The Star Fire Clan's Saint King watches the last strand of lightning fade from the heavens—
And his expression turns grave.
Lou Yuan floats in the sky, wrapped in rising Heaven-and-Earth essence, the mark of a newly ascended Great Saint.
But not merely that.
He survived the Young Supreme tribulation…
and passed it with ease.
A future Supreme.
The Saint King's pupils narrow violently.
"Unacceptable."
If a human with Supreme potential grows…
If word reaches the clan…
If he allows such a threat to walk free—
*He will be skinned alive.
And then skinned again when the news spreads.*
His killing intent congeals.
He must die. Here. Now.
The Saint King lifts his hand.
Saint energy and Dao roar out like a burning star.
A bow of starlight forms in his grasp—
stretched tight with killing will.
The string hums.
Space trembles.
From gathered starfire, an arrow condenses—
bright, merciless, annihilating.
BOOM—
The arrow shoots, tearing a silver wound through the sky.
Lou Yuan senses death screaming toward him.
He reacts instantly.
His Dao erupts—
Basalt Starfield materialises, constellations spinning—
Stars connect with threads of holy light.
A spectral Basalt Turtle Shell forms, glowing with cosmic runes, and slides into the arrow's path.
All in a fraction of a second.
The starfire arrow slams into it—
CRACK… CRACK… BOOM—!
The shell holds.
For two breaths.
Three.
Then shatters—
—but the delay is enough.
Lou Yuan flashes aside, narrowly escaping.
The arrow whistles past him and disappears into the sky.
He lets out a half-breath of relief—
—but then his heart clenches.
Above, the scattered starfire gathers—
and explodes.
Hundreds of flaming shards rain down like meteors, slow enough to dodge…
…for him.
But below…
The town.
The humans.
They cannot escape.
His jaw tightens.
He shifts his starfield—
Qìanlóng Formation ignites.
A serpentine dragon of starlight coils around him, its body humming with destructive law. It cuts through the air, roars—
—and unleashes a wave of star-sound.
BOOOOM—!
The meteor rain shatters midair, fragments evaporating into harmless motes of light.
Lou Yuan exhales—
—and a shadow falls over him.
He looks up.
Too late.
A palm made of condensed starfire slams into him, a strike infused with Saint King's wrath.
CRACK—!
He's hurled toward the earth like a meteor, smashing into shattered stone.
Before he can rise—
The Saint King attacks again.
A barrage of starfire spheres falls like miniature suns.
Lou Yuan steadies himself, kneeling, breathing harshly—
—and the Suzaku Star Formation spirals around him.
A crimson phoenix shrieks, snatches him up, and dives aside, carrying him through gaps between detonations.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!
Explosions chase behind him as he escapes upward into the sky.
Lou Yuan wipes blood from his mouth and stares at the Saint King with burning resolve.
"If I don't enter it… I will die."
He closes his eyes.
And steps willingly—
—into the Forbidden State.
His aura erupts like a storm.
Great Saint essence surges—
and then climbs, climbs higher—
Until it touches the realm of—
Saint King.
The Saint King's eyes widen.
Lou Yuan whispers:
"Let's finish this quickly."
Four stars ignite around him.
The White Tiger Formation manifests—
a colossal tiger of starlight, savage and regal.
Lou Yuan moves.
Instant. Brutal. Absolute.
White Tiger Claw!
The claw rips through space and slashes across the Saint King's chest—
tearing open a bloody arc.
The Saint King chokes, caught off guard, body thrown backwards.
Lou Yuan is already behind him.
They collide in close combat—
fists, claws, fire, starlight—
Every strike aimed to kill.
Both fight with only one thought:
*To survive.
To destroy.
To end the other first.*
The sky churns and warps around them—
Two blazing stars are colliding in a storm of destruction.
One burns with star fire, violent and devouring.
One gleams with pure starlight, sharp as celestial steel.
And Lou Yuan—
—begins to push the Saint King back.
His movements are no longer defensive or desperate.
They are precise.
Cold.
Relentless.
White Tiger claws rake across the Saint King's armour of flame, each strike drawing deeper wounds.
BOOM—!
A tiger-shaped blast tears through the air, forcing the Saint King to block with both hands. The defence shatters, sending him skidding backwards through a canyon of clouds.
Lou Yuan appears at his flank—
a flash of starlight.
CRACK—!
Elbow to the ribs.
BOOM—!
Knee into the spine.
SLASH—!
A starlight blade cuts across the thigh.
The Saint King grunts—humiliated, bleeding, breath ragged.
"This… human…!"
He staggers, flames flickering weakly around him.
Lou Yuan's eyes glow like falling stars.
"You wanted my life."
He slams his palm into the Saint King's chest.
"Now face the consequences."
A massive burst of starlight detonates, knocking the Saint King downward, crashing through three layers of cloud.
The Saint King barely stabilises himself, coughing blood, body trembling.
His expression twists with fury—and fear.
He's losing.
To a newly ascended Great Saint.
No—
to a monster capable of killing a Saint King while only borrowing the strength of one.
Lou Yuan rises above him, White Tiger aura coiling like a predator preparing the final pounce.
But then—
Something shifts.
Lou Yuan's breath trembles.
His aura flickers.
The constellation behind him wavers as if smudged by a sudden darkness.
And then—
—his power drops.
Not collapses, but slides downward, uncontrolled, like a cliff falling apart.
Saint King level…
Peak Great Saint…
Middle…
Early…
He stabilises at Great Saint Realm.
The Forbidden State ends.
The White Tiger vanishes.
The starlight dims.
Lou Yuan's shoulders rise and fall—
exhausted, drenched in sweat, barely holding himself upright.
He doesn't attack.
He doesn't breathe.
His mind races.
Is this real?
Is the Forbidden State gone?
Or is the human baiting him—waiting to counter-kill?
Lou Yuan's gaze meets his—calm, unreadable.
The Saint King's spine tingles.
A cold dread coils around his heart.
*What if this is a trap?
What if the moment he gets close… that monstrous aura flares again?*
He floats in silence, starfire wavering uncertainly around his body, unable to advance or retreat.
For the first time since the battle began—
The Saint King hesitates.
His pupils narrow. His killing intent flickers, dims, then tightens into cold calculation.
Lou Yuan's aura has fallen.
His forbidden state has vanished.
But a cornered cultivator is the most dangerous kind.
He refuses to gamble.
He lifts his hand.
A silent command spreads through the battlefield like a shockwave.
*" You Five—go.
Crush him."*
Five Great Saints of the Star Fire clan shoot forward, flames trailing behind them like blazing comets.
*"The rest—break the town barrier.
Leave no human standing."*
The Saint King himself retreats several li away, landing atop a burning cloud.
His breathing steadies.
His body knits wounds closed.
He heals—
and watches.
His eyes remain fixed on Lou Yuan, analysing every movement with the cold scrutiny of a butcher choosing the moment of slaughter.
Let the subordinates wear him down.
If he can't re-enter that forbidden state, he will die miserably.
Five auras descend on him like falling mountains.
Lou Yuan lifts both hands—
His stars ignite.
"—Basalt Starfield."
A titanic shell of star-forged tortoise and serpent shields him.
Five flaming fists crash down—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Cracks spiderweb across the shell, but it holds long enough for Lou Yuan to slide through it and counter.
"—Azure Dragon Starfield!"
A massive dragon of starlight coils around him, then launches forward, fangs bared.
The serpent-dragon tears one Great Saint out of the sky, sending him spinning through a pillar of fire.
But the other four press in.
Lou Yuan switches stance—
"—Vermilion Bird Starfield!"
A phoenix of blazing starlight bursts from his back, wings slicing the air into burning crescents.
It clashes with fire spears and dissolves into sparks.
Lou Yuan coughs up blood.
His injuries deepen.
But he doesn't stop.
His feet slide into the fourth stance.
"—White Tiger Starfield!"
A roar—
a killing intent sharp enough to carve the clouds—
And Lou Yuan flashes forward.
The white tiger's claws shred through a Great Saint's defences, leaving burning trenches of starlight across his armour.
The Saint King watching from afar narrows his eyes.
He is strong—but fading.
His energy consumption is horrifying. He won't be able to enter the forbidden state again.
He relaxes slightly, confidence returning.
Good.
Let them bleed him dry.
The Saint King's aura swells.
He is preparing to strike.
To finish it.
Lou Yuan feels the pressure—
the raw killing intent—
the inevitability.
His fingers tremble.
In his dantian, the Star Staff pulses gently.
He touches it with his mind.
One strike.
One—
And the Saint King dies.
But using it now would mark him forever.
It would draw the eyes of every Saint King, every clan, every power in the Battlefield Realm.
Still—
Death approaches.
He prepares to draw the Star Staff—
But then—
Everything changes.
A tremor of power ripples through the town.
A majestic aura surges upward—
vast, unstoppable, crackling with new Saint King might.
The very clouds pull back as if bowing.
Lou Yuan freezes.
The Saint King freezes.
And then—
A brilliant streak of light erupts from the centre of the town, shooting into the sky like a comet.
A newly ascended Human Saint King.
The Star Fire Saint King's face turns ashen.
"Impossible."
The fleeing light accelerates toward the heavens, carrying the promise of a human Saint King rising in the battlefield realm.
The Saint King of the Star Fire clan roars—
"UNACCEPTABLE!"
He vanishes in a streak of flame, racing after the fleeing light.
If that human finishes stabilising their Saint King realm—
if they return to the battlefield—
The consequences for him would be catastrophic.
He must kill the new Saint King.
He has to.