Sterl remembered that the bronze door leading into the underground palace bore inscriptions depicting the atrocities committed by the Starry Clan. If it were merely a tale of conquest and destruction, the engravings on the door would not be necessary to showcase the Starry Clan's brutality and power.
Those designs were likely meant to flaunt their own martial prowess.
It seemed the Starry Clan had indeed engaged in such acts.
They bullied the weak and acted recklessly, relying on their strength.
While Sterl had inherited the power of the Starry Clan, he had no illusions, especially upon seeing the prosperous city within the underground palace. He felt that the Starry Clan was far from being a pitiful race that had been annihilated.
They once possessed an exceptionally glorious civilization and abundant martial strength.
Based on the historical knowledge he had acquired before his transmigration, Sterl speculated that the Starry Clan might have had multiple instances of aggression against others.
The so-called annihilation of the Starry Clan might have been the result of wise individuals uniting their efforts to eradicate them.
At this moment, the voice calling out to him from the palace seemed to belong to some ancient being seeking to occupy his body and revive.
Sterl did not rush into the palace; instead, he carefully sensed the calling voice.
Soon, a strange expression crossed his face as he realized that it was precisely because he had advanced his profession to radiant-level that he had managed to establish a connection with the Starry Clan within that palace.
If not for that, he felt he would never have caught the attention of the being inside the palace.
"So, does this mean that only radiant-level star-type professions are considered nobility or royalty among this race?"
As Sterl continued to explore the underground palace, he felt that the depth of the Starry Clan's heritage was expanding.
After all, radiant-level corresponded to upper-tier divine authority.
Radiant-level might merely be the threshold for the royal family of the Starry Clan.
This indicated that...
There could very well be beings of upper-tier divine authority within the underground palace, and such powerful entities would have a stronger ability to resist the erosion of time!
Perhaps they still retained considerable strength!
Sterl began to feel a sense of tension.
He was well aware of the power of upper-tier divine authority; he only had a Fission Divine Authority that could match the output of upper-tier strength.
However, the attribute gap due to level differences, combined with the lack of enhancement from not having advanced to legendary status, left him with little chance of victory.
Fortunately...
Sterl possessed the Time Law.
And thankfully, the strength of the Holy Spirit Bloodline was present here!
The Time Law could also forcibly evolve!
After testing it through the Holy Spirit Bloodline, Sterl received new information: mastery over Time Divine Authority was divided into multiple stages known as Moment, Myriad, and Return to Zero, three realms.
The first realm corresponded to ordinary divine authority, but its effects were significantly stronger and possibly already on par with upper-tier divine authority within [Transcendence].
Using the Holy Spirit Bloodline to evolve the Time Law, Sterl could only reach the Moment level.
"That should be enough."
"If things get dire, I can regress time on myself, reverting to before I enter the palace, which would help me avoid most dangers."
Upon reaching the entrance of the palace, Sterl displayed a moment of hesitation.
There was an inexplicable barrier ahead, allowing only Sterl himself to transmigrate inside; the Bionic Tear could not enter as a scout first.
Sterl could revert the Bionic Tear to an item and personally carry it inside.
The problem was, he knew without a doubt that under this special barrier's effect, once he stepped into the palace, he might not be able to come back out. In that case, it wouldn't matter whether the Bionic Tear scouted ahead or not.
"Let's take a gamble with the Time Law," Sterl murmured to himself.
"It seems I've touched that strange orb from the star map."
At first, Sterl looked bewildered, but he quickly regained his composure. With the aid of the Holy Spirit Bloodline, he easily broke free from an effect similar to the Inquire Within instance's hypnosis.
At this moment, he realized he had arrived on a battlefield.
"Damn it!"
"Those people are only taking advantage of the calamity to launch a sneak attack; otherwise, our clan would have wiped them all out."
"Stop the chatter! We must hold on a little longer; the Celestial Stars formation is about to be completed."
Sterl could see what appeared to be the Starry Clan's army desperately resisting the onslaught of the external coalition.
Endless waves of soldiers surged forth like a tide.
Their strength was far inferior to that of the Starry Clan warriors, who were often struck down by shimmering spears and meteors, vanishing into nothingness amid the high-energy reactions.
However, the enemy's numbers were simply overwhelming. Even though the Starry Clan fighters were formidable, they could not withstand the relentless attrition.
Observing everything with cold detachment, Sterl frowned slightly.
He could see clearly that the soldiers of the Starry Clan possessed divine-level strength, and many of the commanding officers and elite soldiers wielded upper-tier divine authority, rampaging across the battlefield.
The enemy's cannon fodder consisted of a mix of divine-level and demigod fighters; their expressions were vacant, as if stripped of all emotion, rendering them oblivious to fear and fatigue as they fought to the death.
They were consuming the strength of the Starry Clan with their own lives.
In the sky, dozens of different formations could be seen operating. However, since it was merely an image, Sterl could not analyze the structures of those formations.
Just this scene, as he had just entered the illusion, had already astonished him.
"The known existence of the Starry Clan predates the birth of [Transcendence]."
"Isn't there an excessive number of powerful beings from this era?"
"Demigods can only serve as cannon fodder, while divine-level beings can only be ordinary soldiers."
Sterl felt dizzy. Even if the Starry Clan was a top-tier race, it shouldn't be this exaggerated.
He thought that sending out a hundred-man squad from their army could easily obliterate Alpha 8 and countless other main worlds wrapped in the Crystal Barrier Galaxy.
Moreover...
Sterl felt a chill run down his spine; don't think that divine-level soldiers were cheap; their combat power exceeded that of the modern gods.
These "gods" possessed highly specialized training methods, and although they wielded various divine authorities, they worked together harmoniously, achieving a 1+1>2 effect.
They also had standardized divine-level equipment, complete with armor and weapons.
The bursts of light unleashed during battle were blinding!
In this illusion, Sterl could sense the fluctuations from countless powerful beings clashing throughout history, making him increasingly uneasy!
How could such a powerful Starry Clan suffer such heavy losses due to a calamity?
They were even being driven back to their homeland.
In the background of the illusion, Sterl could see a palace that bore a striking resemblance to the one he had just entered in the underground, only larger, adorned with even more luxurious and vibrant decorative patterns and formations.
This was likely the Starry Clan's most important base!
As Sterl observed, the Starry Clan warriors were soon overwhelmed by the endless enemy assault, and casualties began to mount. The first soldier fell, leading to the collapse of the formation lines.
Ultimately, over 2,000 divine beings formed the Starry Clan army, engaging in chaotic melee.
For a moment, the sky was filled with a profoundly tragic atmosphere.
The fall of hundreds and thousands of divine beings triggered the weeping of heaven and earth.
A torrential rain of blood poured down.