When Liang Ji's Natal Immortal Artifact, the Thirty-Three-Tier Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, had reached the Seventh-Rank Immortal Artifact level, it had already fused with his Natal Star, the Three Realms.
The first ten tiers corresponded to the Nine Springs Underworld and reincarnation; the middle ten corresponded to the ten branches of Vassals and Elemental Power; and the nine tiers above them corresponded to the Nine Heavens.
The final four tiers of the pagoda extended beyond his Natal Star and into the void.
Now, as the Deification List advanced to the eighth rank, the Heavenly Emperor rose from a third-grade Heavenly God to a second-grade divine position, ascending from the pagoda's thirtieth tier to its thirty-first.
Not only did this bring the Thirty-Three-Tier Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda along with it, advancing it into an eighth-rank Natal Dao Artifact.
But as the Heavenly Emperor entered the pagoda's thirty-first tier, a space opened within it of its own accord, seeming to encompass the entire Nine Suns Star System and project it inside—a star system both illusory and real.
The Heavenly Emperor sat at the heart of this seemingly real Nine Suns Star System, manipulating and setting the entire system in motion.
Still, one crucial step remained before he could control the whole star system.
At that moment, the Heavenly Emperor's figure emerged from the pagoda's thirty-first tier. Five-colored divine light shone from his golden form as he stood above the Nine Suns Star System, his Natal Star System. He was every bit as imposing as Liang Ji's Star God incarnation.
He reached down and beckoned toward the Nine Suns Star System below. The eighth-rank Deification List, already fused with the entire system, flew out at once and landed in the Heavenly Emperor's hand, unfurling in the void.