In the Lingjing world, a star shimmering with interwoven black and starlight glows quietly, surrounded by six slightly smaller stars. Suddenly, the black and starlight surge, each filling half of the star—starlight rotating clockwise, blacklight counterclockwise—transforming the "star" into a Taiji sphere. At the same time, the Taiji star extends six luminous beams, connecting with the six surrounding stars. Seven stars now shine brilliantly. The array is activated! The vision clears from blur to sharp focus, and Zhang Yuanqing finds himself in a vast desert, where a thick, viscous liquid energy—like black oil—covers the ground, flowing over his feet. Above, a dazzling, dreamlike expanse of starlight stretches. The starlight above rotates clockwise, while the liquid energy beneath flows counterclockwise, forming a slow, gentle vortex. "Hmm…" As the two "crystal discs" spun and the airflow surged, Zhang Yuanqing felt his body as if caught in a vortex, his limbs stiff and difficult to move, his breath growing shallow. There was a profound sense of pressure, as though the heavens and earth were simultaneously unleashing their might. At the same time, his spiritual energy was rapidly draining into the array. For a master-level cultivator, this would mean exhaustion within just three breaths, rendering him useless. Zhang Yuanqing tilted his head slightly and looked at the Stellar Sovereign seated at the core of the array, speaking calmly, "I didn't expect you to have managed to establish a replica within the Spiritual Realm. Old turtle—your reserves are truly deep." The Master of the Stars lifted his gaze. His left eye shimmered with starlight, while his right eye was deep and black. With a calm tone, he said, "Your understanding of the sun, moon, and stars is too superficial. As a fundamental force of the cosmos and one of the three pillars of the spiritual realm, even before the administrator privileges are fully activated, I can already utilize a portion of them." The arrows could not penetrate the barrier and merely reverted into the Golden Phoenix, reluctantly returning to the core of the Sun. "Is this array specifically tailored for me?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, his face serious, with no change in expression. "An array hastily devised, still not fully mature," replied the Lord of the Stars. Zhang Yuanqing scoffed, "Can an array created in haste continuously draw upon the six subsidiary arrays to supply spiritual energy?" The Lord of the Stars had, during his confrontation with the Wine God, employed a divine technique uniting his two manifestations—the Yin and the Stars—demonstrating years of deep study in these two forces. This array was likely one of his key insights. Indeed, this old silver coin had quietly cultivated for six decades, with profound depth. The Lord of the Stars spoke with resonant, layered authority, "The brilliance of the Ziwei Six Maleficent Array lies in this: to break the main array, one must first shatter the subsidiary arrays. Your fate is not in your own hands, but in those of your companions." Zhang Yuanqing's expression grew solemn, "My fate lies entirely within my own hands." "The Master of the Stars smiled," "You should be concerned not with this, but with realizing that my ability to lay out the Taiji-Zuwei Liu Sha Array signifies another step forward in my refinement of the Taiyi's primordial essence." The brilliant starlight fell upon Zhang Yuanqing's suddenly serious face, casting transparent ripples across his eyes, softening his irises into a glassy hue. He gazed intently at the black moon hovering above the Master of the Stars, his gaze piercing through the subtle energy field to perceive the fading vitality of the residual spirit within. Lingtuo is fast collapsing! This indicates that the two Phantom Deities, though they failed in their efforts to completely eliminate Lingtuo's residual spirit, managed to weaken Lingtuo's will to a significant extent. The situation is growing increasingly dire. Zhang Yuanqing sighed inwardly, marveling at Lingtuo's spiritual strength—indeed, no wonder he is so exceptional. The Master of the Stars, seated in a meditative posture, spoke calmly, "In just one day, I will fully refine the Taiyi essence. By then, without having completed your refinement of the Yang essence, you will have no chance of Zhang Yuanqing remained silent for a moment, then said, "Your two Phantom Gods lack the strength to extinguish Lingtuo's residual spirit—they can only suppress and weaken it. You wish to deceive me into acting, so you can gradually erode Lingtuo?" Attacking the Star Sovereign is equivalent to attacking Lingtuo; while the Star Sovereign can survive the Sun God's power, the residual spirit of the Yin Sovereign will inevitably perish. The Star Sovereign calmly replied, "How do you know I haven't reached the critical moment of refining the Yin Sovereign, and that I'm deliberately saying these things to make you hesitate, unwilling to act, thus delaying the situation?" Zhang Yuanqing paused, then exhaled, "Indeed, it's a difficult choice. If I remain entrenched with you, I'll eventually be drained of my spiritual energy by this great array, and I'll also face the risk of you refining the Yin Sovereign at any moment. If I make a bold move, I might be able to support you. However, with your strategic acumen, you should have realized that I possess means beyond just the power of the Sun God." As he spoke, he opened his palm, and golden light surged upward, revealing As the Merit List was unveiled, among the dense cluster of spiritual realm IDs, one glowed brightly: Awakener! This was the spiritual realm ID of the Lord of the Stars. Born into a bureaucratic aristocratic family at the end of the Qing Dynasty, he devoted his early life to the imperial examinations, only to face the bitter hardships of a declining dynasty—his family's fortunes waned, his homeland fell, and the nation crumbled. He watched as warlords trembled under the iron tread of foreign powers, and as his fellow citizens struggled, enslaved and exploited, living in a state of numb despair. A lifelong student of Confucian classics, he had always dreamed of becoming a morning bell and evening gong, awakening the sluggish masses of the nation. By chance, he received a character card and became a spiritual realm traveler, naming himself: Awakener! May forty million people awaken! The very next moment, the three characters "Awakener" were erased by a golden glow. Above, a brilliant column of fire descended, enveloping the seated Lord of the Moon. The latter seemed to anticipate the assault of the celestial flame; the black circular moon above melted, its thick energy pouring down upon the sovereign of the Moon, transforming him into a statue of clay. Though the celestial flame overwhelmed the sovereign of the Stars with unstoppable force, it failed to penetrate the protection of the Moon. Zhang Yuanqing materialized like a ghost before the sovereign of the Stars, snapping his fingers with a crisp sound, which weakened the viscous "mud" layer. Voidification! Then, he took a deep breath and unleashed his Shadow Roar—a ninth-tier master-level skill. Shadow Roar could annihilate souls, representing a standardized form of spiritual assault. At the half-divine level, aside from the sovereign of the Moon and the Marshal, few half-divines could withstand a single strike without suffering spiritual damage. The sovereign of the Stars could not be spared either. Immediately after releasing the Shadow Roar, Zhang Yuanqing withdrew his Scroll of Merit and promptly activated his dream-weaving ability, drawing the sovereign of the Stars into a dream state. Folding up the merit scroll prevents the next "retribution" from triggering lightning and the power of the Sun and Day deities, which would otherwise extinguish Ling Tu's residual spirit. As for the Shadow Roar, Zhang Yuanqing believes it will not cause Ling Tu's residual spirit to vanish—had the Void Sect's two Phantom Deities been able to achieve this, they would have done so already. Zhang Yuanqing plunged into the Star Sovereign's dream, just beginning to weave the dream to counter the Star Sovereign, when suddenly two towering figures in cloaks appeared within the hazy dream space. In the next instant, Zhang Yuanqing was forcibly expelled from the dream. The Star Sovereign opened his eyes, speaking calmly and deliberately, as though everything were under his complete control: "The Zuiwei Six Dangers Array functions as a unified whole. The supporting arrays not only supply spiritual energy and stabilize the array, but as the primary array master, I can also draw upon their strength. While the borrowed power may not reach the level of a half-deity, it is more than sufficient as auxiliary support to enable me to escape the dream." The extensive use of high-level materials clearly yields tangible results. Zhang Yuanqing, with his spiritual energy flowing steadily out, said nothing at all, retrieving the Merit Scroll—the "Awakened One" ID reappeared. Then, it was gradually erased by golden light. As long as Zhang Yuanqing remained within the array, still deprived of his spiritual energy, the Merit Scroll would continuously attack the main array holder. This time, a clear, pure column of light descended from the sky, activating the "Purification" penalty. "Crack!" Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers, canceling the retribution. The "Awakened One" ID reappeared and then vanished again, a silver lightning streak arcing across the sky, writhing and roaring as a powerful thunderstorm gathered. This time, the retribution was a direct thunderbolt from heaven! Zhang Yuanqing sighed and snapped his fingers once more, canceling the event. He then folded the Merit Scroll and gazed upward at the Star Sovereign, smiling, "In fact, until now, I still have two questions unresolved. Since you wish to delay time, might I ask if you could help me resolve them?" The Star Sovereign nodded slightly. Zhang Yuanqing asked in a low, steady voice: "Why did you kill the mother of Ling Jun? And when did you first learn the truth about the divine struggle?" ... The Flare of Discord! The Wind and Thunder deities surveyed their surroundings and saw a dark red star suspended in the sky, its dim red light casting an eerie hue over both sky and earth. Bathed in this crimson glow, the Wind and Thunder deities felt an irresistible surge of violence and bloodthirst, eager to unleash their full strength and engage in battle—so intense was the emotion that even the sun mark etched upon her brow by Yuan Shih Tian Zun began to waver. From within the dark red star, a black figure emerged, drawing nearer to the ground—tall at three meters, resembling a black iron tower. Unlike usual, the figure's eyes glowed with a deep red hue, and fine crimson lines, like intricate patterns, were etched across the surface of his dark skin... ... The Earth's Cataclysm Array. The goddess, enveloped in holy light, stands quietly amidst a vibrant sea of blossoms, like a pure angel entrusted by God to guard the garden. Yet the very next moment, the flower meadow transforms into molten lava, and before her stands a boiling, living volcano, black smoke billowing forth, lava gushing out from its crater and spilling over her feet. Her feet emit a hissing sound, the delicate, pale limbs instantly splitting open and tearing. In pain, she murmurs softly, her flawless face streaked with tears, "It hurts..." The illusion trembles violently, as if the behind-the-scenes deity of the scene has been struck by a powerful impact, struggling to maintain its form. The volcanic landscape fractures under the tremors, plunging the world into a state of emptiness. Then, a new realm emerges... The Bell Star Array. The semi-divine being stands in the midst of a desert, gazing upward at the god of wine, Bacchus, who is playing inverted—appearing to be upside down from the normal perspective. Everything in this realm is reversed—what goes left must go right, what ascends must descend. At the same time, the rules themselves are in disarray; the divine forces of the Void professions are being disrupted and transformed into something entirely unfamiliar. Meanwhile, the air is thick with the intoxicating aroma of wine, numbing both body and soul. In this state, the Void Half-God feels no desire to engage in battle, and even wishes to perform a rap, reveling in the festivities. Yet, his words are never lacking in strength. He remarks, "You've come back, old McLeod. Last time, it was the Star-Weavers who brought you back. This time, I won't hold back. You died early, never witnessed my full power—my might can even wipe out divine-level foes with a single gesture." Old McLeod draws forth the Wine God's staff, smiles calmly, and remains composed: "Then try it—will the Spirit Realm allow you to exchange for divine power? Reflect on this: if divine-level strength descends upon us, will it be beneficial to you, or to us?" "The void—you can summon at most three half-divine authorities. I leverage my geographical advantage; even if I don’t defeat you, I’ll be able to hold my own." …… Facing Zhang Yuanqing’s question, the Lord of Stars did not immediately respond, his voice resonant and layered: "You too wish to delay the outcome, waiting for either the Wind and Thunder deities or the Void to break through the encircling array!"