It wasn't long before the Celestial Vulture landed atop a densely wooded mountain peak. Evan Chu and Blazefire Immortal Lord dismounted and surveyed their surroundings. Evan said:
"This place is pretty good—quiet and secluded, no one will disturb me. Blazefire, if you have nothing urgent, you can return to the Martial Spirit Dominion for now. Come find me here about ten days before the auction."
Blazefire Immortal Lord looked at Evan Chu, full of confusion, and said, "I'd better stay here with you. What if you leave and I can't find you? Besides, if I just go back like this, the Dominion Lord will definitely blame me. So forget trying to drive me away."
Evan Chu wanted to send Blazefire away mainly because he didn't want him seeing his flying sword techniques, but this guy just wouldn't leave no matter what—there was nothing he could do.
"Fine, then just wait somewhere nearby. When I'm cultivating, I don't want anyone bothering me." Evan Chu shot Blazefire Immortal Lord a look and said.
Blazefire Immortal Lord hesitated, then walked away without another word. He knew Evan obviously didn't want him seeing his cultivation techniques—anyone with that kind of strength must have some powerful skills.
Evan Chu picked a fairly flat boulder and sat down. He began circulating the Chaos Immortal Force inside his body. After several cycles, night had already fallen, and stars filled the sky.
Looking up at the stars, Evan Chu smiled and said, "It's finally time to try absorbing Stellar Power again."
He closed his eyes again and slowly began drawing in Stellar Power. After about half an hour, faint points of starlight appeared on Evan Chu's body—very weak, but they were definitely there.
A long-lost feeling welled up in Evan Chu's heart. Back then, he'd climbed the mountain every night to absorb Stellar Power, and unexpectedly met Luna—the sword spirit who changed his entire life. Even though he carried the fate of reincarnation, without her help, he could never have come this far.
From a distance, Blazefire Immortal Lord watched Evan Chu's every move. He knew about absorbing Stellar Power, but in his opinion, the stars were way too far off—the little power you could get wasn't worth much, not even close to directly pulling Immortal Essence out of the air.
He couldn't figure out why Evan would pick this spot just to absorb Stellar Power. It was weird, but he didn't dare ask. All he could do was quietly watch from the sidelines.
The moment Stellar Power entered Evan's body, it was instantly transformed by his Chaos Immortal Force. But the power was so faint, it barely made a dent in his strength. Evan realized this right away—the limitation was obvious.
If you really want to borrow the power of the stars, you have to connect with them directly. But right now, all Evan could do was meditate, slowly sense that distant energy, and draw it in bit by bit. Actually communicating with the stars was a whole different level—way out of reach for now.
Everything's tough at the start, Evan reminded himself. Once he found the 'doorway,' a single moment of insight could be worth days—or even years—of regular training. No point rushing it.
He let the starlight rain down on his body, carefully controlling how much he absorbed, and used his divine sense to feel out the nature of Stellar Power. All he could sense was that it was vague, almost unreal—hard to pin down, impossible to really grasp.
He spent the whole night absorbing, but got nothing special out of it. If anything, by morning he felt clear-headed and refreshed, not tired at all. Evan stretched and got to his feet.
Blazefire Immortal Lord came over, looking completely baffled. "Lin, what are you doing absorbing that useless Stellar Power? You really think it's stronger than Immortal Essence?"
Evan just smiled and didn't answer, leaving Blazefire even more anxious. After a while, Evan changed the subject: "Blazefire, what kind of magic treasure do you use? Show me how it works."
"Magic treasure? Why do you want to see mine? I went through hell to get it—you aren't trying to scam me, are you? I'm not falling for that!" Blazefire shot back.
Evan rolled his eyes. "Who wants your magic treasure? I just want to see how you use it. You really think I'd be interested in some worthless artifact? You're seriously underestimating me." He couldn't help but think Blazefire was way too cautious—his treasure must be something special.
"Why do you want to see me use my magic treasure? Don't tell me you don't have one yourself?" Blazefire asked, suddenly suspicious.
Evan shrugged. "I've only been in the Immortal Realm a few years—where would I get a magic treasure? I just want to see how you use yours, what kind of requirements there are. You're an Immortal Lord, right? You must have tons of experience with treasures. I need to learn a thing or two to break through my own cultivation."
Blazefire nodded. "Alright, I'll show you my treasure. It cost me twenty supreme-grade Immortal Stones—took me years to save up for it. You know, those twenty stones took me hundreds of years to gather."
Evan blinked in surprise. "It took you that long just to save up twenty supreme-grade Immortal Stones? Then wouldn't a single Immortal Crystal take five hundred years to get?" He was shocked—he hadn't realized Immortal Stones were so rare in the Immortal Realm.
Blazefire snorted. "Immortal Crystals? Even if I saved for a thousand years, I might not get one. The currency here is Purple Gold Coins, Water Gold Coins, and low-grade Immortal Stones."
Mid-grade Immortal Stones are almost never used in trade—people keep them for their own cultivation. Unless it's a huge auction where you need tons of stones, you won't see them at all. In the Immortal Realm, Immortal Stones are seriously precious," Blazefire added.
Right then, Evan finally understood how valuable Immortal Stones really were. His own stash was basically enough to rival a kingdom. He grinned—at the upcoming auction, he could finally go wild and buy anything he wanted.
Blazefire pulled out a square, red box. "Don't underestimate this thing—even a mid-stage Immortal Lord can't handle a single blow from it. It's called the Skyvault Flame Box, a top-tier magic treasure."
Evan glanced at the box in Blazefire's hand. "So, does this thing have something inside that can actually hurt someone?"