This is the complete Star and Death Seal! A surge of supreme confidence suddenly rose in Qian Jing's heart; the true Star and Death Seal should be exactly like this! The Eight Wastelands Clan created the Star and Death Seal, but they never truly pushed it to its zenith!

Perhaps the creator of the Star and Death Seal initially considered the possibility of practicing the Death Combat Acupoint, the interweaving of life and death, and other concepts, but regrettably, they could never find the method to cultivate the Death Combat Acupoint, leaving the Star and Death Seal perpetually incomplete.

In an instant, Qian Jing suddenly sensed something; the aura of Duan Feng Bu Er beside him flickered faintly, almost imperceptibly, yet it was no longer entirely undetectable as it was initially.

Burning Road Rhapsody… Dull True Strategy!

Qian Jing soon vaguely discerned the locations of the other two; with the stars above, who could escape their gaze? Beneath the stars, where could one hide?

Qian Jing desperately tried to sense the presence of Chek Forit, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not locate the owner of that Soul Domain.

On the contrary! Qian Jing felt that the power of his Star and Death Seal seemed to engage in a peculiar communicative interaction with this concealed Soul Domain, paradoxically causing Chek Forit to hide even more securely.

The Stars—if they desire someone to hide, in this era, who else could possibly find them?

In a short span, Qian Jing’s strength and comprehension improved significantly, and the others also experienced their own respective advancements.

Chek Forit’s elevation finally ceased. Compared to the moment when Fabrediss and Mu Gui Wu Xin achieved Sainthood, his power was undeniably enhanced by more than just a small margin. The black wings, following this Ascension to Sainthood, became even more immense; when the six wings unfurled, they genuinely possessed the imposing might to overshadow the entire earth.

Chek Forit slowly descended from the high sky. At this moment, everyone could clearly see his appearance. Dark, somber skin was overlaid with golden patterns that seemed like tattoos, yet they did not detract from his handsome features, instead lending him an air of mysterious, striking allure.

Duan Feng Bu Er repeatedly clicked his tongue. "The stars are truly unfair! My concubine transforms, becoming so gorgeously handsome that even men are captivated. Why is my Bloodline War Body so ugly? I am also a handsome fellow! I want to transform into an even more handsome hunk!"

The crowd looked at the form of Duan Feng Bu Er’s Nine-Headed Serpent Bloodline War Body, then contrasted it with Chek Forit’s aesthetically pleasing Fallen Angel transformation, and universally shook their heads in resigned sighs.

The Nine-Headed Serpent Bloodline Warriors possessed formidable strength. Chek Forit’s recent Ascension to Sainthood brought Duan Feng Bu Er numerous immeasurable benefits. Though his own bloodline power had not awakened, the accumulation of latent energy was staggering.

Back then, the Demon Prince strove tirelessly to accumulate his power to achieve the unparalleled state of being one step beyond Sainthood. The more profound the accumulation, the fiercer and more terrifying the subsequent emergence into Sainthood.

Chek Forit and the others had been elevating rapidly without much prior accumulation. The emergence of Lucifer's Heart provided everyone with an immensely solid foundation, not only rivaling the accumulation of any contemporary young powerhouse but perhaps even slightly surpassing them.

Under such circumstances, Duan Feng Bu Er had unexpectedly amassed a massive further reservoir of energy. If he were to ascend to Sainthood now... the resulting might would likely astonish everyone who knew him.

However, even with all that, one could not deny that the exterior of the Nine-Headed Serpent Bloodline Warrior's War Body was objectively unimpressive!

Nine Shadows Appear! The previously shadowy black nine-headed serpent phantoms now seemed poised to condense into physical reality, becoming a state akin to an auxiliary Nine-Headed Serpent Battle Soul!

Duan Feng Bu Er turned to look at the towering manifestation behind him, fifty feet high, roaring at the heavens—the Nine Shadows Appear—and continued his murmurs. This manifestation was several times larger and several times more substantial than Snake Emperor Pan Hongji’s Nine Shadows Appear.

"Perhaps, I truly have the possibility of Ultimate Awakening! To become the first powerhouse, outside of those damned Six Great Bloodlines, to achieve Ultimate Awakening of bloodline power."

Qian Jing realized that every time someone close to him entered Sainthood, the help he received differed substantially.

Of course, when Fabrediss entered Sainthood, he gained primarily an enhancement in battle qi. When Mu Gui Wu Xin entered Sainthood, he gained a certain understanding of the primal energy beneath the stars.

Now! Chek Forit’s Ascension not only boosted Qian Jing’s own strength again but, more importantly, granted him a profoundly deeper comprehension of what it meant to enter Sainthood.

What is a Saint? If reaching a certain capacity of ‘Qi’ qualified one as a Saint, then Qian Jing felt his own capacity should have long been sufficient, yet he remained stalled short of Sainthood.

Qualitative change! A genuine transformation of essence! Qian Jing experienced and reflected again and again. Though not yet a Saint, he understood the true essence of Sainthood better than many who already were.

That state where Heaven, Earth, and oneself merge completely, reaching a point where the distinctions dissolve—that is the supreme realm of true Sainthood!

With this single Ascension, the strength of everyone surged wildly. Burning Road Rhapsody felt an impulse to immediately seize a Sacred Artifact and choose to ascend himself.

The group forcefully suppressed this urge. Chek Forit's recent Ascension was not a momentary boon for everyone; as their power continued to grow, and with multiple companions achieving Sainthood nearby, the comprehension of Sainthood deepened further, requiring dedicated time to digest before they could break through in one unified leap.

"Concubine, how do you feel now?"

Chek Forit shot Duan Feng Bu Er an exasperated look, then shifted his gaze to Qian Jing and said, "I have completely grasped what 'Void' is, and I am beginning to try and master 'Substance'; I exist somewhere between Void and Substance."

Between Void and Substance! Qian Jing recalled that Qian Zhan Xuan had once stated that Sainthood comprised three stages: Void Saint, Substantial Saint, and True Saint. Fabrediss had been a Void Saint for a long time, even up to his death in battle.

Chek Forit, breaking through in one go, was already positioned between Void and Substance, capable of shifting from Void to Substance at any moment, entering the realm of the Substantial Saint!

The culmination of many days of accumulation, coupled with the advantages inherent to a Bloodline Warrior, erupted completely at this moment.

"Void Saint, tenth layer..." Chek Forit explained his breakthrough experience. "Each layer brings a distinctly perceptible increase in power. The 'Void and Substance' distinction pertains more to the development of the Soul Domain: Void Soul Domain, Substantial Soul Domain, True Soul Domain..."

The others listened intently to Chek Forit's narrative. Even among established Saints, few would openly share their insights and feelings about entering that stage.

A prodigious talent like Pan Hongji would never reveal his own hard-won comprehension to others; even within his own family, revealing insights into Sainthood depended on assessing lineage and aptitude.

The group sat in silent meditation, absorbing the string of benefits, including the experiences concerning post-Sainthood comprehension that Pan Hongji had proactively mentioned previously.

Those words, which they could fully hear but never fully grasp before, now began to yield tangible understanding as Chek Forit entered Sainthood—most significantly for Chek Forit himself.

After two full days of digestion and absorption, everyone’s strength registered further advancement.

Qian Jing gazed upon the ten differently styled Sacred Artifacts before him with a faint smile. This was the true great harvest! The spoils plundered beyond the frontier previously seemed insignificant compared to these ten Sacred Artifacts.

A Sacred Artifact—any one of them could radically transform a family. Even the greatest, top-tier families regarded a Sacred Artifact as immeasurably precious.

Sacred Artifacts were not just the ultimate obsession for warriors; they were also the objects of lifelong pursuit for Artificers.

A truly excellent and perceptive Artificer, upon gaining access to the presence of a Sacred Artifact, could potentially receive immeasurably significant aid in elevating their crafting skills and standards.

With good fortune, it was even possible to advance an entire tier of crafting skill based solely on the comprehension gleaned from merely touching a Sacred Artifact.

Qian Jing had seen many, many notes from Uncle Black regarding the forging of Sacred Artifacts in the Endless World, but he had never actually encountered one.

This purely theoretical knowledge, combined with the tangible existence of these Sacred Artifacts, allowed his experience and understanding in forging to surpass that of any other Artificer.

A hammer! Qian Jing spotted a hammer about the length of his arm. Its appearance leaned more towards a smith’s hammer than a war hammer for the battlefield. Faint threads of sacred power flowed within it, and the surface was intricately carved with brilliant arcane inscriptions.

Qian Jing flipped his palm upward, and the hammer-shaped Battle Soul composed of the Heart of Earth Fire soared from his palm. The massive, red, blacksmith’s hammer Battle Soul slowly rotated in the sky, and the Sacred Artifact hammer lying in the sand immediately emitted a resonant clang.

A suitable Saint Artifact! Qian Jing grasped the hammer in his hand, looking at the striking handle where two characters, brimming with confidence, were engraved. These two characters…

Qian Jing studied them for a long time, unable to decipher what kind of script they were. He had examined countless ancient texts in the Qian family, even scripts predating the establishment of the True Strategy Dynasty, yet he recognized none of these two characters.

They were not pure phonetic characters; they looked more like writings derived from recording certain images.

Qian Jing stared at the glyphs resembling figures, and suddenly, these two pictographic characters seemed to come alive! The surrounding world dimmed instantly. The sky overhead appeared to rupture as a colossal, incandescent planet tore through the stars and plummeted towards the ground.

This final, destructive dive seemed inescapable for every living thing on the earth, regardless of their hiding place—be it high mountains, deep caves, or the bottom of the ocean. It was as if an entire civilization was about to be annihilated by the impact of this planet.

The surrounding darkness instantly became a sea of fire, the earth seemed to shatter completely, and countless beings vanished in a flash—death… everything seemed to plunge into an apocalyptic moment.

What? Qian Jing’s hand trembled slightly as he snapped back from the two characters, staring blankly at the blacksmith's hammer that felt as if it weighed ten thousand jin.

Those two brief, graphic characters seemed to record a catastrophe, documenting the true might of the stars. Even if just a single star truly fell from the sky to the earth, it possessed terrifying destructive power.

"Huh? Is that a carving of a Nine-Headed Serpent...?" Duan Feng Bu Er leaned closer, and halfway through his sentence upon seeing the hammer in Qian Jing’s hand, he froze solid, staring unmoving at the hammer held by Qian Jing.