Ash still floated in the air from the earlier battle. The celestial envoy and his soldiers had vanished into golden mist—not defeated, but clearly retreating. Their silence felt more like strategy than surrender.
Yun Qianyu stood at the edge of the Skypiercer Altar, where the earth was cracked and glowing faintly from the energy released earlier.
"That envoy," she said softly, "he didn't come to win. He came to observe."
Fenghua nodded beside her, his expression unreadable.
"He was testing your power," he said. "And now he knows you're awakening. He won't return alone next time."
Qianyu's gaze darkened.
"Then let him bring all of Heaven. I'm not hiding."
Suddenly, a shiver rippled through the sky. A star fell from the heavens in complete silence, streaking across the eastern horizon. The wind shifted as if the heavens themselves held their breath.
Fenghua turned to her.
"That was no ordinary star. A celestial omen. They've begun to move."
Far away, deep within the Temple of Falling Light, the celestial envoy knelt before a higher figure, veiled in flame and starlight.
"You engaged her?" the figure asked, voice cold and echoing.
"Yes," the envoy said. "She's begun to awaken. The seal is breaking."
The figure raised a glowing hand and summoned a constellation map. Points of light floated in midair—each a Shard of Radiance, long lost across the realms.
"Then we cannot wait. Find the shards. If she gathers them, she will remember who she once was—and the heavens will no longer bind her."
Back in the Demon King's Land, Mo Lianxue paced the war chamber beneath her father's obsidian palace. The flickering firelight mirrored the fury in her eyes.
"She's becoming something more," she hissed. "Heaven watches her. The mortals follow her. And now… even Rong Xianzhi hesitates."
Xianzhi stood by the doorway, silent.
"You still care for her?" Lianxue asked sharply.
He didn't answer right away. Then, finally:
"I don't know what she's becoming. But I don't think she belongs to any realm now. Not Heaven. Not Demon. Not even mortal."
Mo Lianxue scoffed.
"Then she's a threat to all."
In the quiet night of the Hidden City, Qianyu wandered alone through ancient ruins, guided by a strange pull in her heart.
Visions flickered in her mind—blinding celestial light, a circle of gods whispering her name, chains of starlight binding her wings.
And a voice… whispering from memory:
"You were not banished for punishment. You were sealed—for fear."
She stopped at the heart of a ruined temple. Moonlight streamed through the cracked ceiling, pooling at her feet.
Fenghua appeared behind her, as if drawn by her thoughts.
"You're remembering," he said gently.
Qianyu turned toward him, her voice steady.
"I'm not the girl they cast down. I'm not the weapon they tried to hide. I am something they fear."
Fenghua gave a faint smile.
"Then it's time they remembered why."
Above them, the stars began to shift.
The heavens would no longer be silent.