Number Nine had made a decision. In reality, it had never had any opinions of its own...

In the past, it did not reveal itself to people, so no one noticed anything. But since it showed its true self before Lu Ye, its dependence on Lu Ye had become increasingly severe.

Many times, Lu Ye felt that it was not like an artifact spirit that had existed for thousands upon thousands of years, but rather like an undeveloped child.

Perhaps for an artifact spirit, a millennium is but an infant stage?

Several days later, on Bright Heart Peak, while Lu Ye was with his master studying the various transformations of spirit runes, Yun Xuechu suddenly let out a soft "oh" and swiftly exited the chamber, looking skyward.

Lu Ye followed her out, feeling something.

At the same time, on Righteous Peak, the sect master looked upward.

Throughout Nine Provinces, all cultivators who had reached a certain level in the Divine Sea Realm felt a peculiar sensation at the same time.

In the next moment, a point of spirit light appeared from above the Nine Heavens. The light was not dazzling, but even from a great distance, all Divine Sea Realm cultivators could see it clearly.

That point of spirit light, like a feather drifted down from the heavens, headed straight for a location within the Nine Provinces!

This location was none other than Bingzhou!

Beside the sect master, Wuchang laughed heartily, "I am going too!"

With those words, he soared into the sky, heading directly toward the spirit light.

The sect master appeared tempted but ultimately restrained himself.

In Beixuan Sword Sect, a sword light shot upward, merging Jian Guhong and his sword as one, with the power of the sword like thunderbolt.

In the Righteousness Sect, Mong Jie snorted lightly, bending slightly, and in the next instant, he shot forward like an arrow from a bow, causing the ground beneath his feet to shatter.

Throughout Bingzhou, other figures also rose into the sky, all heading toward the descending spirit light.

Not only Bingzhou, elite practitioners from the other Eight Great Provincial States also reacted swiftly, causing instant turmoil.

Everyone knew that the Heaven's Augury mentioned by Lu Ye had arrived, and it was crucial for them to breakthrough from Divine Sea to Constellation!

In the current Nine Provinces, many cultivators qualified to take this step; at least hundreds of them, a result of many long years of accumulation. Even within Righteous Blood Sect, both the sect master and Yun Xuechu had the qualifications to pursue it.

However, there was an unspoken agreement that only those seniors who used to dwell in the Righteous Blood Sacred Land took action this time.

Even though the sect master, Yun Xuechu, Pang Zhen, and Long Bai were eager, none joined the contention.

Not only because they knew they could not compete with the seniors whose skills had reached perfection but also out of courtesy.

Respecting the elders and caring for the young is a good tradition that must be maintained.

Additionally, the seniors indeed needed to take this step more urgently due to age; people like Granny Jiew would run out of longevity if they failed to ascend, dying of old age in the Nine Provinces.

Within the newly established Righteous Blood Sacred Land, Feng Wujiang looked at the bit of spirit light in the sky without any action. Qiu Min whispered anxiously, "Won't you go?"

Feng Wujiang smiled faintly, gripping her hand firmly, "No, I won't! When the day comes that you need to take this step, I'll snatch two, and we'll have one each!"

Having missed out on decades, it's time to make up for family time, so even though the spirit light tempted him greatly, he remained indifferent. He also possessed great confidence — if he really joined the fight, none of those old friends, apart from those who willingly concede, could be his match.

Qiu Min nestled close to Feng Wujiang's shoulder, eyes full of happiness, smiling sweetly.

Before the spirit light could descend, a fierce battle erupted high in the skies; despite their decades-long companionship, no one was willing to back down or concede on such an opportunity. Since that's the case, they could only compete for it.

No one knew the exact details of the fight; the distance was too far, and the scene was too chaotic — even the Ocular Power of the Divine Sea Realm couldn't clearly perceive it.

In less than one hour, the dust settled; the speed was so swift that the strong practitioners from the other great provincial states hadn't even arrived before it ended.

Wuchang returned, bruised all over, his clothes torn and tattered as though he had sustained sword wounds.

Flying while cursing, he muttered, "Old rascal, Sword Madman, is merciless with the sword; I must have been blind to associate with such people for decades. A sword cultivator deserves a solitary life, without friends or companions!"

Seeing his aggrieved state, Lu Ye knew that the successful one this time was likely Jian Guhong!

As expected, among the senior figures of Bingzhou, if Senior Brother Feng Wujiang did not make a move, Jian Guhong was undoubtedly the strongest. Not to mention Wuchang, who as a ghost cultivator could gain no advantage in a direct confrontation, even someone like Mong Jie, a physique cultivator, had to be wary of his flying sword at all times.

Another day passed, and suddenly from the direction of Mount Tian came an extremely clear and pleasant sword sound, heard clearly by the entire Bingzhou. Immediately afterward, from that direction, a flash of sword light soared into the sky, piercing through the clouds in an instant, ascending straight to the Nine Heavens.

It was truly a cold sword light rising, soaring above ninety thousand miles!

In the current era of the Nine Provinces, the first person to break out of the domain and step into the stellar space has been born, signifying that the long-sealed Nine Provinces is once again stepping onto the vast stage of the stars.

This left those who had competed for that flash of spirit light the day before, with envy beyond measure. History will always remember the first, but no one cares about such vanity; what they care about is not being able to be that first person.

What exactly is the scene of the starry sky, and what is the wonder within? You must see it with your own eyes to know. Jian Guhong took this step, but what about the others?

It seemed to respond to their expectations; above the Nine Heavens, several flashes of spirit light suddenly appeared, just like before, drifting down to the earth.

Gathering such spirit light does indeed consume the foundation of the Nine Provinces. Under normal circumstances, no world would gather them too frequently or densely. However, the Nine Provinces is currently absorbing the foundation of the Blood Refinement World, and the number of cultivators in the Nine Provinces waiting for such opportunities is too many, so there's no need to be too calculative.

After all, it's necessary to give some opportunities to those cultivators who are qualified to take a step.

When the foundation of the Nine Provinces stabilizes in the future, it will not be too late to consider the patterns and regulations for gathering such spirit light, perhaps gathering a certain number of spirit lights every few years, then allowing cultivators to compete vigorously for them.

Initially, those few flashes of spirit light gathered in one place, but as they drifted down, they suddenly exploded, scattering in all directions, landing across various provinces.

On those great provincial states, the top experts immediately engaged in relentless competition. Shortly, some achieved success and laughed heartily, while others sighed in regret.

Though they competed, after all, they had been together for decades, so there was a sense of measure in their clashes. Everyone felt that such opportunities would continue to arise frequently for a time. If they failed this time, there would always be a next time, and if not then, a time after that...

Thus, a relentless pursuit situation would not occur. Typically, when someone succeeded, the others would stop and extend their congratulations.

As time passed, almost every one or two days, spirit lights of varying numbers would suddenly appear, dispersing across various provinces, drawing everyone to scramble for them.

Wuchang made a move four times before finally succeeding. Despite being beaten until his face was bruised and swollen in the competition, he ran back with a look of great pride.

In these kinds of confrontations, it was indeed disadvantageous for someone like him, a ghost cultivator. Among other sects, only healing cultivators were inferior to ghost cultivators in direct combat ability. Combat cultivators, physique cultivators, and magic cultivators all had remarkable abilities.

Returning to the Righteous Blood Sect, he immediately found an unoccupied spirit mountaintop and began closed cultivation.

In less than a day, he emerged from seclusion.

For seniors like them, who have accumulated countless years in the Divine Sea Level 9, the only lack was the key to taking a step forward. The spirit light gathered by Number Nine was that key, so once they succeeded, they could break through quickly, without needing to spend much time.

On Emerald Bamboo Peak, Wuchang found Lu Ye, who was investigating the Talent Tree. When they faced each other, Lu Ye clicked his tongue in wonder.

Because in just one day, Wuchang noticeably looked much younger. If he previously looked like a mortal in his forties, he now looked only in his thirties.

This was a visible change. The less visible change was that Lu Ye sensed an extremely astonishing power contained within Wuchang.

In the past, although Wuchang's strength was stronger than his, Lu Ye could still gauge the disparity. In other words, the gap wasn't too wide.

But after Wuchang's breakthrough, this gap was clearly widened significantly.

"Congratulations, senior, on achieving your wish and advancing to the Constellation Realm!" Lu Ye offered his congratulations.

Wuchang smiled so widely that the corners of his mouth reached behind his ears. As a lone wolf, it would be dull if no one congratulated him after his breakthrough. Showing off in front of Thang Yifeng wasn't ideal since Thang Yifeng hadn't participated in competing for the opportunity, so he came to Lu Ye specifically to flaunt a bit and just wanted to hear some celebratory words to satisfy himself.

"How does senior feel now?" Lu Ye was also curious about the differences between the Constellation Realm and the Divine Sea Realm.

"Hard to say, but the physical body indeed feels more vibrant. It seems what you mentioned before, that the Constellation Realm corresponds to the essence of a person, is correct. I do feel that cultivation in this realm mainly involves the enhancement of essence. However, as for the limb regeneration you spoke of, that seems unreliable; at the very least, I can't do it yet."

Lu Ye laughed, "That's because senior has just advanced to the Constellation Realm. Once you have more profound cultivation in the future, you'll probably be able to achieve such feats."

Wuchang nodded, "What you say is quite possible."

"Is senior preparing to set off now?"

"Naturally, after so many years of waiting, now that the opportunity has finally come, of course, I must go see the wonders of the starry sky, or else wouldn't I remain a frog in a well?" He leaned closer to Lu Ye, whispering with a mysterious air, "Is there anything you need to advise me on?"

He looked like if Lu Ye had any insider information, he should hurry and share it.

It's not surprising that Wuchang would think this way. Venturing into stellar space is after all a new beginning for the Nine Provinces cultivators, and no one knows what precautions are needed, everyone must figure it out by themselves. But since Lu Ye knows about the upper three realms, he might know things that others are unaware of. Wuchang, being a cautious person, asked one more question just in case.