Until at last...

He had forcefully displaced Xiao Weizhen’s name, ascending to the very top of the list!

[Plum Blossom Trigram, 2,000 Steps, First]

"Two thousand steps... A height no one has ever reached. Senior Brother Liu actually did it! He’s become the greatest of all time on the Star Ruins Celestial Pride List!"

Wei Qingyi clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

The eyes of the Holy Sect’s Demon Cultivators gleamed, and a clamorous uproar erupted across the Star Tiers.

"Glory to the Master Demon Child! Glory to Master Liu!"

Deafening cheers resounded throughout the Star Ruins, echoing endlessly!

Countless fiery gazes locked firmly onto Qin Xuan’s chiseled features.

A hint of anticipation flickered in their eyes.

They were wondering if Qin Xuan could push even further and create an even greater legend!

In contrast, the Daqian Cultivators were all deathly pale, looking utterly devastated.

It was as if all their strength had been drained away, leaving them like walking corpses.

Even Ye Danggui and Shi Nanxing, who stood beside Xiao Dinglan, gave up any thought of a desperate, life-or-death struggle.

’Liu Mobai is too strong... Even if the deposed Crown Prince himself were here, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be his match...’

Ye Danggui murmured inwardly.

A ruthless glint flashed in Shi Nanxing’s eyes. ’We absolutely cannot let him return to the Blood Demon Sword Sect alive. I must send a message back, report this to His Majesty, and have him eliminated!’

The real Liu Mobai’s face twisted into a sour grimace.

He staggered backward, his expression utterly wretched.

’It’s over. If I go back to the Holy Sect now, Daqian will surely put out a kill order on me...’

’A kill order with a higher priority than the one on the Blood Tyrant Demon Child!’

At this moment, Qin Xuan didn’t know what everyone was thinking, nor was he in a hurry to ascend the steps.

Instead, he stopped and closed his eyes.

Within his body, the Three Divine Star Palace was currently tracing an incredibly profound trajectory, converging wildly toward the depths of his Dantian.

BOOM!

Qin Xuan took a step forward.

All 365 acupoints on his body simultaneously erupted with dazzling starlight, coalescing above his head into the spectral image of a translucent, crystalline Star Palace.

The light of a particular star, one that glittered with a peaceful aura, flared brilliantly.

It seemed capable of turning misfortune into luck and enlightening all creation.

Someone exclaimed, "It’s the Taiyin Life Star!"

Qin Xuan spread his arms, bathing in the light of the Taiyin Star.

It was like dead wood returning to life in spring, or a stubborn stone gaining sentience. A vigorous, thriving life force erupted, filled with an air of auspiciousness and profound mystery.

’He’s forming a Star Palace but not entering it. What is he planning?’

Xiao Dinglan frowned slightly, his eyes reflecting the astonishing sight.

Then, Qin Xuan’s eyes snapped open.

The river of stars seemed to flow in reverse as a second, even grander and more ancient Star Palace was forcefully brought into existence, taking shape from the void.

[Seven Luminaries Star Palace]!

For an ordinary Cultivator, to open a single Star Palace and guide a Life Star during the Foundation Establishment Stage is the achievement of a lifetime.

And yet, two Star Palaces had now appeared within Qin Xuan’s Dantian.

"What... what is he trying to do?"

Below, a Cultivator sensed the abnormal convergence of aura around Qin Xuan and cried out in horror.

"Such an immense convergence of Star Power and vital energy... Did he have an epiphany during the battle? Is he about to break through to the next realm?"

"No, the momentum of this gathering starlight far exceeds an ordinary minor realm breakthrough!"

Liu Mobai, hovering on a slightly lower Star Tier, had a sharp glint flash in his eyes.

"He’s going to open a second Star Palace and guide another Life Star!"

At this time, everyone thought Qin Xuan only had one Star Palace.

"Opening a second Star Palace at a time like this?"

Hearing this, Wei Qingyi’s expression changed drastically, and the longsword on his back emitted an incredulous hum.

The hairpin in Ye Danggui’s hand snapped with a CRACK, his face draining of color in shock.

’It’s an ironclad rule: one palace, one star! Just opening one during Foundation Establishment is the mark of a prodigy. And he’s trying to have two Star Palaces at once? What is he thinking?’

"Madman! A complete madman!"

Farther away, Hou Qi, who had been lucky to survive, cried out, his face a mask of terror.

All eyes were glued to the figure on the two-thousandth step, and everyone seemed to hold their breath.

Just then, the situation took a sudden, drastic turn!

High above the Star Inquiry Stage, two Life Stars—one black, one white—suddenly appeared.

The Life Stars hung high, as if they had traversed endless ages.

"It’s the Seven Luminaries Star Palace, Taiyin and Sun?"

Ji Boying froze for a second before recognition dawned. His voice rose to a sharp shriek. "That’s not the second Star Palace bestowed by the Vermilion Bird Divine General! It’s the Third Star Palace!"

"Liu Mobai has a Third Star Palace!"

A tumultuous uproar swept through the entire Star Ruins.

Ji Boying, in particular, saw it with bitter clarity, grinding his teeth in rage.

’So, Liu Mobai... It was you. You were the one who stole my brother’s great opportunity!’

Wait...

’If the Sun Fate Star is Liu Mobai’s, then whose is the Taiyin Fate Star?’

Ji Boying instinctively turned his head and saw Shen Xiyue, who had also opened a second Star Palace. She was slowly spreading her arms like a Moon Palace Fairy as she was drawn up into the heavens!

The supremely yang Sun Fate Star and the supremely yin Taiyin Fate Star hung high in the Star Ruins.

True Sun Fire raged, and Taiyin Moonlight surged.

The two opposing yet complementary forms of Supreme Star Power lost their delicate balance and began to violently entangle one another!

VMMMM!

The entire Star Ruins was trembling violently.

The paths of the stars fell into chaos, and space itself groaned as if unable to bear the strain!

"What’s going on? The Power of Sun and Moon is out of control?!"

"Oh no! The Star Ruins is going to collapse!"

At this moment, the light of countless stars suddenly grew unstable.

Everyone panicked as a destructive aura began to brew.

Yet, at the center of this storm of inverted yin and yang, Qin Xuan seemed to have found the perfect opportunity.

He snapped his eyes open, their depths reflecting the Power of Sun and Moon, which pulsed with endless creation.

"The inversion of yin and yang... Third Star Palace, open!"

He let out a low growl. Cupping his hands before his Dantian, he used his own essence as a guide and his physical body as a furnace.

He began to madly draw upon the incredibly violent True Sun Fire and Taiyin Moonlight raging around him!

The two streams of Supreme Star Power surged into his body.

In a nearly tyrannical fashion, they brutally carved out two new, chaotic voids beside his original Purple Mansion Star Palace.

The beginnings of a Third Star Palace!

"With the Sun and Taiyin as his foundation and the Taiyin Life Star as support, Liu Mobai is about to become the strongest Star Mansion Cultivator in all of history!"

However, someone soon discovered that something was wrong.

’Guiding a Life Star doesn’t normally cause such a huge spectacle,’ someone realized.

’Wait, don’t tell me... is this a sacrifice?’

"You bastard! You absolute animal! It’s bad enough you’re forming your Star Palace, but why do you have to drag us down with you!"

Someone wailed and roared in anger.

The chaotic Power of Sun and Taiyin was pulled by some force.

It coalesced into a gigantic Tai Chi Yin Yang Diagram, so solid it seemed real, covering nearly half the sky.

The black and white energies transformed into two enormous, swimming fish.

They circled slowly, head to tail.

Emitting a supreme Dao Rhyme that suppressed all heavens!

And the core of this incomparably terrifying Tai Chi Yin Yang Diagram was directly facing the Third Star Palace that Qin Xuan had just opened!

"Palace formed! Guide the star!"

Qin Xuan let out a great cry.

The Third Star Palace trembled violently, unleashing an infinite suction force!

In the deepest part of the firmament, a purple giant star of infinite nobility and boundless majesty suddenly lit up.

Its light penetrated the endless Star Sea, ignoring the barriers of time and space.

As if it were the Star Emperor Monarch who ruled the stars and held the authority of the Heavenly Dao!

"Ziwei... It’s the Ziwei Emperor Star! He actually managed to guide the Ziwei Emperor Star!"

Liu Mobai cried out, all his previous composure gone.

Wei Qingyi’s sword hand was trembling, his face a mask of disbelief, his expression bordering on madness.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Liu Mobai isn’t a member of the Daqian Royal Family! How could he possibly have gained the favor of the Emperor Star?!"

The sky changed abruptly.

In the Star Ruins, thousands upon thousands of stars seemed to be extinguished at the same time.

Only a single stream of noble purple energy descended from the depths of the cosmos, transforming into nine divine dragons of purple energy with clearly defined scales that coiled around Qin Xuan.

"Unseen in all of history... Three palaces, and an Emperor Star..."

Jiang Chizhen’s usually cool and detached face was filled with shock as she murmured to herself.

A purple-gold imperial mark appeared between Qin Xuan’s eyebrows, and a starry imperial path extended spontaneously from beneath his feet.

Myriad stars circled him, bowing in reverence.

"The Ziwei Emperor Star... It really is the Emperor Star that reigns over the entire celestial sphere!"

A white-haired old Cultivator trembled as he fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

"I am fortunate beyond measure to witness the Emperor Star’s descent in my lifetime! I pay my respects to Your Highness!"

But at this moment, a doubt arose in Xiao Dinglan’s mind.

’Could it be... that Liu Mobai is my blood brother?’

Just then, Xiao Dinglan’s expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Oh no! The Emperor Star’s power is influencing the Sun and Taiyin!"

The moment Qin Xuan successfully guided the Ziwei Emperor Star, the Sun and Taiyin Fate Stars, which had been maintaining a delicate balance, completely lost control due to the interference of the Emperor Star’s power.

RUMBLE!!!

The black and white energies went on a rampage as yin and yang were thrown into disarray!

A pillar of starlight that reached from heaven to earth lit up, instantly enveloping hundreds of Star Mansion Cultivators.

"Spatial teleportation... it’s not a sacrifice, we’re getting out?"

The face of a Daqian Cultivator skilled in astrology lit up with joy.

Everyone felt the world spin, as if they had been thrown into a giant furnace made of True Sun Fire and Taiyin Moonlight.

Their bodies felt as if they were being torn apart by the two giant forces of yin and yang.

Brilliant starlight swallowed everything, and the world itself was suddenly transformed.

...