That was an ancient hall. Its exterior was simple—no eaves or protruding ridges, only several colossal stone pillars supporting the roof, their surfaces carved with patterns of stars.
The hall's door was open, and a faint blue light seeped out from within.
Xing Huang entered first, followed closely by Gu Changyuan.
Inside, the hall was far larger than it appeared from the outside.
At its center stood a massive stone table, circular in shape and several yards in diameter. Carved into its surface was a star map—a living, flowing star map.
Around the table were seven stone seats.
The seven seats were identical in material, size, and height, but the backs of each bore different carvings.
Xing Huang walked to the sixth seat and sat down.
Xing Pojun took the fourth seat.
Xing Wuyi settled into the third.
Xing Weiyang sat in the seventh seat, then promptly lay her head down on the table.
Xing Huang gestured for Gu Changyuan to sit in the first seat.
He walked over and sat down.
The moment he did, the star-track patterns on the backrest of his seat blazed to life.
Light spread from the backrest to the seat, from the seat to the armrests, from the armrests to the floor, and then along the starstone floor in all directions, illuminating the entire hall.
Across the entire Star Clan secret realm, everyone felt that ripple.
The Ancestral Star shone a little brighter. The Star Bridge turned a little faster. The orbits of the Star Fragments adjusted by a fraction.
Every Star Clan member, no matter where they were, sensed it: someone had claimed the Seat of the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Stars.
The light lasted for several breaths, then slowly dimmed.
Gu Changyuan sat upright in the stone seat, his back straight, his hands resting naturally on the armrests. His gaze swept calmly over the assembled patriarchs.
Seeing that everyone was seated, Xing Huang leaned forward slightly, her golden eyes fixed on Gu Changyuan.
“By the way, Changyuan—may I call you that?”
“Of course,” Gu Changyuan replied, his tone natural.
Xing Huang nodded, the light in her golden eyes growing serious.
“May we ask where Zixu’s remains are? If possible, we would like to bring him back.”
Gu Changyuan let out a soft sigh.
The sigh was faint, but in the silent hall, it was unmistakable.
“In the Abyss of Chaos,” he said, his voice calm.
“He and I met there.”
The words “Abyss of Chaos” fell, and the atmosphere in the hall shifted.
That name was something they had only seen in ancient texts, which described it as the gap between all realms—a chaotic realm where all laws ceased to exist.
To enter it was to face certain death. Even Immortal Emperors dared not tread there, for the entrance was undetectable, and the exit was likewise.
Seeing their expressions, Gu Changyuan unfolded the dusty tale of those years.
He spoke of how, in the Nine Heavens Realm, a sudden spatial rift had swallowed him, hurling him into that chaotic void where there was no up or down, no left or right, no passage of time.
He described the Abyss of Chaos itself—a place with no spiritual energy, no immortal essence, no energy of any kind for cultivators to absorb.
Only endless disorder, endless slaughter, and endless despair.
Every creature there was both hunter and prey. There were no allies, no trust, no rules.
Only survival—or death.
Then Gu Changyuan spoke of Xing Zixu.
He told of their meeting, their battle, and at last, their fall to a King of Stellar Beasts.
He did not mention the System. That was his hidden card, his final trump card.
He would play it only at the most opportune moment.
But not now. Not here. Not before these people he had just met.
A complex emotion surfaced in Xing Huang’s eyes—not fear, not surprise, but a sort of “so that’s how it was” understanding.
Xing Zixu had been missing for so many years. The Star Clan had exhausted every method to find him, all to no avail.
Not because his aura was concealed, or his karmic threads severed, but because he was not in any realm. He was in the Abyss of Chaos.
After hearing this, the sorrow in Xing Huang’s eyes deepened.
“So… so that’s where you found him?”
They had guessed many possibilities, but none had imagined the Abyss of Chaos.
Because entering there was as good as death.
Who would have thought that Zixu would be so resolute?
Gu Changyuan saw the grief etched on their faces and felt a stir in his heart.
He did not know what history lay between Xing Zixu and these patriarchs, but he could see the marks that history had left on them.
Xing Pojun’s eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity before he quickly regained composure.
Xing Wuyi’s silence was not that of one with nothing to say—it was the helplessness of one who could calculate all under the heavens yet could not foresee the fate of an old friend.
As for Xing Weiyang—she was sleeping, but Gu Changyuan noticed she had shifted her position. Earlier, she had been relaxed, careless, as comfortable as possible; now, she was curled up, tight, as if trying to hold something.
Gu Changyuan did not press. These people had been close friends for over ten thousand years. He was not there to open old wounds.
Xing Huang took a deep breath, the golden light in her eyes reigniting.
“Thank you for telling us this.”
Her voice regained its warmth, but Gu Changyuan could hear something else in it now—a nuance that sparked his curiosity.
With that, the heavy atmosphere in the hall slowly dissipated.
Over the following hours, they set aside their sorrow and conversed freely.
They spoke at length, explaining to Gu Changyuan the origins and heritage of the Star Firmament Clan, its accumulated power, and its Dao of the Stars.
They also listened patiently as Gu Changyuan recounted the Celestial Court he had founded and his plans.
Then Gu Changyuan bluntly proposed that the Star Clan join the Celestial Court.
In an instant, the once warm and harmonious atmosphere in the hall froze solid.
The air felt as if it had been instantly frozen, a faint pressure spreading silently in all directions.
“Hmph.”
A light snort.
It was not a laugh, not anger, not mockery, not disdain.
It was a complex sound, a mix of many emotions, forced from the depths of a throat.
Xing Pojun abruptly stood. Seven dark red Star Fragments expanded at his command, swelling from fist-sized to several yards in diameter, hovering above the Star Clan secret realm.
They formed an irregular formation, shrouding the entire star sea.
Dark red light cascaded down, dyeing the once azure star sea crimson.
Xing Pojun’s figure vanished, reappearing high above. His voice rang down, echoing through the star sea.
“You want the Star Clan to join the Celestial Court?”
He paused.
“Fine.”
“But first—prove that you can truly sit in his place.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
