Chapter 500 - 357: Breaking Through to Level Four (Part 2)

"Dynasties change, heroes fall, geniuses rise only to die young..."

His finger paused on the stone. "But there’s one thing I see very clearly."

"What?"

"This era was always destined to change."

The black-haired elder turned around. The faint blue light reflecting on his face made his eyes seem exceptionally profound.

"The Rifts are growing more numerous, and the Mutants are becoming stronger. Ten years ago, a Level Three Rift was enough to throw an entire province into turmoil."

"And now? Level Four Rifts are springing up like mushrooms, and even Level Five Rifts have started to appear."

He walked back to his meditation cushion and sat down again.

"Great Yan needs powerhouses—experts capable of defending our territories. As for where these powerhouses come from... does it really matter?"

The white-browed elder was silent for a long while before slowly nodding.

"You’re right. He has purified countless Rifts, which is tantamount to saving tens of millions of lives. That alone is enough."

Without his arrival, the situation on the entire Profound Yellow Star would have inevitably continued to deteriorate.

「Jiangzhou City. Three hundred meters beneath the Superpower Management Bureau.」

The air here carried the raw scent of freshly excavated earth. The walls were made of thick alloy plates, their surfaces covered in a dense network of silver etchings.

The floor was paved with three layers of alloy plates, with a dark-red cushioning material sandwiched between each layer. It felt slightly elastic underfoot.

Wei Song stood outside the door to the sealed chamber, his back against the cold Metal wall. His arms were crossed, and his eyes were fixed on the emergency indicator light on the opposite wall.

Gaga was perched on his shoulder. The little creature was huddled into a ball with its eyes half-closed, looking tense.

Wei Song could feel its attention was focused entirely on the sealed chamber behind him.

"What, worried about Ian?" He gently tapped Gaga’s head with a knuckle.

Gaga turned its head and pecked his finger, clearly impatient.

"I’m worried too. The path to Level Four Morning Star is a barrier that has stopped countless Wizards."

Inside the sealed chamber, Ian sat cross-legged on the alloy floor, stripped to the waist.

Faint, silvery-white patterns emerged on his skin, spreading from his chest to his limbs and neck, finally converging on his forehead to form a complex sigil.

The patterns pulsed in time with his heartbeat, glowing and dimming like a Star Map against the night sky.

Piled before him were 8,300 flawless, golden Source Crystals, bathing the entire chamber in a pale golden light.

’The breakthrough definitely won’t use this many, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.’

Ian closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into his Sea of Spirit. There, five Star Orbits spun slowly in the Void.

The innermost was the Dark Gold Gravity Orbit, its progress at 67%.

The second was the blazing-white Thermal Energy Orbit, at 65%.

The third was the milky-white Purification Orbit, at 52%.

The fourth was the silver-gray Time Orbit, at 17%.

The fifth was the earthy-yellow Earth Orbit, at 23%.

At the center of the five Star Orbits hovered a miniature Protostar.

It was only fist-sized, its surface roiling with golden flames. Within, one could faintly discern the ripples of nuclear fusion.

It was gradually taking the shape of a Star Core.

Over the past three-plus months, Ian had purified countless Rifts and absorbed innumerable World Origin Fragments to lay this formidable foundation.

’Seed of Morning Star...’

Ian’s Consciousness Body floated above the Sea of Spirit, surveying the gradually forming cosmos below.

Knowledge from the Wizard World surged up from the depths of his memory.

The transition from Apprentice to Official Wizard was the first life transition, extending one’s lifespan from a hundred years to five hundred.

The transition from a Level Three Wizard to a Morning Star Wizard, by condensing a Seed of Rules, would usher in the second great life transition.

One would form a complete Rule Domain, and within it, all other Rules and forms of Energy would be repelled.

Among opponents of the same level, battles were decided by whose Rule was stronger and whose Domain was more resilient.

One’s Power would be on a completely different level than before the breakthrough, a truly qualitative leap.

One’s lifespan would leap from two thousand years to five thousand, and they would become a being of pure Energy, shedding all mortal weaknesses.

The Soul would become resilient enough to withstand Void storms. One would innately grasp aspects of the Space Rule and be able to perceive nodes in the Void.

Ordinary travel would no longer be flight, but Space Jumps. Distances of hundreds of thousands, even millions of miles, could be traversed in the blink of an eye.

There was also the matter of bloodline ascension: parents, siblings, and all direct blood relatives would benefit.

In theory, the entire family would be elevated to the status of a Level Four Bloodline Warlock Clan.

Although the bloodline’s potential would be capped at Level Four, to an ordinary Wizard, this was nothing short of a divine miracle.

The greatest change, however... would be the loss of the world’s blessing. Instead, one would face its rejection.

A Morning Star Wizard’s Rule was so powerful that it could no longer be fully contained by their native world; they were in constant opposition to the World Will.

No one wanted to be in a constant state of conflict with an entire world, as it consumed one’s own Source Power—an act that would severely impact their lifespan.

Thus, upon ascending to the Morning Star level, unless they could be concealed by a world-class Secret Technique or Secret Treasure, they were forced to leave their native world. They would venture into the Void, into Otherworlds...

...to seek out new worlds compatible with their own Rule, and capture them.

Then, over long eons, they would assimilate and refine it, cultivating it into their own unique World Core. This allowed them to use the Rules of one world to counter the Rules of another.

A Morning Star Wizard who had done this could enter and exit other worlds without being suppressed by their respective World Wills, allowing them to unleash their full power.

But on the path of world Rules, the Morning Star rank was merely the beginning.

The stages that followed—Radiant Moon, Bright Sun... even True Spirit—were all part of a continuous process of strengthening and perfecting one’s Rules. And with each stage, one’s power would grow ever more terrifying...

’My Path of Celestial Body... is no ordinary Seed of Rules.’

Ian’s Consciousness Body reached out, cupping its hand around the miniature star.

’A Blazing Star Core... with Gravity as its skeleton, Thermal Energy as its heart, and Purification, Time, and Earth as support.’

’To condense a Protostar... which is also the most powerful World Core!’

Once he ascended, he would skip the process of cultivating a World Core entirely. He would be able to unleash his full power in any world!