Chapter 1567: Red Star Fragment Mini

This wasn't Chen Ling's first time at the landing site of a Red Star fragment.

The Nine Lords' exploration was the starting point of everything, and it was also Chen Ling's first impression of a Red Star fragment. He remembered clearly that a massive crater sat among the mountains of Shennongjia, and standing at the edge of the crater, it took a long time to walk to the impact site...

But the crater before him was much smaller. Chen Ling could take in the entire area at a glance. He made a rough estimate in his mind; the scale here was probably less than one-tenth of the Shennongjia crater.

"Did any strange phenomena occur after it fell?" Chen Ling asked Shen Qingzhu as they walked.

When the Red Star fragment fell in Shennongjia, a large number of wild beasts in the surrounding forests were affected, gaining extraordinary power. Even space became chaotic, forming a cyclical area similar to a "ghost wall."

And after the Jiangtian Sect obtained the Red Star fragment, their human structures underwent mutations, not only causing irreversible civilizational regression but even causing their language abilities to degenerate.

"There should have been," Shen Qingzhu replied calmly. "However, after it fell, my power has been suppressing it, and there are no other living beings nearby, so its influence has been very limited."

Swirling ash and snowflakes still covered every corner of the area, including the location of the Red Star fragment. Chen Ling understood this immediately; since Shen Qingzhu could suppress the full-form Nine Lords, suppressing a small Red Star fragment wouldn't be very difficult.

As they approached, Chen Ling finally saw the appearance of the Red Star fragment.

Just as Shen Qingzhu had said, this Red Star fragment was indeed not large—it was even small enough to be... cute?

The one in Shennongjia was a true massive meteorite, like a small mountain, while the one before him was only the size of a basketball. It was deeply embedded in the earth of the Embers of Civilization, with spiderweb-like cracks etched into the surface. If one looked closely, one could see wisps of eerie red energy surging within those cracks.

"This... is way too small, isn't it?" Chen Ling was speechless.

Chen Ling had thought that if there was a Red Star fragment of a similar size, even if it were only one-tenth of the original, he might be able to create another Nine Lord... But now it seemed that the volume of this fragment wouldn't even be enough to create half a Nine Lord.

What was this?

A Red Star fragment mini??

"I told you beforehand, don't get your hopes up too high," Shen Qingzhu said slowly. "There were many fragments that flew out after the Red Star was hit, but this is indeed the only one that fell back to Earth."

"What about the other fragments? Did they all fly into the depths of the universe? Is there any possibility of recovering them?"

Chen Ling had figured it out: the only thing that could counter the Red Star was the Red Star itself. Since the Red Star could create the World-Ending Calamity and the human Nine Lords, perhaps if he collected more fragments, he might have a chance to strike back against the Red Star.

"Some were captured by the gravitational fields of other planets and fell onto their surfaces; some collided with satellites around the planets and turned into rubble; others fell directly into the sun... In short, there's basically no possibility of recovering those scraps." Shen Qingzhu shook his head.

Chen Ling sighed, completely giving up on that idea.

He walked straight to the Red Star fragment, squatted down, and reached out to touch its surface...

"Don't touch it," Shen Qingzhu suddenly said.

Chen Ling's hand froze in mid-air.

"Why?"

"You aren't the Nine Lords of the past. You already have a large, complete Red Star fragment inside you... You've already reached the critical point of this world. If you rashly absorb so much Red Star wish-power all at once, there will only be two outcomes." Shen Qingzhu's tone was very serious.

"Either you'll be blown apart, or, like me in the past, you'll exceed the critical point of this world and become an existence rejected by it."

Chen Ling was stunned. He looked at the basketball-sized fragment before him, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

The "large, complete Red Star fragment" Shen Qingzhu spoke of must be 'Chao'... Indeed, Chao's power came from a Red Star fragment even larger than the one the Nine Lords had absorbed, and that had already made it the pinnacle of this world.

If he absorbed another fragment, even one only the size of a basketball, it could cause consequences Chen Ling couldn't imagine...

For example, breaking through the limit of the Ninth Rank?

But whether the Ninth Rank could be broken through was still an unknown. Perhaps, like humans becoming gods, it required meeting conditions similar to self-verification of the divine path? If he couldn't meet the conditions, he would be like a balloon being constantly filled with water; the balloon's own elasticity hadn't increased, but a large amount of water had been injected at once, and the natural result would be an explosion.

As for the best outcome, it would be becoming an existence that broke through the limits of this world, and then, like Shen Qingzhu in the past, being rejected by this world, to the point where he wouldn't even know where he was the next second...

Absorbing Red Star wish-power from the bodies of Jiangtian Sect members was different from absorbing a Red Star fragment directly... The wish-power in those Jiangtian Sect members was absorbed bit by bit, in a progressive manner, so it was naturally a supplement and wouldn't directly exceed the critical value. But absorbing a whole fragment directly was still too dangerous.

Thinking of this, Chen Ling withdrew his hand.

He looked at the Red Star fragment before him, his gaze complex...

To have such powerful strength right before his eyes, yet only be able to watch it longingly—this feeling of being teased was truly unpleasant.

A thought struck him, and he asked:

"Then what if I absorb it bit by bit?"

"If you control the total amount, it should be fine," Shen Qingzhu looked at him in surprise. "What do you want to do?"

Chen Ling pulled a boning knife from his sleeve and swung it fiercely at the edge of the Red Star fragment!

Clang—!!

The blade of the boning knife touched the fragment, emitting a crisp hum...

However, only a shallow white mark was left on the surface of the Red Star fragment.

Chen Ling: ...

Chen Ling had thought that since this fragment was so big, he might as well cut off a piece to absorb slowly, but he never expected that with his current strength, he wouldn't even be able to cut off a corner of the fragment?

Shen Qingzhu raised an eyebrow at this, seemingly understanding Chen Ling's idea. He pressed his index and middle fingers together and made a slicing motion through the air toward the fragment.

Swish—

A thumb-sized fragment was neatly sliced off the edge of the main piece.

"Here, take it," Shen Qingzhu said, tilting his chin.

Chen Ling looked at Shen Qingzhu with gratitude. Although the other party seemed cold and difficult to approach, he appeared to be quite warm-hearted... He had only met Shen Qingzhu twice, but the other party was not only willing to save him but also saved the residents of the Eternal Domain. Whenever he saw Chen Ling encounter some trouble, he was always willing to lend a hand, and he didn't ask for anything in return...

Nothing more than asking for two packs of cigarettes.