The Celestial Palace burned.
Not with fire — but with fractured law.
Golden halls once forged from absolute authority now flickered, their runes unstable, their foundations trembling. Divine mirrors lay shattered across the floor, each reflecting a different future — none of them obedient.
At the center of it all, the Immortal Emperor knelt.
Blood stained his robes.
Fear stained his soul.
---
He rose slowly.
Around him, ministers trembled, generals bowed, and Heaven's remaining laws waited — uncertain, weakened, but still bound to him.
> "My Emperor…" one minister whispered, "the Immortal Realm is destabilizing. Sects are breaking from Heaven's mandate. The Veil—"
> "Enough," the Emperor said quietly.
He lifted his head.
His eyes were no longer gold.
They were empty.
---
> "Heaven was created to ensure order," he said, voice steady but cold.
"If order requires sacrifice… then so be it."
He turned toward the deepest chamber of the palace — a place erased from all records.
The Vault of Original Sin.
The ministers recoiled.
"No—Your Majesty! That seal—"
The Emperor continued walking.
> "Fear has shown me the truth," he said softly.
"Balance does not preserve rule. Power does."
---
The vault opened.
Inside was no treasure.
No weapon.
Only a black mirror, floating in chains of crimson law.
The Heaven-Slaying Edict.
A law never meant to be invoked — one that allowed Heaven to devour its own foundation to erase a single existence.
> "This edict was forged from Origin's remains," the Emperor murmured.
"A mistake… I once swore never to repeat."
He reached out.
The mirror screamed.
---
Across the Immortal Realm, every cultivator felt it.
A sensation like being unwritten.
Sect formations faltered. Bloodlines burned. Oaths shattered.
Even time stuttered.
Feixue stopped mid-step.
Her eyes narrowed for the first time.
> "He chose it…"
Seraphis stiffened.
> "What did he do?"
Feixue's voice was low.
> "He broke Heaven's last restraint."
---
Back in the Celestial Palace, the Emperor pressed his palm against the mirror.
The chains snapped.
Black light flooded the hall, consuming gold, devouring authority, replacing it with something far more ancient — negation.
> "HEAVEN-SLAYING EDICT ACTIVATED."
The Emperor screamed — not in pain, but in transformation.
His divine core cracked open, releasing a torrent of corrupted Origin energy.
His crown shattered.
His law burned away.
And something else emerged.
---
A Throne of Fear formed behind him.
Not acknowledged by reality.
Not chosen.
Taken.
The Emperor stood, his form warped — no longer a ruler, but a predator.
> "If Origin will not kneel," he growled,
"then I will erase it."
---
Far above, the sky darkened unnaturally.
A symbol appeared across all realms — a black sigil shaped like a broken circle.
Mortals screamed.
Immortals fled.
Heaven itself began to bleed.
The ancient voice of the True Throne echoed faintly from beyond Heaven, strained and warning:
> "TABOO BREACHED."
"ORIGIN CORRUPTION DETECTED."
---
Feixue exhaled slowly.
> "This is no longer a war," she said.
"It's an extinction attempt."
Seraphis clenched her fists.
> "Then we stop him."
Feixue shook her head.
> "No. This time… Heaven must be stopped."
She looked toward the collapsing sky.
> "And that will require a choice even I cannot make alone."
The wind stilled.
Snow fell upward.
Reality braced itself.