Exploring Immortality Cultivation

"The rocky core and the liquid water part are almost equal in weight! Interesting."

"Strong magnetic field... Such a small rocky part can form a strong magnetic field? Interesting, worth studying."

"Confirmation of the stellar ring... It's so delicate."

"Could this be the smallest known planet ring?"

...

There was a special joyful emotion in the conversation among the people. The Immortal Path was something they had not fully mastered. In the early stages of empirical evidence, some even got lost in the vast cosmos and have yet to be found. Nevertheless, falling within the observable cosmic range of the Immortal Alliance and not encountering powerful immortals immediately after leaving the Immortal Path were matters worthy of joy.

The Lieque's dispatch officer, Liu Yuxi, approached Mai Siwei, the Carefree Practitioner, and said, "Fellow disciples from the Mysterious Palace are in place, we can start now, Senior."

Mai Siwei nodded. The Lieque vibrated, blue Spirit Light emitted from it, and it began to accelerate towards the constant star. After crossing the planetary orbit, the Lieque came to a halt. Another Primordial Magnetic Vortex Light Ring flew out from the Lieque, likewise expanding to three hundred light-seconds out. The purpose of this Daoist Technique was to capture within three hundred light-seconds all sorts of elements ejected by the constant star and the interstellar material pushed by the constant star wind, to estimate the age of the constant star and the constant star system.

This task was carried out in conjunction with others.

The collection and analysis of data took a full eleven days. The huge Primordial Magnetic True Aperture sustained by Mai Siwei was more efficient than the sum of all astronomical telescopes. This efficiency was beyond the reach of most researchers. The onboard calculator of the Lieque was a Top Grade Mystical Artifact, just one step away from transforming into an eternal Immortal Artifact. Even if the crew of the Lieque threw all their research at this super calculator, it wouldn't put much pressure on the calculator.

In just eleven days, they had gained a fairly thorough understanding of this constant star system.

On the eleventh day, during the time of 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Liu Yuxi reported to Mai Siwei.

"Senior, the preliminary results are now available."

Mai Siwei nodded, his attention still on the constant star. He was observing the star's majestic magnetic field, his fingers moving slightly as if recording something. A Red Giant Star was an indication of an old age for a constant star, and the entire star's body was very unstable with violent magnetic activity. Mai Siwei was observing these unstable extreme magnetic phenomena to further refine electromagnetic theory.

Liu Yuxi continued his report: "Based on our calculations, the mass of this constant star is approximately \\( 1.314*10^{29} \\) Jun, slightly less than the \\( 1.326*10^{29} \\) Jun of the Shenzhou Great Sun, but overall still in the same category."

Mai Siwei nodded, "That's about what I predicted."

Liu Yuxi was slightly astonished. To measure the heavens with a simple glance, was this the power of a summit Carefree Practitioner?

He had come into contact with Carefree Practitioners in Shenzhou, none of whom possessed this ability.

No wonder All Laws Return to One is recognized as the greatest genius below the Yuanli Master and Taiyi Heavenly Venerable!

Liu Yuxi collected himself, then said, "Senior, the next part will definitely interest you. Based on the isotopic calculations of that planet and the interstellar material, as well as the elemental spectrum of the constant star, the lifespan of this Red Giant Star is estimated to be between three point eight and four point three billion years."

Mai Siwei raised his eyebrows, "This... doesn't quite fit with current theories."

If a constant star's mass was similar to the Sun, then its lifespan should also be similar to the Sun's. But a Red Giant Star is clearly a sign of a constant star's twilight years; the Sun would need to burn for at least ten billion years before entering this stage, and this star would presumably need about as long.

But... three to four billion years?

"I think there's an explanation for this issue," said Liu Yuxi. "According to speculation, a catastrophe two hundred million years ago caused this constant star to lose too much strength. Afterward, the star entered a period of decline, showing low temperatures."

After removing Spiritual Energy, a star enters a period of decline. In a Low Spirit Energy Environment, the efficiency of energy work is extremely low. During this process, the constant star loses light and heat, the star's expansionary force is insufficient to counteract its own Gravity, and the star collapses inward as a whole. However, as long as it doesn't get destroyed on the spot, the constant star, as an orderly system, will still replenish Spiritual Energy from the vast cosmos. And when the Spiritual Energy exceeds a threshold, an explosive chain reaction will occur; under high temperature and pressure, helium fusion will occur prematurely, stability of the constant star will be compromised, leading to a major rebound.

"Two hundred million years ago..." Mai Siwei appeared puzzled. "Red Giant Stars have a very short duration, usually only lasting from one hundred thousand to a million years."

"Senior, you've forgotten two reasons," Liu Yuxi reminded. "First, this constant star was prematurely detonated, there is still a large amount of hydrogen inside, it just entered the Red Giant Star stage prematurely, hence its lifespan far exceeds that of most Red Giant Stars. Second, this place is only about a million light-years from the Heart of Tianhe, and it's closer to the Giant Attraction Source than Shenzhou, so time flows differently here than in Shenzhou. For this place, that disaster merely happened seventy million years ago—oh, in Shenzhou Constant Star Years."

Mai Siwei momentarily showed a look of astonishment. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "It seems I'm getting old..."

Mai Siwei felt he was indeed getting old. In his younger years, such matters were never mentioned. Back then, everyone believed the River of Time was singular.