In the Yang Realm Star Region, light and heat are eternal themes; every star is like an ember left by a divine craftsman on black velvet, burning tirelessly, illuminating the boundless Void Realm grandly and warmly, like an endless divine temple.
At the deepest part of the divine temple is the Yang Realm Royal Court, a magnificent palace suspended above a stellar core.
Here, every inch of brick and stone is cast from “Radiant Gold Glaze,” constantly exhaling flames hot enough to melt stars.
The dome of the palace is not solid, but woven from billions of strands of pure Yang Law; looking up, one can see the trajectories of the Great Dao flowing, like golden rivers, surging endlessly.
The throne was empty.
Below the throne, a figure stood silently, as if he had merged with this world of light. He was dressed in a simple white robe, without any ornamentation, yet it was more dazzling than any divine armor in the world, because when light touched his body, it would obediently submit, as if in pilgrimage.
He was the Yang Realm King.
He did not look at the general below the steps, who had just returned in a sorry state from the Yin Realm Starfield, covered in blood. His gaze was fixed calmly on the light screen formed by the power of Law in the Void Realm ahead. The screen reflected the last moments of Lord of the Blazing Yang World being pierced by a branch of the Chaotic Dao Tree and having his Origin forcibly stripped away.
The scene was silent, yet more impactful than any thunder.
That reddish-brown branch, breaking through the Void Realm, carried a savage and unreasonable primal beauty, easily tearing apart everything that the Yang Realm’s second-strongest individual had prided himself on.
After a long while, the Yang Realm King slowly spoke, his voice so calm that not a trace of emotion could be discerned, like the morning wind sweeping over a mountain ridge. “Flame Sun… is dead.”
“Your Majesty!” The general finally could not bear the deathly silence and suddenly knelt to the ground, his voice hoarse and trembling, “Lord of the Blazing Yang World… and the three sirs, Red Fire, Fierce Mountain, and Golden Crow… all of them… fell! We fought our way out at great cost to bring back this news!”
The Yang Realm King did not turn around, nor did he even glance at him from the corner of his eye. He merely looked at Li Mu’s blurred face on the light screen, as if appreciating an ancient painting with profound Concept.
“Fell? That’s a nice way to put it.” He chuckled softly, his laughter carrying a hint of the detached cynicism of one who sees through the world, “Flame Sun has always been arrogant, priding himself on his pure Origin, second only to me, always thinking of starting anew. I sent him to the Yin Realm, intending for him to hit a wall and learn his place. I never expected that wall… would be made of iron.”
The Yang Realm King paused, his tone still calm: “As for Red Fire and the other three, they are mere opportunists. They go wherever the wind blows. What difference does it make if they are dead or captured? The Yang Realm never lacks World Lords.”
Upon hearing this, the general felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He had expected to see the King’s thunderous wrath, but only felt bone-chilling indifference. It turned out that, in the King’s eyes, those powerful peak World Lords were no different from chess pieces on a board. Discarding them was not regrettable.
“Who… exactly is that person?” The Yang Realm King finally asked the only question he cared about.
“I don’t know…” The general shook his head with difficulty, “His Origin is a mystery, his methods are bizarre, and he seems to… wield a never-before-seen Chaotic Great Dao. The Yin Realm King died by his hand. Sky Yin… also did.”
“Chaotic Great Dao…” For the first time, a ripple appeared deep within the Yang Realm King’s eyes. In his golden pupils, stars seemed to be born and die, “No wonder… no wonder Yin and Yang Qi were like playthings before him. To suppress myriad Dao with one Dao, this person is indeed an interesting opponent.”
“Your Majesty, that person sent a message, asking you… to personally go to the Yin Realm within three months to apologize and atone. Otherwise, he will… take Scarlet Fire and the others…”
“Apologize? Atone?” The Yang Realm King chuckled as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, slowly turning around.
At that moment, the flames of the entire Royal Court seemed to dim for a second, and all the light converged upon him. His face was beautiful beyond that of a Mortal, yet carried a divine majesty and aloofness.
“If he wants the Origins of the three, Red Fire, he can have them. I also want to see how big the appetite of his strange tree truly is.”
“Issue my decree,” The Yang Realm King waved his sleeve, and the light screen scattered into countless light particles: “The Yang Realm Star Region, effective immediately, enters the highest alert. All inter-realm passages are sealed, and our defenses are to be contracted. I want to turn the entire Yang Realm into a hedgehog.”
“If he doesn’t come, I will wait. If he dares to come… this Star Domain will be his burial ground.”
…
Three months, for Mortals, might be the transition from spring to summer, with grass growing and orioles flying.
But for an eternally existing Star Domain, it was merely a blink of the star river, a fleeting moment of a meteor streaking across the sky.
Lieyu Battleship, inside the Chaos Cage.
Scarlet Fire World Lord’s beard and hair, which originally burned like flames, had now become withered and shriveled, like the last fallen leaves of autumn. His two other companions were also emaciated, and the fire of hope in their eyes had long been eroded by this endless Chaos and deathly silence.
They went from initial anger and unwillingness, to later anticipation and torment, and now to numbness and despair.
Three months, and the Yang Realm King did not come.
There was no news, no rescue; they were like three forgotten pebbles in a corner, left unattended.
On this day, the door of the cage opened silently.
Li Mu’s figure appeared outside the door.
His aura was deeper and more restrained than three months ago, as if he had merged with the entire Yin Realm Starfield behind him. He merely stood there silently, yet there was an invisible pressure that made it difficult for the three former peak World Lords to even breathe.
“Has the time… come?” Scarlet Fire World Lord looked up, his voice as hoarse as two stubborn stones rubbing against each other.
Li Mu did not answer, merely looking at them calmly, as if looking at three sets of Materials about to be used.
“I understand…” Scarlet Fire smiled tragically, his smile full of self-mockery and sorrow, “The King… ultimately abandoned us. Flame Sun’s death, our capture, in his eyes, was merely… the price of a test.”
“To the victor go the spoils, there’s nothing more to say.” Another World Lord closed his eyes, calmly accepting his fate.
Only the last person’s eyes burst with a final madness and venom: “Li Mu! May you not die a good death! The King will surely avenge us! Billions of Yang Realm Cultivators will burn you and your Yin Realm to ashes—!”
His voice abruptly stopped.
A reddish-brown branch silently extended from the Void Realm, gently yet incredibly firmly, piercing his glabella.
There was no blood, no screams.
The World Lord’s body shriveled at a visible rate. His pure Yang Origin transformed into streams of brilliant golden light, greedily absorbed by the branch, flowing continuously along the branch into the Chaotic Dao Tree.
On the Dao Tree within Li Mu’s body, the previously dim and shriveled fiery Yang Fruit instantly brightened by several points as its surface fire Dao patterns received this pure energy, and the shriveled fruit also became slightly plumper.
Scarlet Fire and the remaining World Lord watched this scene in terror, their bodies trembling like sieves. Death was not frightening; what was frightening was watching one’s lifelong cultivation transform into nourishment for another’s growth, unable to leave even a trace in this world.
Li Mu’s gaze fell upon them.
“You two, please.”
His voice was calm, yet brooked no argument.
Two more branches extended from the Chaotic Dao Tree, like two spiritual snakes waiting to feed, hovering before the two individuals.
Scarlet Fire sighed deeply, abandoning all resistance. He knew that in the face of absolute strength, any struggle was futile and would only increase his suffering. He slowly closed his eyes, actively releasing his Origin.
A golden torrent surged forth.
The Yang Fruit brightened a little more.
When the Origins of the three peak World Lords were completely devoured, on the Chaotic Dao Tree, the two fruits, one Yin and one Yang, finally reached a subtle balance. The gray Yin Fruit remained at Perfection, while the fiery Yang Fruit also recovered seven or eight tenths of its luster, no longer suppressed by the Yin evil Qi. The two Qi flowed, and although not perfectly integrated, they had formed a mutually supporting stance, making Li Mu’s Chaotic Dao Domain within his body even more stable.
Li Mu slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid Qi, and in the airflow, there was a faint hint of Yin and Yang intermingling.
He walked out of the cage, and behind him, three withered husks turned to dust and dissipated into Chaos.
Ji Yu was already waiting outside the door, bowing and saying: “Sir, the three-month period has passed, and the Yang Realm… has shown no movement.”
“As expected.” Li Mu’s gaze penetrated the hull of the Lieyu Battleship, looking towards the distant end of the Star Domain, the world enveloped in endless light and heat.
“A King who can easily abandon three peak World Lords is either a fool, or… an extremely arrogant overlord.” A faint curve appeared at the corner of Li Mu’s mouth, “It seems he has prepared a grand gift for me.”
He paused, then turned and walked towards the bridge, his voice echoing calmly in the corridor.
“Since he refuses to come, then I shall personally pay him a visit.”
“Pass down the order, Lieyu Battleship, reverse course.”
“Target — Yang Realm Royal Court.”
The cold and resolute command echoed in the Lieyu Battleship’s bridge, like a stone dropped into a deathly still abyss, stirring silent ripples.
The path ahead was not the gloom and deathly silence of the Yin Realm, but the source of light and heat.
The star river reversed, and time flowed by.
A few months, on the boundless scale of the Universe, was but an instant, a mere flick of a finger. The Lieyu Battleship traveled through the crevices of space-time, surrounded by bizarre Law turbulence, with fragmented time crystals drifting like shimmering dust.
The closer they got to the Yang Realm Star Region, the “warmer” the surrounding Void Realm became. This warmth was not a temperature that Mortals could perceive, but a “burning sensation” at the Law level.
Coldness and deathly silence were dispelled, replaced by a domineering, grand, and omnipresent Yang Law. They transformed into golden streams of light, surging through the Void Realm. Any foreign object that did not belong to this realm would be assimilated and melted by them.
Ji Yu stood at the bridge’s viewport, his expression solemn. Even through the Lieyu Battleship’s Chaos barrier, he could still feel the immense pressure, as if his entire being was about to be thrown into an invisible furnace.
“Sir, we have reached the Yang Realm boundary wall.”
Li Mu had appeared beside him at some point, his gaze calmly fixed on the breathtakingly magnificent sight ahead.
It was a “wall.”
A chasm constructed from pure light and Law. Billions of strands of pure solar true fire converged into a golden waterfall, cascading from nothingness, forming an boundless light screen spanning between Star Domains.
Upon the light screen, phantom Divine Beasts surged, Golden Crows spread their wings, Fire Phoenixes cried out, each phantom containing the might of a star. Here, space was distorted by extreme heat, and the Concept of time became blurred, as if it were the boundary of the Universe, the end of light.
“What a Yang Realm, what a Yang Realm King.” Li Mu’s tone showed no ripple, but rather a hint of faint approval, “To use stars as a foundation and Law as chains to construct such a vast barrier, he indeed has the qualification to rule an era.”
The Lieyu Battleship did not pause in the slightest. The Chaos Qi at the bow suddenly intensified, forming a hazy gray blade that fiercely crashed into the golden waterfall of light!
“Sizzle—”
There was no earth-shattering roar, only a violent reaction like boiling oil poured into water. Chaos Qi and Yang Law, like two fundamentally different Origin Dao, began a primal and fierce mutual annihilation the moment they touched.
A huge gap was torn open in the golden flame waterfall, and endless solar true fire surged in, attempting to melt the uninvited guest into molten iron.
The Lieyu Battleship was like an eternal, unmoving reef, standing firm no matter how violently the stormy waves crashed against it.
The battleship slowly entered the gap, entering the territory of the Yang Realm Star Region.
However, the expected vast starry sky did not appear.
Beyond the gap was an enormous “cage” that had long been prepared for them.
As far as the eye could see, it was a completely transformed starry sky.
One hundred and eight colossal stars had been moved here by supreme power, suspended in the Void Realm according to an incredibly profound formation diagram. On each star, a gigantic Formation Flag pierced through the stellar core. On the flag's surface, ancient golden divine script flowed like living things, exuding a heart-palpitating pressure.
Between the one hundred and eight stars, billions of thick golden Law divine chains connected, these divine chains interwoven to form a vast net covering the entire galaxy.
At the nodes of the divine chains, sat teams of Mahayana Cultivators clad in golden armor, their aura as deep as an abyss. They were connected to the divine chains beneath their feet and the distant stars, as if becoming part of this massive war machine.
At the center of this giant net, a solemn army was already arrayed, awaiting them.
Banners were like a forest, obscuring the sky. Battleships were like mountains, silently suspended in the Void Realm. Millions of Yang Realm Cultivators formed stern phalanxes. They were silent, but the converging monstrous Battle Intent and fiery Qi and blood solidified the entire starry sky, turning it into a viscous golden ocean.
Before the army formation, a golden war god statue, ten thousand zhang tall, stood proudly—a military soul condensed from the Qi and will of countless soldiers. The war god held a blazing greatsword, its eyes tightly closed, yet exuding a sharpness capable of cleaving stars.
“Sir…” Ji Yu’s voice was a little dry. Even though he had once been the Lord of the Yin Realm and seen countless grand spectacles, he was still shocked by the scene before him. “This… this is the ‘Great Sun Smelting Array’! He actually used his entire main army to set up this array, just to wait for us?”
This was no longer an ambush, but a judgment.
The Yang Realm King had given Li Mu no choice. He had used the strongest power of the entire Yang Realm to set up a certain-death purgatory at the entrance, declaring in the most direct and domineering way: whoever comes, will die! (End of Chapter)
