Chapter 573: Astral Plane

Chapter 573 The Astral Realm

Listening to Freonlidas's warning, Levi nodded and replied, "Yes, I understand."

He knew that Freonlidas was telling him all this for his own good.

He did not find it naggy or tedious.

The Elemental Tower had dispatched a total of six personnel to the Astral Realm to harvest solar brilliance, with a legendary-tier mage leading

What he lacked now was the spatial coordinates of the Astral Realm.

Thus, he had to follow the Elemental Tower’s people there.

Buzz buzz buzz!

After the space mage opened the portal to the Astral Realm and made some quick adjustments, waiting until it stabilized, he said to the group: “Alright, the portal is open. You may enter.”

With that, he stepped through first, vanishing before everyone’s eyes.

The others followed one after another.

Before Li Wei left, Fraunrides reminded the legendary mage leading the expedition to take good care of him.

“Master Li Wei is visiting the Astral Realm for the first time. Please look after him, Master Bool.”

Legendary Mage Bool smiled and replied, “Don’t worry. I am the team leader—I will bring every single one of you back safely.”

“That’s all I’ll say. I’m heading in now.”

Bool stepped into the portal first.

Others followed closely behind.

Just before entering, Li Wei glanced at Fraunrides and said, “Rest assured, I will return safely.”

Fraunrides quickly responded, “Be extremely careful.”

Li Wei was now a precious asset to the Hall of Truth.

He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him in the Astral Realm—he was counting on Li Wei to push forward the Sunflare Research Project upon his return.

Li Wei followed the last person into the portal.

The moment he entered, he obtained the fixed coordinates of the destination within the Astral Realm.

He committed them to memory.

Coordinates anchored by physical objects usually remained unchanged.

Once acquired, they could be used directly.

After a bumpy journey through the spatial passage, Li Wei emerged into the Astral Realm.

Looking outward, he found himself standing atop a meteorite floating amidst the endless void of the Astral Realm.

A simple base had been built upon the meteorite.

An enchantment covered the entire rock, creating gravity and breathable air inside—

so that newcomers wouldn’t immediately face the harsh conditions of the Astral Realm.

Legendary Mage Bool called out, “Li Wei!”

Hearing this, Li Wei hurried over.

Bool looked at the group and said, “The environment of the Astral Realm differs greatly from that of the Material Plane. Human bodies cannot survive here unaided—you must rely on Starplate magical artifacts to sustain yourselves.”

“Each of you has two sets of Starplate. Guard them well; do not let them be damaged.”

“Of course, if someone has already mastered full elementalization, then they can survive without Starplate.”

“But even so, never lower your guard.”

“The Astral Realm is unlike the Material Plane. While magic elements are abundant in our world, allowing easy restoration of mana, those here are extremely sparse. Only certain areas gather enough magical energy.”

“Therefore, if your mana runs low, you won’t be able to replenish it naturally.”

“Everyone must use their mana wisely. Running out means losing both combat ability and survival capability—for a mage, that is tantamount to death.”

...

Bool spoke at length mostly for Li Wei’s benefit.

The rest were veterans who had visited the Astral Realm many times—they already knew these things.

Li Wei didn’t interrupt to tell Bool that he had already mastered the Elemental Body—in fact, an advanced version known as the Elemental Lord’s Form.

Instead, he listened carefully and memorized everything Bool said.

If he could move freely at depths of tens of thousands of meters beneath the sea, surviving in the Astral Realm would pose no problem.

There wasn’t the crushing pressure found in oceanic abysses here.

Still, pressure differences existed.

The Astral Realm exerted extreme negative pressure—if even a small wound appeared on the body, blood and flesh might burst forth violently.

It also featured ultra-low temperatures alternating with scorching heat zones.

Survival difficulty rivaled that of deep-sea exploration.

Later, Bool instructed everyone to step outside the protective enchantments surrounding the meteorite to acclimate to the Astral Realm’s environment:

ultra-cold, zero gravity, intense negative pressure, endless darkness, disorientation, and spatial confusion…

Only after adapting did the group set off toward the location where Sunflares erupted.

Due to the immense distances between objects in the Astral Realm—often spanning hundreds of thousands of miles—movement relied solely on spatial teleportation arrays.

Each member carried a crystal that allowed instant return to the meteorite base.

Should danger arise, escape was immediate.

Under Bool’s guidance, the group traveled along the teleportation networks laid down by the Elemental Tower throughout the Astral Realm, heading toward the site of the Sunflare eruption.

Every time Li Wei arrived somewhere new, he noted the spatial coordinates.

However, since the teleportation circles engraved onto the meteorite constantly moved with it, their coordinates shifted dynamically.

Recording them proved useless—they wouldn’t lead back to the current position of the meteorite, only its previous location.

Upon realizing this, Li Wei stopped wasting effort recording such data.

As long as he located a teleportation circle, he could trace his way back to the base.

Even without finding one, he still possessed the return crystal.

The Elemental Tower had prepared thoroughly—

as long as one didn’t act recklessly, getting lost was unlikely.

How many teleportation gates had they passed through? Countless.

Finally, Li Wei beheld a colossal star drifting through the Astral Realm, radiating boundless light and heat.

Without atmospheric shielding, staring directly at it could blind anyone instantly.

Standing near it, exposed to constant radiation, the temperature of everyone’s Starplates rose rapidly.

Except for Li Wei.

He felt warm all over, sensing his mana steadily increasing, his power growing stronger.

His Solar Contemplation Technique activated fully, producing astonishing effects.

He hadn’t worn his Starplate at all—he stood completely exposed to the Astral Realm.

No need for supernatural abilities like elemental transformation.

Relying on his own physique, comparable to that of a legendary dragon, he was able to move freely within the perilous Astral Plane.

After receiving direct sunlight from close range—

Li Wei felt every cell in his body begin to stir with vitality.

Bull glanced at Li Wei and noticed something odd about him.

After two glances, he paid no further attention.

Every mage of legendary rank possessed their own unique abilities.

"Alright, right here. Prepare to capture the solar flames that will be ejected," Bull commanded the group.

Everyone took out their respective tools and began setting them up on nearby asteroids.

They formed an enormous magical net.

Using this net to catch the solar flames ejected by the sun, intercepting the solar essence contained within those flames.

While everyone was setting up the magical net, Li Wei observed the sun.

He saw streams of heat occasionally erupt from the sun's surface.

Most of the time, after shooting up to a certain height, these thermal currents would fall back into the sun.

According to calculations made by scholars of the Elemental Tower—

A particularly powerful stream of flame would soon shoot out, one that would escape the sun's grasp and fly deep into the Astral Plane until it cooled and dissipated, eventually becoming inert interstellar dust within the Astral Plane.

Bull and the others seized this opportunity to catch the ejected flames.

They did not yet have the ability to enter the sun directly to collect solar essence; they could only rely on this method to gather it.

Approaching the sun—aside from its terrifying temperature, even the sun's immense gravity alone could ensure that anyone who drew near would never return.

The pressure one would endure falling into the sun was countless times greater than what one would experience in the deepest ocean trenches.

No one dared risk approaching the sun.

Li Wei continued gazing at the distant sun when suddenly his eyes flickered slightly—he spotted a small black dot on the sun's surface.

Moments later, he realized the black dot wasn't actually on the sun's surface.

Rather, it lay directly ahead of them, blocking the path between themselves and the sun.

Li Wei quickly informed Bull, saying, "Master Bull, there seems to be something up ahead?"

Bull looked in the direction he pointed but saw nothing resembling the small black dot.

Only after casting the highest-level Eagle Eye spell did he barely make out the presence of a small dark speck.

Though appearing as just a tiny dot from afar, whatever it was proved immensely large upon closer inspection.

Bull worried that this object might interfere with the ejection trajectory of the upcoming solar flame, causing misalignment so their collection net would become useless.

He said, "I'll go see if I can move that thing aside, so it doesn't disrupt our flame collection."

Li Wei nodded.

Bull flew toward the dark spot.

Seeing Bull cast Eagle Eye, Li Wei also applied the same spell upon himself.

With sudden clarity, his pupils sharply contracted.

Having enhanced his vision, he now clearly recognized what that object truly was.

It was a colossal astral beast floating through space, covered all over in purplish-black markings, emanating an aura of danger.

Li Wei immediately rushed toward Bull, hoping to stop him before he drew too near.

(End of Chapter)