Meanwhile,
A torrent surged up over the Sun Star, stretching billions of feet high. Its raging flames took the shape of countless true dragons, shifting through a myriad forms as flowers of the Law emerged, each as large as a star, scattering endlessly.
At last, these countless fiery dragons grew docile, bowing toward a single direction.
Amid the boundless flames, Ling Xiao sat perfectly still, quietly cross-legged. Chaos qi drifted around the three flowers above his head, while a figure within them endlessly appeared and vanished.
Ling Xiao raised a hand and held it out as if supporting something. A golden sun floated in his palm, and subtle, profound fluctuations swept across the Celestial Sphere, radiating from the Sun Star.
His divine sense spread out thread by thread, expanding without end. All three hundred and sixty-five main stars and fourteen thousand eight hundred auxiliary stars lay beneath its reach.
"At last..."
Ling Xiao slowly opened his eyes. Within his pupils, golden flames surged sky-high, scorching the eternal heavens to nothing.
After this period of hard work, the Law of Fire, the Dao of his origin, had finally broken through its shackles and advanced to the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal realm.
Though only one Law had reached the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal level, his strength had already undergone an earth-shaking transformation.
This was more than the manifestation of the Dao; it was a leap in the level of his very life.
Like a house cat evolving into a ferocious tiger.
Beyond that, the fragments of the Time Demon God's Law had brought his comprehension of the Law of Time to an incredibly profound level, second only to the Law of Fire.
If he could get another eighty or a hundred fragments, he could probably cultivate a complete Law of Time.
"Hongjun's lecture should be nearing its end, right?"
Ling Xiao calculated the time. As things stood, he was unquestionably the strongest in the entire Primordial World—except for Hongjun, of course.
Still, he couldn't grow complacent or let his guard down.
Once he reached the Quasi-Sage realm, those six Sages ordained by fate would start cheating their way to power.
It all began with the birth of the Human Race.
Ling Xiao had no intention of stopping Nuwa Creates Humans. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't do such a thing.
Even if he refused to give Nuwa the Gourd Vine and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, Heaven's Will would guide her to other ways of creating humanity.
If he stubbornly tried to stop Nuwa from creating humans, he'd be asking for death. He might anger Heaven's Will and get himself wiped out on the spot.
Minor things could be changed, but major events could not be reversed.
At most, he could delay their development a little.
"Back to cultivation..."
Ling Xiao was about to withdraw his divine sense and focus on cultivating when a faint, obscure aura suddenly caught his attention.
"This is..."
His gaze flickered as he saw through endless reaches of space and time. A purple speck of light had drawn his attention.
The aura came from there.
"The Ziwei Star?"
After a moment's hesitation, Ling Xiao rose to his feet and stepped into the boundless void.
He crossed endless reaches of the void and passed countless stars before finally arriving before the Ziwei Star.
This celestial body hung amid the endless void, surrounded by purple qi and boundless nobility.
It was enormous. Tiny worlds even floated across its surface, while purple torrents, like primordial qi, made it seem more like a Grand Primordial World.
"Truly worthy of being the Emperor Star," Ling Xiao exclaimed.
In his previous life, the Ziwei Star was hailed as the chief of all stars, the origin of all phenomena, the emperor among stars.
They called it, "When Ziwei appears, the sun and moon bow."
But that was how things were said in his previous life. In the Primordial World, the sun and moon were formed from Pangu's eyes.
"'When the sun and moon are absent, Ziwei reigns supreme' would make more sense."
Besides, with him around, every star would have to settle for being Second Brother.
"A crude concealment formation. How could it possibly stop me..."
Ling Xiao spotted the formation on the Ziwei Star at a glance. Strictly speaking, it wasn't crude at all. If his divine sense hadn't grown stronger after his breakthrough to the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal realm, he might not have discovered it.
With that thought, Ling Xiao took a step forward. The Laws surged around him, sweeping away the boundless purple qi as he arrived on the Ziwei Star. The first thing he saw was an enormous tree, so tall that its crown vanished from sight.
The giant tree stood at the very center of the Ziwei Star. Starlight coiled around it, and its entire trunk was ink-black, as if countless stars lay hidden within.
Most remarkable of all, the giant tree had three hundred and sixty-five branches, each bearing a bud. Not one too many, not one too few.
At the sight of it, Ling Xiao immediately understood the tree's origins.
"The Stellar Tree!"
The Stellar Tree fed on the power of the stars. Only after devouring the power of the Celestial Sphere's stars for countless years could it bear fruit. It produced just three hundred and sixty-five fruits each time, corresponding to the three hundred and sixty-five most ancient stars. Whoever ate a Stellar Fruit could become the Stellar Body corresponding to that star and wield its source power.
The three hundred and sixty-five branches of the Stellar Tree could also be made into Stellar Banners and used to arrange the Grand Stellar Array.
"Who are you, and why have you trespassed on my territory?"
Just then, a clear voice rang out, tinged with suspicion. A young man appeared beneath the Stellar Tree.
He wore a purple Daoist robe and looked only thirteen or fourteen years old. Though exceptionally handsome, he carried an unmistakable air of nobility, with the bearing of a born emperor.
"I happened to be passing by and came in for a look. Are you the master of the Ziwei Star?"
Ling Xiao asked with a smile. He saw at a glance that the boy had already reached the early stage of the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.
"That's right. This Ziwei Star is mine, and so is this tree. I am Emperor Ziwei!"
The boy relaxed his guard and answered Ling Xiao's questions earnestly, his expression rather proud.
"Emperor Ziwei?"
Ling Xiao couldn't help laughing. This boy had probably only recently taken human form and had never ventured out into the world. He didn't seem particularly bright.
"My name is Ling Xiao."
"Pleased to meet you! A guest is always welcome. Why don't we discuss the Dao?" the boy said with a cheerful smile. For now, he sensed no hostility from Ling Xiao and couldn't discern his cultivation level either.
He had been alone on the Ziwei Star for far too long. With another living being suddenly appearing, he couldn't help wanting to chat and test his understanding of the Dao.
"Sure."
Ling Xiao nodded. With a flicker, he appeared beneath the Stellar Tree.
The boy's gaze sharpened, and astonishment rose in his heart.
"This is an expert. His cultivation is probably no weaker than mine!"
Then,
they sat facing each other. The boy eagerly spoke first. The Auspicious Cloud above his head bloomed into three flowers, and as his Daoist voice rang out, the Ziwei Star blazed with countless rays of light. The power of the Celestial Sphere's stars seemed to answer his call, cascading down in immeasurable radiance.
Endless and unceasing.
Ling Xiao's gaze shifted. What he found interesting was that the boy cultivated a Dao centered on the Ziwei Star, one that commanded the stars of the Celestial Sphere—even the Sun and Taiyin were included.
The Purple Emperor Star suppresses all the stars?
"The stars of the Celestial Sphere shift without end, giving rise to boundless Great Daos. The Purple Emperor Star commands the stars of the Celestial Sphere. This is my Dao."
"Ziwei suppresses the sun and moon; only then can my Dao be complete."
"Fellow Daoist, what do you think of my Dao?" the boy asked excitedly, thrilled by his own brilliant path.
Ling Xiao shook his head helplessly and said calmly:
"A pity..."
Before you continue