Chapter Eleven: Heaven’s Decree
✨ Scene I: The Sky Burns with Law
Dawn had not yet arrived.
But the skies burned.
Golden fire etched words into the clouds, a decree that could be seen across the Eastern Realms. Written in Ancient Celestial Script, it hung like a blade over the world.
> "Let it be known…
Jiang Chen, bearer of the Obsidian Moon Flame, defier of divine law,
is henceforth declared an enemy of the Sky Throne Empire.
All sects loyal to the Empire are to deliver his head—or face obliteration."
The skies trembled. Mountains shook. Rivers wept.
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🏯 Scene II: The World Reacts
In Sunshade Pavilion, merchants halted their trade, eyes wide as they read the flames above.
In the Holy Orchid Temple, monks gasped in horror—this was the first time the Empire had named a mortal their "Heaven's Foe."
In the Crimson Wolf Sect, battle horns blew. Armies began to march.
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🔥 Scene III: Jiang Chen's Camp
Xiao Bai read the decree aloud, face calm, eyes cold. "They're not just afraid. They're desperate."
Jiang Chen said nothing for a long time. The Obsidian Moon Flame coiled silently within his soul core.
> "Let them know fear," he finally said.
The others stood stunned. Mei Xin clutched her dagger. Lin Yue's fingers drummed across her poison satchel.
> "We need to move now," she said. "This changes everything."
Jiang Chen turned to face the east.
> "No. This confirms everything."
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🧝♀️ Scene IV: The Moonlight Abyss – Xue Lian Awakens
In a jade tower beneath a silver moon, Xue Lian, one of Jiang Chen's former allies—and betrayers—opened her eyes.
Her meditation ended with a single phrase: "So, the Tyrant rises again."
She turned toward the window.
> "Let the dance begin."
Behind her, assassins knelt, trembling.
> "Begin the Mirrorblade Operation," she commanded. "Make him bleed... before I welcome him."
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🌃 Scene V: Assassins Under Moonlight
The group crossed into the Shattered Vale, a valley where moonlight never reached the ground. It was there that the first attack came.
Shadow mists.
Spirit assassins with blades that ignored armor.
Enemies who spoke Jiang Chen's true soul name, trying to bind him.
The battle was swift, brutal.
Jiang Chen unleashed the Tyrant Halberd, its power splitting the vale.
> "You know my name?" he growled. "Then remember it as you die."
Their souls turned to ash.
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🧙 Scene VI: The Divine Envoy Appears
As the group rested near the Moonlit Ruins, a figure stepped from the void.
Clad in white and gold, his aura was both divine and fractured. He bowed, then offered a sealed scroll marked with the Sky Throne's Emblem.
> "I am Envoy Ruen, servant of Heaven's Law. I come not to kill, but to... speak."
Everyone tensed. Jiang Chen didn't flinch.
> "Speak then. If your words displease me, you'll join your gods in silence."
Ruen smirked.
> "They fear what you're becoming. But I bring more than warnings… I bring a memory."
He tossed Jiang Chen a glowing shard.
As Jiang Chen touched it—images burst through his mind.
> —A battlefield.
—A cloaked woman.
—A hidden truth: Jiang Chen was once a Celestial Prince, cast down by the very heavens he served.
The flame inside him roared.
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🔓 Scene VII: Breaking Through
That night, Jiang Chen meditated alone.
In the silence, he re-lived it all:
The betrayal not just of allies—but of heaven itself.
The moment he was struck down by the Celestial Tribunal.
The realization that the Obsidian Moon Flame was never meant to exist—it was a rebel spark, older than law.
> "They didn't just kill me. They feared me."
He opened his eyes.
The fifth stage awakened within him—Heavenbreaker Core.
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🩸 Scene VIII: The First Strike
The next morning, the party was ambushed again—this time by a coalition of Sky Throne loyal sects.
Jiang Chen gave a single order:
> "No prisoners."
What followed was a massacre.
Xiao Bai unleashed his sword soul.
Lin Yue drowned armies in purple mist.
Mei Xin severed generals' minds from their bodies.
Jiang Chen walked through flames, his halberd painting death across the battlefield.
When it ended, he stood atop a mountain of corpses.
> "This is your decree? Then let mine be louder."