That military fire token—no one knew what kind of metal it was forged from—felt icy cold when pressed against the forehead. Yet, in the very next instant, a scorching, world-destroying aura suddenly surged into William Carter's mind.

William Carter cried out in alarm. He tried to remove the military fire token, but it seemed to be firmly stuck to his forehead, impossible to take off.

Just as William Carter was panicking, he suddenly realized that his consciousness seemed to have left his body and entered a strange and mysterious space.

In this space, countless points of starlight shimmered.

The space was boundless, and the starlight was as numerous as the stars in the sky, beyond counting.

William Carter stood dazed, sensing the endless stars in this illusory world. In that moment, he had the illusion that if he simply reached out, he could touch all the stars—no matter how near or far, no matter their size.

He did not casually reach out to pluck a star, but instead tried his best to recall the days he had spent with Old Craftsman.

Old Craftsman had spoken to him about military fire many times. Although his words were always vague, he would often, intentionally or not, reveal some key information. William Carter had not noticed anything unusual before, but now, thinking back, he vaguely felt that all of this had been deliberately arranged by Old Craftsman.

Military fire was a special kind of spiritual flame bestowed by the empire. Even ordinary people could use it, and what it consumed was only the user's physical strength and stamina, without any negative effect on their lifespan. On the contrary, with diligent use, military fire could even strengthen the body and benefit the internal organs.

The greatest benefit of obtaining military fire was the ability to forge and repair weapons, shields, and armor anytime, anywhere. Moreover, since military fire was a type of spiritual flame, if one was lucky, it might even grant extra attributes to the weapons and armor.

It could be said that anyone who obtained military fire became a mobile forge, able to work at will.

Such people were absolutely the most popular in the army.

However, although military fire was the lowest grade of spiritual flame, there were still differences in quality. If given the chance, the benefits and treatment of acquiring high-grade versus low-grade military fire were worlds apart.

Now, although there were countless stars here, he could only choose one.

The size of a star represented the basic strength of the spiritual flame. The larger the star, the higher the temperature of the flame. Naturally, to live well, one should choose the largest star.

But, because of the varying distances, it was actually very hard to judge the true size of a star—unless one got close enough to see it clearly.

William Carter's consciousness roamed the sea of stars. He had seen at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, stars, but he remained indecisive, unable to make a choice.

Gradually, William Carter suddenly realized he was feeling extremely fatigued, as if he hadn't slept for three days and nights and was about to pass out.

He snapped awake, realizing he was about to lose consciousness completely. Gritting his teeth, he focused the last bit of his mental energy on a particular star.

However, just as his mind was about to touch that star, he suddenly noticed a streak of purple light.

That light was a meteor, trailing a long tail, drifting here from some unknown, distant place. The purple was so beautiful that it instantly captured all of his attention.

His consciousness suddenly dissipated, and the last thought in William Carter's mind was: how wonderful it would be to pluck such a beautiful star...

※※※

Slowly, his consciousness seemed to float up from the depths of an endless sea.

William Carter staggered to his feet, holding his head in his hands, his face twisted in pain.

A gentle voice sounded by his ear: "You overused your mental strength, that's why you have a headache. Sit and rest for a while before leaving."

William Carter's body trembled. He forced his eyes open and quickly said, "Mr. Foster."

Eric Foster nodded slightly, swept his wide sleeves, and left the dumbfounded William Carter behind as he walked straight into the inner hall.

Inside, a scholar sat before a chessboard and said, "You old Old Foster, you were about to lose, but you used official business as an excuse to run away. Hmph, have you no shame!"

Eric Foster replied with a wry smile, "I really do have military duties. A military fire artificer just exchanged fifty years of imperial service for a chance to use the military fire token. That was the man just now—shouldn't I go out and oversee it?"

The scholar was taken aback, then understood and said, "So that's how it is. I did wrongly accuse you. But, why does your face look odd? Did something happen?"

Eric Foster laughed and scolded, "With those sharp eyes of yours, nothing gets past you." He recounted the matter of Brian Bolton and the others, then sighed, "Scum like that really deserve to die."

The scholar shook his head and said, "But Brian Bolton is still a member of the Zhang family. Though he is a bit despicable, this alone is not enough to warrant death." He waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this—come, play chess!"