The world had turned silent.
Not because of peace, but because of awe.
The High Judge floated in midair like an immovable mountain, his body forged from divine essence and ancient law. He was draped in long, black robes that shimmered with constellations, and chains of divine judgment coiled around his limbs like slumbering dragons, each exuding suppressive force enough to crush lesser beings to powder.
Beneath him, Shen Ziyan gritted his teeth, clutching Bai Yanyue's hand tightly.
"We run."
She had said it without hesitation.
But fleeing from a High Judge of the Celestial Tribunal wasn't like fleeing from any mortal enemy. It was like trying to escape fate itself.
And yet, they had no choice.
Ziyan didn't hesitate.
He turned, wrapped one arm around Yanyue's waist, and launched himself into the fractured distance of the Heaven-Spanning Secret Realm.
"Activate the Lotus," he said between clenched teeth.
"It's not fully awakened," she replied, her tone calm despite the danger. "But it will listen to me."
Behind them, the Judge raised one finger.
A chain flew down from the sky like a black lightning bolt, coiling toward them with a roar that split mountains.
"MOVE!" Ziyan roared, slamming his palm against the earth.
A circle of golden dragon light erupted from beneath his feet.
His soul force surged, pushing him past his limits. His Divine Dragon Physique awakened further—muscles hardening like celestial jade, blood roaring with ancestral fury. A pair of translucent draconic wings began to form behind him, not yet real, but flickering with potential.
The chain struck the ground where they had stood, obliterating a hundred-meter-wide crater in an instant.
The aftershock knocked Ziyan off balance.
But Yanyue raised the Lotus.
And it responded.
A brilliant veil of light enveloped them both—the Lotus Projection, a spatial artifact from her former divine self.
With a sharp twist of her hand, the Lotus twisted space around them, folding the battlefield like paper.
In a single instant, they vanished from that point—
—and reappeared kilometers away, standing at the edge of a broken gorge where the realm's spatial laws were weakest.
"Here," Yanyue said quickly, pulling out a jade talisman.
"This will break through the realm's edge. But we only have one shot."
Ziyan nodded. "Do it."
But just as she activated the talisman—
BOOM.
The Judge descended.
He hadn't teleported.
He hadn't moved through normal space.
He had simply… appeared.
As if the world bent to his will.
"This is divine territory," the Judge said, his voice like a death knell. "You cannot escape me, child of fate."
A second chain shot forward.
Ziyan gritted his teeth and placed himself in front of Yanyue.
His sword burst with life, golden light illuminating the dark sky. Dragon roars filled the heavens as he slashed upward—
CLANG!
The chain struck the sword, and Ziyan's body was flung backward like a meteor. He crashed into a shattered cliff, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Ziyan!" Yanyue screamed.
The Lotus trembled violently in her hand, reacting to her desperation. Her divine aura surged.
"No," she whispered. "Not again. I won't lose him again."
The memory of her death in this place flashed across her mind. Betrayal. Chains. Silence.
But this time—
She would rewrite fate.
She stepped forward, her feet floating inches above the ground.
The Lotus burned bright in her hand, petals scattering into the air. Her body began to shimmer with divine light as the Divine Celestial Maiden's Soul Fragment within her fully awakened.
The Judge narrowed his eyes. "So you awaken after all."
Yanyue extended her hand.
The chains that had bound the jade gate in the sky quivered… and shattered.
The gate began to open.
Just a crack.
But enough.
She turned to Ziyan, who was slowly pushing himself to his feet.
"I'll hold him," she said, her voice calm, but her eyes… her eyes burned with tears. "You must go through the gate. If you fall here, everything we've done will be for nothing."
"No." Ziyan stood, wiping blood from his lip. "We go together."
She smiled, stepping closer, placing her hand over his heart.
"Then protect me," she whispered.
And together, they rose.
—
What followed was chaos.
Chains of divine judgment lashed the earth, splitting the sky and collapsing entire portions of the realm.
Ziyan and Yanyue fought as one—his sword dancing with golden light, her Lotus shielding them from each killing blow.
Every swing of his blade was backed by the fury of his bloodline. His dragon soul roared louder than ever, pushing him into a Half-Step Mid Soul Transformation realm as battle comprehension poured into his body.
But the Judge was too strong.
No matter how many times they evaded, deflected, or countered—
He was untouchable.
He moved like a god.
As their strength began to fade, the gate above pulsed once more. A blinding light began to pour through, growing more intense by the second.
The gateway was activating.
Their only hope.
"Ziyan!" Yanyue shouted. "The gate!"
Another chain was coming.
Ziyan turned, pushing all his strength into a final Heaven-Destroying Sword Art strike, severing the incoming chain with a roar.
And then—
He grabbed Yanyue.
And they flew upward.
The gate opened wide, revealing a realm of pure white light—what lay beyond, they didn't know. Only that it was not controlled by the Tribunal.
They were a few meters away.
Almost there.
Almost—
CRACK.
A final chain whipped out from the Judge.
It didn't aim for Ziyan.
It aimed for Yanyue.
The chain pierced through her shoulder mid-flight, yanking her downward violently.
"NO!" Ziyan shouted.
He grabbed her hand.
The gate was right there.
If they missed it now, the rift would close.
The chain pulled harder.
Ziyan's arms shook. "I won't let go."
Blood dripped down her lips.
"Ziyan," she whispered. "You must live."
"No—" he started.
But she smiled at him through the pain.
"You're the only one who can kill them."
And then—
She let go.
Her hand slipped from his grasp.
The chain pulled her down.
The light swallowed Ziyan.
He screamed her name.
And the gate—
Closed.
—
Silence.
Ziyan collapsed onto a field of endless white.
His body broken.
His heart… shattered.
There was no one around. No sky. No trees. No sound. Only the slow rise and fall of his breath in a world without direction.
He sat there, still as death.
Until a faint whisper reached his ears.
A voice.
Hers.
> "You will find me again… in the realm where gods die."