The promotion of the Divine essence was complex and abstract; even the most precise language fell short. Second-level ascension to third, third to fourth—it was always the same. But an ascension is an ascension, regardless of how one describes it; the description of a stage is merely the path to that stage, not the stage itself.

Even without understanding the path of promotion, one could reach the destination directly through certain means, much like traveling from one city to another distant one: even without knowing the road, one can still be delivered by taking the right vehicle.

The Protoss, inherently third-level, and the Overminds, inherently fourth-level, were both masterpieces of the Xel’Naga. The Xel’Naga were like an airline company: though they never clearly explained the route to the destination, they provided a method to arrive—by flying on their planes!

This was already the highest level of technology achieved by the Xel’Naga; the reason they developed it was to ensure the continuation and promotion of their species!

From the Xel’Naga knowledge, Yang Ying learned that the Xel’Naga themselves possessed inherent flaws, which imposed a lifespan limit on their entire race. To ensure their survival, they created countless intermediary civilizations, planning to select the two most powerful races among them and merge their strengths to create a new Xel’Naga species!

The races they ultimately chose were the Protoss and the Zerg. These two races represented the perfection of the external form and the perfection of the internal essence, respectively. Only by merging the two could they achieve absolute perfection, integrating both inside and out.

The Xel’Naga nearly succeeded, had they not been annihilated by the Zerg.

According to Xel’Naga estimations, once the Divine and Zerg races became one, they would evolve into a being surpassing the fourth level, and the specific method for this fusion was described quite clearly within their knowledge archives.

As Yang Ying ascended to the fourth level, he absorbed aspects of both the Protoss and Zerg traits into his body. While this was a form of fusion, it was merely superficial, failing to truly integrate the characteristics of the two races.

In his current state, Yang Ying’s human form remained human, the Blade Master remained the Blade Master, and the Hierarch remained the Hierarch. Though all were Yang Ying, they remained distinct entities.

To break through to the fifth level, a deeper level of fusion was required. Only when the three forms coalesced into a single entity would Yang Ying achieve the fifth level.

Yang Ying had begun this deep fusion as early as his ascension to the third level, and now, it was approaching its final completion.

Although outwardly no difference was apparent, Yang Ying’s internal state had undergone a seismic shift since he first attained the fourth level.

This was also why he had been able to confidently promise Alarak the resurrection of Immolation.

Turning to the battle in the Darsan Sector, although the Empire had won the first engagement, Sandow had successfully withdrawn the majority of his fleet. After rejoining with the surviving decoy fleets, the fighting settled into a grinding, systematic advance.

A minor skirmish every three days, a major battle every ten—slowly, step by step, Sandow led the Allied forces in methodically consuming the territory of the Darsan Sector.

Duke Daan’s command artistry was indeed superb, second to none among the Empire's ranks, surpassing the vast majority of other fourth-level entities. However, Sandow was the most distinguished military commander among the entire True Human race, possessing a slight edge over Duke Daan in fleet command capability. In direct confrontations, Duke Daan was at a subtle disadvantage, even with Yang Ying’s ten clones assisting; otherwise, the situation would likely have been far worse.

After the initial defeat, Sandow quickly devised countermeasures against Yang Ying’s ability to rapidly deploy troops using the "Pocket Universe." He organized a highly combat-ready rapid reaction force, led by the Apex expert Tieguxin and supported by over ten peak experts.

Sandow ordered them to be ready to appear at the site of any battle the moment Yang Ying manifested.

For a commander like Sandow, the same tactic could not succeed twice. While he did not know the exact means Yang Ying used to achieve this rapid deployment, it did not stop him from fortifying the territory he captured as tightly as a sealed iron bucket. Subsequently, Yang Ying attempted several surprise raids using the Pocket Universe, but the Alliance’s rapid reaction force always arrived on the battlefield in the shortest possible time.

It must be remembered that Yang Ying’s Minotaur-class battlecruisers were not superior in performance to the Empire's or the Alliance's primary warships. Their slight advantage relied solely on surprise attacks and long-range Yamato cannon strikes to gain some ground against the Alliance fleets.

But when direct conflict erupted, once a Minotaur battlecruiser depleted the energy in its Yamato cannon battery, its eight primary cannons, operating only at Level Seven energy output, were insufficient to contend with the Alliance’s larger warships, which were generally equipped with Level Nine main cannons.

Unless Yang Ying was willing to accept massive casualties, perhaps a ten-to-one loss ratio, victory might be attainable. But Yang Ying had no need for such victories; this was meant to be an internal conflict for the Empire, and his own people should not be paying for it with their lives.

Consequently, once the Minotaur battlecruiser fleet exhausted its Yamato battery energy, Yang Ying would retreat. After several such exchanges, he gained no significant advantage over the Alliance.

The Alliance also grew accustomed to Yang Ying’s sudden strikes, learning to minimize their losses under the barrage of the Yamato cannons. After all, dodging energy beams fired from such a vast distance was significantly easier than evading close-range combat.

Duke Daan once proposed that the Imperial fleet use Yang Ying’s method to strike the Allied forces by surprise, but the Pocket Universe was Yang Ying’s most crucial and fundamental asset, so he resolutely refused the Duke’s suggestion.

Later, Yang Ying realized that continuing the fight in this manner yielded meager results, so he ceased his aggressive maneuvers and stopped launching surprise attacks against the Alliance forces.

Coincidentally, the fusion process within his body had entered its most critical phase. Thus, Yang Ying became reclusive, ceasing his involvement in military affairs and entering seclusion. Even the activity level of his numerous clones dropped considerably.

Yang Ying’s fusion objective was not simply to merge the Divine and Zerg races as the Xel’Naga had designed. The essence of the Human race was also within him, and he had no intention of abandoning his human identity to become a new iteration of the Xel’Naga.

Therefore, based on his thorough mastery of Xel’Naga knowledge, he altered the Xel’Naga approach. He decided to use the Human essence as the foundation upon which to absorb the traits of the Divine and Zerg races, thereby completing the process of unifying the three.

While Yang Ying was in seclusion, conditions in various regions continued to evolve.

The Zerg continued their massive reproduction, their enormous swarm constantly carving out new territories. The remnants of various expeditionary forces left in the Perseus Arm seeking flaws in the Zerg lines had all been consumed by the swarm. Four months later, the Zerg population expanded further to eighty billion, and their territory grew to encompass two thousand planets.

The Protoss launched wars of subjugation against the Cycrow Empire and the Loa Empire. Under the unstoppable offense of the Motherships, every enemy in their path was crushed beneath their feet. Prince Hogo, the last fourth-level entity of the Loa Empire, was slain two months after the war commenced.

The Cycrow race were silicon-based lifeforms, like the Transformers on the screen, with their entire populace being a standing army, but even they could not withstand the ever-unyielding black holes, and were quickly defeated.

As the conquests progressed, a large number of Apex experts emerged within the Protoss ranks, increasing almost exponentially—doubling every month compared to the previous one!

Under these circumstances, the races of the Orion Arm remained silent, content to watch the Protoss armies sweep across the region without daring to display any hostile behavior. Indeed, many races proactively approached them, offering vassalage to the Protoss, eager to contribute to the subjugation of the Cycrow and Loa peoples. Submitting to the strong and becoming a vassal race was not uncommon in the galaxy; every powerful race had several vassal races trailing behind them.

Yet, ironically, among those races eagerly offering fealty to the Protoss were several members of the forty races once courted by Sharal.

Ever since they heard reports of that barren, empty battlefield, they had lived in constant dread, fearing the day the Protoss might descend upon them. Now, seeing the Protoss directing their main punitive efforts toward the Cycrow and Loa peoples, they immediately conceived the idea of "atonement through service."

Their only hope was that the Protoss would spare them; that would be a blessing.

The Protoss accepted their desire to become vassal races. After all, the Protoss population was relatively small; they did not possess the Zerg’s vigorous reproductive power. For such large-scale territorial expansion, the Protoss’s greatest challenge was not insufficient military strength, but a lack of administrative personnel!

Having these voluntary vassals provided much-needed relief in terms of manpower.

The Protoss had no concerns about the vassal races being disloyal. They held the foundation of order—force. As long as Protoss military might remained undiminished, ensuring the obedience of their vassals would be effortless.

As the subjugation wars neared their end, the Gallan and Gosh peoples formally invited the Protoss to participate in the Orion Arm Coalition of Races—a loose organization akin to the United Nations, primarily focused on mediating inter-species conflicts.

The Protoss accepted the invitation and sent a delegation that once again stunned the entire Orion Arm: the delegation consisted of one hundred Hierarchs—one hundred Apex experts!

Following this meeting, the Protoss officially became the number one power in the Orion Arm, inheriting all the territories of the former Cycrow, Loa, and Burke peoples, bringing their total domain to seven sectors.

On Aiuros, the Zerg homeworld in the Perseus Arm, Yang Ying’s seclusion finally reached its end.

The Human, Blade Master, and Hierarch forms had successfully merged into one. He himself lost a fixed physical form, transforming into a mass of light, within which something seemed to flow, like a flickering flame constantly shifting shape.

Suddenly, this mass of light vibrated sharply and solidified into a perfectly regular sphere. In fact, no matter what precision instrument was used to measure it, the result would show an absolutely perfect sphere, without the slightest deviation.

Thump!

It was a sound that seemed never to have existed in the world. A seam cracked open on the surface of the sphere, and a hand reached out. Then, the entire sphere split in two, and a figure composed entirely of light stepped out.

The fragments of the sphere naturally dissolved into the air, and the light enveloping the figure faded. This person was Yang Ying. His eyes were closed, as if he were experiencing something profound.

At this moment, countless Zerg, whether in the sky or on the ground, bowed their heads to him.

Katarina approached Yang Ying. She looked at his face, her eyes shining with intense delight.

Yang Ying looked back at her and laughed, "I succeeded. So this is what the fifth level feels like." He extended his hand and instantly brought Katarina to the Floating Continent.