Nine massive stars surrounded a nebula, which resembled a universe or endless stars, forming a celestial body.
Standing before that mural, people seem like a speck of dust, so small and powerless.
Legend has it that the Immortal Realm has nine heavens and ten earths. The nine heavens refer to the nine directions in the universe, and the ten earths refer to the world beyond the nine heavens.
Although Long Chen was well-read in the academy's classics, he did not have a correct understanding of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, because the records of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths all originated from legends and were only mentioned in unofficial histories and miscellaneous accounts.
Some orthodox inherited texts do not record legends of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, as they lack evidence and cannot be told arbitrarily.
Legend has it that the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths represent the entire world. Within the Nine Heavens, there are a hundred domains and a thousand provinces, which can be understood as the real world.
The Ten Earths are the world behind the Nine Heavens. Previously, Long Chen had read this record but couldn't understand it, but seeing this star map today, he immediately understood and blurted it out, believing these were the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
The nine stars were enormous, surrounding the enormous orb of light. The divine light emitted by the clusters illuminated the nine stars, but behind each star was a huge shadow—a place the divine light could not reach.
Where there is light, there must be darkness. Long Chen finally understood why the Ten Earths are said to be the world behind the Nine Heavens.
"No, there should be ten Earths. Behind these nine stars, there can only be nine Earths." Long Chen quickly felt confused again.
However, as Long Chen looked down along the star map, his heart skipped a beat. He saw another mural: in the mural, a man stood in the night sky, seven stars swirling behind him, space twisting and collapsing in large areas, as if the whole world was about to collapse because of him.
Judging by his build, it was a long-haired man. His arms were spread wide, and countless spots seemed to cover them. It seemed as if he had absorbed the endless power of heaven and earth. Though it was just a scene, one could feel the domineering aura of soaring from heaven to earth.
"Seven-Star Battle Body" Long Chen's
heart raced wildly when he saw the man. He was certain that this man was the Nine-Star successor, and the one using it was definitely the Seven-Star Battle Body.
The pattern was very simple, but with just a few strokes, it could depict the invincible dominance emanating that person. That feeling was very familiar to Long Chen.
Looking further down, Long Chen saw another painting: a person prostrating himself on the ground, worshipping the Nine Star successor.
In the next painting, the Nine-Star successor disappeared, leaving only the worshiper. He sat cross-legged in the void, countless stars swirling around him. In his dantian, two stars swirled in the shape of yin-yang fish.
"I understand. This person is the Star River Saint Lord. His Star River Sky Technique originates from the Nine-Star Overlord Body Technique.
However, cultivating the Nine-Star Overlord Body Technique requires no dantian, so this person took a different approach, condensing yin-yang power within his dantian to counteract the impact of the star's force, preventing the star's power from killing him.
It's just unclear whether he was taught by the Nine Star successors or inspired to create the Galaxy Sky Technique. Long Chen wondered to himself.
Long Chen thought he must have been quite inspired. Since that person could worship the Nine Star successor, he must have benefited from it. Their relationship was definitely extraordinary.
The Nine-Star Overlord Body Technique could never be passed on to outsiders; teaching it to others would be like killing them, so Long Chen rejected this possibility.
Looking further down, they found that the mural had no other content. It seemed very likely left by the Star River Sage Lord, used to record the origin of the Galaxy Sect.
Long Chen hurriedly looked at the second mural, and just as Long Chen had expected, the second mural depicted the process of the Star River Patriarch creating the Galaxy Sky Technique based on the Nine Star Overlord Body Technique.
The mural is concise, painted by the same person as the first painting, featuring numerous star charts that look extremely messy, like children's doodles—outsiders simply can't understand it.
But Long Chen watched with amazement. The Galaxy Saint Lord's imagination and calculation ability were astonishing. He actually divided the operation of the Seven-Star Battle Body into tens of thousands of steps, then pieced them together bit by bit.
Throughout the process, the Star River Saint Lord failed countless times, nearly being shattered, but ultimately developed the Galaxy Sky Technique and became the founder of the sect.
At the very bottom of the second mural was a row of ancient characters. Long Chen couldn't fully recognize them—some were third-generation Jiuli Immortal Scripts, while others were obscure and difficult to understand. Long Chen suspected they were very likely second-generation Jiuli Immortal Scripts.
He skipped over unfamiliar words and pondered them several times, but could only grasp a small part of their meaning.
Basically, this Star River Saint Lord created the Galaxy Sky Technique, his body covered in Dao wounds, and he died not long after. His senior disciple, Li Xinghe, was the one he founded the Galaxy Sect.
Li Xinghe is not his real name, but out of gratitude for his master's teachings, he changed his name to Xinghe and is known as the Star River Saint Lord. He lives in his master's name, founded the Galaxy Sect to carry on his master's legacy, and this statue is his master.
Reading this, Long Chen nodded silently. Such a disciple was so grateful—he was truly a figure.
Having also received the master's favor, this guy from Great Brahma is nothing but a beast that deceives his master and ancestors.
The text also recorded that although the Star River Saint Lord created the Star River Firmament Technique, it had many flaws. Its power was far inferior to the true Seven-Star Battle Body, and it could not trigger the celestial phenomenon. It was not recognized by the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, so even before dying, he could not let go.
Long Chen couldn't help but sigh. This Star River Saint Lord was truly a prodigy, but unfortunately, he was not a Nine-Star successor. Such was fate. To be able to create the Galaxy Sky Technique based on the Seven-Star Battle Body was already a grandmaster of his generation, and equally admirable.
Li Xinghe, taking his master as a deity, founded the Xinghe Sect and carried it forward, showing deep loyalty and admiration. Unfortunately, the Xinghe Sect was destroyed just like that.
After looking at the two diagrams, Long Chen learned about the origin of the Galaxy Sect and the birth process of the Galaxy Sky Technique, then revisited the images drawn by the Star River Holy Lord.
Among these shapes, countless were discarded by him because they were impossible to fully grasp. But for Long Chen, many whimsical ideas were refreshing to him.
His legacy was incomplete, and when gathering the six-star battle body, he made changes, deviating from the original path. The future path would have to be laid by himself. These ideas have greatly helped him.
After looking at the patterns for a while, Long Chen looked at the Nine-Star Heir. When he saw the spots on his arms, his heart suddenly began to pound wildly.
Thunder and lightning flashed in his mind, and his face lit up with ecstatic joy: I have thought, I have thought, I can now wield the power of the divine fire.