Lin Yuan's eyebrow twitched uncontrollably when he saw that.
Previously, the Star Vastness Peony's abilities all revolved around Lin Yuan picking a target and tempering that target's body.
Now that the Star Vastness Peony had reached Creation Breed, it had opened a new path for itself.
From now on, it could not only temper the targets Lin Yuan selected but could also use the energy from within celestial bodies to shackle targets, thereby taking control of them.
Once the target was shackled by the energy of the celestial bodies, it would no longer be able to increase its power or replenish its diminished energy. If it absorbed external energy in an attempt to strengthen itself, the energy would not benefit it in any way. Rather, it would only strengthen the shackle. Each night, when the stars were shining brightly, the effects of the shackle would be amplified.
Once Star Vastness Peony used Star Map Shackle on a target, the target would remain under its control for a long time.
In the future, it was possible that Lin Yuan would encounter a species he wanted to interact with but who were extremely hostile to him. At that point, he could use Star Map Shackle on one of the young main members of the species.
It was possible to tamper with Star Map Shackle, but it was like a tattoo that would be applied to the target. If it was damaged, there was a high likelihood that the target's safety would also be compromised.
Lin Yuan continued using his Body of All Spirits to inject energy into the Star Vastness Peony even after it evolved.
It did not take long for the Star Vastness Peony to evolve from Suzerain to Sovereign.
Once again, Lin Yuan took a look at the Star Vastness Peony's data.
He saw that its Sovereign ability was called Star River Protection.
[Star River Protection]: The celestial bodies it is linked to will be activated. Their energy will be released and start to flow like a river, providing protection from any elemental attacks that involve energy.
For a Sovereign ability, Star River Protection had a relatively simple description. However, its effects were fearsome.
Regular abilities only defended against physical and elemental attacks. However, Star River Protection could defend against any type of energy.
There were very few abilities that could defend against faith power.
Now that it had successfully evolved, the Star Vastness Peony transformed into human form and happily bowed to Lin Yuan.
Its clear eyes were full of gratitude toward Lin Yuan. It knew that it would never have been able to improve its power or grade so quickly without Lin Yuan. All of this came from Lin Yuan, and the Star Vastness Peony wanted to do something for him in return!
"Yuan, I already used Star-Storing Flower Jade to produce more than 10 of the jade-textured flower petals. You can use them when using Casted Item Starlight and Tempering Essence Starlight to temper your body and spiritual energy."
Lin Yuan understood the gesture that the Star Vastness Peony was trying to make and said with a smile, "Star Vastness Peony, you will need to absorb starlight for a long time before you're able to evolve your grade and quality again.
"I never asked you to use Merciful Stars to help Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and I improve our physiques because your grade was rather low. Hence, using an exclusive skill like Merciful Stars could have negatively affected you. But now that you've reached Sovereign, you can withstand the effects of Merciful Stars!"
The Star Vastness Peony was greatly looking forward to using Merciful Stars to help Lin Yuan, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and the rest.
Using Merciful Stars benefited the Star Vastness Peony significantly as well.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Yuan, let me make some preparations. From tomorrow, I will be able to use Merciful Stars to temper a target every week. However, I will need to get a sense of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter's bodies first to ensure that nothing will go wrong."
The Star Vastness Peony did not say this because it did not trust Lin Yuan's judgment but because it was fully aware of the effects of its ability. It needed to be responsible to Lin Yuan.
…
Lin Yuan stretched and slept restfully in his room.
Each time Lin Yuan helped one of his feys to increase their powers, he would not be able to rest for some time. Although his soul was strong enough that he did not need to sleep as much or use sleep to replenish his spirit and soul, sleeping was still a blissful act for him.
When Lin Yuan woke up, he made some preparations before taking Spring and Winter with him as he left the King Blood Jackals' territory.
Lin Yuan was embarking with a goal. He wanted to test the transmission limits of the Thoughts Letter Paper. He would be able to test this by continuously moving east.
While he crossed the Lonely River, Lin Yuan paid a visit to Bei Xu.
Bei Xu had grown substantially in the more than ten years that had passed. He was doing an excellent job of managing the Lonely River by himself.
At first, Endless Summer had accompanied him and given him a lot of advice that broadened his horizons. However, he was the only one who was truly in charge of the Lonely River, and it had not been long before Endless Summer was called away by Listen.
As Bei Xu walked next to Lin Yuan and saw Lin Yuan's approving expression, he felt a sense of accomplishment. With Lin Yuan's acknowledgment, it meant that all his hard work was justified!
"Young Master, based on my investigations, there aren't many resources being produced in the Lonely River. So, I don't intend to focus on harvesting resources. I am going to make use of the Lonely River's geographical advantage and change it in the same way you did when you built the harbor in the Startling Lines Continent. This way, I'll also be able to help if the King Blood Jackals' territory has any resource needs or needs to trade for resources.
"Listen came to the Lonely River a while ago and gave me some guidance. He suggested that I turn the Lonely River into a trading hub that connects the King Blood Jackals' territory with the outside world."
Lin Yuan smiled and said, "That's a good idea. The Lonely River will become an important junction for the exchange of resources between North of the Lonely River and the outside world."
Lin Yuan had taken control of the King Blood Jackals' territory, but this was not where his focus was.
He would eventually have to make contact with the Spinning Wings White Falcons and the Crimson Heaven Falcons who supported them. It would only be after that that he would have the entire North of the Lonely River in his possession.
At that point, the entire North of the Lonely River would become part of his supply of faith!
This was the only way that all the faith power needs of Sky City's main members, as well as Lin Yuan himself, would be met.
Listen was skilled at communication, and Lin Yuan did not mind Listen giving Bei Xu advice.
By giving him advice, Bei Xu now owed Listen a favor.
In Sky City, even Wen Yu and Liu Jie had owed Listen favors in the past.
Bei Xu not only took in Listen's advice but had many ideas of his own as well.
Lin Yuan no longer had to worry.
He gave Bei Xu a reminder, "Bei Xu, there isn't a rush to change the Lonely River, but it is still extremely important. It will be best if you get the Four Species Overlords involved! They need to feel like they are participating for them to be willing to help you manage the Lonely River in the future. If you need manpower or resources, just let Wen Yu know."
The resources that were currently present in the Lonely River were far from enough to support the changes that needed to be made.
The Lonely River's environment had many advantages. The water was sufficiently deep, and Island Whales could swim in it freely.
Whale species were full of development potential. Lin Yuan would continue to nurture the Island Whales in the Sky Beyond the Clouds and do his best to enable them to become a powerful species!
The Island Whales would be able to live happily and comfortably in the Lonely River.
The spirit qi and water-elemental energy in the Lonely River were much purer than that of the main world.
Additionally, Lin Yuan was going to inject more resources into the Island Whales.
He had already given these resources to Wen Yu, and she would move the Island Whales into the Lonely River once most of the Lonely River's changes had been implemented.
Before introducing the Island Whales, it was necessary to ensure that none of the lifeforms in the Lonely River would cause any harm to the Island Whales.
Aside from nurturing the Star Vastness Peony, Lin Yuan had also made many decisions of late.
He really liked the feeling of having a group of highly capable companions and running a faction with them.
When he first started developing Sky City, he had to do everything on his own, and it had taken up all of his time. As a result, he had had very little time left over to nurture his feys.
In truth, Lin Yuan's Spirit Lock spatial zone housed a lifeform that was considered extremely precious in the Sky Beyond the Clouds—the Sky-Plundering Beast.
Lin Yuan had already nurtured the Sky-Plundering Beast. Just like Genius when it was young, the Sky-Plundering Beast clung to Lin Yuan every chance it had.
The Sky-Plundering Beast's value lay in its blood, which could block world wills and allow feys that were evolving to fend off the effects of World Cleansing.
Lin Yuan could not bear to draw blood from the Sky-Plundering Beast periodically. Hence, he kept it like a pet.
He could sense that after being nurtured by his Body of All Spirits all this time, the Sky-Plundering Beast's bloodline was showing signs of evolving.
Bei Xu carefully noted down everything that Lin Yuan had said. He truly saw the development of the Lonely River as his career, which he needed to dedicate his life to.
At first, Bei Xu did not understand Ta Lei's perspective. He did not understand why Ta Lei had chosen to remain in the main world to look after Thick Soil City.
But slowly, he found himself able to stand in Ta Lei's shoes.
When one lacked capabilities and needed to work alongside geniuses, Bei Xu knew that his power would not stand out. Hence, if he wanted to remain by Lin Yuan's side, he needed to properly develop his governance talents!
The Lonely River was very important to Lin Yuan, meaning that everything Bei Xu did now was very important to Lin Yuan as well.
…
When the leaders of the Four Species Overlords learned of Lin Yuan's arrival, all of them clamored to meet with him.
Normally, Lin Yuan would have turned them down. But he did not do so this time.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLin Yuan brought Bei Xu with him when he met with the four leaders. He acted very familiar and affectionately toward Bei Xu. This was vastly different from his attitude toward Fan Lou.
Additionally, he emphasized to the four leaders that they needed to do their best to work with Bei Xu and meet his requests. Once they upset Bei Xu, they would be swapped out and replaced.
At first, Ink Thorn, Mantis Age, and the rest had not thought much of Bei Xu. They saw him as nothing more than an inconsequential child.
All of them cooperated with Bei Xu and made things easier for Bei Xu when issues emerged, but these were all superficial gestures.
Everything was going smoothly for Bei Xu now because he had yet to affect the Four Species Overlords' benefits. Once their benefits were threatened, Bei Xu would find himself facing a lot of opposition!
However, it was inevitable that he would eventually have to affect the Four Species Overlords' benefits to change the Lonely River and set up the flow of trade.
But from now on, the Four Species Overlords leaders would no longer take the same attitude they previously had toward Bei Xu.
They had witnessed Lin Yuan's methods, and all of them had their number of members reduced by at least 1/5. The members who had been eliminated were those who had been unwilling to submit to Lin Yuan.
If any of them angered Lin Yuan, they would be eliminated as well!
Before he left, Lin Yuan patted Bei Xu's shoulder. "Bei Xu, remember not to force yourself regardless of what happens. If you are in any danger, don't hesitate to use the tentacle to transport yourself to Sky City's main city."
…
Lin Yuan only remained in the Lonely River for a night before he continued traveling east with Spring and Winter.
During his journey, Lin Yuan saw that the further east he traveled, the more opulent his environment. But in terms of a store of resources, the resources in North of the Lonely River were not considered sparse. Rather, most of the resources had been consolidated and were controlled by the powerful species.
Slowly, Lin Yuan sensed that the parameters of his communication through the Thoughts Letter Paper were changing, and transmission was abruptly dampened. This meant that the Thoughts Letter Paper could no longer be used as an acceptable tool for communication. Hence, this had to be the limit of its range of use.
Based on the map that Fan Lou had given him, he had not traveled far.
Thus, Lin Yuan now knew that the Thoughts Letter Paper could only be used as a tool for communication between North of the Lonely River and Sky City's members.
He would not be able to achieve long-distance communication anytime soon.
In order to prevent himself from becoming uncontactable to the Moon Empress, Wen Yu, and the rest, Lin Yuan used the Thoughts Letter Paper to explain the situation to them.
While Lin Yuan was storing the Thoughts Letter Paper, he heard a blood-curdling shriek.
Based on the energy fluctuations, the fight that was taking place up ahead involved World Emperor/Divine Kingdom experts.
This piqued Lin Yuan's interest.
Black wings appeared behind his back, and he flew toward the fight.
Spring and Winter looked at each other before following closely behind Lin Yuan.
They had seen such blood fights many times in the past.
Countless lifeforms in the Sky Beyond the Clouds lost their lives due to various reasons. The two of them had not realized that Lin Yuan was so interested in watching such spectacles.