Lu Ye settled down on the Giant Red Planet.

The Talent Tree’s power was activated, constantly enhancing internal fuel reserves, while various spiritual energies were refined into personal mana, strengthening his foundation.

Upon observation, Lu Ye found that the massive Giant Red Planet was different from ordinary stars. The entire surface of the Giant Red Planet flowed with material akin to paste-like magma, and the deeper you delve, the more terrifying the temperature becomes.

Lu Ye took out the fire gourd.

The main purpose of this trip was to transform the Talent Tree, which required the uncanny fire nurtured by the fire gourd.

Holding the fire gourd, he activated his mana, and a suction force was immediately emitted from the mouth of the gourd, absorbing the surrounding thermal energy.

However, Lu Ye soon frowned, noticing that the efficiency of the fire gourd’s absorption seemed low, puzzling him.

Logically, with such a rich fire energy concentration, the fire gourd’s absorption should be efficient, but if nurturing the uncanny fire at this speed, it was far less effective than when he previously had the fire gourd absorb various fire-type resources.

After pondering briefly, Lu Ye vaguely understood the issue.

In the past, when the fire gourd absorbed fire-type resources, it was like directly consuming food and digesting it. Currently, the fire gourd is merely smelling the food’s aroma, and naturally, efficiency cannot compare to before.

In that case, Lu Ye activated his mana again, trying to have the fire gourd swallow the paste-like magma material, but to his confusion, he couldn’t accomplish this no matter how hard he tried.

He once again activated his mana, enveloping a lump of magma, trying to insert it into the gourd, but the result was a repelling force from within the gourd, preventing entry.

This was puzzling.

Lu Ye focused intently on observation.

After a long while, he finally noticed some clues.

Although the magma on the Giant Red Planet was filled with terrifying heat energy and could be considered a type of fire-type resource, it contained not only thermal energy but also other substances. The fire gourd could only accept a portion of it, with the majority being rejected, hence the repulsion.

Previously, the various fire-type resources consumed by the fire gourd were all generally acceptable to it.

Realizing this, Lu Ye understood he had oversimplified the matter.

However, it didn’t matter much; although the efficiency of the fire gourd nurturing the uncanny fire was below expectations, it only meant spending more time.

With this thought, he patiently waited.

Days later, Lu Ye, who was sitting calmly, abruptly opened his eyes, drawing the Boulder Mountain Saber instantly from his side, thrusting it downward, its blade flashing with Divine Wind Spirit Runes.

A massive force emerged from below, causing Lu Ye to slightly tremble.

Lu Ye showed a surprised expression; although he was only at the Sun Blaze Early Stage cultivation, his foundation was exceptionally solid, and his physical strength alone surpassed that of the Demon Race at the same level. The attacker was unknown but extremely hidden, and the strength was unexpectedly overwhelming.

With curiosity, he reached down, searching through the scorching magma, quickly pulling out a bizarre-looking creature.

This creature was entirely fiery red, resembling a tailless monkey lacking fur, its two eyes occupying half its face, and a few fangs near its mouth.

Star beast! There were star beasts in this place.

The beast had a penetrating wound on its head, obviously inflicted by the Boulder Mountain Saber, which was a fatal injury. Judging from its remaining aura, this star beast had Moon Jade-level strength.

On second thought, with star beasts living in All Phenomena Ocean, it wasn’t surprising to find them on such a Giant Red Planet.

And star beasts living in such a place...

Lu Ye activated his mental consciousness, quickly locating a position, and retrieved a crystal core from the star beast’s body.

As expected, the crystal core inside a star beast living here was indeed of the fire element. On All Phenomena Ocean, such a crystal core would be worth at least ten to twenty thousand spirit jade.

Lu Ye casually placed it into the fire gourd, and this time the gourd didn’t resist, gobbling it up like it did with various fire-type resources before.

Clearly, the uncanny fire being nurtured inside the gourd strengthened slightly, showing much faster efficiency compared to before.

After this minor incident, Lu Ye continued with his task.

Unexpectedly, within the next half month, star beasts like before frequently attacked.

It seemed that the number of star beasts living on the Giant Red Planet was considerable, and they belonged to the same group.

These star beasts leveraged their territorial advantages, launching stealthy assaults from below, extremely hidden; had it not been for Lu Ye’s strong mental consciousness, he might have fallen victim.

The attacking star beasts sometimes came alone, sometimes in groups of three or five, with varying strengths, including Moon Jade-level and Constellation-level.

But without exception, regardless of their numbers, all became nourishment for the uncanny fire nurtured by the fire gourd.

Half a month passed in a blink, and since Lu Ye arrived here, the first uncanny fire had finally been nurtured successfully.

Lu Ye sighed with emotion, realizing that he could not compare this efficiency to before. Previously, nurturing an uncanny fire took only a few days, but now it had taken such a long time.

This was thanks to those star beasts that contributed their crystal cores. If solely relying on the fire gourd’s devouring, nurturing it wouldn’t have been possible in less than a month.

But thinking of it another way, previously he spent money, and now he was doing it without cost, so naturally, it couldn’t compare.

He activated the power of the Talent Tree, its roots reaching into the gourd’s mouth, devouring that uncanny fire. Observing the Talent Tree, indeed, there was no sign of transformation, clearly indicating that the conditions for its transformation had not yet been met.

The journey is long and arduous!

That day, as Lu Ye was sitting quietly, he suddenly opened his eyes, squinting downwards.

A star beast was attempting to ambush him again. Although the other was doing it very covertly, he still detected a clue.

Life here had been quite dull recently, and battles with star beasts were one of the few entertainments. Moreover, these star beasts’ crystal cores could accelerate the speed of nurturing the uncanny fire. Naturally, Lu Ye hoped for as many star beasts as possible to come.

He placed his hand on the Boulder Mountain Saber, ready to deliver a fatal blow when the opportunity arose.

However, in the next moment, Lu Ye suddenly sensed something different about this arriving star beast compared to before.

As this thought crossed his mind, the speed of the star beast in the lava suddenly increased dramatically. At the same time, Lu Ye drew out the Boulder Mountain Saber and stabbed fiercely downward.

A tremendous force struck, sending Lu Ye flying into the air, with a shadow of a figure fleeting beneath the lava.

Lu Ye plummeted rapidly downwards, his long blade casting a trail, yet the star beast had already vanished without a trace, and under the surge of mana, only stirred the lava all around!

Standing in place, Lu Ye showed a look of surprise.

He hadn’t expected there to be a Sun Blaze-level star beast here, and the moment of contact proved that it wasn’t a regular Sun Blaze; at the very least, it was equivalent to a mid-stage Sun Blaze.

A mere mid-stage Sun Blaze wouldn’t bother Lu Ye much, but the environment here clearly favored the opponent’s prowess, giving this mid-stage Sun Blaze absolute late-stage deterrence.

A pity that it couldn’t be retained; such a powerful star beast’s crystal core, if devoured by the fire gourd, would undoubtedly help nurture a second uncanny fire more quickly.

Originally, Lu Ye didn’t pay much attention to this Sun Blaze star beast, but who would have thought the other party wouldn’t let go.

After the first failed ambush, this star beast didn’t show any fear; instead, it seemed angered by Lu Ye, launching sneak attacks every few days.

Crucially, this creature would act with extreme stealth on each occasion, and showed a ghostly style. If its attack failed, it would immediately retreat, leaving Lu Ye deeply frustrated.

He was here for the Talent Tree’s transformation; he didn’t have the time to engage in a battle of wits with such a star beast.

Once incensed, Lu Ye chased it deep inside the Giant Red Planet, eventually returning disappointed, unable to trace its whereabouts.

The Giant Red Planet’s internal environment was extremely harsh. Even with Lu Ye venturing deep, the Mental Consciousness couldn’t extend too far, making it impossible to grasp the other’s whereabouts.

Having no choice, he had to change his location.

Lu Ye thought this would settle things, but the Sun Blaze star beast clearly didn’t think so. Even when Lu Ye changed locations, it still accurately found him, constantly harassing him.

It seemed that because Lu Ye had previously slain too many star beasts, it held a grudge.

A few days later, on the Giant Red Planet, Lu Ye sat cross-legged. Below his position, the Sun Blaze star beast slowly approached, its aura completely concealed, so much so that even Lu Ye did not notice.

Star beasts might lack much spiritual intelligence, but sometimes superior instincts were more troublesome than intelligence. After several encounters with Lu Ye, it had roughly grasped Lu Ye’s details, knowing the most covert approach and the best timing for an attack.

The distance kept closing, yet the star beast revealed no sign of its presence, until reaching an extreme point, where it rose to strike.

In the past, whenever it attacked at this moment, Lu Ye would always react, and then it would escape.

But this time, Lu Ye showed no reaction as if unaware of it.

The star beast’s simple spiritual intelligence failed to comprehend why, nor did it dwell on it since its instincts screamed that this was a chance.

A hairless large hand emerged from the lava, aiming straight for Lu Ye’s heart, its fingertips gleaming cold, sharper than most magic treasures in the world.

With a single strike, it pierced Lu Ye’s protective magic, perhaps the next instant it would claim his life.

Yet, at this moment, mana surged around Lu Ye, his eyes abruptly opening.

With a thought, layers of Defense Spirit Runes materialized, protecting his vitals.

Simultaneously, his hand reached out, grabbing the star beast’s arm, while the other drew his blade, swiftly slashing down!

This star beast’s vigilance was too high, he had to use this method to lower its guard. Fortunately, its intelligence was low, giving him the chance to succeed. A lack of intelligence was the bane of most star beasts, which was the only aspect he could exploit.