Starry Sky Temple

Several old scholars left joyfully, cradling the research samples in their arms.

Jiang Chuan let out a long breath and slumped into his chair. "That felt even more exhausting than a fight."

Shen Zhiyi stood beside him, expressionless, though the faint blush at the tips of her ears had yet to fully fade.

She fell silent for several seconds.

Then she said, "You don't need to take what they said just now to heart."

Jiang Chuan deliberately tilted his head at her. "Which parts?"

"All of it!"

Shen Zhiyi lightly bit her pearly teeth, emphasizing her words before quickly regaining her composure. "Professor Jiang is a titan in academia, with unparalleled accomplishments in the field of bloodline inheritance. But her research direction... is somewhat radical. The proposal she put forward has always been highly controversial within the Federal Academic Committee and has yet to pass review."

Jiang Chuan said seriously, "I think the old lady's abilities have been rather wasted!"

Shen Zhiyi shot him an annoyed glare. The charm in that glance was more lethal than any words.

"Come on." She turned and headed for the door. "I'll show you around Darkstar Institute first. After that, the academy will create a specialized training plan for you, but whether you follow it will be entirely up to you."

"Alright."

Jiang Chuan followed her. After taking a few steps, he took the initiative to speak. "Director Shen, there's something else I'd like to ask."

"Go ahead."

"About changing classes."

Shen Zhiyi's steps paused slightly.

Jiang Chuan did not notice anything unusual about her and continued, "I've already reached the first-tier bottleneck. As far as I know, Stellar Crown Academy should have paths for Sublimation class changes?"

Shen Zhiyi stopped and turned to look at him, a complicated expression appearing on her face.

Before this—

She had nearly begun treating Jiang Chuan as someone on her level.

Only upon hearing this did she abruptly come back to her senses. Jiang Chuan's actual level was merely first tier!

She took a deep breath and adjusted her emotions before speaking. "That's right. The academy has thirteen Sublimation class-change paths. Eleven of them currently have inheritors, leaving only two unclaimed paths. Both are S-rank classes. I'll send you the detailed information later."

The moment Jiang Chuan heard that, he was instantly disappointed. "Only S-rank?"

Was this a joke?

Even the God of Craftsmen inheritance he had casually given away was SS-rank.

Shen Zhiyi's tone carried a trace of helplessness. "Sublimation paths are extremely rare. Most are controlled by other races. Even these thirteen S-rank paths were bought back with the lives of human predecessors."

She paused. "But for you, they are indeed a little lacking."

"Unless..."

Her eyes flickered, but she did not continue.

"Unless what?"

"Unless you go to the Starry Sky Temple and personally seize a high-sequence inheritance."

"The Starry Sky Temple?"

Shen Zhiyi led him into a corridor. Glowing electric crystals were embedded in the walls on both sides, brightly illuminating the entire passage.

Her voice echoed through the corridor with a solemn quality.

"There are two ways to obtain a Sublimation-class path."

"The first."

"Directly inherit an existing human class inheritance."

"You don't need to take any risks. You only need to meet the requirements."

"There are currently fifty Sublimation class-change paths across the entire Federation. Stellar Crown Academy possesses thirteen of them, and the highest-ranking one is SS-rank."

She paused. "The second method is also the way humanity first obtained Sublimation class changes: go to the Starry Sky Temple and personally fight for a class inheritance!"

Jiang Chuan narrowed his eyes slightly. "What kind of place is the Starry Sky Temple?"

"It is a sacred class-change site shared by all races in the Source Realm."

Shen Zhiyi said evenly, "If you want to obtain a higher-sequence Sublimation path, you must go there and compete with class changers from other races for eligibility."

"The competition in the Starry Sky Temple is extremely brutal. Every year, fewer than half of the class changers who enter leave alive."

"And the survival rate of us humans in the Starry Sky Temple..."

"Is eight percent."

Shen Zhiyi looked at him, her eyes carrying a gravity Jiang Chuan had never seen before. "In other words, out of every hundred human geniuses who go to challenge the Sublimation class change, only eight return alive!"

Jiang Chuan frowned.

"Even so, countless human geniuses still press onward every year."

Shen Zhiyi's voice lowered. "Because the increase in strength brought by a Sublimation class change is simply too great. At the same level, a Sublimation class changer is at least three times as strong as an ordinary class changer. The gap is enough to determine life and death in battle."

"I heard..." Jiang Chuan carefully chose his words. "Above Sublimation paths, there are also Ultimate Sublimation paths?"

"Ultimate Sublimation... that is a legendary inheritance path."

Shen Zhiyi shook her head slightly. "No one in humanity's thousands of years of history has ever achieved it, because the requirements are too harsh. The very first threshold blocks every human."

Jiang Chuan nodded. He already knew this. The first requirement for obtaining an Ultimate Sublimation path was raising all four basic attributes to their Extremum.

He had already done that.

Shen Zhiyi said, "In fact, it isn't just humanity. Even among the dominant races at the center of the Source Realm, I've never heard of anyone obtaining an Ultimate Sublimation path. I've always suspected it was merely a legend woven by those who came before us."

"But what if it really exists?"

Jiang Chuan asked.

Shen Zhiyi glanced at him and fell silent for a moment. "If it truly exists... then it can only be hidden in the deepest part of the Starry Sky Temple."

"The Starry Sky Temple has a multilayered structure. The deeper you go, the harder the trials become, and the richer the rewards."

"The best record in human history only reached the fourth level."

"That was achieved three hundred years ago by someone with an SSS-rank talent. He completed his Sublimation class change on the fourth level and, after emerging, was hailed as 'the Dawn of Humanity.'"

"Below the fourth level is the territory of other races—the Blood Cat Clan, Corpse Hound Clan, Scale Armor Clan, Wing Clan, and even those dominant races..."

"They all send their most outstanding geniuses deep into the temple to fight for resources."

"There..."

"Humans are at an absolute disadvantage."

After Shen Zhiyi finished saying all this, she thought Jiang Chuan would hesitate and need time to consider it.

But she was wrong.

Jiang Chuan immediately said, "I've decided, Director Shen. I'll personally go to the Starry Sky Temple and fight for a better inheritance!"

Shen Zhiyi nodded approvingly. "Only first-tier class changers can enter the Starry Sky Temple. With your strength, you can indeed dominate the place. But I must remind you that ordinary alien races may not be able to do anything to you, yet there are many races in the Source Realm with bizarre abilities. And the inheritors of those dominant races may not be weaker than you."

Jiang Chuan smiled confidently. "Then I'd like to see just how strong they really are!"