Love Empyrean

On the outside, Yaan - whom was being stared at by Love Empyrean, the Primordial Sage, Defiance Sovereign, and now Shi after she finally returned - looked completed calm and unmoved. However, on the inside, he was anything but. This was by far the most stunned he had felt since ascending to the Divine Step.

Even before Love Empyrean suddenly asked him to marry him upon their first meeting, he could see the immense surge of emotions tumbling through her heart. After she abruptly made this bizarre proposal, Yaan activated Reveal Truth to double check that he was really seeing this correctly.

This woman was truly, completely…in love with him.

But why?! They had just met!

Yaan wouldn't usually be phased by the words of another divinity, he knew that behind the surface, all divinities had their own schemes and personal objectives. Even if they weren't completely lying, they would most often be hiding something beyond the words they spoke.

However, Love Empyrean's heart perfectly matched her words…and her expression.

This woman, whom truly was the most beautiful woman that Yaan had ever seen, was genuinely so hopelessly in love with him, that she kept drifting towards him. Not only that, but she was completely unable to hide her love-stricken feelings from her face, and she even blurted out a marriage proposal without thinking about it.

When Love Empyrean saw Yaan's slightly dark expression and the hint of confusion that he didn't bother hiding from his gaze, she coughed lightly, then quickly explained herself with a slight blush.

"Yaan, I apologise for my abruptness, that was not appropriate. I'm sure you have your doubts, however…I truly am in love with you, and my request still stands - I wish for us to get married. As soon as possible."

Finally, Yaan couldn't hold in his burning question.

"Why?! We just met you crazy woman!"

He had never met anyone like this before! Not only was she way too honest, but what sort of divinity, no matter someone as ancient and wise as Love Empyrean, fell in love with someone whom they had just met?! Yaan was still doubting this entire situation, wondering if perhaps she was hiding her heart using some strange method, and this was all just an act to make him lower his guard. In his heart though, he knew that this was not the case.

This woman was simply insane, just like many other Empyreans.

'I used to think that the Primordial Sage was a strange person, but compared to the other Empyreans, she's actually quite reasonable…' Yaan thought bitterly.

Love Empyrean had some thoughts of her own. In her heart, she couldn't help but sigh in self-depreciation.

'It happened again, I fell in love with another person! I managed to avoid this sort of love for so many years, but alas, I cannot help but fall for such a perfectly broken man! Oh well, love is not a rational thing, haha.'

Love Empyrean smiled and flew forwards slightly, but she stopped and laughed wryly when Yaan immediately backed up. Clearing her throat, she attempted to explain herself.

"I'm sure you already know, but I am Love Empyrean. I understand your apprehension, so let me be blunt - because of my dao, I fall in love a bit too easily…however! Yaan, I have never felt such a deep, burning love such as this! This is undoubtedly true love, we are definitely soul mates, it is the destiny between us! I suppose that right now, you are feeling averse to marrying me, so I won't push the matter…but I also won't give up! Yaan, the two of us will definitely get married, I won't give up on this, no matter what!"

Yaan's expression darkened further, because he knew that she was telling the truth.

He glanced at Shi, who looked even more shocked by this situation than him. The intensity of the gaze that Shi returned to him was no less intense than Love Empyrean's, but it was obviously for a completely different reason. 

He looked at the Sage, who appeared to be as calm and emotionless as ever. That said, the fact that she was simply standing by silently, suggested that she also had no idea how to handle this tedious situation.

'Why are all of the women in my life so intense? Is this also fate?' He couldn't help but wonder.

Yaan shook his head and turned back towards Love Empyrean. It seemed that now, there was one more woman who was obsessed with him.

"I decline your offer, I will never marry you. Love Empyrean, I don't care if this is your way of seeking dao; I have no interest in you, and no interest in romance. I'm busy right now, go away."

Love Empyrean nodded seriously, but her resolve clearly wasn't shaken in the least.

"I understand, Yaan. Since it's like this, please allow me to offer my services to you. How can I be of assistance to you right now? If you would like, I could even get you into the Divine Court, either as an invader, or a new member, what do you think?"

Yaan's eyebrow raised imperceptibly, whilst Shi looked even more shocked than before. The Sage glanced at Yaan, clearly wondering whether he would betray her. Defiance…was for some reason staring at Love Empyrean with a cold expression.

"You would betray the Divine Court over your personal infatuation?" Yaan asked slowly.

Love Empyrean's lips curled up into a mesmerising smile.

"Love is not a rational thing, and romantic love is the most intense and least rational of all forms of love. I have avoided romantic love for far too long now, I had almost forgotten this feeling…Yaan, for you, I will do anything."

'This woman is serious, isn't she?' Yaan thought in amazement. 'Joining the Divine Court, huh? Honestly, it's not a bad offer…except for the fact that most of the Divine Court hates me to death, Love Empyrean alone isn't enough to get me in safely. For now, the Divine Court isn't important, not compared to the Boundless Dao Library. That said, maybe I can make use of this woman's dao seeking…'

Yaan wasn't seriously considering her 'love' towards him, but after getting over the unnerving way that she looked at him and kept drifting towards him, he realised that he could use her to his advantage. Right now, if he could conscript Love Empyrean into their conquest against the Four Divine Star System, that would massively increase his standing amongst this newly formed group of divinities. Long terms, maybe he could even use this woman as an insider to help him scheme against the Divine Court!

Before Yaan could say anything, Defiance Sovereign suddenly spoke up. Everyone turned to look at the giant man quite suddenly, because his voice was filled with icy killing intent.

"Kiwi, I thought I told you not to show yourself before me. Scram from this place before I make you leave!"

Love Empyrean showed no fear, despite being threatened by Defiance Sovereign.

Yaan narrowed his eyes. Clearly, these two had some history, and from the way Defiance Sovereign was speaking, it was nothing simple. For one, he didn't threaten to kill her, but just said he would make her leave. More shockingly though, he actually addressed her by name…this man never addressed people by name!

'The Sage never mentioned that these two had history…she also never told me Love Empyrean's name. Did she not know, or is she still hiding this sort of basic information about all of the divinities from me…?'

"Defiance Sovereign, I apologise, I mean no disrespect. I am here for Yaan; that I ran into you here was an unfortunate accident, however…I will not leave, not without helping my beloved."

Yaan felt bitter inside. Why was she speaking like they were already lovers?

"Uncle!"

BANG!

Without warning, Shi shot towards Yaan, having overcome her shock towards this unusual situation, and remembering her goal in coming here.

"Uncle, I won't allow you to ignore me this time! Today, I will definitely kill you!"

Yaan turned towards Shi and frowned. As she raised her arm and summoned countless black bolts of lightning around her body, he did not defend, but plainly said:

"Kiwi, if you really want to be useful to me, then prevent Destruction Empyrean, and anyone else, from disturbing me."

When Love Empyrean heard Yaan call her by name, her heart skipped a beat and her aura erupted outwards with happiness and resolve. She immediately shot between Yaan and Shi, then pointed towards Shi as the madwoman punched out with an arm engulfed by black bolts of lightning.

As soon as Love Empyrean's back was turned on Yaan, her gaze became ferocious and she glared at Shi hatefully. For some reason, though, Yaan got the feeling that she was enjoying the feeling of this hatred…

"You dare to target my beloved?!" Love Empyrean shouted out crazily.

"Golden Heart of Protection!"

With a flash silver light, 99 strands of string flowed out from Love Empyrean's finger, transforming into 99 jewel-encrusted rings that morphed into a strange heart-shaped formation around her delicate index finger. The 99 rings each shone with a different colour of light, before the lights shone from one ring to the next, eventually forming a golden heart.

BANG!

The golden heart erupted with intense power the moment Shi's destructive punch landed. The countless black bolts of lightning were dispersed, while the golden heart was cracked. Love Empyrean's face paled slightly, but she quickly recovered and poured more energy into the golden heart, rapidly healing over its damage.

Before long, the golden heart spread out to cover both Love Empyrean and Yaan. Love Empyrean ignored everything else, forcing the Sage and Defiance to act in order to disperse the remnant bolts of lightning.

After everything calmed down, Shi could be seen, still covered in black bolts of lightning, but with blood flowing from her blood-shot eyes. She glared at Love Empyrean with just as much hatred as the second madwoman, and for a moment, both women stared at one another.

Love Empyrean was clearly superior in this exchange, but this was the obvious outcome. Love Empyrean had been an Empyrean for many years, but Shi had only just ascended. Not to mention that she was already exhausted from her recent battles, her ascension, and her prison break…

Shi was not in top form, but even if she was, she would still lose. Her talent was unmatched, and her heart of destruction guaranteed that her power would soon make a meteoric rise…but she was new to the world of divinities. She was yet to fully comprehend her Divine Power, and she had no suitable Divine Step methods that she could make use of. Right now, she was relying entirely on the destructive power of her unique cultivation base - this was plenty against an Earthly Deity, but it wasn't enough to face an Empyrean.

"Why are you so hell-bent on destroying Yaan, you madwoman?" Love Empyrean asked, her voice as cold as ice. "From what I understand, he is your uncle, you his niece. He has never wronged you, so why do you hate him so deeply?"

For a moment, Shi's expression flickered with pain. Her gaze drifted past Love Empyrean, landing on Yaan once again. When she saw that he had already turned his back on her and was once again examining the Boundless Dao Library Doorway, she smiled bitterly.

"Still out of reach…" Shi muttered, clenching her fists so hard that cracking sounds echoed through the void of space. She eventually looked back at Love Empyrean and once again glared.

"I never said that I hate uncle, bitch. I just…want to destroy him…"

Love Empyrean frowned, while the Sage's eyes flashed. As for Defiance Sovereign…

Shi's expression changed drastically when a feeling of impending crisis suddenly overwhelmed her senses. She hastily transformed into a black bolt of lightning and flew backwards at her fastest possible speed, but she was a moment too slow.

BOOM!

Black, gold and crimson shockwave exploded out in every direction, but the brunt of the attack landed on Shi, and once again, her body shot back like a meteor, leaving behind a trail of black lightning bolts and blood. The residual impact was still powerful enough to cause multiple small cracks to appear on Love Empyreans golden heart, but she quickly poured in more power to maintain the golden heart.

"You dare flaunt your meagre power before me, child?" Defiance Sovereign moved like a whirlwind and slammed his foot down, crushing Shi's body into a meat paste. Her flesh vaporised into a blood mist, which she crazily restored into several bolts of black lighting as she continued to escape.

Defiance Sovereign licked his giant lips as a strange glint flashed through his blazing gaze. He looked unexpectedly serious!

"I was unable to kill any of the Gods in the 1st Origin Era prior to their first ascension, but I wonder, what about the 2nd Origin Era? I only have two choices, so you will do just fine. Die for me, God of Destruction - show me the glorious sight of your fate burning to ash!"

Once Love Empyrean saw Defiance Sovereign chasing after the pitifully fleeing Destruction Empyrean, she finally relaxed, before turning back to Yaan. She saw that he was completely ignoring her and everything else around him, taking advantage of her protection to focus on the doorway properly. She wasn't bothered by this, but actually smiled, and her eyes filled with adoration.

'Even as his niece - who wants him dead for a reason that he does not know - is fighting for her life, he refuses to turn away from his fortuitous encounter. Ah, I'm a righteous woman, why do I always fall for men like this? Haha…'

Love Empyrean finally examined the giant pair of doors that stood at 3,000 miles in height in the middle of this otherwise empty region of space. At first, she felt confused when she saw such a thing - she had read through the Divine Court's records of all the treasures and inheritances that should have fallen into the Four Divine Star System, so why did she not recognise this thing?

As she started to examine the symbols on these doors, gradually, Love Empyrean's expression started to change. Eventually, her gaze became filled with shock.

'Dao Runes from the 1st Origin Era?! No, not quite, they're more like a fusion between the Dao Runes of the 1st Origin Era and the Divine Runes of the 2nd Origin Era! Now that I see this fusion, it's far too clear that these are the same manner of rune, only from different Origin Eras. So it really was like that, hmm…'

As Love Empyrean thought along these lines, coming to a conclusion that very few people in this world would be able to reach, her gaze flickered between Yaan, the Sage, and the seal along the centre bisection of the doors.

After a moment of thought, she transmitted a message to Yaan in secret.

"Yaan, these runes are very strange, but they should have started as artificially created Dao Runes from the 1st Origin Era. The Dao Seal down the centre of the doors is simply too extraordinary, the only hope of opening these doors, is to release your dao and see if it reacts. Either the seal is a test and the doors will open if they accept your dao, or the seal is a lock and these doors will never be pried open."

When Yaan heard what Love Empyrean claimed, his mind flickered and various thoughts flashed through his head.

'If this is the truth, then it's very likely that Love Empyrean is an outsider from the 1st Origin Era. Hmm…'

Yaan didn't act right away, but after trying to see through the seal for a while longer and getting nowhere, he decided to take the risk. This doorway and these runes were simply too far beyond his understanding, it really might take a lifetime to open this door if he tried to fully understand the seal first.

How exactly could one 'show their dao' to a door seal?

The most direct method that Yaan knew of, would be to release his domain.

Without warning the Sage, Yaan quickly flew forwards as he released his domain. As Yaan himself transformed into a painted figure, the space around him looked like it had been painted onto the canvas of the world. His domain continued to spread out rapidly, then as it reached the door seal-

Silence.

The world became eerily silent…but this had nothing to do with the doorway, nor the seal, nor even the Boundless Dao Library.

Yaan found, to his shock, that his domain had been forcefully pushed back into his body, and he himself had been pushed back several miles away from the door, until he came to a nauseating stop beside the Primordial Sage.

Yaan's domain was forced to stop and the Sage was forced to stop using her examination methods. Shi was dragged out into the world, leaving her black lightning bolt form, and Defiance Sovereign's Absolute Domain trembled and froze. Only Defiance managed to keep his power exposed to the world, but even he was forced to stop, and his domain itself came to a halt.

Space itself ground to a complete halt, as did the shockwaves of Shi's and Defiance's battle.

Even the Spiritual Energy froze in place.

Slowly, Defiance Sovereign forcefully twisted his head to the side. His heart was racing, but not with fear…

His heart was racing with hatred and rage, as his sight landed on the blurry humanoid figure standing in front of the giant doors. All eyes landed on this figure, and for a moment, Yaan's mind fell completely blank.

The entity standing before the doors was like nothing he had ever seen before…but he knew what it was. It was humanoid in its appearance, but nobody in this world would ever mistake it for a cultivator.

Outside of this frozen region of the world, the entire world of the three planes was trembling violently. Every divinity stopped what they were doing as their minds trembled and their gazes shifted towards this humanoid figure in the far distance.

The humanoid figure had no defined features, only a vaguely human shape, close in size to an ordinary adult human male. Rather than any features, its body was composed of light of every colour, shining brilliantly in all directions and illuminating the world with the light…of the Heavenly Dao!

As the humanoid incarnation of the Heavenly Dao - not an illusion, but its true humanoid incarnation - stepped out into the world for the first time in the 2nd Origin Era, it disrupted its own balance in a cataclysmic manner, causing countless natural disasters to spread across the world. With each passing second, thousands, soon millions, of innocent living beings lost their lives.

The humanoid figure looked at Yaan and the Primordial Sage emotionlessly.

"Creating the two of you was truly the worst mistake of my life."