Once the meeting in the High Council Hall was concluded, they descended from the central tower back to the main plaza. Wu Xiao promptly moved to the Crystal Tower at the square's center and reached out to touch it again.

A powerful surge of energy poured from his hand, integrating into his body. Yang Ying felt the mental link steadily strengthening until, within seconds, he could sense the mental fluctuations of the entire Protoss race.

"The Path of the Khala is officially initiated. All Protoss citizens may begin absorbing the Crystal Tower's energy."

Yang Ying's voice resonated within the hearts of every Protoss through the mental link. Upon hearing this command, all Protoss immediately gathered beneath the nearest Crystal Tower and commenced drawing in the energy.

Boktana and Gremoren also floated over to Yang Ying's side, each extending a hand to touch the Crystal Tower.

"Why are you here too? The Dark Templar faction dislikes the Khala Path. Are you willing to sacrifice your individuality to heed the collective voice?" Boktana expressed surprise at Gremoren's participation.

"Supreme Council. Without the involvement of our Dark Templar faction, how can we truly represent the entire Protoss race?" Gremoren replied. "Although I am personally uninterested in the Khala Path, this is clearly the future direction for the Protoss. The leader will manage Protoss affairs through the Supreme Council, which will become the highest governing body. Therefore, a representative who can speak for the Dark Templar must exist. I shall make this sacrifice and serve as that representative."

"That is a rare sentiment coming from one of the Dark Templar," Boktana remarked.

"Perhaps not. I believe there will be others in the Dark Templar faction who think as I do. Yes, I already sense a few. Good, very good," Gremoren stated.

Boktana accepted Gremoren’s explanation and turned to Yang Ying. "Leader, the clone plan can commence."

"Good." Yang Ying closed his eyes, and his soul began to fluctuate violently as it started to divide according to his intent.

Now that he was a Master of several peaks, such tasks were second nature. In mere seconds, a portion of his soul was ripped from the primary consciousness. This separated essence possessed slight differences from his previous clones. Yang Ying forced all the energy channeled from the Crystal Tower into this nascent soul fragment.

The newly formed clone, Lixiu, immediately perceived the omnipresent mental links surrounding him; many Protoss citizens had already activated their deep-level connections.

Thoughts and emotions flowed into the clone, and in turn, its own thoughts and feelings synchronized with the collective. Through this exchange, the clone gained a profound understanding of the essential characteristics of the souls belonging to both the Luminary and Dark Executors.

"This level is about right," Yang Ying thought, and the clone's soul began to shift dramatically.

To configure this clone as a filter for the Protoss psychic network—linking it to the main network without exposing his own core thoughts and feelings—Yang Ying had intentionally excised a portion of the clone's fundamental essence during the separation. In older terminology, one might say its 'three hun and seven po' were incomplete; it was not a whole soul.

Theoretically, such a soul would not persist for long. A slight loss of soul essence causes idiocy; a greater loss leads to self-destruction. Yang Ying's clone was designed to quickly collapse. Therefore, to restore and complete this soul, Gremoren proposed supplementing the missing part using a fraction of the Protoss essence itself.

Since the essence of a Protoss soul and Yang Ying's Master-level soul were not fundamentally vastly different, mutual complementarity was possible. However, without Gremoren—a Dark Executor with profound insight into the study of souls—realizing this technical feat would have been nearly impossible.

Yang Ying directed the clone's soul, drawing Executor soul essences from the psychic network and using the Crystal Tower energy, rebuilt the clone's soul according to those characteristics. As the Crystal Tower energy favored the Luminary aspect, Yang Ying balanced it by incorporating some Void energy, which the Dark Templar specialized in.

After a period of nurturing, repair, and modification, Yang Ying felt a sudden surge of realization. A new, complete clone soul finally manifested before him.

Gremoren and Boktana witnessed a pillar of violet flame erupt violently around Yang Ying. A purple light shot from his eyes and soared skyward. Soon after, the violet flame detached itself from Yang Ying’s body, rising about ten meters into the air, gradually coalescing into limbs, a torso, and a head, forming the semblance of an Executor, enveloped in the burning purple fire.

But this was a purple Executor!

It simultaneously displayed characteristics of both a Luminary and a Dark Executor, presenting externally as a blend of red and blue—a deep violet hue—and carrying an ethereal, dreamlike quality. At a glance, this mesmerizing purple appeared profoundly mysterious.

"This is a fusion of the Dark Executor and the Luminary Executor; it belongs to neither light nor dark. What should I call it?" Yang Ying pondered briefly before resolving his intent. "Let's call it the Shadow Executor. As for a name... we shall use the Protoss tongue: 'Kass.'"

The moment Kass was born, the news traveled instantly through the Protoss mental network, and soon the entire race was aware.

"The immediate priority is electing the members of the Supreme Council," Boktana stated. "A total of three hundred and sixty councilors, thirty-six core councilors, and one Speaker."

This information was immediately disseminated through the network. Most Protoss were not yet fully accustomed to the new mental link, but this did not hinder them from electing the kin they favored.

The mental link merely connected their thoughts and rendered their intentions public; it did not merge them into a single consciousness. They retained their individuality, merely appearing exceptionally transparent before the collective.

It was worth noting that the Zerg among the three races unified all minds under a single consciousness. The Overmind's will was absolute, representing the entirety of the Swarm's intent. Compared to the Protoss Khala Path, the Zerg social structure represented the other extreme.

The Protoss were the epitome of democracy, where the Supreme Council, representing the majority of individuals, often overlooked the opinions of the few. The Zerg were the height of autocracy, where the Overmind utterly disregarded the input of individual Zerg.

However, for Yang Ying, the outcome was the same. Since all Protoss regarded him as their leader, he could represent the majority, even the totality, holding absolute authority in the Supreme Council where his decrees would be instantly obeyed, because his will was the collective will. The same applied to his role as Zerg Overmind; the upper structure differed, but the fundamental reality was absolute obedience to him.

After elections spanning two full hours, all members of the Supreme Council were chosen, the entire process completed within the mental linkage. Yang Ying, using his Kass clone, inevitably secured the Speaker's seat. Kass's outward appearance was that of a Luminary Executor, but its core remained his own clone—no different from Blade or his other extensions. Thus, Yang Ying harbored no fear of Kass acting against him, just as he would not fear his own hand rebelling.

Returning to the High Council Hall, every seat was now occupied. The two concentric circular tables belonged to the thirty-six Core Councilors. The alcoves lining the walls served as seats for the regular councilors. The Speaker’s seat, however, was not directly situated within the hall.

Instead, beneath the ceiling of the High Council Hall was a small office reserved for the Speaker. The Speaker's chair resided within that office, equipped with anti-gravity suspension, capable of descending into the main hall when necessary.

Gremoren and Boktana, being the prime individuals of their respective Executor types, naturally secured positions among the thirty-six Core Councilors, furthermore ranking within the twelve most prestigious inner seats. The Core Council included representatives from every military cadre. Yang Ying even spotted Telot, the Zealot who possessed the oldest service record among the entire Protoss race. Telot was the very first Protoss warrior Yang Ying had manufactured and was now the supreme commander of the Zealot corps; he too was placed within the inner circle of twelve Core Councilors.

With the Supreme Council established, the Protoss psychic energy began to flow toward it through the mental link channel. While this represented only a small fraction for any individual Protoss, when pooled together, the total power vastly exceeded the combined tribute of psychic energy the Zerg offered Yang Ying.

Sensing the sheer magnitude of this energy, Yang Ying could not help but offer praise. The Protoss truly lived up to their reputation as a race built upon psychic civilization; their psychic resources were staggeringly abundant. With just over two hundred thousand inhabitants, they contributed over five million units of psychic power.

However, this psychic flow was not solely designated for the Speaker. The Supreme Council's allocation protocol had been set at its inception: Kass, as Speaker, was entitled to one-third; the thirty-six Core Councilors would receive another third; and the three hundred and sixty councilors shared the remaining third.

Yang Ying ultimately received over 1.7 million units of psychic power. Combined with the nearly 1.2 million contributed by the Zerg, this was enough energy to manifest two peak Masters simultaneously in the external world, or to empower a single peak Master with a psychic potential nearing three million!

As Yang Ying attempted to channel all this energy into his primary body, his psychic power soared past two million. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. A realization struck him, and looking toward the center of the continent, he saw exactly what he anticipated: the second lamp on the fifth layer had illuminated. The area of the floating continent doubled, expanding to two million square kilometers!

He could see in the distant north, near the edge of the Terran territories, a colossal mountain range visibly rising and ascending into the heavens. Lands belonging to all three races showed expansion. New rivers, lakes, mountains, flora, fauna, and streams emerged across the continent—everything appeared vibrant and flourishing.