"We foreign cultivators, facing various dangers within this secret realm, should naturally join hands and help each other. Only those with narrow minds like Huan Ling Zi, who lack the ability to discern right from wrong, would create internal strife," Long Chong said with a laugh.

Wulu beamed a smile, about to say something, when he suddenly looked up into the sky.

The rest of the group also looked up in unison to see a solitary bright star in the sky, wobbling as if it was about to fall.

"Eh, the star rain just stopped not long ago, how can it start again? It's really troublesome! Brother Hong, we should use our magic treasures in turn to resist it, to minimize the losses. This way, although it will damage the treasures, at least it will save a talisman for emergency use," Long Chong clicked his tongue and then reminded Wulu.

Upon hearing this, a trace of hesitation flickered imperceptibly across Wulu's face.

Qiong Yun's brows furrowed slightly without a word.

Wulu had just joined their team and their relationship was still distant; she was not willing to use her magic treasures at the expense of protecting him.

Yuan Ming noticed this and wanted to lend Wulu a few low-level magic treasures that he didn't need, but he had only just met Wulu openly, so this seemed inappropriate.

"Brother Hong might not have many magic treasures, but I happen to have two spare items here which I can lend you first," Long Chong generously took out a pair of black short spears engraved with dragon patterns and a roll of snow-white silken scarf, and handed them over.

"Although I am poor, I cannot simply take Brother Long's magic treasures without due cause. Don't worry about me, fellows; I still have a few reserve magic treasures in hand. While they are not of the star attribute, they can still withstand a thing or two and won't be a burden to you three," Wulu hastily waved his hand in refusal, saying.

Hearing this, Long Chong and Qiong Yun didn't insist any further.

As they spoke, the star rain appeared in the sky again.

The stars fell like continuous raindrops, rapidly plummeting downward. After a brief discussion, the four of them decided on the order of their moves and then took out their magic treasures one by one, taking turns to resist the star rain, each sustaining only for fifteen minutes.

However, this time's star rain lasted much longer than the last, and all of their first magic treasures were completely eroded by the blue starlight and rendered useless, yet the star rain didn't stop.

Having no other choice, the four had to take out a second magic treasure to continue defending against the assault of the star rain.

The nearby flowers, grass, and trees, bathed in the sky full of star rain, seemed more vigorous than ever.

Yuan Ming had been wondering why the flowers, plants, and demon beasts within the secret realm, which seemed no different from those outside, were unhurt and even benefited from the star rain?

He controlled his first soul sitting on the White Jade Lotus Platform, descended his divine sense to investigate but came up empty. Suddenly, he remembered the lizard demon beast he had just subdued.

If he couldn't figure it out through investigation, perhaps the demon beasts of the secret realm knew something. It was worth asking.

The first soul looked for the Desire Power light of the lizard demon beast, but the creature had not made any wishes and thus could not communicate directly within the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

"A miscalculation, I should have directly implanted the Soul Descent Rune in that lizard demon beast," Yuan Ming muttered to himself in regret.

Luckily his current location was not far from the pond, and so the divine sense of his first soul spread out and quickly enveloped the lizard demon beast.

At that moment, the lizard demon beast, once again, spat out the Five-colored Demon Core and began absorbing the falling starlight.

"Master!"

Feeling Yuan Ming's divine sense, the lizard demon beast quickly ceased cultivating.

With its strength reaching the Third-level Peak, it had vast spiritual intelligence and was able to communicate via telepathy.

"Don't stop, continue cultivating. I just have something I need to confirm with you..." Yuan Ming voiced his confusion.

"Master, I do not know either. I have lived here since I was born, and ever since I had spiritual intelligence, the star rain has always been like this," the lizard demon beast replied.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming felt disappointed.

It seemed he might have been thinking too much. The lizard demon beast was born in this space and naturally would not be harmed by the star rain; there was no specific reason behind it.

"Have you encountered any peculiar events in all these years? Other than cultivating and hunting other demon beasts, anything that's inexplicable or without an apparent reason," Yuan Ming persisted inquiring, unwilling to give up.

"Peculiar events? None that I recall, but since I gained spiritual intelligence, every time I go to sleep, I dream of being in an endless starry sky. Does that count?" the lizard demon beast inquired.

"A dream..." Yuan Ming paused.

That did sound unusual, but it wasn't related to his current considerations.

Yuan Ming asked a few more questions to no avail, and then he withdrew his divine sense.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, it's your turn," Qiong Yun looked over as it was soon Yuan Ming's turn to take over the cooperation.

Currently, Long Chong was resisting the star rain, and the two black short spears engraved with dragon patterns that he would have lent to Wulu hovered in the air above their heads.

The short spears had expanded several times in size and were rapidly rotating, forming a black protective shield that blocked all the falling starlight.

However, the bodies of the short spears were already eroded by the starlight, and the black shield was growing thinner.

Yuan Ming gestured with his hand, and a purple spirit light instantly flew out, landing above everyone's head.

Long Chong and the other two looked up to see that Yuan Ming had brought out a purple spear engraved with nine dragons. As Yuan Ming performed the hand seals to activate it, the spear spun rapidly above their heads, transforming into a purple protective shield that enveloped everyone.

This spear was the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear that Yuan Ming had procured a long time ago. At the time, before he had reached Core Formation, he had given the treasure to Vajra to use. Once he formed his Golden Core and had better magic treasures at his side, the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear was returned to him, only after Vajra came into possession of the Three-pointed Two-bladed Saber.

Now possessing a multitude of magical treasures, Yuan Ming had long forgotten the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear in a corner until the sight of Long Chong's dragon-engraved twin spears reminded him of its existence.

He had never refined the spear and wasn't familiar with its materials and runes, but since the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear bore a character for 'star', it might contain a bit of star attribute, making it more durable than ordinary magic treasures.

Since he had not nurtured it, the energy fluctuations of the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear weren't strong. When Long Chong and the others saw it, they simply thought Yuan Ming had pulled out another magic treasure and paid it no mind.

However, as they were about to look away, they saw the falling stars hit the purple protective shield, and in the blink of an eye, they completely dissolved. There was not even a hint of cyan spirit light left, let alone the bodies of the stars themselves.

Even Yuan Ming was taken aback by such a scene.

"Brother Yuan, where did you find this star treasure? Why does the Star Rain have such a weak effect on it? And since you had this treasure, why didn't you bring it out sooner?" Long Chong asked in astonishment.

"This magical treasure is something I stumbled upon years ago. Because it didn't match the attributes of the cultivation technique I practice, I've been keeping it in a storage magic tool. I didn't know it was so miraculous; otherwise, I wouldn't have wasted two other treasures," Yuan Ming replied.

Long Chong didn't inquire further and simply marveled at the appearance of the purple spear.

Yuan Ming's expression remained calm, but his heart was in turmoil. Controlling the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear now, he felt more attuned than anyone else. The Star Rain that fell upon the spear not only didn't cause any erosion, but instead, all the starlight was absorbed by the spear, even slightly increasing its might.

"It seems I was too careless before. This Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear isn't a common Star Treasure," Yuan Ming thought silently.

He was about to refine the spear when he suddenly recalled the introduction of the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear at the auction in Little Lake City years ago. It was the lifebound magical treasure of Long Xinghe, a rather famous Core Formation Stage cultivator from the East Sea, apparently related to a secret realm within the East Sea—could it be related to this place?

"Brother Long, have you ever heard of the name Long Xinghe?" Yuan Ming asked, turning toward Long Chong.

"Long Xinghe? Never heard of him. Who is that?" After reflecting for a moment, Long Chong responded with a shake of his head.

"Just an acquaintance from the East Sea. I suddenly thought of him and asked on a whim." Considering the spear might be related to the current secret realm, Yuan Ming spoke evasively.

Long Chong uttered an 'oh' and didn't dwell on it, but Qiong Yun gave Yuan Ming a skeptical look.

With the protection of the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear, Long Chong and the others no longer needed to use their treasures in turns to withstand the Star Rain. Initially, Long Chong and Qiong Yun were worried that, even with minimal erosion, the spear would eventually reach its limit and they would have to replace Yuan Ming.

But Yuan Ming wanted to see if the spear would continue absorbing starlight and what changes might occur, so he politely declined their offer.

As time passed, there seemed to be no significant changes to the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear; its spirit light grew brighter instead of dimmer, which reassured everyone, and they continuously praised Yuan Ming for his good fortune.

After half an hour, the Star Rain finally ceased.

Yuan Ming recalled the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear and saw that its surface glowed with a subdued purple light, each scale of the nine dragons engraved on it twinkling with faint cyan starlight, as if reflecting a galaxy twinkling in the depths of the night sky.

When Yuan Ming touched the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear, a surge of pure Star Power suddenly flowed from the spear into his body, integrating into his bones.

His entire skeleton glowed brightly, as if his bones were gemstones.

"What's happening?" Yuan Ming was startled.

But before he could investigate more closely, a crackling sound emanated from within his body, and fine cracks began to appear along every bone, including his skull.

Taken aback and bewildered, he was about to throw away the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear when suddenly the fractures started to rapidly absorb the all-permeating Star Power in his body and began to heal swiftly.

Within a few breaths, all the cracks disappeared.

This series of changes happened so quickly that it wasn't until now that Yuan Ming fully processed what had occurred. He hurriedly performed an Inner Observation to check his bones and his expression shifted subtly.

The glowing cyan starlight had vanished, and his bones were now whiter and seemed to have a layer of shimmering translucence flowing over them, looking much tougher than before.

Upon meticulous examination, Yuan Ming confirmed that the density of all his bones had greatly increased, with the improvement nearly equaling a whole year's effect of the Incense Xiang Bone Forging Skill.

He was both shocked and delighted, as the absorbed Star Power had an amazing bone tempering effect!

And under the nourishment of the Star Power, he didn't feel any pain throughout the entire process.

At this rate, after a few more Star Rains, he could complete the transformation of his bones to reach the Iron Bone Realm, saving him two years of effort.

A glint of joy flashed in Yuan Ming's eyes as he turned to the other three and said, "Please wait a moment."

Long Chong and the others nodded in confusion, then watched as Yuan Ming sat down cross-legged, placing the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear on his lap and began to refine it with hand seals.

The Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear contained five runes and was the most common type of Five Rune Magical Treasure. Its only special feature was that all five runes were Star Runes.

With Yuan Ming's cultivation level, it took less than thirty minutes to thoroughly refine the rune formation, causing the spearhead to shoot out a purple light nearly a zhang long.

Yuan Ming nodded slightly. Although the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear was just a Five Rune Magical Treasure, its offensive power was extraordinary, far surpassing the Golden Sun Ruler and the White Bone Knife.

He swung the spear, about to put it away, when suddenly a shadowy purple light emerged on the body of the Purple Star Nine Dragons Spear. Within the depth of that light, five eyes appeared, endlessly rotating, exuding an extreme sense of eeriness.

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