the body, but it is almost impossible.

The second is where the…..master dies and kills their own beasts. But the previous master’s death, he did not kill all the beasts inside the Atlas. Sometimes the master was a foul, cruel and despicable being, who would kill their own beasts after their deaths.

After all, for the master to kill his own beasts only requires a single thought.

One thought, and the Divine Beasts will have their bodies and souls, destroyed and dispersed.

“Thankfully, the Immortal Emperor Ni Yang was a pretty good master, since when he died, he was not cruel, and he did not kill them all. If he did, I would need to catch a new batch myself. That would be a serious pain in the backside.” He felt very grateful to the previous master.

The Immortal Emperor Ni Yang did not kill the beasts after his death, but instead, he left them to be inherited by the next successor of the Atlas.

This same moment –––––––

A voice with indifference echoed in the second floor. It was an uncaring and ice cold voice, completely devoid of warmth, “To the people of the second floor of this Nine Heavens Palace. You must make haste to the third floor, failure will be counted as ‘give up’. You will be killed by the restrictive spells within the Nine Heavens.”

The sudden announcement made Qin Yu flinch with surprise, as the information bounced back and forth the hall. He quickly leapt towards the direction of the stairs upwards, making haste to the third floor.

Meanwhile, in the third floor of the Nine Heaveans. Man Gan and the seven other challengers stood at attention in front of the rear rooms. Each individual did not dare make the slightest movement towards the rear rooms, because barring the entrance was a thin, black youth.

The young man, swept his vision across the people standing in front of him. The challengers all felt like ants before a god, as if their very lives were completely at the mercy of the latter, and out of their control.

With light footsteps, Qin Yu follows Lan Feng into the great hall of the third floor.

The young man stood afar with an indifferent expression. The man’s face was deadpan like a rock, but the moment his eyes fell on Qin Yu, his lips twitched upwards slightly, smiled and nodded at the newcomer. When he saw the Sword Immortal Puppet, his expression changed to show moderate surprise.

“Kid, is this the External Life Embodiment Technique? No, it can’t be, you are too weak, but how can your External Life Embodiment body be so powerful? Truly a mystery, I don’t even feel his breath. Could it be…….?”

Within Qin Yu’s mind, the thin black youth’s voice rang forth.

The youth looked towards Qin Yu again, the expression in his eyes had changed: “Haha, I never thought….I could not have thought of it. If it were those two fools, they would not be able to see through the fiasco. Kid, originally I was unsatisfied that you would obtain the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts, but now……I am content!”

The young man’s smile blossomed like a rose in full bloom.

Hearing the words of this thin, black youth, made Qin Yu start but end up confusing him.

What does he mean?

Upon seeing the Immortal Sword Puppet, the young man felt perfectly satisfied that I am the new master of the Atlas of Ten Thousand. What the reason behind such a thought? Qin Yu could not find the answer to that one. But he could feel that this……thin, black man’s power was even more terrifying and unfathomable than his Immortal Sword Puppet.

“Okay, you nine have all arrived.” The young man stressed ‘nine’ heavily, while given a mirthful look at Qin Yu, and then faced everyone else with the same stone-face expression.

Qin Yu finally understood, this man had seen through the ‘veil’ of his Immortal Sword Puppet.

“Now, it is up to your individual capabilities. Here are 17 rooms, each room can be entered up to 3 times. You…..will be the first to start.” The thin, black man fixed his index finger in the direction of Hua Yan.

Hua Yan was hesitant to start.

In reality, no one want to go first, however when faced with the command of the black man, who could refuse?

“Yes, senior.” Hua Yan responds respectfully, but when he looked up at the young man, the man’s eyes had a glint of savageness like the murderous edge of a sword. Oddly enough, Hua Yan chose to face the Sword Spirit in the very first room, as though he was made to do so through the work of gods and demons.

In the first room, the Sword Spirit was restricted, by Emperor Ni Yang, to the maximum power of a Level 1 Golden Immortal.

“The first room? Hua Yan, are you an idiot?” Du Zhong Jun cried out.

Hua Yan sighed and rebuked bitterly: “The Immortal Emperor Ni Yang clearly dislikes Immortal Emissaries trespassing in his realm. I fear the power of the later rooms’ Sword Spirits are unsurmountable. I could not withstand them to save my life, so I can only try the first room.”

The thin, black man clapped dramatically and spoke flatly: “Clever. The Immortal Emperor Ni Yang disliked any trespassers from the Immortal Realm. When he died, he still had many disputes unresolved with your Emperor Yu. These grudges will not be forgiven that easily.”

Everyone else suddenly understood.

It turns out that Emperor Ni Yang’s death had something to do with Emperor Yu, and that was why he despised any Emissary from the latter.

“You Immortal Realm brat, the Emperor Ni Yang instructed me to enforce a 3 times difficulty increase for any Emissaries from the Immortal Realm. When you enter the first room, all 3 waves of the Sword Spirits will attack simultaneously, be very careful.” The young man actually revealed some of the secrets behind the difficulty Hua Yan would face in the first room.

Hua Yan was delighted with this revelation, immediately bowed deeply: “Thank you, senior.”

If the young man did not inform him of this piece of information, he would not be prepare for the 3 simultaneous waves of Sword Spirit. He would have died immediately on the spot.

“There no need to be so cautious. I’m feeling quite good today……..haha, I even need to thank Emperor Yu and the others, otherwise how else could have Immortal Emperor Ni Yang die. And, how else could the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts could have its current master?” The thin, black man beamed happily.

At one side, Qin Yu start to have misgivings about the young man.

It seems that this young man did not care too much about the death of Ni Yang.

“Then why do hurry up?” The thin, black man suddenly shouted with an icy and menacing tone, his previous smile was non-existent. Hearing this shout, everyone in the hall paled considerably, whilst their hearts shook with incomparable horror and quaked in their shoes. Whilst Hua Yan looked like drowned man, his face completely devoid of colour, and at the corner of his mouth a stream of blood spilled from his trembling lips.

“Yes, senior.” Hua Yan no longer dared to waste any more time, and immediately entered the first room.

In just a short while ––––––

A pale faced Hua Yan slowly staggered from the first room. Before he even entered the room, he was already seriously wounded by the young man’s shout. After that, he still had to withstand 3 consecutive waves of Sword Spirit, and to be able to survive was truly lucky.

“Your life force was pretty strong.” The thin, black, young man smiled, then waved one of his hands.

Soon, on one wall of the hall, the words: “Immortal Realm, Hua Yan, Level 0 completed”, appeared.

“The second one, Ao Feng.” The young man’s finger fell upon the standing Ao Feng.

Ao Feng bowed deeply: “Of course, senior.” And promptly enter the number 3 room, he was not too soon to forget how the icy shout from the young man had gravely injured Hua Yan. How could anyone rebuke?

From room number 3, a furious cry of a dragon echoed in the hall.

A moment later –––––––

Ao Feng walked from the room paled faced and his body had small streams of blood still present.

The young man waved again. This time the wall displayed under ‘Hua Yan’, “Dragon Clan, Ao Feng, Level 2 complete!”

Everyone in the hall wordlessly expelled a held up breathe.

Two people in a row had already survived, which meant that one cannot be too greedy. But could still enter the highest value room without putting too much pressure on their survival.

“Number three, Yu Liang.” The young man pointed at Yu Liang.

Yu Liang felt quite puzzled at this, how did this thin black man learn of his name? He did not ever talk to the man about himself.

But he buried his puzzlement into his heart, and remained respectful outwardly and replied: “Yes, senior.” And entered the number 2 room at once.

Yu Liang was just a 12th Tribulations Loose Demon, he originally wanted to use the number 1 room, but all the Sword Spirit was used up by Hua Yan. So he could only settle with the number 2 room.

Man Gan, Qin Yu and the others waited silently.

Who was nearest to the last person to go, would be able to accurately determine the best possible room to enter.

In a while, the door to the second room open and Yu Liang collapsed into the great hall. His clothes was in pieces, his body was spouting blood in rivulets. He was so gravely injured that he could not withhold his tidy appearance and looked very pitiful on the ground.

“Luckily it was just one Sword Spirit wave, and thankfully I have Top Grade Demon Equipment, else if there more than one wave, it would have been certain death.” Yu Liang shook and struggled to crawl from the room, his wounds had already started to recover.

The thin black man smiled and nodded, then waved again.

Under both Hua Yan and Ao Feng’s names, another appeared ––––– “Demon Clan, Yu Liang, Level 2 completed!”

“Next one is Man Gan!” The young man said lightly.

Man Gan face wore a constant smile, he was absolutely confident in his abilities. He bowed and said: “Of course, senior!” Then strode hastily to…..the number 7 room.

The number 7 room meant there would be one wave of a Level 7 Golden Immortal Sword Spirit.

Of course the 7th room would be incredibly powerful, but there was only one wave of Sword Spirit. If Man Gan were to use his final ace with his Low Grade Divine Class weapon, he still had some grasp over the perilous situation.

After all, the test was not to kill a Level 7 Sword Immortal, but simply to resist one wave of Level 7 Sword Spirit.

“What? The number 7 room!” Du Zhong Jun exclaimed and his expression dropped.

Both Man Gan and him were Level 1 Demon King (Devil King), but he – himself, has a very slim chance to pass the 7th room. He was not reckless enough to try the 7th room when he only has some chance of success in the 6th room.

Momentarily, a resonating roar erupted from the 7th room.

From the doorway of the 7th room, the huge frame of Man Gan walked proudly outwards. His body was covered in layers of flowing Spiritual Energy that exerted strong pressure in the surroundings. The thin black man waved, and a line of text appear on the wall ––––– “Demon Clan, Man Gan, Level 6 complete!”

Without warning –––––––

“There has already been four who have passed the rooms, and of them Hua Yan was placed last. Because in the end only three can enter the corresponding layers of the Nine Heavens. Hence…… Hua Yan must now leave Ni Yang’s Realm.” The thin black man announced moderately.

Everyone in the hall start with surprise and could only watch as the young man, with another wave, envelope the stunned Hua Yan in white light, in a moment……Hua Yan had vanished into thin before everyone’s eyes.

“Hua Yan has already been transported out of Ni Yang’s Realm. Man Gan, Ao Feng and Yu Liang are ranked top 3, you all are to enter the fourth floor lobby and wait. If anyone scores better than the lowest ranked, I will transport the lowest ranker out of Ni Yang’s Realm.”

With another wave: Man Gan, Ao Feng and Yu Liang disappeared from the hall of the third floor.

“Senior Ao Feng, you and I both have 2 points, who is second then?” Yu Liang asked Ao Feng politely. Their conversation could be heard clearly in the third floor.

Because, the distance between the fourth and third floors was only 5 to 6 metres.

“Ao Feng and Yu Liang may both have 2 points, but Ao Feng challenged a higher value room compared to Yu Liang. So naturally, Ao Feng is rank 2 and Yu Liang is rank 3.” The young man explained mildly. His voice was easily heard in the fourth floor as well.

The clear voice coming from the floor below made Ao Feng and Yu Liang start, and suddenly made them too afraid to speak.

Note – This chapter was originally translated by thunder at !