Planet Phoenix

Divine Star System, Four Divine Star System.

Although the names of these two star systems were very similar, they were actually very different, and named using the word 'divine' for completely different reasons.

The Divine Star System was the main base of operations of the Divine Court; it was named after the Divine Court itself. It was the first star system that the Divine Court had conquered on the Qi Plane, and had been their key territory ever since Law Empyrean ascended to the Divine Step two million years ago.

The Four Divine Star System was the most recently conquered of the Divine Court's star system territories, and because of this, their rule over this star system was still tentative. This star system was split into 15 sectors, and in truth, the Divine Court's influence varied from sector to sector.

It was for this reason that despite being a Divine Court territory, many divinities lingered in this star system, not worrying about the fact that they were technically intruding into the Divine Court's lands.

The Four Divine Star System was the birthplace of the four Divine Beasts, the only four beasts that had ever attained the Divine Step. Those four beasts had a massive influence on this star system, creating four distinct bloodlines. Branches of those bloodlines filled the entire star system, even to this day. The four Divine Beasts had long since died, but their legacies lived on.

On the Qi Plane, the Four Divine Star System was the star system with the most bloodline cultivators. In fact, more than two thirds of the Qi Plane's bloodline cultivators lived within the Four Divine Star System, and 80% of those bloodline cultivators possessed bloodlines descended from the four Divine Beasts.

The four Divine Clans were the largest bloodline clans across the Qi Plane. These clans were each founded around 1.7 millions years ago by the original four Divine Beasts and their many human partners. Today, although the Divine Beasts were no longer around and these clans had not been supported by a divinity for many years, they could not be underestimated - each of the four Divine Clans was led by a 9th Step Transcendent, and there were many more Transcendents and immortals within each of the clans. They possessed various legacies left behind by the Divine Beasts, including giant protective formations spanning across many stars, formations which would even cause divinities some trouble if they wanted to break through.

There were many branch bloodlines that had split away, mingled with others and diluted over the years - these could no longer be called 'Divine Bloodlines'. However, there were also many diluted bloodlines which were still considered part of the Divine Bloodlines, but these bloodlines needed to be refined and awakened before the four Divine Clans would take notice of those members in the branch clans.

The Zue Clan from Planet Yushu had been one such branch clan. The Zue Clan was actually a branch of the Phoenix Clan, a true Divine Bloodline Clan, even though the average bloodline strength amongst its members was barely even 1%. Occasionally, however, someone with a stronger bloodline would appear…

Eventually, a lone girl, after going through many hardships and tribulations, refined her bloodline into a pure Phoenix Bloodline. Upon ascending to the True Immortal Realm, her bloodline cried out, and the main clan discovered her existence.

Not longer after Zue Yin ascended to the Immortal Step, a powerful elder from the main clan suddenly appeared and took her away. She had begged him to at least let her say goodbye and to leave behind arrangements to protect her clan and her friends, but the elder was unsympathetic, telling her to forget about her past. He had claimed that her future was not something these lowly mortals had any place in.

She knew that the elder was trying to help her, really. He wanted her to let go of her attachments to her past, because he knew that in all likelihood, everyone she knew would die from old age, whilst she alone lived on.

Immortals could not feel too deeply for mortals, because doing so would only break their hearts down the line. They lived in different worlds; whilst an immortal was cultivating, in a single session, multiple generations of mortals, and even Foundation Step cultivators, would fly by like a passing breeze.

Zue Yin was taken far, far away, to a place called Planet Phoenix within the Four Divine Star System's Divine Phoenix Sector. Planet Phoenix was the location of the main branch of the Phoenix Clan, and only those Immortals of the Phoenix Clan with at least 50% pure bloodlines were permitted to stay here.

Planet Phoenix was known as a Solar Planet, meaning that it was as large as an ordinary star. The Spiritual Energy was also vastly superior compared to any normal life-planet, and the world was abundant with natural havens filled with all types of flames, suited to the Phoenix Bloodline cultivators' training.

It was the perfect cultivation environment, and honestly, Zue Yin had no complaints about being taken to live here, even though she was given no say in the matter. What irritated her, was the fact that the clan refused to allow her to even so much as contact anyone back on Yushu Planet. She couldn't speak with her clansmen or with Elia, she couldn't inquire about how things were going, she never settled her grudge with Ghu Lin…

The clan's Transcendent elders were always saying that she needed to let go of her mortal shackles if she wanted to progress along her path of cultivation, but the way Zue Yin saw it, that was simply untrue. She had always held a trace of affection and longing towards her home, and yet, even so, her rate of progress was shocking; so shocking that after she passed through all of her True Immortal Tribulations and reached the Ancient Immortal Realm, she became the clan's shining star, the prodigy upon which the elders were placing their hopes and aspirations for a better tomorrow.

For the most part, Zue Yin kept to herself. Since the elders were always being unreasonable, and since she always found their advice lacking for some reason, as if their understanding of dao was simply too different compared to her own, she didn't speak much with her fellow clansmen.

Zue Yin spent most of her time cultivating within the depths of one of Planet Phoenix's renowned Phoenix Volcanoes. There were 99 of these volcanoes, all situated upon a single island, which was a forbidden land for elders and disciples alike. Only those with incredible statuses, such as the supreme elders, or the chosen prodigies of the clan, had the chance to occupy one of these volcanoes to cultivate.

Zue Yin had been sitting within the depths of this volcano ever since she finished dealing with the various tedious banquets held to congratulate her for reaching the Ancient Immortal Realm. In the past, she had considered herself quite adept at dealing with the 'righteous faction' and all of their formalities. Now though, even though her ability to deal with these things in polite company whilst establishing relationships with 'important' individuals was exemplary, she simply didn't want to bother with such tedious matters.

If she really had to stay on this planet, then she would rather just take advantage of the environment and the benefits granted to her thanks to her status. This way, she could cultivate in peace, without anyone disturbing her.

When Zue Yin passed her eighth and final True Immortal Tribulation, having spent 2,400 years working on improving her understanding of the elements such that she could overcome those intermittent 300 year tribulations, Yaan was in the middle of climbing the Ruthless Inheritance, something that he spent an entire 3,000 years doing.

When she went out and dealt with the obligatory formalities between her fellow clansmen and elders, she heard someone mention something about a world-shaking matter that had attracted countless divinities…to Yushu Planet, her home world!

Unfortunately, when she asked about this, her elders told her not to worry about such far off matters.

And so, once again, she continued to cultivate.

When Yaan finally overcame the Ruthless Inheritance, ascending to the Divine Step and completing his dao heart, news of the birth of the 'World Demon' was spread across the Qi Plane by the Divine Court. Yaan's crimes were made public, to the extent that even most ordinary immortals knew about the terrifying demon who destroyed the Spirit Plane and the karmic river, yet still managed to escape with his life in tact under the watch of so many divinities!

But Zue Yin was oblivious to this. Once she entered her volcano, she found the extreme searing heat extremely comfortable. She felt her bloodline flowing smoother than ever before, and she had the feeling that if she continued to cultivate in this place, she would gradually transform both her body and cultivation into something closer resembling the legendary phoenix…

Fate was a funny thing.

On the very same day that Shi escaped from the Eternal Prison and destroyed the Divine Stairway, Zue Yin's body suddenly transformed into the centre of a devouring vortex, like a bucket with a limitless capacity. For the first time since the Divine Phoenix created these 99 volcanoes back then and filled them with its life's fire, one of the volcanoes trembled…

Zue Yin slowly opened her eyes, showing a dazed expression as the fire stormed into her body, fused with her Qi, her soul, her mind and her flesh. Every single part of her was being baptised by the phoenix fire, but that wasn't all…for some reason, it was as if the fire was actively trying to fuse into her body, as if it had found a new home that was superior compared to this legendary volcano!

Within minutes, the deep reserves of phoenix fire within one of the volcanoes, these reserves which were believed to be without end…completely vanished!

Zue Yin slowly stood up, but before she could stand upright, flames covered her eyes and her body halted in place.

At this moment, multiple figures appeared above the mountain. They stared down with shocked expressions, but this soon transformed into excitement.

"Dao Ascension Tribulation!"

"This girl, she has truly lived up to our expectations! To undergo dao heart ascension less than 1,000 years after becoming an Ancient Immortal, such a thing is extremely rare."

"But most importantly, thanks to her bloodline, her ascension has allowed her to smoothly initiate the Phoenix Rebirth mentioned by the Divine Ancestor in the sacred texts! If she can truly succeed and overcome this tribulation, she will undergo Phoenix Rebirth and find her heart of fire. If she succeeds, she will attain flames that even the Heavenly Dao cannot control!"

Three figures stood high above the volcano and stared at Zue Yin with blazing expressions.

They were the clan's three supreme elders, the strongest members of the Phoenix Clan! They might not be divinities, but they understood the world of divinities better than any other immortals or Transcendents in this world. After all, they were 9th Step, 7th Step and 7th Step Transcendents, they stood at the peak of the world below the divinities. In fact, the 9th Step old man with flaming eyes and a beard had actually lived for over 1.2 million years, longer than many of the divinities in the current world!

Zue Yin's mind transformed into a world of flames. She could see, hear and feel, an endless sea of flames, raging within her mind and heart, as if they wanted to burn her to the ground. She had the distinct feeling that these flames…did not abide by the rules of this world. These were flames that existed outside of the Heavenly Dao, flames beyond the Heavenly Dao's earthly dao of fire!

It would be normal to feel an extreme sense of terror towards such Heaven defying flames. In fact, there had been others who reached this stage in the past, but they all fell victim to this tribulation of their dao heart.

This was not a tribulation sent down by the Heavens, but a tribulation that came from within one's own heart. In this tribulation, Zue Yin needed to face her own flames. She needed to understand what it meant to accept - no, to create these flames as her own! They could only ever be her own flames, because these flames were in opposition to the Heavens!

Zue Yin, standing in the midst of this world of flames created by her own heart, looked around with a smile and shook her head.

"These flames are mine. Why would I fear my own flames? Why…would I fear opposing the Heavens? If the Heavens do not allow my dao of flames, then I have no need for the Heavens in my dao!"

Her voice reverberated throughout the world. The entire world of flames roared with blazing intensity, rapidly covering Zue Yin, igniting her body, and burning her to ash. The pain of such an experience should be terrifying, even for an Immortal, but Zue Yin actually smiled as she felt herself being incinerated by her flames. This feeling…

"I understand now." Zue Yin opened her eyes in the real world. An explosion of fire spread out from her body, whilst a wave of flames rippled through her flesh, her mind, her Qi and cultivation, and even her soul.

Zue Yin was burned to ash in an instant!

But then, from the pile of ash, a feminine figure picked herself up. Zue Yin's smile from before looked exactly the same. The ash fell from her robes, collapsing into flames which were quickly absorbed into her body, before disappearing without a trace.

After a long while of silently observing her improvements, Zue Yin finally looked up with a calm gaze.

"Supreme Elders…I should now qualify to learn about what happened to my home-world, no?"

The three figures, two old men and an old woman, shared bitter smiles. They all had the same thought…

'This girl hasn't changed at all.'

Actually, Zue Yin had changed quite drastically. She had grown up, she was self-reliant, and she no longer cared in the least what others thought about her. She spoke with the bare minimum level of polite speech to her elders, even when this annoyed them and they pressured her with their auras. 

For some reason, their auras felt like a joke to her.

Because no matter how strong their auras may be, they could never compare to his aura. Even though he had only been a Rank 4 cultivator at the Foundation Step when she last saw him, Yaan had left a lasting impression on Zue Yin that continued to influence her, even today. For a long time, she didn't even know if he was alive or dead, but when she heard mention of something massive transpiring around Planet Yushu…she knew in her heart that he would be involved.

Zue Yin flew up from the volcano and faced the three elders calmly.

"Congratulations, Elder Zue Yin." The oldest and strongest of the Supreme Elders smiled at her gently, but Zue Yin's expression remained unchanged.

"Many thanks, 1st Supreme Elder. I appreciate you referring to me as an Elder, after all…now that I have ascended to the ranks of Dao Immortal, I am an Elder of the Phoenix Clan. And as an Elder, I am no longer bound to remain on this planet…but if my doubts are cleared up, I will naturally have no reason to leave - not yet at least. Supreme Elders, if you would be so kind…what happened to my home-world?"

The elders all sighed melancholically, showing gazes of pity towards Zue Yin. They had all pushed her towards the path of abandoning her past, but they could see now that her heart was not one to forget.

In the end, the 1st Supreme Elder spoke bluntly, not wanting to drag this out.

"Elder Zue Yin, your homeworld, Planet Yushu, has been destroyed."

Zue Yin had prepared herself for the worst, but her heart still sank and her expression became downcast.

"Destroyed…? Just how…why…no…who?"

"Some fairly shocking matters have been unfolding recently." The wisened man explained with a serious expression. "A being that many are calling the 'World Demon' destroyed the Spirit Plane, destroyed the karmic river and the earthly dao of karma, before killing the Primordial Devil…the same Primordial Devil who was responsible for your home world's destruction. Over 20 divinities gathered around your homeworld that day to watch the world-shaking events unfold…and those same divinities, as well as many Transcendents and immortals, us three included, witnessed the World Demon escape from his divine pursuers by entering a place called the Ruthless Inheritance. He was stuck on that inheritance for 3,000 years, but he created yet another miracle - he manifested the Divine Stairway, ascending to the peak of the Divine Stairway and the Ruthless Inheritance concurrently. He reached the Divine Step and vanished to the Sage Plane with the Primordial Sage, who has shockingly betrayed the Primordial Alliance. Old Thief, another powerful divinity, also left the Primordial Alliance - I will explain this in greater detail later."

The 1st Supreme Elder didn't mention the thing that shocked him more than anything else…the fact that he felt the Divine Stairway being manifested in this world, and then actually destroyed for some unknown reason, at the same exact moment that Zue Yin entered her Dao Ascension Tribulation…

He didn't know what to make of it, and until he better understood the situation, he would not speculate to others.

Zue Yin listened silently as the 1st Supreme Elder gave a full summary of the most world-shaking event to occur in the past million years. The more he spoke about this 'World Demon', the more her heart started to stir. In the end, she couldn't help but ask the question on her mind, even though it seemed incomprehensible…

But when it came to that guy, 'incomprehensible' was actually very normal.

"The World Demon…by chance, does this person look like a child, and does he wear a red silk robe?"

The three Supreme Elders all looked at Zue Yin with wide eyes. They quickly tried to think about how she could possibly know this…but there was no way she could know this! She had been in secluded cultivation for the past few hundred years with no contact with the outside world!

Seeing their expressions, Zue Yin's gaze shone brilliantly.

"I see, so it really was him…he's still alive…"

After calming down, the 1st Supreme Elder looked at Zue Yin severely and asked:

"Elder Zue Yin, it seems that you know the World Demon? Could it be…that he was also from your home-world?"

"Mm." Zue Yin nodded. "In fact, I have mentioned him before. 3rd Supreme Elder, do you remember when I was first brought here and you took it upon yourself to guide me in the path of Phoenix Fire Cultivation? When we spoke about the will and heart, I would often mention a person, an extremely formidable demon. I can't really say that we were ever truly friends, but…our relationship was pragmatic, and we always seemed to end up together. That is, until he was suddenly torn from this world by karmic chains."

3rd Supreme Elder's eyes widened, causing Zue Yin to chuckle lightly.

"For Yaan to return to the world in such a fashion, becoming a divinity and the most notorious demon across the Qi Plane due to his actions…I don't find it surprising at all."

As Zue Yin spoke with some of the strongest, oldest and most wisened Transcendents across the Qi Plane, a small portal silently appeared at the opposite end of the Four Divine Star System's Divine Phoenix Sector. Two small figures stepped out from the portal, before it closed behind them without a sound.

Nobody knew that Yaan and the Sage had returned to the Qi Plane. Nobody knew that their plans this time aimed to shake the world once again.