That night, in the dead of night, Yan Yuan fumbled out of bed, walked to an empty place in the hall, raised his sleeve and waved it. A black hole of adult height immediately appeared in front of him, and it seemed that if he stepped inside, he would be devoured without any bones or blood left.
Standing outside and looking in, one could not see anything, but once inside, one could see thousands of stars in the sky, all clustered around the huge Purple Heavenly Star.
When Yan Yuan was very young, he had been led into the forbidden place by his father. Yan Jing told him that each star in the sky represented a god in the Nine Heavens, and the higher the god's position, the brighter the star would shine. The purple star was at the highest position, and was as warm as a golden crow, representing the qi of the current emperor.
The stronger the qi, the brighter the purple light.
Holding a high position and possessing supreme power, he carried an innate mission on his shoulders, and when necessary, for the sake of the divine people of the Heavenly Realm, he had to give up something, even if that something was important.
Maybe it's life, maybe it's feelings...
When Yan Yuan was young, he did not feel that there was anything wrong with what his father said; since he would be an emperor in the future, he would naturally have to put the gods and people first. But when it really came to this step, he found that he simply could not do it. Once a person loses the faith that sustains them, there is no hope, and without hope, every day of living is torture.
Perhaps he just had no talent and could not look after the bigger picture. There will be a new emperor in the Heavenly Realm without a loser like him as the emperor, so in reality it doesn't matter to the Gods whether he lives or dies.
He just wanted… just wanted to do something he really wanted to do before he left.
When he stepped into the black hole, he immediately felt the air around him become much warmer. In the distance, a few long warning-like roars cut through the silent sky, and the five great divine beasts, the Blue Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, the Xuanwu, and the Teng Snake all came rushing towards him in an aggressive manner, and in a moment were three feet away from Yan Yuan.
Recognising his aura, the five divine beasts stopped abruptly and fell to the ground in unison, dropping their huge heads and emitting a delicate whimpering sound.
It was absolute submission.
"Stand down."
In addition to these five great divine beasts, there were also Zhuzhao, Taiyin You Ying, Yinglong, Huanglong and Gou Chen, the five great divine beasts guarding the northern side. Yan Yuan ordered the divine beasts in front of him to send orders to their companions to retreat immediately to a distance of 100 miles away, and that no matter what happened, they were not allowed to approach.
The five great divine beasts retreated without a sound and soon disappeared into the purple glowing sky. Yan Yuan walked slowly in the direction of the Emperor's Star using his senses. The closer he got, the stronger the purple light that fell on his face, his godless eyes bursting with an almost maniacal desire, and he walked faster and faster, faster and faster.
As long as he destroyed his own qi, he would truly have the qualifications to pursue the Xuan Long... Yan Yuan was not afraid of death, he just wanted that dragon to smile at him the same way it did ten thousand years ago.
When he struck, Yan Yuan did not hesitate. He stopped under the Purple Heavenly Star, condensed ten percent of his divine power in his palm and struck at the Emperor's Star. The intense white light slammed into the Emperor's Star fiercely and the powerful divine power bounced back, knocking Yan Yuan on the ground, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
A crack appeared in the centre of the Emperor's Star, and the originally stable purple light flickered in and out, shaking the earth and mountains in the Nine Heavens for a while.
What he was destroying was his own destiny, and when the Emperor's Star was damaged, Yan Yuan's own body would be affected. His whole body was in pain, as if he was being burned by a raging fire, and against the blood on his lips, his face was as pale as a ghost.
He only heard that if his fate was weaker than Xuan Long's, he could be with him and would not be able to control him, but he didn't know what exactly was weaker than Xuan Long. With such a big commotion, someone must be coming soon, so Yan Yuan didn't dare to delay. He got up off the ground, and struck a second and third time despite the pain...
The blood that dripped from his mouth gradually soaked through his snow-white lapel.
The ten great divine beasts were supposed to guard the Emperor's Star until they died, but they could not go against their master's orders. When Yan Yuan told them not to come near, it was as if they were under a compulsion, unable to move even half a step closer.
The first Heavenly Emperor who created them never imagined that one day a descendant would want to weaken his innate supreme destiny with his own hands.
After the fifth blow, the Emperor's Star, almost in tatters, was already crumbling. Yan Yuan was in pain, so, so much pain. He remembered the extreme torture Xuan Long had suffered in the mortal world, at that time, he was in the same pain as he is now...
The moment he collapsed, Ye Ling Shenjun stepped out of the void and rushed forward to catch Yan Yuan.
"Yuan'er!!!"
The gods that followed him out of the void were shocked to see the dim Emperor's Star that had almost fallen.
Ye Ling's face was filled with tears, which fell on Yan Yuan's cold face.
"Yuan'er… Yuan'er... you must not scare Father..."
Yan Yuan opened his lax eyes and spoke with a smile:
"Father… this child, finally... finally qualified, stand next to him..."