Why did you provoke that old man? He's a reincarnation of a deity!

It was late at night, and the only sound outside could be a few sporadic barks from dogs.

Xiao Nian carefully sensed the spiritual energy in this world.

After a moment, he frowned slightly. The spiritual energy on Blue Star was thinner than he had imagined.

In his previous life, he traversed the universe, his footsteps covering billions of stars over a thousand years. He was naturally very familiar with the division of the cultivation environment. The stars and cultivators in the heavens were divided into five ranks, from highest to lowest: Immortal Spirit Star, Heavenly Spirit Star, Earthly Spirit Star, Mortal Spirit Star, and Desolate Star.

Blue Star, on the other hand, is among the lowest-ranking desolate stars.

The concentration of spiritual energy on such stars is almost insufficient to support any system of cultivation. Mortals may not even be able to sense the existence of spiritual energy in their entire lives, let alone embark on the path of immortality.

He had heard his master say that in ancient times, Earth was not like this. In ancient times, there was an earth-shattering war between gods and immortals that shattered this world, causing countless stars to fall and spiritual veins to collapse. Earth was one of those shattered.

He also heard that a powerful being had set up a heaven-sealing array on Earth, locking away all spiritual energy and silencing all spiritual veins.

If the core of that great formation can be found and opened, it may be possible to reactivate the spiritual energy of Blue Star.

In his previous life, after Xiao Nian cultivated to become a Golden Immortal, he returned to his hometown. He wanted to open his spiritual eye, but even after searching for a year using his great supernatural powers, he only found ruins; the other array eyes had already been destroyed.

Thinking of this, Xiao Nian opened her eyes. Having been reborn, this time, it wouldn't be too late! The most important thing right now was to regain the ability to protect herself.

He sat cross-legged and began to sort through his memories of cultivation from his previous life.

He was very familiar with the current cultivation system of Blue Star. Western magic was essentially the manipulation of the elemental forces in the world, such as fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, and so on.

Those mages, through their control of elemental forces, arranged and combined them to form various spells. This system relies less on spiritual energy and more on the affinity between mental power and the elements, which is why it flourished on Blue Star, where spiritual energy is scarce.

In the East, this land lacks spiritual energy, the path of immortality has almost vanished, and martial arts are utterly powerless against magic and advanced weaponry. The four major martial arts academies typically train students to switch to magic after reaching the Meridian Opening or Opening stage. However, many advanced spells and cultivation methods are controlled by foreign nations, resulting in the East's military power being long constrained by others.

Eastern martial arts now also have six realms: Body Tempering Martial Artist, Meridian Opening Martial Master, Meridian Opening Martial General, True Qi Martial King, Qi Transformation Martial Emperor, and Limit Breaking Martial Emperor.

Reaching the Limit Breaking Realm in martial arts is only equivalent to the late Foundation Establishment stage in immortal cultivation. In his previous life, Xiao Nian had cultivated to the Limit Breaking Realm before being taken away by True Person Kunlun.

However, in my memory, there were also scattered traditional cultivators in the East, who were called extraordinary people. At that time, most of these people stopped at the Qi Refining stage, and only a very few people were able to reach the Foundation Establishment stage or above through extraordinary skills. Zhang Tianshi of Longhu Mountain was one of them.

Xiao Nian's mind contained all the memories of a thousand years of cultivation. After searching, he discovered a special cultivation technique tailored for places with depleted spiritual energy—the [Zhou Tian Xing Dou Refining Immortal Technique].

The origin of this cultivation technique is also quite interesting. In his previous life, after he became a true immortal, he encountered a wandering immortal who ascended from Blue Star. That wandering immortal had mediocre talent but great fortune.

He had struggled through the universe for thousands of years before finally reaching the Golden Immortal realm. Seeking protection, he offered up this unique cultivation technique.

At that time, Xiao Nian was already at the peak of the True Immortal Realm, so this cultivation technique was not of much use to his cultivation level. He casually flipped through it and became somewhat curious.

This cultivation technique can draw upon the power of the stars in the heavens, using their spiritual energy to temper the physical body and nourish the soul. The power of the stars is omnipresent and unrestricted by the Heaven-Sealing Array, making it the best path for cultivating immortality on the desolate star.

He later learned that the "Zhou Tian Xing Dou Lian Xian Jue" was not created by that rogue immortal, but was an incomplete scroll, and was related to another true immortal, Bei Dou Zhen Jun.

He was a renowned figure in ancient times, and it is said that he has ascended to become a true god.

Over the long years, through a series of fortuitous events, he obtained the complete first volume of the "Zhou Tian Xing Dou Refining Immortal Technique." He had already mastered this technique by heart.

……

Phoenix Mountain, the highest point in Mizhou City, has a Taoist temple that has been abandoned for many years on its summit.

At an altitude of two thousand meters, it is the highest mountain range in the entire Mizhou Prefecture. More importantly, Xiao Nian remembered that there was a small branch of a spiritual vein underground in Phoenix Mountain, which was already the place with the most abundant spiritual energy within a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles in Mizhou.

Xiao Nian bought two bottles of Qi-restoring pills for thirty-two taels of silver. Taking advantage of the watcher's drowsiness, he secretly went to Phoenix Mountain with his cane.

His physical body was already failing; his blood and qi were depleted, his meridians were atrophied, and his muscles and bones were loose. He would collapse from exhaustion after walking only a few hundred meters on ordinary mountain roads.

Having cultivated immortality for many years, Xiao Nian is exceptionally sensitive to spiritual energy. Following the spiritual veins, the gentle spiritual energy continuously seeps into her skin.

If they could not continue, they would put the Peiyuan Pill into their mouths to replenish the qi and blood lost during the climb, stabilize their precarious vital energy, and prevent their elderly bodies from collapsing due to strenuous exercise.

The medicine could only replenish what was lost, but it could not reverse aging. The vitality of the mountain's spiritual veins made up for this. As he moved forward, he circulated the [Zhou Tian Xing Dou Refining Immortal Technique] and the [Nine Deaths Nirvana Technique].

The two heavenly-level techniques complement each other, constantly reshaping his aging physical body.

Xiao Nian was on the verge of exhaustion several times during his climb. His limbs were sore and his blood and qi were surging and about to dissipate. He was only kept up by his unwavering pursuit of the Dao over the years. He also used the Peiyuan Pill to suppress his blood and qi and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to prolong his life and restore his vitality.

The higher you go, the denser the spiritual energy becomes, and the stronger its nourishment to the body. In the later stages, you won't even need to take pills frequently, as the spiritual energy you absorb can offset most of the damage from climbing. Your aging body will become stronger and stronger as you climb.

When he reached the summit, Xiao Nian's beard and hair were still gray, but his complexion was becoming increasingly rosy and full.

It took Xiao Nian a full twenty hours to climb to the top of the mountain. When he reached the top, it was late at night. In the chaos of the world, the Taoist temple had been abandoned for a long time. The courtyard walls had collapsed and the roof was overgrown with weeds. Only the main hall was still intact.

Xiao Nian bypassed the Taoist temple and arrived at the edge of a cliff on the back mountain.

The view ahead of the cliff is expansive, offering a clear view of the entire city of Mizhou.

In the distance are rolling mountains, and nearby are scattered houses and crisscrossing streets.

Xiao Nian sat cross-legged on the flat bluestone, her clothes fluttering, facing east, her eyes closed in concentration.

In the early stages of traditional cultivation of immortality and Qi, there are three phases.

The first stage, the Spirit Awakening stage, involves sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, drawing the energy into the body, cleansing the pores of the entire body, and expelling acquired impurities.

The second stage is the meridian-opening stage, where spiritual energy circulates throughout the limbs and bones, opening up the twelve meridians and strengthening the physical body.

The third stage is the enlightenment period, which requires opening the eight extraordinary meridians and activating the dantian and qi sea, so that spiritual energy can form a closed loop in the body, thereby enabling a brief burst of speed and power far exceeding that of ordinary people.

Once these three stages are completed, one officially enters the early stage of Qi Refining. At that time, the strength of one's physical body is equivalent to that of a Qi Opening Martial Master, while Xiao Nian can be compared to a top-tier martial arts expert like a Qi Opening Martial General. There are only a dozen or so Qi Opening Martial Arts experts in the entire Jiangbei Province.

Reaching the Meridian Opening Realm is something that would take an ordinary person at least five years to cultivate day and night on a desolate planet like Blue Star. For Xiao Nian, whose blood and energy had long been depleted, reaching this realm would be virtually impossible for an ordinary person.

Xiao Nian possesses the [Zhou Tian Xing Dou Refining Immortal Technique], has a thousand years of cultivation experience from his previous life, and also has an extremely keen ability to sense the power of stars, so it is not difficult for him.

He looked up and glanced at the sky.

It was early morning, and most of the stars had already disappeared, but the morning star on the horizon was stubbornly shining. Xiao Nian had been to this planet before; it was the only planet in the solar system called Tianling Star.

As long as you cultivate in its direction, you can absorb the power of the stars the fastest.

"Heaven and earth are the furnace, the stars are the fire. I am the catalyst, drawing upon the power of the stars. The celestial constellations refine my true spirit..."

The moment he began to circulate the incantation of the "Zhou Tian Xing Dou Refining Immortal Technique," he keenly sensed a spiritual force slowly entering his body.

Xiao Nian was overjoyed. It worked!

So he hurriedly channeled his spiritual power into his entire body. His former status as a True Immortal allowed him to utilize spiritual energy at an extremely high rate.

Xiao Nian sat on the mountaintop for a full thirty days, from dawn to noon, from noon to dusk, and from dusk to late at night. When he was tired, he would close his eyes to rest, and when he woke up, he would continue his cultivation.

The power of the stars combined with the faint spiritual energy of Phoenix Mountain, though weak, was sufficient for the early stages of Qi Refining. Furthermore, with the assistance of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Refining Immortal Technique, his cultivation speed was many times faster than in his previous life.

Xiao Nian sat cross-legged on the bluestone, a faint halo of light flowing around him. It was a protective aura formed by spiritual energy, still very thin, but already taking shape.

"Hmm~?" Xiao Nian sensed someone approaching the mountaintop, suddenly opened her eyes, stood up and looked ahead.

Four people were standing on the mountain path below:

A young girl in a red exercise uniform is helping an elderly man in a tai chi uniform with gold trim.

On the right was a burly man as tall as an iron tower, and on the left was a slender man dressed in Taoist robes. The four of them were looking up at him.

Xiao Nian narrowed his eyes slightly, sizing up the four people in front of him.

The girl in the red practice clothes was sixteen years old, with a black mole at the corner of her eye, and was beautiful and charming.

She helped the elderly man, who was wearing a Tai Chi uniform with gold trim. The man had a dignified face, calm eyes, graying temples, and a straight back.

The burly man on the right was easily two meters tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back; his bulging muscles seemed about to burst through his clothes. He stood silently beside the man in the tai chi uniform, his gaze sharp.

The slender Taoist priest on the left appeared calm and collected, carrying a peach wood sword on his back, holding a compass in his hand, and wearing a harmless smile. He looked to be in his early forties, and there seemed to be a trace of spiritual energy emanating from his body.