The Divine Martial Stars

Something told Wang Yanyi that the world itself would tremble and crack by the sheer pressure of his presence if he would only just reveal himself a little bit more.

“Who is he?!

“Imperial Lord Void?!”

Bi Yan’s outburst had told Wang Yanyi enough to guess who this stranger was. The man—or rather, the being—who walked on the stars like a mortal striding on a grassy meadow, the one who created the present Immortal Palace, and the one whose own hands brought about the destruction of its former rendition. The last reigning Imperial Lord who had been missing for years.

“Is this real!? Even a being of such might is appearing before us now?!”

She peered at Bi Yan. It was manifestly clear that the latter was fully incapacitated.

Bi Yan could match or even defeat a pre-Emperor Realm opponent, but even she could barely withstand the mere pressure of Imperial Lord Void’s presence. Just a fractional release of radiation that emanated from his sudden appearance was enough to render her injured and defenseless. That portended just how deadly and dangerous were real Imperial Lords.

Lazulum was shaking uncontrollably as he stared at the image of his former liege lord hovering high up in the sky.

“The consequences of treason… Do you know of it?”

The voice of the supreme being sounded like the chorus of a thousand stars.

Lazulum crept backward, his panic mounting to terror. “Y-You should be dead! I’ve seen your remains! How?! How is this possible?!” By his claims, he had believed that Imperial Lord Void was dead, and he had confirmed that by finding the remains of the Imperial Lord before. Without that, he would not have dared to disobey the directives that Imperial Lord Void left him and steal that bowl before coming here, thinking that he could get his hands on the gift of providence and use it to ascend.

Of all things, he did not think that Imperial Lord Void would reappear, larger than life.

“Banishment.”

The three-syllable word sounded like the entire sky around the Imperial Lord was screaming.

Despite not being able to see him, the air and presence that he exuded were as gripping and chilly as the cold and merciless void of the galaxy.

Void channeled his power.

Powerful and destructive energies churned around Lazulum, closing in on him menacingly like a pack of hungry wolves before they pounced and engulfed him whole.

Lazulum erupted with the most agonizing cries and howls everyone had ever heard before.

He writhed and tossed about in a manic delirium of excruciating pain.

No one could reach the class of the pre-Emperor Realm without being blessed by chance or fate. That one could reach such heights was proof enough that he or she wielded extraordinary resolve and strength. Yet here was Lazulum, screaming and contorting with the dignity of a sow about to be slaughtered.

In the end, his head, his torso, and his limbs were ripped apart by the sheer force of a black hole that opened behind him. Piece after piece of him was torn from him as he was being dragged into the black, bottomless abyss of darkness where he would endure pain and suffering for all eternity. He would remain alive forever, but the agony would never stop tormenting him.

Such was the fate of traitors.

Bi Yan stood on the steps of the palatial building, watching the events with stoic reticence. For all the might the pre-Emperor Realm champion could wield, Lazulum was just an ant. A creature of minuscule significance and a puny threat to a giant who could easily crush him in just the blink of an eye.

Bi Yan stood on the steps of the palatial building, watching the events with stoic reticence.

Wang Yanyi looked nervous and tense.

Rather unfazed, Song Yu stepped forward, beaming with pride and admiration. He bowed deeply and said, “Your loyal subject Song Yu, hereby prostrates himself before you, Your Imperial Majesty.”

He might have been obeying Lazulum’s commands, but it was only due to his station as a subordinate. Never once he had defied the orders that Imperial Lord Void had left behind, hence there was no reason for him to be afraid.

The Imperial Lord merely looked from far up in the skies, quietly accepting the humble gesture of submission with not so much as a nod of acknowledgment.

But Song Yu was ecstatic.

By not showing any reaction, his liege lord had acknowledged him!

Silly Dog sat quietly beside Song Yu, wagging his tongue obsequiously and wearing a look that practically said, “Song Yu is my master, and I don’t know anything else at all!” The Imperial Lord’s sudden appearance and his swift execution of Lazulum were enough to intimidate the slippery animal into silence.

But speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Imperial Lord Void who showered Song Yu with hardly any interest gazed at Silly Dog instead, observing the animal quietly with care.

It was like a bug being caught and trapped inside a glob of amber. Silly Dog felt as if the space around him had, all of a sudden, solidified and he could not even move an inch. He felt naked. Exposed. As if the Imperial Lord’s gaze could see through every bit of his secrets.

Fortunately, it was but only a momentary moment before the Imperial Lord averted his gaze.

This time, his focus fell on Bi Yan. The thunderous voice like the celestial bodies singing in an ensemble resounded, “You’ve risen too early, ancient mutant god. Go.”

Bi Yan had recovered from her initial astonishment.

She looked up at the Imperial Lord and hissed with contempt and hardly any shred of fear, “I come and go as I please, without the need for permission and certainly not from you!”

“You’ve activated the Imperial Casket of Existence and by that, you’ve broken the ancient covenant. If it was not for some karmic reason, I would have already had you banished into the warp as well.” Imperial Lord Void’s crisp yet enigmatic voice sounded like the layers of the atmosphere resonating in unison.

Bi Yan smirked impishly, “I’m not the one inside the Imperial Casket, you know?”

Wang Yanyi raised “his” eyebrows in mild interest.

Was there another reason for Bi Yan’s allowing the severed hand to lead Li Mu into the Imperial Casket of Existence aside from just saving him?

“Be that as it may, you nevertheless carry the karmic burden of what you’ve done,” Imperial Lord Void’s voice declared with finality that would tolerate no dispute. “The Imperial Casket’s purpose is not for the application of a mere mortal. You should have known better”.

“Too late now, I guess,” Bi Yan grinned at him cheerily.

“Unseal the Casket,” Imperial Lord Void boomed.

“And kill him?” Bi Yan gasped with shock. “The Imperial Casket has acknowledged him, and the process of rebirth has begun. You can open the Casket and it won’t change a thing. The ancient covenant is clear: no one whom the Casket has given its protection is to be harmed.”

“The covenant has been broken by your hands, and you dare ask me to keep it?”

“I am not the one with my name on the Legend of Deification,” Bi Yan hissed coldly.

“Would that make any difference?”

The Imperial Lord stepped out of the shadows of the clouds as a means of a menacing gesture.

“Go.”

He repeated himself, his voice sounding unyielding.

Hesitation and doubt darkened Bi Yan’s lithe but defiant face. She instinctively stepped away as if in fear, although that did not stop her from saying, “The one inside is the heir of the Lord of Mystic Flair.”

The Imperial Lord paused. A second passed as he pondered. At length, he shook his head. “Even the Lord of Mystic Flair must pay his penance for the transgression of using the Imperial Casket. More so, his heir.”

“And you’re sure you wish to incur the wrath of the Lord of Mystic Flair?” Bi Yan pressed.

“Are you unaware that the Lord of Mystic Flair has learned about the terms of the covenant?” The Imperial Lord countered with a question of his own, “He could sense what is going on. But he chose to sit by and watch, allowing his heir to get inside the Imperial Casket. Perhaps it’s a test. Perhaps this heir of his is not as significant as you thought.”

Bi Yan’s face now blazed with rage and disbelief.

“You wish to defy me?” Imperial Lord Void demanded.

“I’m warning you,” Bi Yan gritted her teeth, “You better make sure you’re making the right decision.”

Imperial Lord Void flailed his sleeves and a terrible gust of wind slammed into Bi Yan with the force of a sledgehammer. “Know that it is with respect to your former incarnation that I have spoken so much to you. Another show of disrespect and I will see to it that your awakening would be delayed for another eon.”

The force sent Bi Yan slamming into the granite steps of the palatial building with blood spewing from her mouth before she rolled onto the ground.

“Begone.”

The Imperial Lord descended, at last, landing on the ground.

Bi Yan looked up at the Imperial Lord, her lips smeared red as she gnashed her teeth, “I’ll remember this, Void. Just wait till I’m fully awakened. You’ll pay a hundred times over.”

With that, she quickly left.

A heavily-blooded mutant champion appeared. It was the same one who had come to give her a report earlier—the one with the appearance of a young lass—and she had come to take Bi Yan away with her, helping to keep her steady.

But before she left, Bi Yan turned around to look at Wang Yanyi who was also staring at her.

“Go. There’s no way you can stop Void,” warned Bi Yan.

Wang Yanyi stood there alone.

Just behind “him” was the only way that led to the subterranean mausoleum below. The only way that would lead to the Imperial Casket.

Solemnly, she said to Bi Yan, “You’re just not worthy of him.”

Bi Yan’s eyes widened with amazement before she understood what the words meant. Her lips curled into a smirking grin.

“You go,” Wang Yanyi repeated.

“He” turned to face the Imperial Lord this time, “You’re not getting past me and my sword.”

Imperial Lord Void stared at “him”. From whence did an ant find such brazen courage to defy a giant?