Refining the Primary Star

No wonder Sterl was so taken aback. He could only marvel at the prestige of an S-class profession—it was outrageously powerful!

The enhancements to attributes and the skill list post the Lord of Stars' job transition were still unknown, yet just the capability to create a Primary and Secondary Star was somewhat twisted in its own right.

A Primary Star offering attribute bonuses, a set of skills, plus an extra talent—what kind of concept was this?

A 15% attribute increase could equate to the kind of enhancement players might only achieve after leveling up several times in the later stages of the game.

An additional set of skills could massively boost combat effectiveness.

Human energy is limited. Even for someone like Sterl, who could break through skill proficiency limits with the power of blood, there wasn't enough time to master many skills.

But after choosing a Primary Star, you could directly borrow a set of skills!

And to top it all off, you could gain an extra talent—Sterl could theoretically acquire an ability on the same level as Soul of Arcane or Descend of the Gods!

It's no exaggeration to say that if the chosen Primary Star was powerful enough, it could increase the Lord of Stars' strength by more than fifty percent!

The Secondary Star, on the other hand, offered a weakened version of one of the three enhancements provided by the Primary Star.

Even though it was a weakened version, each of the three enhancements from the Primary Star was so strong that the boost from the Secondary Star was also incredibly significant!

"No wonder the Lord of Stars was jointly executed. This profession might outgrow even the higher SS or even SSS ranks as it develops..." Sterl felt a bit dizzy with the thought.

Continuing to examine his panel, he discovered that creating Primary and Secondary Stars had its limitations.

You could create one Primary Star initially, add another upon the second-class transition, one more as a legend, and a third at the divine level.Essentially, you could create one every two major stages of power increase.

For Secondary Stars, you start with one, add another after class transitioning, and then one more with each subsequent class transition...

The power level increasing by one stage meant you could create another.

Moreover, the chosen Primary and Secondary Stars could not be replaced. The choice among the three enhancements for the Secondary Star had to be made at the time of refinement, with no option to change later.

However, these limitations seemed trivial compared to the immense boost provided by refining Primary and Secondary Stars!

Sterl almost immediately had an idea. To complete his job transition, he needed to refine either a Primary or Secondary Star, and he had an excellent candidate for a Primary Star right before him.

[Star Egg]+

[Quality: S-rank]

...

[Yes/No, refine as Primary/Secondary Star?]

Right!

This pet egg could be directly refined before hatching!

And with the evolution system confirming that the Star Egg could be upgraded to SS rank, was there even a choice to be made?

Sterl promptly chose to refine the Star Egg as his first Primary Star.

He placed his palm on the eggshell, intricately patterned with dense stellar designs, and then turned to leave.

Adhering to the spirit of cautious advancement, Sterl naturally wouldn't start the refinement process right there and then.

Earlier in the cave, when the Star Egg absorbed the power of the stars, it caused quite a commotion. Sterl chose to relocate, seeking a secluded spot to acquire his first Primary Star.

Soon, he wandered around the instance and hid in a natural limestone cave.

While searching for this secluded spot, Sterl sharply noticed that the instance had already undergone significant changes. The stars in the sky gradually dimmed, and the ground beneath his feet felt loose.

To make an inappropriate analogy, it seemed as if the instance had suddenly aged from its prime into a terminally ill elder.

Yet, Sterl had no interest in dwelling on these changes. Upon entering the limestone cave, he slightly furrowed his brows, rejecting what seemed like the umpteenth divination request.

Sterl was aware that this likely stemmed from the concern the strong individuals at the mid-level base had for the safety of this talent, but what he was currently undertaking could not be exposed.

He quickly made his way deeper into the cave, taking out the Star Egg and holding it in his palm.

Sterl silently commanded, "Refine."

Instantly, a buzzing filled his mind, and Sterl closed his eyes to tune in quietly. He faintly saw himself as if he were in the midst of a vast galaxy, standing at the center of thousands of star rivers, with the Star Egg transforming into the most magnificent and shining supernova among the endless stars.

A strange energy flowed between Sterl and the pet egg!

If anyone had come into this limestone cave, they would be astonished to find that the originally dim cave was now brilliantly lit, resembling a newly formed galaxy. This stark contrast with the gradually declining, dying stars outside the instance was striking.

...

After Sterl once again refused the mid-level base's detection, the people outside finally became restless.

"Commander Miste, let me go." the speaker, a seductive woman veiled thinly, suggested.

"The restrictive power of the Starfall Wilderness has weakened. According to calculations, it can now accommodate players up to level fifty-nine, and I am exactly at that level."

"Rest assured, I will bring Sterl back safely," she stated firmly.

After a second of hesitation, Miste, the commander of the mid-level base, simply nodded, "Alright, it's up to you. Once you enter the instance, if possible, wait with Sterl until the instance's time limit ends."

"If there's danger, use the escape scroll..."

"Of course, your safety is the most important."

"Otherwise, that big shot won't let me off."

After a discussion, the players from the mid-level base had determined a rescue plan.

The reason for this scene was due to the Star Egg in Sterl's hands absorbing the power of the starry sky in the instance, causing a severe decline in the [Starfall Wilderness], to the point where the energy maintaining the instance's rule [Players above level 20 cannot enter] was insufficient.

The players stationed outside from the mid-level base, upon discovering this, made a prompt decision—other players dying was one thing, but they had to preserve Sterl. He was their last hope!

Especially after repeatedly initiating divination, and the constant refusals indicated that this talent was certainly still alive.

As for the escape scroll mentioned by Miste, it was similar to the rescue scroll he mentioned earlier, which could also forcibly extract a player from the instance.

However, the escape scroll had to be used by the player themselves within the instance, meaning someone had to deliver the scroll into the instance so Sterl could use it to escape.

Returning to the main topic, after the discussion was concluded, the female player didn't hesitate to approach the spatial rift and chose to teleport into the instance.

 The next second, her figure just vanished.

As if provoked, the rift flashed with light, and bolts of thunder surged.

Miste and the others who were watching quickly backed away, knowing this was the instance's rule power retaliating.

After forcibly allowing one player to enter, the instance, despite its lack of energy, would instinctively react, reinforcing the investment in rule-based energy.

At this point, it was no longer possible to send more people into the [Starfall Wilderness].

Miste and the others could only wait patiently for the outcome.

"Predict player Teresa for me." a player commanded towards the divination crystal ball.

Immediately, a light screen appeared on the crystal ball. Teresa, the female player, stood vigilantly within the instance, looking around cautiously.

And seeing the scene within the instance, Miste and others were shocked...

Since other players had already died, and Sterl had continuously refused divination, they had no idea what had happened inside the instance. They only saw the originally bright and brilliant galaxy had changed.

The stars gradually dimmed, and the ground slowly cracked and shattered.

It was extremely dilapidated.

Meanwhile, the female player was seen mouthing towards an empty space, "I should be able to find Sterl smoothly after this."

"After entering the instance, I received a prompt. There's more than a day left until the instance ends, and all unclaimed pet eggs will be marked with their locations."

"When there's only one day left in the instance, all pet eggs' locations will be marked by the system."

"If Sterl hasn't given up hope of living, there are two possibilities. One is that he hasn't gotten the pet egg yet, and I can just wait at the location marked by the system."

"The other is that he has already gotten the pet egg, then I'll find him when there's only one day left in the instance time."

This female player was quite thoughtful and quickly had a plan in mind.

Thus, she observed the map for a while and noticed only two yellow dots representing pet eggs were still shining.

Teresa swiftly ran towards the nearest pet egg to her.

It didn't take long for her to successfully reach the place.

However, right in front, a figure appeared that was somewhat familiar and surprising to Teresa.