The battle in outer space had raged for ten thousand years. A war so ancient, it had outlasted empires, outlived stars. Gods—once supreme and untouchable—had fallen like stars across a darkened sky. Even with meticulous planning, countless sacrifices, and his unyielding will, Taiyi had failed to win. He had failed to protect the heavens.
Now, the battlefield was littered with corpses—Supreme Gods, Ancestral Gods, shattered divine beasts—and amidst it all stood Taiyi, broken and bloodied, holding a dying Feng Jiu in his arms.
They had held the line. They had fought with all they had. Together, they had stood against the tide—the Supreme Gods, the Ancestral Gods, even Elliot, the accursed one. But they had been outnumbered. And at the final moment, the Heavenly Dao itself descended and intervened. Its judgment was swift and merciless, suppressing Taiyi's strength.
Left with no choice, Taiyi had been forced to evolve. He unlocked the Yin-Yang Dao, a power he had sealed deep within himself for fear of its consequences. Even so... he still lost.
Now, with most of the divine realm's strongest warriors slain, and the sky bleeding golden light, Taiyi knelt amid the devastation, cradling Feng Jiu. His body trembled. His robes were torn and soaked in divine blood. His gaze was wild.
Before him, the few surviving Ancestral Gods staggered, heavily wounded, yet still standing.
He wanted to lose himself. To become a demon and raze the sky itself. The fury in his chest begged for release.
But he held it in.
He couldn't let Feng Jiu see him fall.
He looked down at her pale face, her breath shallow, her phoenix blood staining his arms. His voice cracked as he whispered, "I have fought the heavens. I did everything I could. So why... why is the heaven still unfair to me? I've never complained, never asked for more. So why won't the heavens even let me love?"
He stared upwards with bloodshot eyes, a madness creeping into his gaze that had never been seen before.
"I could cut the heavens in half right now... and still not find peace."
He had slaughtered gods. Slayed the unforgivable. And yet—he had never been further from joy.
---
A Few Years Ago...
Feng Jiu danced across the battlefield like fire incarnate. Sword in hand, her movements were flawless, flowing with divine grace and devastating power. At times, her true form—a majestic fire phoenix—erupted from her body, striking her enemies with holy flame. She even separated her true form from her physical body, attacking and defending in tandem. The fight had reached its peak.
But even with her unmatched brilliance, victory was not guaranteed.
As the clash of divine forces echoed, a familiar voice whispered into her mind.
"This might be your last battle. The evolution ends in five hundred years. After that, you will dissipate... and reincarnate."
It was the phoenix spirit that resided within her. A cold reminder of the destiny she had tried to outrun.
Feng Jiu, by nature, was a fire phoenix, but fate had twisted her path. Born into the royal phoenix clan, her empress bloodline repressed her natural fire powers. Only one being in the entire world could help her suppress it—Taiyi, her master. The only man who could either seal or awaken what lay dormant within her.
But her case was unique. Her bloodline was a convergence of legends—fire, ice, dark, and royal phoenix bloodlines. Two of those bloodlines were considered extinct in this era. Yet she bore all four.
To awaken them, she had been forced to take drastic measures:
She forced herself on Taiyi to awaken her dark phoenix bloodline.
She became queen of the Fire Realm to awaken her royal bloodline.
She sent a part of her soul to the mortal realm, enduring harsh trials to awaken her ice phoenix bloodline.
Her life had been carefully orchestrated for this moment.
She had slowly fused the four bloodlines, using the royal bloodline as a foundation to suppress the others. When the fusion completed, a new bloodline would emerge—one that would surpass the limits of all phoenix clans before her. But this came at a cost.
She had to undergo blood baptism... and pass through samsara—death and rebirth.
She could not afford to die prematurely.
She could not fight beside Taiyi.
Yet, as the battle raged, she could not stay away either.
A hundred years ago, her strength began to falter. Her enemies sensed it—and one struck her with a devastating blow. Far across the battlefield, Taiyi—locked in a brutal clash with Elliot and twelve Supreme Gods—sensed her plight.
Desperate, Taiyi broke free from the encirclement and rushed toward her, sacrificing his position. The Supreme Gods realized his intentions and did everything they could to block him. But then, for the first time, Taiyi used the Yin-Yang Dao.
Even so, he was wounded—grievously.
He reached her just in time. She collapsed in his arms.
Taiyi cast a divine shield to protect her and turned to face the enemies alone. No more holding back.
His body glowed. He transformed.
A long white dragon soared into the sky, coiling with terrifying might.
Taiyi, in his dragon form, unleashed destruction with every breath. His scales were impenetrable. His claws tore through fate itself.
Feng Jiu could barely speak, but she used the moment to bargain with her inner spirit.
"Grant me a hundred more years... then I will go with you. Please..."
The phoenix spirit remained silent. Cold. Unyielding.
She clenched her fists and began gathering qi to heal.
She returned to battle, exchanging injury for injury, making sure that each wound she dealt was fatal.
The heavens trembled.
Taiyi and Feng Jiu—dragon and phoenix—fought side by side, an unstoppable force. But even their combined might couldn't reverse the inevitable.
Taiyi's strength began to fall again.
Elliot noticed first. He attacked with renewed ferocity.
Taiyi blocked, barely holding on.
Then a Supreme God struck from the shadows.
The spear was meant for Taiyi.
Feng Jiu took it.
It pierced her heart.
The battlefield stopped.
Taiyi let out a roar that shook the cosmos. His dragon form dissolved as he reverted back to his human self, leaping toward Feng Jiu as she plummeted from the sky. He caught her just before she crashed, holding her close.
---
Back to the Present...
The world had gone quiet.
The heavens above flickered, uncertain.
Feng Jiu lay limp in Taiyi's arms, her blood trickling between his fingers. His expression was twisted by pain and rage.
His divine aura fluctuated wildly.
He wanted to kill everything.
Then, she opened her eyes—just slightly—and smiled weakly.
"Husband…" she whispered. "I did well, right? I'm more beautiful than that sword… right?"
Taiyi trembled.
His breath caught in his throat.
The skies wept.
And the roar in his heart grew louder.
He would never forgive the heavens for this.
---