Ye Mingcheng, hailing from a prestigious forging sect, had a keen understanding of the grades of various magical artifacts. After a brief glance at the flying sword, he remarked that it was merely a low-grade artifact, common in the cultivation world and already damaged. He suggested that repairing it would be less effective than reforging a new one. In contrast, the flying sword in the storage ring was a mid-grade artifact. Guo Xingyue thought to himself: This short sword is my first flying sword, and it even saved my life. Though it's of poor quality and damaged, I'll keep it for now and find good materials to restore it later. He casually stored the flying sword in the storage ring.
Ye Mingcheng then glanced at the corpse of the monster not far away and asked, "Did you kill this Horned Electric Beast, Brother Guo?"
Guo Xingyue chuckled, "I just arrived here, and all my clothes were destroyed by the teleportation array. When I saw this fellow approaching, I thought to borrow its skin, not realizing it could discharge electricity and almost got hurt."
Recalling Guo Xingyue's dire state after the tribulation, Ye Mingcheng couldn't help but burst into laughter. Guo Xingyue felt embarrassed and scratched his head, chuckling awkwardly. Ye Mingcheng added, "The Horned Electric Beast usually lives with the Dragon Eagles, hunting prey from the sky and the ground. It's the dominant creature of the Giant Horn Star's desert. Both have tough exteriors, making them difficult to injure with artifacts. Generally, cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage cannot contend with them. However, it is quite rare to see a Horned Electric Beast wandering alone. That said, it has its uses: its skin can be used as a basic material for crafting protective garments, and there's a piece of Earth-type crystal inside, which can be used to forge Earth-type artifacts."
After that, Ye Mingcheng took out his flying sword and spent a long time eviscerating the Horned Electric Beast, removing its hide and extracting the crystal. He handed the hide and crystal to Guo Xingyue and said, "This is yours." Guo Xingyue shook his head and replied, "I don't know anything about forging; keeping it would be useless. You should take it, Brother Ye!" Ye Mingcheng wasn't insincere: "Very well, I'll keep the Earth crystal, but you should hold onto the hide! It will be useful for crafting a protective garment in the future."
After Guo Xingyue stored the hide in his ring, Ye Mingcheng asked, "Where are you planning to travel next, Brother Guo?" Guo Xingyue thought: Since I'm unfamiliar with this place, it doesn't really matter where I go. He then said, "I'm not sure where to go next. If it's convenient for you, I'd like to travel with you."
Ye Mingcheng, being a kind-hearted person, nodded: "That's fine! I still need to look for some minerals here on Giant Horn Star. If you're free, let's go together." Guo Xingyue refined the flying sword given by Ye Mingcheng, and then the two of them took to the skies on their swords, heading off into the distance.
During their journey, Guo Xingyue was curious about the cultivation world and asked Ye Mingcheng many questions. He learned a great deal: In the cultivation world, practitioners are judged not by how long they have been cultivating but by their levels of cultivation. Unless within the same sect, seniority is determined by cultivation level; thus, a more powerful practitioner is considered a senior, while a weaker one is seen as a junior. Cultivators can discern each other's levels through external spiritual senses. There is a significant gap between levels—each difference equating to a tenfold disparity in strength. Combat between practitioners often revolves around the clash of cultivation levels and artifacts. A lower-level practitioner with a top-tier artifact may not defeat a higher-level one with an ordinary artifact, but with skillful application, they can defend themselves and escape.
In the cultivation world, time is measured according to the largest cultivation planet, Jujiao Star, where one cultivation year is equivalent to three years on Pangu Star. Ye Mingcheng also taught Guo Xingyue a method for calculating time, enabling him to keep track of the passage of time. Additionally, Ye Mingcheng gave Guo Xingyue a jade talisman that recorded various known minerals' shapes, properties, and uses, along with names, shapes, and uses of some precious herbs. Coming from a forging sect, Ye Mingcheng was well-versed in minerals but not particularly knowledgeable about herbs; he only knew a few common ones and their uses. Guo Xingyue stored the jade talisman in his ring, planning to study it in detail later.
Seeing Ye Mingcheng was generous and had reached the mid-Nascent Soul stage, Guo Xingyue felt a sense of camaraderie and suddenly proposed, "Brother Ye, how about we become sworn brothers?" Ye Mingcheng also had a favorable impression of Guo Xingyue and laughed heartily, "Sure! I'll take the role of the elder brother without hesitation." Guo Xingyue smiled and bowed, saying, "You've met your little brother, and I've accepted your welcoming gift. I'm quite poor and have nothing to offer in return, but I'll make it up to you later." With that, the two exchanged hearty laughter.
They flew for quite a while, still over the desert, until both suns in the sky had set. Although nightfall posed little issue for cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage—since the distinction between day and night was minimal for them—having flown for a long time, they had used up much of their spiritual energy. Not in a hurry and wishing to conserve their crystal resources, they landed on a sandy hill to rest, intending to replenish their energy through meditation.
Ye Mingcheng casually set up a formation on the sandy hill and placed a magical artifact as the focal point before sitting down to meditate. Guo Xingyue watched with great interest and asked, "Brother, what is the purpose of this formation?" Ye Mingcheng replied with a smile, "This is just a simple Myriad Forms Returning to Origin Formation; it's only used to prevent ordinary spirit beasts from intruding. If you want to learn forging, you'll need to understand formations; otherwise, you won't be able to forge high-quality artifacts." He then handed Guo Xingyue another jade talisman: "I'm not an expert in formations, but I know a bit. This talisman contains my insights on formations; you might want to study it when you have time." Guo Xingyue laughed heartily, "I can't refuse such a generous gift. I'll gladly accept it." Ye Mingcheng chuckled and then settled into meditation.
When Guo Xingyue woke from his meditation, he felt exceptionally pleased: this time, he discovered that his cultivation had advanced significantly again. It seemed that the spiritual energy on Giant Horn Star was much denser than on Pangu Star. He wondered why the spiritual energy on Pangu Star was so thin; he'd need to clarify that if given the opportunity. Noticing that Ye Mingcheng was still cultivating, he lay back on the sandy hill and gazed at the starry sky. Giant Horn Star had two suns but no moon, making the sky exceptionally clear; every star shone brightly. Guo Xingyue felt as if he could hear the call of the stars. With a shift in his thoughts, he seemed to soar freely through the starry expanse, a profound joy filling his heart.