Sleep—it was a rare phenomenon for cultivators at higher levels. As their cultivation rose, so did their mental and physical energy reserves. While they may rest, this would typically be in the form of quiet meditation while absorbing ambient energies and essence to recuperate. To sleep, to truly and undoubtedly sleep, a cultivator had to exhaust their physical and mental energies to their limits, needing their body to rely on a primal state of slumber to initiate a process of rapid recovery.
Wei Wuyin often slept; the concept and importance of true sleep had never lost itself on his soul, and he enjoyed the sensation of dreaming, be it cold sweat-inducing nightmares or blissful dreams; it was the only way for him to meet those who've long since passed in his life. It was a type of joy for him.
For the past twenty-odd years, however, he had been unable to sleep properly due to the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star project and its intense needs. Despite taking time out of his busy schedule, having daily conversations with those important to him, such as Su Mei, Wen Mingna, Xue Yifei, Xiao Bing, and others, including indulging in nose-bleed-inducing affairs with his seven beauties, he could count on his fingers the number of times he slept.
For the first time in a long time, Wei Wuyin entered a state of sleep far deeper than he ever had in the last sixty-eight years; since the day the Black Skeleton entered his life and changed his destiny. He dreamed the entirety of his life since, and the smile that vanished the day he lost those most important to him had returned.
"It's here! The Divine Element Formation Method! This Scarlet Dao Temple has so much. Fortunately, with this, I can discard the Elemental Qi Formation Method and pursue the peak of the Heart of Elemental Qi!"
"When you use a saber, you must ensure you always follow through. You should never unsheathe your saber unless you intend to take a life or protect one!"
"By its edge, end everything. Understand?"
The scene of wanting a family, to escape, to belong, passionately seeking the Solar Star and the Lunar Moon for solace and peace, yet meeting in an eventful twist the family it always desired.
They escaped, they belonged, and they no longer needed to find a family—their greatest dream had been fulfilled.
"ROAR!"
The true form of the True Void Dragon reemerged in all its elegant yet domineeringly beautiful form. For the first time since its birth, it was truly and fully seen.
"We?"
"We."
"I'm a virgin!"
"Haha!"
"Don't resist!" Behind those words was the willingness to sacrifice one's life for a promise. And following it, a millennium-year sacrifice after only two words.
The Neo-Dawn Defiant Star cradled Wei Wuyin's unconscious body with the gentleness of a mother's touch, and Wei Wuyin's entirety was inundated by solar essence. Normally, to lose consciousness during the Mortal Star Eradication was certain death because the emission of Solar Light was fatal. However, Wei Wuyin had devoured the Alpha and Omega Stars, refining them through potentially infinite pressure and spewing them out for the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star to absorb.
There was no longer a threat in the Samsara of Stars.
Despite this rarely felt peacefulness, the process of the Mortal Star Eradication Tribulation had to come to an end. Time in the tribulation could be long or short, entirely dependent on the difficulty of the tribulation itself, but the actual time that passed outside the Samsara of Stars was much shorter.
Some Timelords experienced hours of scorching against the totality of their cultivation base emulated by the Mortal Dao, others experienced years, while a few have recorded themselves experiencing thousands of years in the blank void. The vast majority of those who experienced these long periods died.
After their deaths, their innate energies would be absorbed into the emulated Solar Star, and the Samsara of Stars would send it through the process of Star Ascension until it eventually was born into the world as a newborn star.
There was a saying that the stars in the night sky were all souls of cultivators, and while 'all' wasn't correct, it wouldn't be an understatement that the vast majority were Timelords that had failed and Starlords who died naturally. In the end, the Mortal Dao always reclaimed that which was given.
Typically, the cultivator simply had to wait until their manifested Solar Star burnt out and exhausted itself. Then, at the end of its lifespan, a supernova would erupt, and the cultivators would be able to absorb the intense, pure, and harmonized solar essence expelled from this phenomenon and reforge their Astral Core into a Star Core, birthing Starforce.
However, Wei Wuyin's Solar Stars were Absolute Solar Stars, and while their lifespan had been considerably shortened, experiencing millions of years was possible. It was due to their intense heat and size that Wei Wuyin decided to risk it all and face them directly. Outrunning Solar Stars in the Samsara of Stars was an impossibility—they moved at light speeds, and he couldn't withstand millions of years of scorching and extreme gravity, even if it wouldn't affect him physically, the mental pain of experiencing that for countless years was indescribable.
Moreover, he had to face two of them, and if they positioned themselves so that he was between them, he might be split apart!
Given the current situation, the two Absolute Solar Stars had no way to implode and explode, and their essence and energies were refined by the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star. Normally, this might lead to Wei Wuyin being eternally trapped inside the Samsara of Stars, unable to escape, but this wasn't the first time the Mortal Dao faced the destruction of the Solar Stars before their natural eruption.
It reacted instinctively, once again scanning Wei Wuyin's soul and his Spirits of Cultivation, and then using its power, it manifested the tribulations once again from the beginning!
"What's happening?!" Kratos exclaimed as it felt itself being pulled away once again by an Astral Tribulation!
"I think…we need to retake the Astral Tribulation," Eden replied as it analyzed the situation calmly. They both felt the call of their respective Daos. They had already completed their tribulations, absorbed the harmonized solar essence, and completed the formation of their Star Cores, so this shouldn't be possible! They had even established the basic outline of their Astral Idol!
But while half of Wei Wuyin had passed their tribulations and ascended, the other half hadn't, and Wei Wuyin himself hadn't experienced the baptism of the harmonized solar essence to create the elementary form of his Astral Physique!
Suddenly, Kratos and Eden's auras vanished; they went off to face their Mortal Star Eradication Tribulation a second time! At the same time, two radiant blips of light formed from afar in the blank void!
Two Absolute-sized Solar Stars—the Alpha and Omega Stars—had reappeared! While massive, when they finally arrived before the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star, it was like two teenagers were standing before a full-grown adult.
The Neo-Dawn Defiant Star's radiance was overwhelming, making the two stars quiver. Instinctively protecting its owner, a burst of solar rays was unleashed, causing both stars to explode! The Neo-Dawn Defiant Star placed Wei Wuyin's body, which was the size of an atom before these monstrosities away from them, and ruthlessly devoured both of these energies that it was deeply familiar with!
It grew.
And grew!
"That was easier than the first time," Kratos grumbled as it returned to observe Wei Wuyin's situation. It had missed the scene of the Defiant-sized Star bullying the two 'smaller' stars and absorbing them whole.
"Yeah," Eden echoed as it similarly felt bewildered by what had happened. But as the most insightful soul, it concluded: "It seems that until he obtains his Astral Physique, and Ori and King receive their baptism, we can't escape."
"Well, we'll just have to-" Kratos stopped midway, "Again?!"
"Interesting," Eden said before both of their auras vanished once again.
The two were pulled into their tribulation again!
Shortly after, the Alpha and Omega Stars once again reformed! They barreled towards Wei Wuyin and the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star with lethal intent, yet as they arrived and faced the much larger star, they halted. Unfortunately, the gravity of the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star was too strong, and despite their intelligent response to retreat after sensing the danger, they were forcefully pulled into its massive form and assimilated violently after exploding.
Midway through this process, "What the hell?! Is it getting bigger?" Kratos was stunned. Despite Wei Wuyin being super small, Kratos' senses encompassed a vast distance, and it noticed the devouring process.
"Hm…" Eden was instantly troubled. Wei Wuyin was asleep, deeply at that, and thoroughly exhausted mentally and physically. But it still tried to use its previously successful method to stimulate Wei Wuyin awake. Unfortunately, it didn't have nearly enough time to do anything of substance before the tribulation triggered again!
"AGAIN?!" Kratos roared frustratedly.
"..." Eden.
This process kept going and going and going. The Neo-Dawn Defiant Star continued to devour the delectable meals the Mortal Dao provided as it protected its owner instinctively. To it, it was merely fending off enemies as a World-Bound Star Domain like a fierce mother and an aggressive overseer of its territory.
Eventually, Eden's radiance breached Wei Wuyin's dream as he began to awaken. But it wasn't Eden who fully reached him, but he heard a faint cry for help in his dreams, and it was through an unfathomable connection in his Mind's Eye! While still exhausted, he had recovered some of his mental energy, and that was enough.
"PUT THE STAR AWAY!" Kratos roared in an attempt to reach Wei Wuyin. In fact, its voice sounded slightly hoarse. Unlike the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star, Eden and Kratos simply succeeded in their respective tribulations and waited for Wei Wuyin to complete his last step to receive their reward, so they didn't get anything from continuous successes. It was just annoying.
Wei Wuyin instantly reacted, and timely too, as the Neo-Dawn Defiant Star was reaching its limit, it offered no resistance as it returned to his Mind's Eye in a boink of an eye, and the Alpha and Omega Stars exploded! Wei Wuyin's eyes widened as he was washed and blown away by their harmonized solar essence. Soon, the previously absent King and Ori could be felt as his Astral Cores began to reappear in his Dantian, Sea of Consciousness, and heart.
The process hit Wei Wuyin quickly, so he didn't have time to think as he hurriedly cultivated following the guidance of his other self's memories and closely observed the process of transformation. His four Astral Cores transformed into replicas of their emulated Solar Stars! Kratos and Eden retained their unique shapes and forms, with the latter being a large tree exuding the radiance of a star, but King and Ori were copies of the Alpha and Omega Stars!
That said, if Kratos or Eden of them unleashed their true power, they would resemble spherical stars, with only their Star Cores having different forms from others.
As for the Domain Seed, various strands of Intent, wisps of Laws, Primary Light Source, and such, they were all absorbed within their respective Star Core, but a strange connection formed as Wei Wuyin felt that each of his Astral Souls was exchanging their critical aspects, ensuring they all had the same compatibility with each other as if previously planned. Even the Dual Singularity was shared!
They soon transformed their Astral Force into Starforce, and then all their innate energies, which had been refined by harmonized solar essence, transformed and began flooding him entirely—mind and body. He had to experience refinement for an extended period as the four Astral Souls worked together to establish his secondary physique atop the Neo-Dawn Paragon-Forging Pill's granted one—an Astral Physique!
"Stellar-Paragon Physique!" An indeterminate amount of time passed until his four Astral Souls refinement perfectly melded his physique with their cultivated powers, transforming and entering its elementary stage!
BOOM!!!
An explosive eruption resounded from the depths of the Samsara of Stars, and Wei Wuyin's pupils shrunk. The Mortal Dao seemed…angry? Before he could contemplate further, his body was pushed out by an irresistible force and sent out of the Samsara of Stars!
The newly ascended Starlord was kicked out!
