Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 60 Blood Sun Star
Red Leaf Star, in that majestic divine palace.

Qi Yuan sat high on the huge throne, his gaze sweeping over the elders of the Nawu Clan below.

After a long while, he finally withdrew his scrutinizing gaze.

"Who is the current leader of the Nawu tribe?"

Upon hearing his question, the older members of the Nawu tribe in the crowd exchanged glances, but in the end, it was the white-bearded elder known as the 'Elder of the Qi tribe' who stepped forward.

“My lord, I am Qishen of the Nawu tribe.”

He bowed to Qi Yuan before explaining.

"My lord, our Wu tribe usually does not have a leader. All matters are discussed and resolved by the elders. I am the oldest in the elders' council. You can give me any instructions you may have."

"Oh? No leader appointed, the elders will discuss and resolve the issue?"

Qi Yuan looked at this 'elder' whose strength was only at the sixth level of the Stellar Realm with some curiosity, and nodded.

"Alright, then tell me about the current situation of the Wu Clan. How many people are there in total? How many are at the planetary level and the stellar level? Are there any who have a chance to break through to the cosmic level?"

The elder felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this, thinking that he had encountered another cruel lord like the 'Dark Lord' who was eyeing their witch warriors.

But under Qi Yuan's gaze, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and carefully reply:
"My lord, the total population of the Red Leaf Star Witch Clan is currently over 92 billion, of which nearly 18 billion are in their infancy, approximately 74 billion are at the planetary level, and there are over 200 at the stellar level."

At this point, his gaze darkened slightly, and he continued, seemingly with some sorrow.

"As for those who have the potential to break through to the cosmic level, there probably aren't any. Our Wu Clan has had such powerful figures in its history, but they're no longer here."

Qi Yuan frowned slightly when he saw the flicker in his eyes.

"That's not right. According to the classification of human bloodlines in the universe, your Wu Clan bloodline has already reached the sixth level standard. When a member of your clan reaches adulthood, he is a planetary level."

Qi Yuan questioned, "With over seven billion sixth-grade bloodline planetary-level people, if they put in a little effort in cultivation, there shouldn't only be about two hundred stellar-level people. Besides, the lifespan of a stellar-level person is ten times that of a planetary-level person, so the number should be much greater over the years."

Seeing that the elderly man seemed troubled, he comforted him, saying:

"I'm just trying to understand the situation of my people. You don't need to have any reservations. If you have any secrets, feel free to speak them."

The elder hesitated for a moment before tentatively asking:

"My lord, may I ask what your relationship was with our former lord, Lord Nasia?"

"Nasia?"

Qi Yuan said calmly, "I don't know him. I took over Red Leaf Star from the official Lanting Universe Kingdom. What, does this have anything to do with the question I just asked you?"

Hearing Qi Yuan's words, the elder of the Wu tribe felt somewhat relieved, but still cautiously replied:
"My lord, you may not know this, but when we were under Lord Narcissus's rule, we had to respond to his call every hundred years and send a large number of stellar-level warriors to fight for him. And these warriors who were called up never returned."

"Furthermore, just before your arrival, when Lord Narcissus's administrator, Supervisor Pambi, handed over the duties to us, he took away most of the Stellar-level race members. So, that's all you see."

"A domain lord, conscripting stellar-level warriors to fight for him, and they've never returned?"

Qi Yuan's eyes flickered upon hearing this, and he had a vague guess in his heart—

This is within the direct star system of the Lanting Universe Kingdom; what large-scale war could possibly occur here?

They also conscript a new batch every hundred years, and once conscripted, they disappear without a trace. It's highly likely that these people are secretly controlled and sold into slavery. After all, there are quite a few lords in the universe who sell their subjects into slavery, and stellar-level slaves are extremely valuable.

"He sold the people into slavery and took away most of the star-level Nawu tribe members before I arrived. It seems that this former lord is not an easy person to get along with."

"That's true. After all, he's facing the end of his lifespan. He's probably a bit crazy. Looks like we'll have to be careful with this neighbor from now on."

Qi Yuan's mind raced, but his face remained calm and expressionless.

"Alright, I won't concern myself with what happened before. From now on, you will obey my orders and will no longer be subject to any 'recruitment'."

"You have only one task: to do your utmost to cultivate more outstanding members of the clan for me. If you do so to my satisfaction, you will be rewarded handsomely."

Qi Yuan smiled slightly as he spoke, "I will provide you with a suitable plan for the future development of Red Leaf Star, but before that, there is an important matter I need you to do."

Blood Sun Star is a planet with advanced life, located approximately 5 light-years away from Red Leaf Star.

Because a powerful domain lord resides on Blood Sun Star, it is considered extremely safe, which has attracted a large number of nobles from surrounding star systems to settle there.

Many merchant groups have set up offices here, which allows them to use Blood Sun Star as a forward base to more easily expand trade routes and sell their goods throughout the Willow Spring Star System.

Secondly, it can also be used as a transit point to absorb various specialties from the Liuquan star system and resell them to places where prices are more reasonable.

Therefore, Blood Sun Star can be said to be the core link between the Willow Spring Galaxy and the outside world, and the most prosperous and important planet in the entire Willow Spring Galaxy!
Blood Sun Star, on a majestic sacred mountain that is almost never open to the outside world.

Two figures with black, keratinous skin, sharp fangs, and two blood-red curved horns on their heads stood side by side.

One of the figures, an old man with crimson horns and a hint of snow-white hair, gazed at the bustling cities on Blood Sun Star. After a long while, he let out a long sigh.

"It has taken hundreds of thousands of years of effort to bring about the prosperous scene of Blood Sun Star today, but if I perish, this prosperity will likely be engulfed by blood and fire in an instant."

The figure standing next to him, resembling a young man in black robes, showed a slight change in expression upon hearing this and stepped forward to offer words of comfort:
"Father, you are only one step away from breaking through. You might break through easily one day. With you, the Realm Lord, by your side, our Belon family will only prosper even more!"

"It's not that easy."

The old man with the curved horn gently shook his head. "It's this last step that has trapped me for over 100,000 years. Over these 100,000 years, I've consumed countless precious treasures, yet I'm still stuck here, unable to break through. It's so difficult!"

“Father, haven’t you already disposed of the last batch of planets under your command? With the family’s savings, we should be able to raise enough money to buy a ‘Source Crystal’.” The black-robed youth said.

"If we could obtain the Origin Crystal, there might be some hope. However, Origin Crystals are always hard to find, and they can't be bought just like that."

The old man with the curved horn sighed, yet his blood-red pupils flickered slightly.

"However, it's not without a chance. I recently contacted an old friend who is now a Realm Lord and has the qualifications to enter the 'Lanting Auction.' He has agreed to keep an eye out for Origin Crystals at the auction."

"However, primordial crystals are always rare, and when they do appear, they often fetch high prices at auction."

As the old man with the curved horn spoke, the red light in his pupils grew even stronger.

He looked at the black-robed youth beside him, his tone becoming somewhat cold and heavy.

"From now until the next Lanting Auction, everyone in the family must find a way to raise funds. The methods can be a little excessive. Don't worry about offending anyone. As long as I can break through, everything will be fine!"

The young man in black's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing this, but he quickly bowed his head and replied:
"Yes, father!"

(End of this chapter)