Golden Immortal of the Origin, Stellar Tree

At the same time.

Above the Sun Star, a torrent of a billion zhang surged forth. Violent flames, like true dragons, shifted into myriad forms as flowers of the Law of Fire bloomed, each as large as a star, scattering continuously.

In the end, these countless fiery dragons became incomparably docile, actually bowing toward a single direction.

Amidst this endless sea of fire, Ling Xiao sat cross-legged, motionless. The three flowers atop his head were suffused with chaotic energy, and a figure flickered in and out of existence within them.

Ling Xiao raised his hand, holding a golden sun that floated in his palm. Obscure and profound fluctuations swept across the Stellar Tree from the center of the Sun Star.

His divine sense spread out thread by thread, expanding constantly and growing infinitely. The three hundred and sixty-five primary stars and fourteen thousand eight hundred secondary stars of the heavens were all under his perception.

"Finally, it is done..."

Ling Xiao slowly opened his eyes. Within his pupils, monstrous golden flames burned, incinerating the ancient firmament.

After this period of effort, his origin path, the Law of Fire, had finally broken through its shackles and advanced to the level of a Golden Immortal of the Origin.

Although only one law had broken through to the level of a Golden Immortal of the Origin, his strength had undergone a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering transformation.

This was not merely a manifestation of the Dao, but a leap in the hierarchy of life.

It was akin to a house cat evolving into a fierce tiger.

Beyond this, the fragments of the Time Demon God's law had also brought his comprehension of the Law of Time to an incredibly deep level, only slightly inferior to the Law of Fire.

If he could obtain another hundred or eighty such fragments, he could likely cultivate a complete Law of Time.

"Hongjun's sermon must be coming to an end soon, right?"

Ling Xiao calculated the time. As things stood, his strength was absolutely peerless throughout the entire Primordial World—excluding Hongjun, of course.

However, he could not afford to be complacent or let his guard down.

Because after the Quasi-Saint stage, those six heaven-ordained Sages would begin to cheat.

The root of everything would begin with the birth of the human race.

Ling Xiao had no intention of stopping Nuwa from creating humans; both emotionally and logically, he could not do so.

Taking a step back, even if he did not give Nuwa the Gourd Vine and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, she would find other ways to create humans under the guidance of the Heavenly Dao.

To blindly attempt to stop Nuwa from creating humans would be to court death; offending the Heavenly Dao might result in him being wiped out directly.

Small matters could be altered, but great events were irreversible.

At most, he could only delay his development time slightly.

"Continue cultivating..."

Just as Ling Xiao was about to retract his divine sense and focus on cultivation, he was suddenly drawn to an obscure aura.

"This is..."

His gaze flickered, piercing through endless space-time, as a purple speck of light caught his attention.

The aura was emanating from exactly that spot.

"Ziwei Star?"

After a moment of hesitation, Ling Xiao rose to his full height. With a single step, he strode into the endless void.

Crossing the boundless void and passing countless stars, Ling Xiao finally arrived before the Ziwei Star.

This star, lying across the endless void, was wreathed in purple energy and possessed boundless nobility.

It was gargantuan. On its surface, there were even ephemeral worlds, and the purple torrents, resembling primordial energy, made it seem more like a Great Primordial World.

"It truly lives up to its name as the Emperor Star," Ling Xiao couldn't help but praise.

In his past life, the Ziwei Star held the reputation of being the head of all stars, the ancestor of all phenomena, and the emperor among stars.

It was said that "When Ziwei does not appear, the sun and moon are supreme."

However, that was a saying from his past life. In the Primordial World, the sun and moon were formed from the eyes of Pangu.

It would be more reasonable to say, "When the sun and moon do not appear, Ziwei is supreme."

Moreover, with him present, no matter what star it was, it could only ever play second fiddle.

"A crude concealment array; how could it possibly block me..."

Ling Xiao saw the array on the Ziwei Star at a glance. Strictly speaking, it could no longer be called crude; if not for his divine sense after breaking through to the Golden Immortal of the Origin, he might not have discovered it.

Thinking of this, Ling Xiao took a step forward. The laws surged around his body, sweeping away the endless purple energy as he arrived on the Ziwei Star. The first thing that met his eyes was a towering tree that seemed to reach into the unseen.

This giant tree was planted in the very center of the Ziwei Star. Surrounded by starlight, its entire body was ink-black, as if countless stars were hidden within it.

The most marvelous thing was that this giant tree had three hundred and sixty-five branches, each bearing a flower bud—exactly three hundred and sixty-five, no more and no less.

Seeing this, Ling Xiao understood the origin of this tree.

"The Stellar Tree!"

The Stellar Tree fed on the power of the stars and required endless ages of devouring the stars of the heavens to bear fruit. Each time, it produced only three hundred and sixty-five fruits, corresponding to the most ancient three hundred and sixty-five stars. Once one consumed a Stellar Fruit, they could transform into a Star Body corresponding to that star, capable of wielding the origin power of that star.

The three hundred and sixty-five branches of the Stellar Tree could also be used to craft Stellar Banners, which would allow for the deployment of the Grand Stellar Array.

"Who are you, and why have you trespassed into my territory?"

At this moment, a crisp voice filled with vigilance rang out, and a youth manifested beneath the Stellar Tree.

He wore a purple Daoist robe and appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen years old. Though he was incredibly delicate and handsome, there was a faint, peerless nobility about him—the natural bearing of an emperor.

"I was just passing by and came in to take a look. Are you the master of the Ziwei Star?"

Ling Xiao asked with a smile, seeing through the youth's cultivation at a glance; he was already an expert at the early stage of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

"That is correct. This Ziwei Star is mine, and this tree is also mine. I am Emperor Ziwei!"

The youth relaxed his vigilance and answered Ling Xiao's question earnestly, his expression quite proud.

"Emperor Ziwei?"

Ling Xiao could not help but laugh. This youth seemed to have only recently taken human form and had never ventured out into the world; his wits did not seem particularly sharp.

"My name is Ling Xiao."

"A pleasure, a pleasure! Since you are a guest, why don't we discuss the Dao?" the youth said with a beaming smile. From what he could tell, he felt no hostility from Ling Xiao, nor could he perceive his cultivation level.

He had stayed alone on the Ziwei Star for too long, and with a living being suddenly intruding, he could not help but want to chatter and verify his own Daoist arts.

"Very well."

Ling Xiao nodded, his figure flickering as he appeared beneath the Stellar Tree.

The youth's gaze sharpened, his heart filled with surprise.

This is an expert; his cultivation is likely no weaker than my own!

Immediately, they sat facing each other. The youth could not wait to begin, his auspicious clouds and three flowers emerging above his head. As he spoke the sounds of the Dao, the Ziwei Star erupted with ten thousand zhang of rosy light, and the power of the stars across the heavens seemed to be summoned, cascading down in boundless radiance.

It was endless and continuous.

Ling Xiao's eyes flickered. What he found interesting was that the Dao this youth cultivated was centered on the Ziwei Star, governing all the stars in the heavens, even including the Sun and the Moon.

The Ziwei Imperial Star, suppressing ten thousand stars?

"The stars of the heavens change infinitely, evolving into infinite Daos. The Ziwei Imperial Star governs the stars of the heavens; this is my Dao."

"The Ziwei suppresses the Sun and Moon, only then can my Dao be perfected."

"Fellow Daoist, what do you think of my Dao?" the youth asked excitedly, thrilled by the brilliance of his own path.

Ling Xiao shook his head helplessly and said indifferently:

"It is a pity..."