Chapter 74: Silver Star Power

"So this was what he wanted!"

Everyone let out a soft sigh of relief. Several girls whose legs had turned to jelly slumped straight to the ground, while the girl whose jade pendant had been taken by Shen Lie stood frozen in place, unsure whether to cry or laugh, her mouth stretched wide in utter bewilderment.

"Take this. I hope it comes in handy for you." Shen Lie pulled out a handgun and handed it to the dazed girl opposite him. Without caring whether she knew how to use it, he tossed her two extra magazines and some food, then strode briskly out of the store. Xia Ke hurried to follow him.

The false alarm ended in this bizarre fashion. No one knew what use Shen Lie had for that jade pendant, but the departure of this god of death was better than anything else. The sole remaining Awakened immediately ordered the others to dispose of what was left of Wang Liduo's remains, and then hurried away with the crowd from this ominous place.

As soon as he stepped out of the hotel, Shen Lie mounted his motorcycle. Feeling Xia Ke settle onto the back seat, he started the engine and drove toward the center of the town, casting watchful glances at the buildings lining the street as he rode.

Eventually, Shen Lie steered the motorcycle into an alley and brought it to a halt in front of a single-story brick house. Walking into the courtyard, he said to Xia Ke behind him, "Keep watch at the entrance for me. I'm going inside to take care of some business."

Xia Ke, following closely behind him, paused in her tracks. Her expression shifted through several emotions before she ultimately decided to obey and remained outside the main gate, watching Shen Lie's figure vanish deep into the courtyard.

Shen Lie walked a circle around the courtyard, shaking his head as if unsatisfied. Suddenly, he raised his head, glanced up at the rooftop, and his eyes lit up as he walked over.

Given Shen Lie's agility, climbing onto a single-story roof was effortless. With a light leap, his hands caught the edge of the eaves, and with a single heave, he hoisted himself up onto the roof. Seeing Shen Lie's actions, Xia Ke momentarily feared he had lost his mind, but since he hadn't allowed her to follow, she didn't dare move. Should she provoke him and incur his displeasure, she would lose her chance to stay by his side, and having finally found a protector, she could not let him slip away.

Shen Lie looked around the rooftop, finally revealing a satisfied smile. With a sweep of his hand across the dark green gourd, a dozen or so crystals materialized. He was by no means short of crystals now; his time had simply been too tight, leaving him no opportunity to digest them.

Placing the crystals on the roof, Shen Lie retrieved the jade pendant he had just acquired, unhooked the Sacrificial Token from his neck, and laid it beside the pendant, observing and touching them thoughtfully.

"Just as I thought!" Shen Lie felt a change in the token, and the smile on his face widened. This pendant turned out to be an item suitable for sacrifice—what a stroke of luck, found without even searching.

Ever since his last successful sacrifice, Shen Lie had constantly kept an eye out for items meeting the sacrificial requirements, but until now, he had made no headway. He had always assumed sacrificial items ought to be parts harvested from monsters, much like drops from defeated creatures in video games, since the toad pearl had been precisely that case.

Therefore, Shen Lie had focused exclusively on crystals and monster carcasses. He had never expected to stumble upon such a harvest simply by stepping into a hotel on a whim, which simultaneously shattered his previous preconceptions. It appeared sacrificial items followed no discernible rules.

Taking another look at the jade pendant and finding nothing particularly extraordinary about it, Shen Lie dismissed it from his mind and began setting up the formation for the Starry Sky Sacrificial Art.

Having already accumulated one successful experience, Shen Lie was familiar with the process. He quickly arranged the formation—still a small-scale sacrificial array, as he was currently incapable of handling anything larger.

Once set up, Shen Lie took a deep breath and initiated the formation. The stellar energy within his Niwan Palace instantly activated, projecting into the array. The array underwent its familiar transformation, and a circular disc of energy materialized hovering above it. Without the slightest hesitation, he tossed the pendant from his hand directly onto the luminous disc!

This time, the reaction of the jade pendant differed from that of the toad pearl; instead of shattering like the toad pearl, it gradually melted into the disc, eventually merging into it completely.

This left Shen Lie somewhat uncertain of the situation, but he dared not interrupt the sacrifice. He could only continue channeling the formation, waiting with a measure of trepidation for the subsequent changes.

Barely two or three seconds passed before the energy disc, having completely absorbed the liquidized jade pendant, suddenly burst into dazzling brilliance. Following a low hum, the entire disc abruptly contracted, and a beam of light shot straight up into the heavens!

Although the process was somewhat unusual, the outcome remained the same. Shen Lie finally let out a breath of relief, quietly awaiting the ensuing sacrificial feedback.

In his spare time, he had often pondered the underlying principles of the Starry Sky Sacrificial Art. He hypothesized that there might be two possible reasons for the existence of such magic: first, that supreme entities like immortals, deities, and demons genuinely existed, watching over human actions from the unseen realms, and that the Starry Clan was a lineage favored by some deity, capable of receiving divine bestowals in exchange for offerings favored by that god.

The second possibility approached the matter from a non-theological perspective. Shen Lie suspected that items meeting the sacrificial requirements contained a unique form of energy capable of resonating with the stellar energy needed by the Starry Clan in the void. This resonance would rapidly concentrate the stellar energy from the void to a single point, which would then be fed back under the guidance of the Sacrificial Token.

Both theories held a certain degree of logic, but Shen Lie leaned toward the second. His inherent mindset guided this preference; after all, he was a well-rounded young man nurtured by over two decades of materialistic philosophy.

Naturally, whichever theory proved correct mattered little to Shen Lie at present. What he wanted was stellar energy. As long as he could obtain stellar energy, he cared not whether it was granted by deities or formed naturally. In this apocalyptic age, so long as it enhanced his strength, he would gladly pledge allegiance to demons.

This time, the feedback of stellar energy took slightly longer, yet it arrived before Shen Lie finished his train of thought. A faint thread materialized in the distant void and, guided by the pull of the Sacrificial Token, flew straight into the spatial dimension within the token.

However, a confounding development surprised Shen Lie once more: the stellar energy returned this time was not black, but rather a silvery-white mist!

Gazing at the small cluster of silvery-white mist within the token, Shen Lie felt a sense of bewilderment. He hastily flipped the token to its reverse side, communicating with it using his mental consciousness to discern the nature of this silvery mist.

"Special stellar energy, capable of enhancing innate abilities on the Talent Tree!" The description remained as brief as ever. Shen Lie frowned, failing to comprehend its meaning for a moment.

"Talent Tree? What is that? Could it refer to that leaf-shaped imprint?"

Shen Lie used his consciousness to inspect the leaf-shaped imprint within his Niwan Palace, finding it utterly impossible to associate this single mark with a tree. Yet, since the Sacrificial Token indicated as much, it was unlikely to be erroneous. It was highly probable that his imprint was simply not yet truly complete.

Though he did not fully grasp the concept of the Talent Tree, Shen Lie understood the phrase "enhancing innate abilities." The only talent he currently possessed through the Starry Clan's replication ability was lightning. Furthermore, since the prompt specified increasing innate abilities on the Talent Tree, channeling this special stellar energy into the leaf imprint could hardly be wrong.

Pondering the matter and finding no other plausible alternatives, Shen Lie used his mental consciousness to communicate with the Sacrificial Token, guiding the silvery stellar energy inside to flow into the leaf imprint. Whether his guess was correct would be tested instantly; after all, ordinary stellar energy could not enter this imprint during his previous attempt.

Watching the silvery mist being absorbed bit by bit by the imprint, Shen Lie finally exhaled in relief. It appeared his guess was correct—the lightning-attribute talent he had replicated was indeed stored within this imprint, and this silvery-white stellar energy genuinely possessed the capacity to augment that talent.

"So this is the method used to advance replicated innate abilities?" Shen Lie watched as the leaf imprint grew progressively brighter, with arcs of lightning gradually beginning to dance across its surface. Understanding dawned upon him, accompanied by an inexplicable surge of joy in his heart.

The Starry Sky Sacrificial Art was truly miraculous, capable of augmenting one's strength through such unconventional and incomprehensible means. It was practically akin to cheating. One could only wonder how unfathomably powerful that race must truly be!