Inside the laboratory, the Five Elements Rainbow Mirror hung suspended in midair.
Streams of experimental data cascaded down like a waterfall, and the mirror's spirituality processed them rapidly.
Jie Ming stood before the experiment, preparing to begin the day's aptitude gradient tests.
Just then, a faint strand of consciousness seeped into the depths of his mind through mutual permeation.
It was the exclusive means of communication established after the creation of the Incense Fire Divine Dao; any high-ranking Black Giant Priest could use faith power to send messages directly into his consciousness.
A steady voice slowly sounded:
"My lord, all materials required for the first array node of the All-Heavens Star Grand Array have been prepared."
Jie Ming's movements paused slightly.
The next moment, without hesitation, he waved his hand to shut down the experiment records.
"Finally... it's all gathered."
He had waited centuries for this single array node.
A short while later.
In the Infernal Sulfur Plane.
As a silvery-white teleportation light flared, Jie Ming's figure appeared at the center of the continent.
Dozens of Black Giant Priests were already respectfully waiting before the teleportation array.
The High Priest at the front slowly bowed, his chest slit vibrating with a deep voice.
"My lord, all materials have been transported to the space warehouse. Please inspect them."
Jie Ming nodded. "Lead the way."
The group quickly arrived at the cosmic space outside the continent.
As they crossed the final orbital defense line, even Jie Ming fell silent for a moment at the sight before him.
Though the Black Giant Priests had called it a space warehouse, what met his eyes was a "planet" formed from countless resources.
Asteroids tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter floated silently in the void.
But these "asteroids" were not natural—they were entirely piled up from various high-grade materials and an astonishing number of high-purity energy crystals.
They were sorted and stacked, each category forming a resource planet drifting in space.
From afar, it looked like a sea of stars made of wealth.
Jie Ming stared quietly at the scene, but his expression showed no joy.
Though he knew he had spent a great deal, only when he actually saw it did he truly realize how many resources he had poured in. Looking at these materials, he felt his heart bleeding.
He slowly exhaled to steady himself: "Centuries... a full centuries' worth of accumulation..."
This collection of resource planets had nearly exhausted all the high-grade resources the Infernal Sulfur Plane could mobilize over the years.
In fact, all the military merits Jie Ming had earned through foreign trade over the years had been sunk into this.
Stellar force and solar true fire were relatively easy.
What was truly expensive were the physical materials with law characteristics.
Any one of them, taken out, would make an ordinary wizard wince in pain.
Jie Ming's mouth twitched slightly.
"No wonder the Great Dao Book Pavilion has no records of establishing the highest-level All-Heavens Star Grand Array—this is simply not something ordinary cultivators can afford."
The High Priest beside him asked softly, "My lord, shall we begin refining?"
Jie Ming was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.
"Let's begin."
As orders were transmitted, the entire space quickly sprang into action.
Tens of thousands of Black Giant Priests flew in all directions, transporting pre-refined components for assembly.
Before long, a newly upgraded refining ring slowly unfurled.
Tens of thousands of spatial anchor points interconnected, and countless runic chains pierced the void.
Finally, it formed a gigantic ring over three million kilometers in diameter.
The entire refining ring rotated slowly, and elemental particles in the surrounding void converged frantically.
Countless Black Giant Priests stood at their assigned positions, their mental strength linked to form a vast network covering the entire refining ring.
Jie Ming stood at the very center, slowly closing his eyes.
The next instant, a dark golden light erupted.
Boom!!!
A true body five hundred kilometers tall appeared in space. The colossal figure slowly rose, and the three golden vertical eyes on both its front and back faces opened simultaneously.
In an instant, a terrifying pressure swept across the entire star sector.
Even though they had witnessed it countless times, the Black Giant Priests assisting in the refining still held their breath instinctively.
Every time they saw it, they were reminded anew of what true power meant.
Jie Ming looked down at his feet.
Even his current true body seemed minuscule before the refining ring three million kilometers in diameter.
He slowly extended his hands.
Between his palms, a ball of solar true fire blazed fiercely.
As Jie Ming continuously drew solar true fire from his Inner World, the red flames instantly transformed into a sea of fire covering tens of thousands of kilometers.
"Input the materials."
His deep voice reached all the Black Giants through mental link.
The next moment.
Boom!
The first resource mountain slowly rose, and billions of tons of starcore essence entered the refining ring simultaneously.
The solar true fire instantly enveloped them.
Even the indestructible starcore essence began to melt at a visible rate under the tempering of solar true fire.
Then,
The surrounding millions of Black Giants continuously separated various materials from the nearby "material planets," pouring these mountain-sized high-grade materials into the sea of fire without pause.
At the same time, Jie Ming opened another Inner World passage and began inputting stellar force according to the current state.
The entire refining process lasted a full year.
During that time, whenever a rune fluctuated, a priest would immediately repair it.
With Jie Ming's coordination, they managed to maintain the stability of the refining ring.
Finally, after one year, Jie Ming's eyes snapped open.
"Condense!"
Boom...
The entire refining ring erupted with dazzling golden light. The array node, which had taken initial shape, contracted sharply toward the center.
Vast amounts of matter compressed continuously.
At last, a single point of brilliant, extreme light slowly emerged in the heart of the sea of fire.
The next moment,
Like a star being born, dazzling radiance illuminated the entire Infernal Sulfur Plane star sector.
Everyone squinted involuntarily.
As the light gradually faded, a massive sphere hung quietly in the void.
It was two million kilometers in diameter.
The whole body was a blazing gold, with countless star patterns flowing slowly across its surface, constantly emitting soft yet scorching light and heat.
From afar, it looked like a newborn star.
The surrounding space warped slightly from the terrifying energy it released.
A Black Giant Priest couldn't help but mutter in awe: "So... this is the array node..."
Another priest's eyes were full of shock: "Just one array node already has such scale."
"If the entire All-Heavens Star Grand Array is completed..."
He did not finish.
Everyone could already imagine how spectacular that sight would be.
But Jie Ming did not immediately admire his achievement. His gaze shifted slowly to the surroundings.
There, the resource mountains that had once been piled up like planets...
Were now empty.
The entire space only had scattered scrap materials insufficient for further refining.
Centuries of accumulation had been exhausted in one go.
Jie Ming slowly clutched his chest, his mouth twitching slightly.
"...It hurts."
The High Priest beside him was startled: "My lord?"
Jie Ming looked at the radiant array node, then at the empty material warehouse, and couldn't help but heave a long sigh.
"Now I truly understand what a real gold-devouring beast is."
He reached out and patted his chest, staring at the array node that burned like a star before him. The expression on his face was indescribably complex. There was relief, satisfaction, but mostly... heartache.
This wasn't an array node—it was clearly a sun forged from military merits!