Myth Beyond Heaven

Yang Chen’s golden eyes swept over the scene, his lips curling in disdain as they landed on Yun Lintian. “So this is the insect you’ve chosen to betray our kind for?” His voice dripped with contempt. “Where has the pride of Primordial Gods gone?”

Hei Xuan burst out laughing, slapping his thigh. “Pride? Coming from you?” He wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. “The mighty Sun God who’s been chasing after Yin Yue like a lovesick puppy for millennia? What pride?”

Yang Chen’s face darkened instantly. The temperature in the realm skyrocketed, the wooden pavilion’s edges beginning to char. “You dare—”

“I dare,” Hei Xuan interrupted, his grin turning sharp. “At least I don’t lick Nian Shi’s boots while pretending to be righteous.”

Ping Heng sighed, rubbing his temples. “Yang Chen, you shouldn’t have come here.” His calm voice carried an edge of warning. “Don’t be Nian Shi’s running dog.”

The Sun God’s aura exploded.

BOOM!

A solar flare erupted around him, turning the entire realm into a furnace. The floating islands vaporized instantly, the chessboard turning to molten slag. Linlin and Qingqing cried out, their tiny forms barely protected by Mu Ren’s quick shadow barrier.

“You’ve all lost your minds!” Yang Chen roared, his spear of condensed sunlight materializing in his grip. “Giving our power to this ant? The Creator would—”

“The Creator is gone,” Ping Heng interrupted, his voice suddenly thunderous. The golden sphere in his hand pulsed violently. “And you are in my realm.”

With a casual flick of his wrist, Ping Heng twisted reality itself.

The scorching heat reversed. The vaporized islands reassembled. The molten chessboard cooled back into perfect condition.

Yang Chen stumbled back, his golden eyes widening. “You—!”

Ping Heng’s gaze was icy. “Leave. Now.”

For a tense moment, the Sun God hesitated. His grip on his spear tightened—then loosened.

Yang Chen’s hesitation lasted only a breath before the space beside him rippled like disturbed water. A tall, slender figure materialized from the void, his silver robes shimmering with countless tiny stars.

Xing Wu, the Star God.

His arrival carried no fanfare, no explosion of power—just an unsettling quiet that made the air itself feel heavier. His deep violet eyes swept over the scene before settling on Ping Heng.

“Brother Ping,” Xing Wu said, his voice smooth as polished jade. “Are you certain you wish to stand against us?”

Ping Heng’s grip on the golden sphere tightened imperceptibly. “Xing Wu. I didn’t expect you to show your hand so soon.”

A faint smile touched Xing Wu’s lips as he glanced at Hei Xuan. “With the God of Darkness weakened and this realm’s balance already disrupted… do you truly believe you can protect them?”

Hei Xuan barked a laugh. “Who said I need protecting?” Shadows coiled around his fingers despite his diminished power. “I may be weaker now, but I can still turn you into a damn star-shaped pancake.”

Xing Wu ignored the taunt, instead withdrawing an object from his sleeve—a fractured crystal hourglass, its sands frozen mid-fall. The moment it appeared, the floating islands shuddered violently, their perfect symmetry distorting.

Ping Heng’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. “The Sundial of Eternity.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “That was destroyed eons ago.”

“Not destroyed,” Xing Wu corrected mildly. “Merely… misplaced.” He turned the artifact in his hands, and with each rotation, the Realm of Equilibrium groaned like a living thing in pain. “Nian Shi thought you might need reminding—balance can always be unmade.”

Hei Xuan’s eyes darted to Mu Ren. Their gazes locked for the briefest instant before Hei Xuan’s voice rang sharply in the attendant’s mind through divine communication:

“Take Yun Lintian and go. Now.”

Mu Ren stiffened. My Lord, I cannot leave you—

“That’s an ORDER!” Hei Xuan’s mental roar carried the weight of divine authority. “Protect my daughter’s husband!”

Across from them, Ping Heng’s expression had turned glacial. “You would wield that abomination here? In my domain?”

Xing Wu sighed as if disappointed. “I take no pleasure in this, old friend. But you’ve forced our hand.” He tilted the hourglass slightly—

CRACK!

A jagged fissure split the sky, revealing a swirling vortex of chaotic energy. The floating islands nearest to it disintegrated into nothingness.

Yang Chen grinned, his solar spear flaring brighter. “Looks like your ‘balance’ isn’t so unshakable after all.”

Ping Heng’s fingers twitched toward the golden sphere still hovering above his palm—

“NOW, MU REN!” Hei Xuan bellowed aloud.

The golden-eyed attendant moved like lightning. One hand seized Yun Lintian’s shoulder while the other tore open a spatial rift with enough force to send Linlin and Qingqing tumbling through first.

Mu Ren’s fingers had barely touched Yun Lintian’s shoulder when—

BANG!

A pulse of golden energy erupted from Yun Lintian’s body, sending Mu Ren skidding back three steps. The spatial rift flickered and collapsed before it could fully form.

“Yun Lintian?!” Hei Xuan’s eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Yun Lintian didn’t answer immediately. He straightened slowly, wiping blood from his lips with the back of his hand. His eyes—now shimmering with traces of golden light—locked onto Yang Chen and Xing Wu.

“Senior Hei, Senior Ping,” he said calmly, “if our opponents were anyone else, I would retreat without hesitation.” A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. “But these two? They’re perfect.”

Silence.

Even the crumbling realm seemed to pause at his words.

Hei Xuan’s mouth opened, then closed. Ping Heng’s fingers froze mid-motion, the golden sphere hovering forgotten in his palm.

Yang Chen’s face darkened like an eclipse. “Perfect? You arrogant little—”

Xing Wu raised a hand, cutting off the Sun God’s outburst. His violet eyes studied Yun Lintian with newfound intensity, as if recalculating every variable. “Interesting,” he murmured.

Yun Lintian ignored them, turning to Ping Heng. “Senior, you asked earlier how I broke the rules of chess?” He raised his hand, and the faint golden glow around him intensified. “It’s simple—I understood them better than the one who made them.”

The golden sphere in Ping Heng’s hand trembled, then shot toward Yun Lintian of its own accord.

BOOM!

A shockwave of energy blasted outward as the sphere merged with Yun Lintian’s chest. His body arched, veins burning gold beneath his skin—but unlike before, he didn’t scream. Didn’t falter.

He absorbed it.

Yang Chen’s solar spear flickered uncertainly. “Impossible! That’s the power of Balance—it should have torn him apart!”

Xing Wu’s fingers tightened around the hourglass. “Unless…” His eyes narrowed. “Unless he was meant to wield it all along.”