Chapter 11 - The Heavenly Court
Xia Chen's pupils constricted at the sudden change. Over the past two months, he'd sought to rouse the jade seal, but it had remained utterly unresponsive.
Today, faint threads of light spread from it. He quickened his pace, crossing the sprawling household to his courtyard room, shutting the door.
His palm burned, as if something strained to emerge from his flesh.
He sensed a deep bond with the seal—symbiotic, rooted as one.
Chaotic qi wisped from the jade seal. In a daze, Xia Chen glimpsed the interweaving of the Dao and its principles, chains of order bursting forth.
Mystic runes surfaced on the seal. He saw billions of beings prostrate, immortal flames blazing. At the heart of a boundless domain spanning countless miles stood a towering altar, wrought from five-hued chaos stone.
A mysterious, ancient sacrifice!
Xia Chen heard a sacrificial hymn that seemed to resound through the myriad heavens.
"Calling me?"
His head spun, ears ringing, goosebumps prickling his skin.
Then, the once-illusory seal began solidifying, as if manifesting into reality, descending from some unknown realm into this world.
Drawn irresistibly, Xia Chen approached the seal, now hovering in his room, exuding faint purple qi.
In an instant, he vanished, sucked into it.
Outside, the room lay tranquil. In the Marquis of Zhendong's household, brimming with powerhouses, not a soul noticed.
…
Xia Chen steadied his mind, scanning his surroundings—a strange, alien world.
All was frozen, a desolate silence.
Only the area near him held faint life, a pocket of normalcy.
He stood atop a grand five-hued altar, laden with objects.
An ancient beast, larger than mountains, dripped fresh blood, as if recently slain.
A chunk of chaos jade essence radiated chaotic qi, alongside crimson-gold phoenix divine metal.
"Is that… a phoenix egg?"
Xia Chen studied it. Though new to these items, their details surged unbidden into his mind.
Far off, suspended in the void, a vibrant egg pulsed with life, as if in nirvana.
His heart quaked.
Near this pure-blood phoenix egg, another gleamed in harmony.
"A dragon egg!"
Xia Chen's calm shattered. Phoenixes and true dragons—long extinct.
As apex divine beasts, their mere traces sparked bloodbaths.
In the Spiritual Energy Revival era, a few drops of phoenix marrow or dragon blood had fueled rapid ascents.
Yet here sat a phoenix egg and a dragon egg, alive and pulsing—an astounding sight.
"Sacrificing ancient beasts, rare treasures, even pure-blood dragon and phoenix—to whom? The heavens? No, not that!"
His heart surged. Who could warrant such offerings?
He'd thought it a tribute to the sky, but glancing around, he dismissed it. He stood above the firmament, enthroned atop the ninth heaven!
A vast palace complex, forged from stars, spanned billions of miles, as if suppressing the myriad realms.
In that moment, Xia Chen felt like a deity of this place, the entire world within his sight, granting him partial knowledge of it.
He'd gained some authority.
He edged toward the offerings, but an invisible barrier halted him.
After countless tries, he gave up—full access eluded him.
"Have I not earned this place's approval? Or do I lack the conditions?"
He murmured, speculating, then let it go, surveying this enigma further.
"The Heavenly Court? A supreme, all-ruling immortal dynasty, now fallen for some reason, all sealed in ice!"
He saw distant, frozen celestial soldiers and generals, palaces bearing names.
Lingxiao Hall, Ministry of War, Medicine Hall, Hanlin Academy, Academy of the Hundred Schools, Demon-Slaying Platform, God-Sealing Platform, Merit Pavilion, Mortal-Shedding Pool…
Departments abounded, housing figures of terrifying aura, all encased in ice.
Their lives had dimmed, yet within each grew a crystal, radiating a unique charm and the laws of the Dao.
As Xia Chen peered, a dragon's roar thundered in his ears.
His pupils shrank. A golden divine dragon, spanning unknown expanses, burst from Zixiao Hall.
Its head loomed, its tail unseen.
But it faltered—weak, its golden glow faint, teetering on oblivion.
"Qi Yun Divine Dragon!"
Its origin flashed in Xia Chen's mind.
The dragon's eyes brimmed with spirit. Spotting Xia Chen, joy flared within them.
In a blink, it loomed overhead. Before he could react, it plunged into his forehead, merging with him.
Xia Chen felt as if his body might burst apart.
Vast energy flooded him, shattering his meridians instantly.
Yet amid it, a mighty vitality surged. His crumbling flesh regenerated swiftly.
Destruction and life cycled endlessly.
Fused, opposed, yet unified.
His body became a vessel, now locked in an eerie balance.
Simultaneously, his eyes flared under the strain. The faint double pupils sharpened fully, his obsidian-gold irises mutating.
Two pupils gleamed in pristine sockets—one yin, one yang, like sun and moon entwined. Purple-gold qi swirled, the qi yun dragon flickering as it melded with them.
Double pupils—an ancient marvel, mark of supreme sages and emperors. Legend held that their bearers bore destinies of dominion.
None who survived infancy failed to rule the heavens.
Now, Xia Chen's double pupils awakened…
How long it lasted, he couldn't tell. Awakening, he found his physique forged like diamond, transformed inside and out.
"That golden dragon—condensed from this ruined Heavenly Court's qi yun—entered me?"
Xia Chen's expression grew grave. A qi yun dynasty gathered the realm's fate, appointing divine officials who drew on it to cultivate.
The crux of the later [Immortal Dynasty Wars].
The world's strife chased this qi yun power.
Only a dynasty's lord could bear its qi yun dragon. Yet now, had he absorbed it?