Chapter 448: Replication
The core of the star was slowly penetrated by Ace’s needle-like Glazed Heart Fire. Under Ace’s control, the glazed-colored Heart Fire entered the very center of the star before him.
Scorching, burning. A word from his past life flashed through Ace’s mind: “Plasma.” He didn’t have time to think more; the Glazed Heart Fire tore off a small piece of Primal Fire from the star’s core and extracted it rapidly.
At the same time, Ace’s mental imagery starry universe manifested. The dream star corresponding to this real star emerged. The extracted Primal Fire was carried by the dream star; such scorching Primal Fire was surprisingly easily integrated into the dream star.
The star, having lost a small piece of Primal Fire, became extremely unstable. The entire star flickered, brightening and dimming, seeming to become extremely irritable due to the loss of Primal Fire.
“Although very ignorant, these stars also have their own vague instincts, perhaps even a stellar will! I have been remembered and loathed by it. But it doesn’t matter; the Primal Fire has been obtained, and the most important part of refining the Noble Phantasm is secured.”
Ace slowly left this star and flashed to the next one to continue extracting Primal Fire. There were thirteen stars in the “Calamity Sword Constellation” in total. It was four days later when Ace finished harvesting.
He was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he manifested the thirteen stars of the dream “Calamity Sword Constellation.” Those thirteen dream stars acted like Companion Stars, orbiting the Main Stars they represented in elliptical paths as smaller versions.
Ace held the Quasi-Noble Phantasm “Hammer of the False Vassal” high in one hand. The aura of the Great Source poured into his eyes. The Eye of Truth rapidly upgraded to the 5-Ring Spell “Eye of True Knowledge.” This consumed roughly one-third of the remaining Great Source Essence.
“As a tool, the Eye of True Knowledge is different from the foundations of Dream and Manifestation; it doesn’t consume that much Great Source Essence. This spell is something I must improve; otherwise, I cannot truly deconstruct the ‘Hammer of the False Vassal,’ nor can I pry into the mysterious rune structures within the stars!”
Ace’s eyes emitted a pure white light. At this moment, the Quasi-Noble Phantasm “Hammer of the False Vassal” was completely revealed. Its internal structure and mysterious Level 3 runes were rapidly understood by Ace. The entire Quasi-Noble Phantasm disintegrated accordingly, and the Level 3 runes within were absorbed by Ace’s eyes, making them even more mysterious and unfathomable.
Ace continued to float upward. His eyes burst with pure and bright light, shrouding a star of the “Calamity Sword Constellation.”
The light of the “Eye of True Knowledge” peered into the entire star, ignoring the burning flames on the outside and striking directly at the core rune structure within.
Pure golden rune structures—mysterious, complex, and ultra-dense three-dimensional structures. The Primal Fire within the dream companion star also burned violently, shining in harmony with the Main Star, gradually forming a unique rhythmic ripple.
Ace descended slowly. His entire person turned into a cloud of dreams, overlapping with the dream star.
The dream star instantly exploded with brilliance, expanding gradually to overlap with the Main Star. With the assistance of the “Eye of True Knowledge,” he forcibly replicated the pure golden rune structure of the real star’s core.
In Thoth City-State (High Tower Territory), Warren, who had already solidified his Natal Artifact, was adjusting his Enchanted Telescope, preparing to pry into the mysteries of the starry sky. He suddenly noticed that a star in the center of the southern sky seemed to become very bright, and he couldn’t help rubbing his eyes.
The Enchanted Telescope turned to the south. Warren put his eye close to the telescope and saw an astonishing scene.
That star—or rather, that group of stars—seemed to suddenly have a slightly dimmer star orbiting it. If not for the Enchanted Telescope, no one would likely have discovered this strange phenomenon.
Warren was so excited he could hardly control himself. He remembered this astronomical phenomenon; it was called a Companion Star. But most companion stars were two stars of roughly the same size; this situation of one large and one small rarely occurred.
Warren observed with full concentration and found that one of the companion stars suddenly shone brightly, expanding rapidly to the same size as the main star, and then slowly merged with that star into one.
He recorded this astronomical anomaly with extreme puzzlement, murmuring: “Incredible, incredible.”
In the extremely distant starry sky, Ace was forcibly replicating the Level 4 runes within the star. Logically speaking, he could not succeed in replication because the Level 3 “Eye of True Knowledge” could not understand or effectively observe Level 4 runes.
Ace, who had merged with the dream star, had eyes flashing with white light. He said firmly: “The world is the information unification based on matter. The dream star is equivalent to the dimensional reduction isotope of the real star. The Level 3 runes I seek are the dimensional reduction of the runes in the real star!”
The dream star had completely fused with the real star, replicating the structure, heat, state, and core of the real star. The Primal Fire in the dream star formed a powerful overlapping fluctuation with the real star.
Just like a handprint left in a sand mold, the overall structure of the real star and the dense, complex rune structure of the core were also engraved into the dream star.
Those pure golden Level 4 runes could not be retained. Borrowing the characteristics of dreams and supplementing with the “Eye of True Knowledge,” Ace rapidly downgraded the star’s rune structure into Level 3 runes.
The entire dream star had turned into a semi-finished Noble Phantasm blank. As long as enough resources were injected, it would immediately turn into a true Celestial Noble Phantasm.
These resources could be Great Source Essence, Power of Status, or the epic sung by the populace, or even the fusion of one’s own Will. Naturally, the best effect came from Great Source Essence.
Ace was in no hurry. Great Source Essence was precious. Although the consumption would inevitably be reduced due to the Stellar Primal Fire, the consumption would differ depending on whether he endowed the thirteen dream stars with Great Source Essence as a whole or individually.
He kept this dream star orbiting the Main Star and proceeded to do the same with the next star.
Inside Nightlight City, Warren continued to peep at and record this astronomical anomaly with his Enchanted Telescope from the roof of his house.
“Thirteen small companion stars suddenly appeared in the Calamity Sword Constellation, and they expanded in turn, overlapping with the main stars. This phenomenon is extremely special and unprecedented!
“It is said that every star nurtures a Deity, at least a Demigod. Other stars with Deities are shrouded in mist and hard to pry into. These godless stars suddenly showing anomalies—is this the scene of a Stellar Deity being born naturally?
“Here I have to ask a few whys. Is the legend true? Assuming the legend is true, why can stars give birth to Deities or Demigods? Stars can radiate unique mana. As long as one achieves a beneficial state with the star, one can use it as a Natal Star. Can we use stars to become new Demigods or even Deities?
“If wizards become Demigods or even Deities, what is the difference between us wizards and the gods? If wizards cannot become Demigods or even Deities, then where does our path lie?”
Warren observed the anomaly of the “Calamity Sword Constellation,” thousands of thoughts racing in his mind, sleepless tonight.
In the distant Calamity Sword Constellation, Ace had replicated and downgraded all the runes and rune structures of the thirteen stars into Level 3 runes. He floated above the Calamity Sword Constellation, gripping the Great Source Essence tightly in his hand, his eyes shining pure white.
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