Swallowed Star: Primordial Artifact

Chapter 271 Willpower Attack? (Revised)
Having witnessed the protective act of the Xuanhuang Pagoda Pearl, the towering old man understood that launching a soul attack on Jiang Ye would likely be of little effect. To search his memories, he would have to resort to a secret technique of willpower.

The secret art of willpower, once successful.

At that time, no matter how many clones Jiang Ye has or where they are in the universe, they will all fall into a coma without exception.

After all, for any living being, will is the core; once the will is lost, both the body and soul will lose their dominance.

And a living being, no matter how powerful, once its will falls into a coma, is completely at the mercy of other powerful beings, like fish on a chopping board, powerless to resist.

At that time, it would not be difficult for the imposing old man to search Jiang Ye's soul or even directly enslave his soul.

However, Jiang Ye's clone is quite special. His human body and the ancestral dragon clone can be seen as two completely independent life forms to some extent, making it impossible for them to be enslaved by will or soul.

At this moment, the Ancestral Dragon clone within Jiang Ye's inner world is anxiously watching the human main body, who has fallen into a coma.

The towering old man forcibly read the memories of the human being. As fragments of memories deep within Jiang Ye's mind surfaced like snowflakes and were explored, Jiang Ye was powerless to resist and could only watch helplessly as his secrets were gradually revealed.

Just as it was about to touch the secrets of the system and the primordial treasure, a stream of emerald green energy, like a nimble dragon, quietly flowed into the Xuanhuang Pagoda Bead inside the soul.

In an instant, the Xuanhuang Pagoda Bead burst forth with dazzling light, like a newborn star shining deep within Jiang Ye's soul. The golden chains binding Jiang Ye shattered inch by inch under the impact of this light. Then, a golden pagoda shadow radiating holy light erupted from Jiang Ye's body, colliding fiercely with the powerful aura of the towering old man. For a moment, the space inside the Star Tower was distorted and deformed by this power.

The powerful snake-man race member gasped as he felt this divine pressure, staggering back several steps involuntarily, his face filled with shock: "What is this...!"

"Hmm, this golden pagoda? The Cosmic Sea!" The towering old man looked at the phantom of the golden pagoda, a hint of undisguised surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Ahem, senior, there are some things you should know in your heart, but cannot be spoken of." With the help of the two great treasures of the primordial world, Jiang Ye barely regained consciousness. He pointed to the void, his expression meaningful.

Upon seeing this, the imposing old man clapped his hands and laughed loudly, his laughter like rolling thunder, causing the surrounding space to distort violently: "Interesting! Extremely interesting! Jiang Ye, is that right? You're quite good!"

After speaking, he flicked his finger lightly, and the scattered fragments of the royal armor instantly reformed and slowly floated towards Jiang Ye.

"Little one, I'll let Wang Jia go for now. But I want to ask you a question."

Jiang Ye, despite his weakened state, accepted the newly formed King Armor. The moment his fingertips touched the armor, he could still feel the lingering, terrifying power of the towering old man.

He put the royal armor back on neatly, and the dark patterns on its surface seemed to tell the story of the thrilling scene that had just unfolded.

"Thank you for your mercy, senior." Jiang Ye bowed respectfully, his voice trying his best to remain calm, but his heart was still trembling violently.

After all, the person in front of him was the strongest in the universe. Even if it was just the power he unintentionally released, it would be an unbearable burden for Jiang Ye, a mere world lord.

"Young man, could you tell me in detail what methods were used in the process of modifying the Flame God Clan King Armor?" the imposing old man asked, his gentle tone revealing a hint of longing.

After all, even from the perspective of a weapon-refining god-king, the combination of secret patterns he had just seen contained profound mysteries.

Jiang Ye's heart tightened. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I accidentally obtained a treasure-refining manual within that ancient inheritance, which recorded some unique methods of treasure refining. I studied it repeatedly and finally found a way to break the restrictions. As for reassembling the secret rune array, that was also based on the records in the manual, not my own creation."

"Oh? A manual on refining treasures?" The imposing old man looked Jiang Ye up and down with great interest. "May I take a look at this manual?"

Jiang Ye's inner alarm bells rang, knowing this was a test, but he remained calm on the surface: "To be honest, although I can memorize those scriptures, I can't explain them."

The imposing old man smiled meaningfully, not pressing further: "Very well, everyone has their own secrets. However, young one, if you wish to travel further in this vast universe, relying solely on a single inheritance is not enough."

The imposing old man looked down at Jiang Ye, then, as if remembering something, his smile changed. "Little fellow, are you filled with questions? Questions about where you are? Questions about what that crystal bead was? Questions about who I am?"

Although Jiang Ye already had the answer in his heart, he naturally couldn't reveal it directly.

"Yes, I am full of doubts, and I would like to ask for your guidance, senior," Jiang Ye said respectfully.

"Haha, as you can see, you haven't been moved anywhere. This is still the Star Tower, a treasure coveted by billions of races in the universe. However, this is the true core of the Star Tower." The towering old man pointed to the densely packed, sealed stars and said, "And I am the creator of this Star Tower."

Jiang Ye feigned extreme shock, his eyes widening. The imposing old man looked at Jiang Ye, then a flash of light appeared in his hand, and a mysterious power extended towards the crystal bead suppressed by the Xuanhuang Pagoda Bead.

The golden secret-patterned chains around the crystal bead trembled slightly, as if resisting this power. The Xuanhuang Tower Bead prepared to resist, but Jiang Ye stopped it. After all, he was now at the mercy of others. If he really angered this person, Jiang Ye felt that even with the system, he might not survive. So he decided to try to go along with its wishes. A true man can bend and stretch!

The crystal bead was slowly drawn away from the Xuanhuang Pagoda Bead's restraints and flew towards the majestic old man's hand. "This crystal bead is called the Star Tower Bead, a crucial part of the Star Tower's core mechanism. It carries a portion of the Star Tower's primordial power and is also the Star Tower's core entity." The majestic old man gazed at the crystal bead in his hand, which shimmered with a soft light.

Jiang Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "Senior, then why did this Star Tower Bead attack me?"

"Although I forged the Star Tower, some unforeseen events occurred during its creation, the specific reasons of which I am not entirely clear about." The imposing old man frowned slightly, his expression grave. "It is said that treasures possess spirits. Presumably, the treasure within your soul contains a special and powerful force. When the Star Tower Bead sensed this force, it mistook it for some unknown and powerful threat, thus activating its self-defense mechanism. However, the fact that your treasure can suppress the Star Tower Bead is enough to demonstrate that your treasure is of a higher level than the Star Tower."

"Young man, your treasure couldn't have been obtained from that ancient crafting tradition, could it? Such an opportunity is truly enviable." The imposing old man smiled meaningfully, his eyes revealing a hint of inquiry.

Hearing the words of the imposing old man, Jiang Ye smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Puti!" The imposing old man turned to look at the snake-man clan expert beside him.

"Teacher!" Puti immediately bowed respectfully, then turned his gaze to Jiang Ye. "Little fellow, you must be Jiang Ye, the genius from our clan who was recently accepted as a personal disciple by the Chaos City Lord and is hailed as a once-in-ten-million-epoch genius! I never expected you to come to the outer battlefield."

Hearing the snake-man expert beside him reveal his identity, Jiang Ye wasn't too surprised, but still respectfully replied, "Yes, junior Jiang Ye greets senior. May I ask who senior is..."

"I am also a human." Puti looked down at Jiang Ye and smiled. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Puti, and I am the guardian of this Star Tower. I was the first servant my teacher took in. After countless years of trials, I became the Lord of the Universe. I am grateful to my teacher for granting me the right to become his disciple."

"I am the most senior disciple under my teacher."

"And the leader of the Yan God Clan is the second disciple of our teacher." "Our teacher has many servants, but only two disciples. I am lucky because I have followed our teacher the longest and have the strength. Our teacher cherishes our past relationship, so I am qualified to become the eldest disciple..." Puti looked at Jiang Ye.

"Regarding the Yan God Clan, since you can wear their royal armor, you must already know something about this clan, right?" Puti smiled and looked at Jiang Ye with gentle eyes.

Jiang Ye nodded slightly. He had a thorough understanding of this race that dared to betray humanity, both from the original novel and from the information he had gained as the personal disciple of the Chaos City Lord.

Puti respectfully looked at the imposing old man beside him, and then, with the old man's nod of approval, slowly said, "Back then, I followed my teacher as we roamed the vast universe. My teacher spent countless efforts carefully selecting the humans of a particular planet from among the human race, guiding and nurturing them, ultimately creating a race with exceptional innate talent—this is the later 'Fire God Clan.' Unlike me and the other servants, who were all randomly chosen by my teacher, the Fire God Clan was the result of my teacher's meticulous guidance and cultivation. After my teacher's rigorous selection process, the most powerful member of the Fire God Clan was fortunate enough to become my teacher's second disciple."

Puti paused, a complex expression appearing on his face, and continued, "My second junior brother has always been proud and arrogant, unwilling to be subordinate to anyone. Later, he led his clan to break away from humanity, calling themselves the 'Yan God Clan,' and gradually developed into a powerful force in the universe. Although the overall strength of the Yan God Clan is far inferior to that of humans, my second junior brother, as the master of the universe, and possessing a supreme treasure personally crafted by our teacher, is not afraid of the strongest humans at all, and has since dominated a region in the universe."

Puti sighed softly, saying with emotion, "I don't have such ambitions. Besides, unlike my second junior brother, I don't have a unique race to lead to conquer a territory in the universe and become a hegemon. I am alone, so I chose to stay among the human race. However, I don't want to implicate our teacher by revealing my full strength, so I keep a low profile and only allow one clone to be active among the human race. This clone only displays the top combat power of a Universe Venerable, slightly inferior to the Universe Lords in the race, and I even gave it a pseudonym, 'Tip'."

As Jiang Ye listened to Puti's story, he couldn't help but turn his gaze to the imposing old man, his eyes filled with amazement and emotion.

As expected of a reincarnation of a god-king, even a casual servant can cultivate to become a master of the universe. With just a little effort, he can cultivate a race capable of self-improving the level of life genes. It is truly admirable.

At this moment, the imposing old man slowly spoke, his voice deep and resonant, as if carrying endless vicissitudes: "In the vast universe and endless worlds, countless unknown secrets and special features are hidden. Even I dare not claim to know everything. This Star Tower was built by me by chance in an extremely special and dangerous place."

Just as it was about to be completed, a mysterious golden ray of light from the universe unexpectedly merged into it, thus creating the Star Tower as it is today. This also caused the Star Tower to differ slightly from my original concept.

I already possess my own treasure, and I do not need the Star Tower.

However, I found that finding a suitable master for the Star Tower, one who would willingly recognize it as his, was virtually impossible. The Star Tower was already one of the most powerful treasures in the universe, no less so than my own, especially given its extremely stringent requirements for recognizing a master.

"Recognize a master? That's harsh?" Jiang Ye frowned slightly.

The imposing old man looked down at Jiang Ye, his eyes deep and solemn: "Based on my years of observation, the stronger the soul of the one who seeks a master, the more terrifying the trials they face during the process. Long ago, I selected tens of thousands of powerful individuals from across the universe, encompassing different levels such as World Lords, Immortals, and Universe Venerables, and sent them to attempt to become masters of the Star Tower... However, regrettably, without exception, all of these selected individuals perished."

"Ruthless enough." Jiang Ye was secretly amazed. Such a large-scale experiment, casually capturing tens of thousands of powerful people, and even turning a universe venerable into a test subject, could only be done by the strongest in the universe.

"After that experiment, I came to a conclusion..." The towering old man paused slightly, his eyes blazing, "World Lords and Immortals still have a sliver of hope of being recognized as masters, but Universe Venerables don't even have the slightest chance."

The most crucial test in the Star Tower of Recognition lies in the mind and will, and these two qualities are precisely the most important qualities for becoming a strong person.

Although I successfully guided the creation of the Flame God Clan, their physical talents are indeed powerful, but their soul talents are unsatisfactory, which makes me quite dissatisfied.

Improving one's natural talent and aptitude is relatively easy, but transforming one's soul is much more difficult.

However, this Star Tower is an extremely rare treasure. Once someone successfully recognizes it as their master, they will be qualified to join the ranks of the universe's super powerhouses! The majestic old man's voice was as loud as a bell, as if it directly struck the depths of Jiang Ye's heart.

……

(End of this chapter)