The ninth tier of the Refiner branch was the key that had allowed Yaoguang to turn the tide in a single stroke just moments ago. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Through his negotiation, he had successfully obtained all the spoils of war on the battlefield. Whether it was the high-tier battle armor or the divine weapons carried by individuals like Lei Ting, they were all, without exception, among the most elite products of this world. Each item started at a value of tens of billions of asters, with the most expensive reaching hundreds of billions.

Furthermore, every member of the Crimson Star Empire's imperial family carried protective artifacts. Since their souls had been directly harvested by the Five-Emperor Soul-Refining Furnace, these refined artifacts never had a chance to activate and thus became Yaoguang’s spoils in pristine condition.

Relying on these massive profits, the experience of his Merchant branch skyrocketed. Without hesitation, he poured it all into the Refiner branch, directly causing that branch to grow to a tier comparable to the ninth tier of the Martial Dao branch.

However, the artifact refinement system was clearly different from the body refinement system. It consisted of only three tiers: apprentice refiner, refiner, and high-level refiner. Because the high-level refiner tier was not yet at perfection, he had currently only formed two Dao Fruits.

One was the Heart of Refining. This allowed him to better analyze the structure of a refined artifact upon contact. The other was the Soul of Refining. This enhanced the perception between the practitioner and the refined artifact, making one's own essence, qi, and psyche more compatible with the artifact’s spirituality.

Relying on the vast experience of a high-level refiner and the talents granted by these two Dao Fruits, he had managed to come on top during that final showdown against Leng Tianfeng. He had refined the Five-Emperor Soul-Refining Furnace just a step ahead of Leng Tianfeng, while Leng Tianfeng became the artifact spirit.

Yaoguang’s gaze lingered on the Refiner branch for a moment before shifting back to the Martial Dao branch.

"A treasured artifact," Yaoguang murmured.

What did a single treasured artifact signify? The Jiang family had once intended to use this very artifact to purchase this entire world from the Artifact Sect. Even if that was partly because the Jiang family possessed sufficient connections and heritage, it still demonstrated just how incredibly valuable a treasured artifact was. It was essentially equivalent to a world.

Consequently, after obtaining this treasured artifact, Yaoguang’s Merchant experience surged through another round of explosive growth. This time, he did not apply the experience to the Refiner branch, but instead funneled it all into the growth of the Martial Dao branch.

The results were instantaneous. The progress of this tier soared from a mere 1% directly to 81%. However, this was not 81% of the conventional star lord tier, but rather the second form of the star lord tier.

"Meteor Star, Heavenly Star, Primary Star," Yaoguang muttered these three terms.

The star lord tier could be divided into three stages: the early stage where one merged with a star, the middle stage where one used their Life Force Field to evolve a stellar force field, and the late stage where one increased their mass to manifest as a stellar fiend god.

However, the foundation of these three stages was divided into three forms: Meteor Star, Heavenly Star, and Primary Star.

Yaoguang interpreted them in his own way. Meteor Stars were shooting stars, Heavenly Stars were satellites, and Primary Stars were planets. Reaching the peak of each stage within the star lord tier meant having the power to respectively shake a meteor a hundred kilometers in diameter, a satellite a thousand kilometers wide, or a planet of ten thousand kilometers.

After digesting this information for a moment, even Yaoguang could not help but take a deep breath in. "I thought that being able to withstand a nuclear blast at the star lord tier was already powerful enough, but I didn't expect the peak form of a star lord to actually..."

As part of the information obtained from the ancient tree, he clearly saw a star lord flying into space, using his Life Force Field to push a meteor over a hundred kilometers in diameter. It fell from the highest heavens, exterminating all living beings on a planet.

This was what planetary-level extinction looked like! This kind of combat power was something no living creature could resist. All the experts, beings, and technological weapons of the entire Artifact-Nurturing World combined would face nothing but certain death when confronted by such an existence.

Yaoguang exhaled slowly.

"Star lord!" he repeated the term.

In theory, even if one was only at the first form, the Meteor Star, they could still choose to evolve a stellar force field and condense a fiend god's true body. But a star lord of that caliber would have no possibility of further advancement in the future. Only by entering the second form, the Heavenly Star, could one complete the final limit-breaking step, hanging a Heavenly Star high in the nine heavens and reaching the next great realm.

To some extent, the three forms represented three different levels of foundation. After a bit of reflection, he understood the concept. "It's like being a college student. The future prospects of someone from a low-tier school, a first-rate university, or a top-tier institution will obviously not be the same."

Within the car, Yaoguang pulled back his psychic mind, closed his eyes, and started nurturing his psyche.

***

A day later, Yaoguang returned to the Yuhuang Mountain's villa. News from the Crimson Star Empire side had not yet reached him, but Yaoguang remained unconcerned. He believed that as long as the people from the Snowdragon Empire were even slightly intelligent, they would inevitably know what should be done and what should be avoided.

After resting for another day at the villa, Yaoguang’s injuries had recovered somewhat. Upon returning to the Longyou Stream, the place he used for his cultivation, he brought out the Five-Emperor Soul-Refining Furnace once again.

"Let’s talk," Yaoguang said.

Leng Tianfeng’s figure immediately projected out from the Five-Emperor Soul-Refining Furnace. Although it was merely a phantom that looked somewhat like virtual imaging technology, the fluctuations of the psychic thought radiating from him were undeniably real.

"You..." The moment Leng Tianfeng saw Yaoguang, he sensed something. "Have your memories resurfaced?"

Yaoguang glanced at him but did not answer. Instead, he simply said, "Tell me about the Lunar Fiend Empire. Tell me about the Divine City's Expeditionary Army and your Sixth Fleet. Also, tell me exactly what a Soul Manipulator is."

As he spoke, he sent a wave of energy through the Five-Emperor Soul-Refining Furnace, causing Leng Tianfeng to shudder violently. The man felt as if he had been stripped naked, with not a single secret left hidden on his person.

"Don't try to hide anything. I can now judge the truth of your words directly based on your emotional fluctuations," Yaoguang stated.

Feeling the psychic thought fluctuations that were almost impossible to conceal, Leng Tianfeng could not help but let out a bitter laugh. "Is this really necessary? Although you haven't fully recovered, I don't believe that anyone could grow this rapidly other than one of us. For sure, it wouldn't be possible for an underdeveloped native, nor for an Artifact Sect disciple."

"Answer my questions," Yaoguang commanded.

Leng Tianfeng shook his head. "The Divine City Expeditionary Army is a military force under the jurisdiction of the Lunar Fiend Empire’s cities, specifically dedicated to conquering other worlds. Every envoy of even a slight rank carries a restriction left by the Lunar God, the control center. We simply cannot reveal too much information. Otherwise, if the restriction is triggered, there will be nothing but certain death."

Having said that, he directly exposed an incredibly profound and ethereal restriction deep within his primordial psyche. Yaoguang sensed it for a moment and realized that the complexity of this restriction far exceeded his current ability to unravel it. In truth, the problem wasn't as simple as being unable to deal with it... he couldn't even begin to comprehend it.

Yaoguang fell silent for a moment. In the end, he did not press further, instead speaking with deliberate ambiguity. "Perhaps we do indeed share the same origin. Therefore, I will not force you. Tell me what you can say."

He then added, "Do not think of deceiving me. I can feel it."

Leng Tianfeng nodded. "I also believe that if you can recover your memories, with the Lunar God Court present, there will be room for maneuver regarding the misunderstandings between us."

He began to organize his thoughts and said, "The initial form of the beings in the Lunar Fiend Empire is formless matter, like a sheet of transparent white paper. Only through constant contact with other living beings can information be written upon us, forming various... personalities?"

Hearing this, Yaoguang thought of something vaguely.

"Although our personalities are perfected after the initial writing, if we wish to grow in the future, we must come into contact with all sorts of living beings. Therefore, we enter world after world, merging with the inhabitants of those worlds. We replace them, learn from them, and become them... until we can no longer gain further insights from them. Only then do we leave. This behavior is what we call descent."

He glanced at Yaoguang. "Depending on our talent, the more times we descend, the more thoroughly we replace and learn, and the richer the experiences of that being, the faster we grow. However, beings with rich experiences often lead legendary lives. Their status, position, and influence are never poor, and their mental will is usually quite powerful. This descent actually carries danger. If we truly encounter certain special existences... our descent will fail."

"What happens if it fails?"

"Death," Leng Tianfeng said in a solemn voice. "Our conscious mind is devoured in reverse, turning into nourishment for their growth."

As he spoke, he seemed to recall something and added, "The Psyche Dao system was actually not very developed in the Cangwu World, where the Artifact Sect resides. Three hundred years ago, a member of our Lunar Fiend Empire failed their descent into the Cangwu World and was devoured. This allowed them to derive the Psyche Dao based on our cultivation system. Subsequently, the Psyche Dao flourished, and the related systems concerning the Psyche Dao rose rapidly as well."

"What related systems?" Yaoguang asked.

"We enter the bodies of living beings to experience their lives, and through this process, we achieve spiritual resonance that allows us to grow. But that's not how we fight," Leng Tianfeng explained. "Only beings formed of flesh and blood can produce rich emotions. Other beings are emotionally dull and numb, making them less than ideal choices for us. However, while flesh-and-blood bodies are rich in emotion, they are also very fragile. Polishing them bit by bit is time-consuming and laborious. Therefore, our true combat methods rely on external objects and forces... namely, what the natives of this world call technology."

Speaking of this, he said with a hint of pride, "Every citizen of the Lunar Fiend Empire possesses their own combat armor and has even forged their own warships. Through the use of armor and warships, the attacks we release are something even the top cultivators of the Artifact Sect cannot withstand. At the start of the war, we slaughtered countless top cultivators of the Cangwu World."

Hearing this, Yaoguang’s heart suddenly stirred. "At the start of the war? In other words, your current situation is not as smooth as you claim."

As soon as these words were spoken, Leng Tianfeng’s emotions immediately began to fluctuate.

"I want to hear the truth," Yaoguang added calmly.

Leng Tianfeng hurriedly tried to control his emotions, but despite several attempts, he could not completely hide the fluctuations.

Finally, he had no choice but to speak. "The cultivators of the Cangwu World learn quickly."

He opened his mouth and said, "Soon after the war started, those cultivators used the energy operation modes of our warships as a reference. They used their Life-Bound Truefire to ignite the true origin within their bodies, causing it to undergo nuclear fusion. They then used their powerful psychic consciousness to bind it, forming a controllable fusion energy source. Especially for some of the powerful cultivators, the brilliance released after the energy fusion in their bodies rivaled that of stars. There were even some who collapsed their internal Golden Core to form a black hole, warping time and space to conduct spatial jumps and attack the empire's home soil..."

His emotions flickered erratically as he continued, "We lost contact with the main fleet over ten years ago. As for the current state of the war... we do not know for sure."