The atmosphere inside the hollowed moon was a suffocating pressure of raw heat and magnetic interference. Fang Yuan stood before the Forge-Star, its white-dwarf core struggling to maintain its form within the ancient containment field.
Lia, weak and shivering as the stasis ice melted, watched from a safe distance. Her eyes widened as she saw her Master's silhouette—no longer the green-robed Pilgrim, but a dark, cosmic entity whose very presence warped the light of the forge.
"Master... they are... from the Silver Fleet," Lia gasped, her voice barely audible.
"They are fuel, Lia," Fang Yuan replied coldly.
With a gesture of his hand, he used his 1st Star: Nova gravity to lift the three paralyzed Star-Scavengers. Their silver mercury masks shattered, revealing faces etched with a desperate, ancient fear. Fang Yuan didn't listen to their pleas. He wove his indigo threads directly into the Forge-Star, acting as a conductor.
"CELESTIAL ART: THE SOUL-SMELTER!"
The white dwarf roared. Fang Yuan channeled the Scavengers' souls and their high-grade "Celestial Iron" armor directly into the furnace. The raw energy was then refined through the Star-Core in his own chest and pumped back into his fractured soul-shell.
The pain was beyond physical. It was as if his consciousness was being hammered on an anvil of pure radiation. The cracks in his spirit, left by the Abyssal Overlord, began to glow with a brilliant, neon violet light as the molten Celestial Iron filled the gaps, fusing his essence with the metallic properties of the forge.
Suddenly, the "Nova" glow around him began to sharpen. The steady radiance was replaced by a rapid, staccato pulse.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
His mana began to vibrate at a frequency that shattered the nearby obsidian pillars. He was no longer just a sun; he was a Pulsar.
"Rank 3: 2nd Star - Pulsar Stage... Achieved," Fang Yuan whispered, his voice now a rhythmic hum that could vibrate through the vacuum of space.
He turned toward the Forge-Star, which was now depleted, its light fading into a dull grey. But Fang Yuan felt stronger than ever. His "Gamma-Bursts" could now pinpoint and vaporize a target across a solar system.
"The forge is cold," Fang Yuan said, looking at the grey dust that remained of the Scavengers. "But my spirit is finally whole. Lia, prepare yourself. We are no longer hiding in this nebula. We are going to find the rest of the Silver Fleet and take their stars."