Bai Cheng stepped forward, her silver eyes eting the old man's. "You are?"
"I am the last Stele Guardian of this Court of Star Slumber, an elder of the Stardust Remnants. You may call Yin Hui."
A faint smile flickered through the old man's thoughts. "We slumber here not to escape, but to wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait for the opportunity to reconnect the star tracks, wait for the glimr of ancient beliefs to be rekindled."
Elder Yin Hui's gaze swept over the companions behind Bai Cheng, then over the dim yet still warm Stardust Imprint in her palm.
"We witnessed the rise and paranoia of the Constellations, witnessed the cold purification of the Enforcent Officers, and witnessed this sea gradually wither in the clash of giants... but we have always believed that the original intention of forging the star rail anchor—'to order all things and protect life'—has not been completely extinguished."
He slightly raised his palm, and the stardust crystal emitted a soft glimr.
"After the star rail anchor broke, the remaining beliefs scattered across the sea. So were collected and ignited by you, while others... gathered here, maintaining this last garden of slumber."
"When you were repairing the anchor point of the Annihilation Star Reef, we sensed it;"
"When you left statues of faith among the islands, we saw it;"
"When you lit the faint lamps at the edge of the storm... we have been watching."
Elder Yin Hui's voice gradually beca solemn.
"But now, the watch may have to end."
"The decisive battle between the World-Purifying Tide and the Astral Barrier is approaching. The storm of law annihilation generated by their ultimate collision will affect the entire Erald Sea."
"The ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) barrier of this Court of Star Slumber cannot remain unscathed in such a storm."
Bai Cheng's heart sank. "You an, this place will also be destroyed?"
"Not destroyed, but awakened." Elder Yin Hui slowly stood up, his illusory figure appearing exceptionally solemn in the pale silver halo.
"We have slumbered for a thousand years, accumulating our final strength, not for eternal sleep, but to offer one last gift to this sea and those struggling beings at the final mont."
He looked at Bai Cheng, starlight swirling in his silver eyes.
"scion of the gate, young Guardian of the Lamplight, are you willing... to accept this gift and carry it into the broader storm?"
Bai Cheng remained silent for a mont, looking at the Stardust Remnants around her whose faces were still peaceful in their slumber, and at the ancient star maps flowing on the stele.
She felt the burning resonance coming from the Stardust Imprint deep within her soul, the prayers of countless islands at the end of thousands of belief threads, and the mournful cry of the Erald Sea sliding into the abyss.
She raised her head, her silver hair swaying silently in the tranquil glimr.
"What do we need to do?"
Elder Yin Hui smiled, a smile both desolate and warm.
He gently held up the stardust crystal in his palm. The crystal left his hand and slowly floated toward Bai Cheng.
"Accept it, rge with it."
"Then, with you as the bridge and all the beliefs linked to you as the fuel—"
"Ignite the final starlight accumulated by the Court of Star Slumber over a thousand years, and for this sea on the brink of shattering, raise a... brief Star-Vault Barrier."
"The barrier cannot stop the war, nor can it reverse the tide, but it can buy a mont for as many beings as possible to evacuate or hide before the final collision arrives."
"This is the final peace that the Stardust Remnants can offer to this world."
The crystal hovered before Bai Cheng, starlight swirling within it as if it contained an entire silent galaxy.
Bai Cheng reached out, and the mont her fingertips touched the crystal—
The entire Court of Star Slumber and all the pale silver halos brightened simultaneously.
As Bai Cheng's fingertips touched the crystal carrying the thousand-year belief of the Stardust Remnants, the entire Court of Star Slumber seed to awaken from its silence.
The crystal transford into a strand of warm starlight, flowing along her fingertips and rging into the dim Stardust Imprint deep within her soul.
In an instant, the imprint burst forth with unprecedented light from within.
It was no longer a faint warmth, but a silver glow as vast as a sea of stars.
Bai Cheng floated up involuntarily, her silver hair dancing wildly without wind, her eyes reflecting flowing star tracks and the illusory image of a doorway breaking and reassembling.
With her as the center, the pale silver halos of the entire island converged toward her like a tide. The figures of the slumbering Stardust Remnants gradually beca transparent, the halos around them turning into thousands of fine streams of belief, silently pouring into Bai Cheng's body.
The figure of the Stele Guardian, Elder Yin Hui, was the last to dissipate, with only a gratified thought echoing softly in the air: "May this star-vault... protect life..."
A massive change occurred in Bai Cheng.
Her soul seed to expand into infinity. Her perception, originally limited to a corner of the Erald Sea, could now vaguely sense the law threads of a broader domain.
The ordering beliefs accumulated by the Stardust Remnants for a thousand years completely rged with her original Doorway Bloodline, giving birth to a new embryonic law: the Star Rail Gate.
This was not a simple spatial ability, but a power that could use belief as coordinates and star tracks as paths to define, guide, and even briefly reconstruct local law orders.
This was a sublimation of the soul's essence.
Additionally, a very faint illusory imprint, interwoven with tiny star points and door-shaped patterns, erged on her forehead.
This was the prototype of the emperors imprint.
It only manifests when the soul and laws rge to the extre, touching the threshold of defining all laws and becoming a self-contained entity.
It ant that Bai Cheng already possessed the qualification to impact the Emperor Realm, but at this mont, it was only a prototype, dim and unstable.
Finally, a massive amount of information flooded into her consciousness along with the fusion.
She clearly perceived that to truly condense the emperors imprint and push open that gate of the realm, she would need an imasurable amount of pure Power of Faith as fuel.
The belief gifted by the Stardust Remnants was vast yet quiet, enough to awaken the qualification, but far from enough to support the ascension.
She had to actively collect and ignite the beliefs of more beings, making them resonate with her Star Rail Gate law, to gradually stabilize the brand and step toward the Emperor.
This was a clear indication of her future path to Emperor ascension.
Of course, although her realm hadn't broken through, her strength still saw an improvent.
Her strength briefly climbed to the threshold of the peak King-class. As silver light flowed around her, space folded freely, and laws retreated wherever her belief pointed.
But this state was extrely unstable, like having the embryonic status of an Emperor but lacking the corresponding foundation.
Excessive use of power could lead to a backlash from the brand or even cause the prototype to collapse.
Bai Cheng slowly landed. As her silver eyes opened and closed, the profound scene of flowing star tracks flashed by.
She looked at her companions. Without words, everyone understood sothing from the vast aura emanating from her, so different from before.
"Emperor... qualification?" Qingniao's voice was dry.
Bai Cheng nodded gently, looking toward the increasingly fierce flas of war on the northeastern horizon, her voice calm yet heavy:
"The Stardust Remnants paid the price of complete dissipation to light this path for .
"But this path... needs to be paved with countless beliefs, and we have no way back."
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