The final fragment of consciousness returned to its place within the Kindling.
HUM!
Countless faint hums echoed throughout the great hall, merging into a single harmony.
It was ancient and vast, as if the entire starry sky were whispering.
The silver-white ball of light suddenly contracted.
From the size of a fist, it collapsed into an infinitesimally small point of light, like a single Rice Grain.
And then...
It exploded!
Countless silver-white filaments of light erupted from the point, spreading like a spiderweb to every corner of the hall.
Each filament precisely pierced the dark blue Crystal Stones embedded in the walls.
Inside the Crystal Stones, the frozen figures of the Star Spirit Race trembled slightly.
The looks of despair and pain on their faces slowly eased, like melting ice.
They finally settled into a peaceful... slumber.
In the center of the hall.
The High Priest’s spectral form slowly turned to look at Ian.
For a fleeting moment, its blurry face became clear.
It was a face so handsome it was almost inhuman. Deep within its silver-white pupils, the rise and fall of an entire civilization was reflected.
He raised his right hand, pointing his index finger toward the spot between Ian’s eyebrows.
The instant his fingertip touched skin...
VMMMMM!!!
Ian felt the entire world begin to spin.
He wasn’t dizzy. Instead, his entire perception was being forcibly elevated.
He "saw"...
...in the endless starry sky, the countless stars were not isolated.
They pulled on each other, resonated with each other, vibrated in harmony with each other, forming a "Star Net" that covered the entire universe.
Every star was a node on this net, and every ray of Starlight was a carrier of information.
And the Star Spirit Race...
...they were "Resonators" who could freely traverse the Star Net, drawing Energy and transmitting knowledge.
"So... this is how the Starry Sky Festival can work..." Ian murmured.
’This is the true nature of the cosmos!’
The High Priest’s voice, like the chime of an ancient bell, rang out in the depths of his Sea of Spirit.
"With the stars as your medium, and the Soul as your guide."
"I bestow upon you... the final blessing of the Star Spirit Race!"
As his voice faded...
HUM!
A pillar of silver-white light descended from the heavens!
It came from the depths of the Void, from beyond the Star Sea, passing straight through the hall’s ceiling to pour directly into him!
Ian was completely devoured by the pillar of light.
Skin, bones, meridians, organs...
Every inch of him was glowing!
A pure, silver-white Starlight shone from within him.
More importantly, there was his Sea of Spirit.
Under the infusion of Starlight, the faint golden points of liquefied light began to spin madly, expand, and transform!
His Liquefaction progress of 81.8% began to roil like boiling water!
83%... 86%... 90%...
It was skyrocketing with every passing second!
But the true "gift" was yet to come.
On the fingertip of the High Priest’s spectral form, a silver point of light the size of a Rice Grain slowly materialized.
Within that point of light, a miniature, swirling cosmos could be faintly seen.
Fixed Stars were born and met with Annihilation, nebulae spun and collapsed, black holes engaged in Devouring and then eruption...
It was a fragment of comprehension of the Star Rule, from the level of a Level Four Wizard!
The Seed of the Stars!
"Take it,"
the High Priest said softly, giving it a gentle push with his fingertip.
The Seed of the Stars sank into the spot between Ian’s eyebrows.
BOOM!!!
Ian felt his Sea of Spirit... explode.
Not in destruction, but in "Reorganization"!
The moment the Seed of the Stars landed in the center of his Sea of Spirit...
...the path of the first level of the Starry Sky Festival Meditation Method disintegrated, inch by inch, like a fragile spiderweb.
Then, under the pull of the Seed of the Stars, it began to furiously reconstruct, optimize, and evolve!
The previously obscure and complex trajectories of the Star Map were now as clear as the lines on his own palm.
The flow of Spiritual Power, which had once required careful guidance, was now as natural as breathing.
The first level... shattered!
The Meditation Method underwent a fundamental evolution, instantly breaking through to the second level.
The "Star Core Condensation Method," corresponding to the level of a Level Two Wizard, was seared into the depths of his Soul like a brand!
More importantly...
...the Seed of the Stars had created a deep resonance with the Starry Sky Festival!
Ian could feel it clearly.
Above his Sea of Spirit, the once-scattered illusions of stars were now all gathering around the Seed of the Stars.
Like planets pulled into orbit by a Fixed Star, they began to revolve slowly around it.
With every revolution, his Spiritual Power grew more solid.
With every revolution, he drew an inch closer to the cosmos.
’This is... true Star Resonance...’
Ian murmured, his dark eyes reflecting a brilliant starlight.
At the same time.
Deep within his Soul, the "Phase Anchoring" that connected him to the Projection World and to Li Xing...
...was undergoing an earth-shattering transformation!
The once-slender thread of his Soul was being forcibly strengthened, widened, and reinforced by the Star Rule emanating from the Seed of the Stars.
Like a trickling stream being transformed into a mighty, surging river.
From the other end of the Link, the fluctuations of Li Xing’s soul came through clearly.
It was warm and fervent, carrying the roar of a burning Star Bloodline.
He could even faintly sense...
...that the starry sky of the Yalan Continent was also resonating with the Seed of the Stars.
"Main body..."
Li Xing’s voice came through the reinforced Link, filled with surprise and joy.
"My Star Bloodline... it’s boiling!"
Ian didn’t respond.
His consciousness was completely immersed in the metamorphosis of his Sea of Spirit.
The Seed of the Stars took root in the center, growing.
The rotation speed of the faint golden liquefied light points reached its limit, and fine crystals began to appear at the edges!
95%... 97%... 99%...
100%!!!
The moment his Liquefaction progress broke through its limit...
VMMMMM!!!
The suppression of the Rule imposed by the ruins shattered like glass.
The shackles of the Level Two Wizard Realm cracked, inch by inch!
In his Sea of Spirit, all the faint golden points of light exploded at once.
They transformed into a sky full of brilliant stardust.
Then, under the pull of the Seed of the Stars, the stardust began to collapse inward, condensing and undergoing Crystalization!
The metamorphosis... had begun!
In the center of the Sea of Spirit.
The sky of stardust, like an inverted galaxy, collapsed madly inward.
The Seed of the Stars hovered at the center of the collapse, emitting a stable, vast, silver-white halo.
Like a newborn Fixed Star, its Gravity guided the orbit of the entire Star System.
Under the effect of its Gravity, the stardust spun, collided, and fused...