The broken fragments of the High-Dimensional Clock turned into a skyful of dim blue dust. Beneath the vast Purple-Gold Divine Radiance of the Eternal Heavenly Palace, they faded into the depths of the void cliff like fireflies scattered on the wind. Chu Qing guided the towering Heavenly Palace steadily through the violent vortex of the Second Heaven and brought it to a halt at the edge of the chaotic plain leading to the gates of the Third Heaven. Ahead, gray-white primordial qi churned; behind, the ruins of shattered laws lay silent. In this bitterly cold realm, far from the myriad worlds of All Heavens and the life of the Red Dust, only the chill and stillness of endless dimensions followed like shadows.
Yet during the brief pause before the Heavenly Palace broke through the seal, a rift in the void ahead suddenly twisted violently. It was no appointed guardian of the next Heaven, but a remnant law-enforcement commander who had clung to life and escaped the collapse of the Second Heaven. Tattered ghostly light of karma burned around him. At the sight of Chu Qing sitting alone and at ease on the Heavenly Palace's dragon prow, envy and despair reddened his eyes.
"Low-dimensional madman! Don't stand there acting as though victory is already yours!"
The remnant commander lunged from the rift, his gaunt claws raking wildly through emptiness. He poured out every last scrap of his higher-dimensional spirit. "The Second Heaven suffered only a momentary setback! Before the Third Heaven, I won't let you sit here enjoying yourself! Taste the eternal cold that freezes the soul!"
Amid his shrill howl, tens of thousands of pallid written talismans condensed in the void. They formed an icy edict steeped in the severing of all feeling and fell upon the Heavenly Palace's deck