True Sun Fire

Chapter 6: True Sun Fire

Three days passed, neither quickly nor slowly.

Taiyi stayed in the Sun Palace, going nowhere. He did two things: meditating and staring blankly at the scorched hole on his desk. The edges of the hole remained as they were when burned that day, the melted jade fused there like a bizarre painting. He tried to repair it with ordinary spells, but it was useless—the order of existence in that place was too thoroughly disrupted for common methods to fix.

However, the Chaos True Sun Fire was becoming more obedient.

From the initial rampaging beast, it gradually turned into a leashed hound. Although the leash wasn't secure and it occasionally bared its teeth, at least it could be called back now. Taiyi attempted to mobilize it, starting with a wisp and slowly increasing it to a finger-thick flame. It was still unnervingly effective at burning things, touching anything and obliterating it without even leaving ash.

On the morning of the third day, before dawn had fully broken, Taiyi opened his eyes.

The sleeping chambers were dim, with only the fire coral by the window emitting a faint light, casting long shadows on the wall. He got up and walked to the window, pushing it open. The sea of clouds was still asleep, and the distant horizon had just begun to show a fish-belly white.

It was time to depart.

He changed into a simple dark, fitted outfit, forgoing the cumbersome accessories, only wearing the jade pendant Di Jun had given him on his waist. As he pushed the door open, the corridor was empty. Only the on-duty Demon Guards stood beneath a distant pillar. Seeing him emerge, they immediately straightened their backs.

"Your Majesty."

"I'm going out for a bit," Taiyi waved his hand. "No need to follow."

The Demon Guards bowed and accepted the order, not asking a single extra word.

Taiyi walked through the long corridor, his footsteps echoing in the spacious palace. He had familiarized himself with the layout of the Sun Palace over the past few days. From his chambers to the exit, he had to pass through seven layers of doors, each carved with patterns of True Sun Fire. As he passed the third door, he suddenly stopped.

There was a mural on the wall.

It depicted two Golden Crows being born from the Sun Star. Flames raged, stars trembled, and two giant birds, entirely golden, flapped their wings out of the sea of fire, their long cries shattering the void. The artistry was exquisite, with even the patterns on the feathers clearly visible.

Taiyi stood before the painting for a while, then reached out, his fingertip lightly brushing the surface.

A cold touch.

But in his memory, it should have been scorching hot—the temperature at the core of the Sun Star, capable of instantly vaporizing metal. The moment he and Di Jun hatched, the entire Sun Star rejoiced, flames transforming into torrents that circled him. That heat was seared into his soul, unforgettable.

"This Venerable One, ah, this Venerable One," he murmured, "I'm borrowing your body for a moment, don't mind."

The Golden Crows in the painting looked at him silently.

Taiyi withdrew his hand and continued forward.

Exiting the Sun Palace, he was on the main road of the Heavenly Court. At this hour, there were few people on the road, only a few patrols of Demon Soldiers passing by. They saluted from afar upon seeing him and only dared to look up after he had walked far away. The Heavenly Court's early morning had a peculiar tranquility—not true silence, but the oppressive calm before a storm, where all sounds were suppressed and all movements were restrained.

He walked in the direction of the South Heaven Gate.

He wasn't actually going to leave the South Heaven Gate; he needed to find a place where no one would be. The Sun Star should be in the southeast celestial domain at this time, and it was the closest route from there. Near the South Heaven Gate, there was a swirling sea of clouds that no one usually visited, which was perfect.

Halfway there, he suddenly heard someone call him.

"Eastern Emperor Your Majesty!"

The voice came from the right. Taiyi turned his head and saw Bai Ze hurrying over from a side path, still holding a jade slip in his hand, walking somewhat hastily, the hem of his robe even fluttering.

"Bai Ze?" Taiyi stopped.

Bai Ze approached and bowed slightly. "Where is Your Majesty headed?"

"Just going for a stroll," Taiyi said casually. "Feeling cooped up."

Bai Ze raised his eyes. Something flickered in those usually calm and unwavering eyes, too quickly to grasp. He looked at Taiyi's attire, then at his direction, and after a moment of thought, said, "If Your Majesty wishes to relax, the Fusang Forest to the east has beautiful scenery. Golden Flame Flowers have recently bloomed there."

The words sounded like a suggestion, and also like a test.

Taiyi smiled. "I'm tired of the Fusang Forest; I'll go somewhere else."

"Then..." Bai Ze paused. "Your Majesty, please be careful. The celestial phenomena have been unstable recently, and there are turbulent currents in the southeast celestial domain."

This was getting interesting.

Taiyi narrowed his eyes, staring at Bai Ze for two seconds. The wise man of the Demon Race showed no expression, just stood there holding the jade slip, as if mentioning it casually. But Taiyi knew Bai Ze never spoke nonsense.

"I understand," he nodded, turning to continue walking.

After walking more than ten steps, he looked back. Bai Ze was still standing in the same spot, watching his retreating figure. Seeing him look back, Bai Ze bowed slightly again, then turned and went in another direction.

His figure looked somewhat slender, his moon-white robe gently swaying in the morning breeze.

Taiyi withdrew his gaze, pondering Bai Ze's words. Unstable celestial phenomena, turbulent currents in the southeast—was there truly an anomaly, or had Bai Ze sensed something and was warning him?

[System detected abnormal energy fluctuations in the southeast celestial domain, consistent with the Sun Star's activity cycle]

A prompt sounded in his mind.

Alright, no need to ponder. Bai Ze, that old fox, had likely calculated something but couldn't say it directly, so he was hinting indirectly. Taiyi shook his head and quickened his pace.

Arriving at the swirling sea of clouds near the South Heaven Gate, there was indeed no one there. The vortex spun slowly, the clouds at its edges stretched into wisps, emitting a low, mournful sound. This area was close to the Heavenly Court's border, with sparse spiritual energy, and even the patrol teams were too lazy to come here usually.

Taiyi stood at the edge of the vortex and looked down.

It was bottomless.

The sea of clouds churned beneath his feet, occasionally revealing the deeper void below, dark and pitch-black. Staring for too long made one's hair stand on end. He took a deep breath and leaped.

The wind howled past his ears.

His descent accelerated, the clouds brushing past him, damp and cool. After falling about a hundred zhang, he suddenly activated his magic power, his body abruptly stopping in mid-air, then transforming into a golden rainbow, shooting towards the southeast.

The rainbow light tore through the sea of clouds, leaving a long trail behind.

After flying for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the surrounding scenery began to change. The clouds grew thinner and thinner, but the temperature started to rise—not gradually, but in leaps and bounds. One moment it was merely warm, the next it was hot enough to make one sweat, and the moment after that, the skin itself began to feel scorching.

In the distance, the silhouette of the Sun Star appeared.

It wasn't the gentle sun seen on normal days, but the real, unshielded Sun Star. It was immense, scorching, its surface churning with golden waves of fire, each wave ten thousand feet high. The light was so intense it made one's eyes water, and the heatwave rushed forward from afar, as if to bake one into nothingness.

Taiyi stopped, hovering in the void.

He gazed at the star, and a complex emotion suddenly surged within him—a sense of closeness, yet also of fear. This was the place that had nurtured him, his roots, but the pressure emanating from it now made even him, its "own son," feel a prickling sensation on his scalp.

[Sign-in Location: Sun Star Core]
[Danger Level: ★★★★☆]
[Recommendation: Fully activate True Sun Fire to protect your body and proceed gradually]

"You don't need to tell me," Taiyi muttered under his breath, forming hand seals.

Golden flames surged from his body, instantly enveloping him. It wasn't the Chaos True Sun Fire, but pure True Sun Fire—one had to appear in their true form when visiting home. The flames circulated around him, forming a solid shield that blocked the heatwave, and the temperature immediately dropped somewhat.

He flew towards the Sun Star.

The closer he got, the greater the pressure. The surrounding void began to distort, light bending into strange arcs, and the temperature was so high that space itself seemed to groan. Taiyi could feel the True Sun Fire protecting his body being consumed at an alarming rate, like ice cubes thrown into a furnace, sizzling audibly.

He stopped when he was still a thousand miles from the surface.

He couldn't fly any further—the concentration of True Sun Fire here was terrifyingly high. The flames were no longer merely burning but had condensed into a liquid state. It was a boundless sea of golden fire, with surging waves. Each drop of fiery liquid contained enough energy to obliterate a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.

Taiyi hovered above the sea of fire and looked down.

Deep within the fiery sea, the outline of the core could be vaguely seen—brighter, more blazing, like the heart of the star, pulsing slowly. With each pulse, an endless torrent of flames erupted, sweeping across the entire surface of the Sun Star.

"I have to go in..." he murmured.

[Yes. Sign-in requires reaching the core area.]

"Are you sure I won't be burned to ashes?"

[The host was nurtured by the Sun Star and is naturally compatible. However, caution is advised.]

That was as good as saying nothing.

Taiyi gritted his teeth, his body sinking as he plunged into the sea of fire.

The moment he touched the liquid flames, the entire world changed.

Sound vanished, light vanished, even the sense of time became muddled. All around him was pure, extreme fiery energy, frantically drilling into his body. The True Sun Fire protecting him vibrated violently, on the verge of collapse. Taiyi forcefully channeled all his magical power, stabilizing himself, and then began to descend deeper.

Deeper.

Continuously descending.

The pressure around him grew greater and greater. The flames transformed from a liquid state into something denser, like molten gold, so viscous that progress was agonizingly slow. The temperature was indescribably high; Taiyi felt like a piece of iron being repeatedly forged—no, worse than that, even his soul was being scorched.

He gritted his teeth and continued downward.

After an unknown period, perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years, the pressure around him suddenly eased.

He had arrived.

The Sun Star's core.

There were no flames here, or rather, the flames had condensed to their absolute limit, transforming into an ocean of light. Pure light, pure heat, pure energy flowed slowly through the void. At the center floated a fist-sized orb of light, crystal clear, as if condensed from the purest sunlight, emitting a heart-stopping fluctuation.

Taiyi hovered at the edge of the light sea, gazing at the orb.

This was the Sun Star's origin, the accumulation of the star's essence over billions of years. Just looking at it made his eyes sting and his primordial spirit tremble.

[Sign-in location reached.] [Starting sign-in...]

The System's voice was somewhat distorted, as if affected by interference.

Taiyi remained still, hovering quietly. He could feel something being drawn from the void, converging towards him. It wasn't the violent aura of Blood Fiend, but something older, more fundamental, like... fragments of memory from the Sun Star's birth.

The orb of light suddenly vibrated.

A faint wisp of light detached from its surface and drifted towards Taiyi. The wisp was as thin as a hair, yet it contained terrifying energy. Wherever it passed, even the surrounding sea of light seemed to part.

Taiyi extended his hand.

The wisp landed in his palm, without temperature, without weight, just lying there quietly. Then, it melted, like ice and snow dissolving, seeping into his skin, into his flesh and blood, deep into his very bones.

Boom--

His mind exploded.

Countless images, sounds, and sensations flooded in. The first ray of light when the Sun Star was born from chaos; the trajectory of the star's orbit over billions of years; the evolution of fire from its nascent stage to its peak; and... the long cry that shook the Great Wilderness when two Golden Crows hatched.

Memories, the Sun Star's memories.

Taiyi closed his eyes, letting these fragments collide within his consciousness. He saw himself—no, Eastern Emperor Taiyi—the moment he hatched, young, yet possessing an innate majesty. He saw Di Jun shielding him with his wings, deflecting the splashing True Sun Fire. He saw the brothers flying out of the Sun Star for the first time, looking back to see the star emitting a warm light behind them.

So... that's how it was.

He slowly opened his eyes, golden light swirling within them, as if something had been awakened. Not power, but a deeper connection—his connection to this star, a bond imprinted on his soul since the moment of his conception.

[Sign-in complete.]

[Obtained: Sun Star Origin Mark (Fragment)]

[Effect: Greatly enhances control over True Sun Fire; can borrow partial power of the Sun Star; Growth Potential: ★★★★★]

The System's notification sound returned to normal.

Why didn't I get any Forbidden Points? Taiyi pondered, wondering if it was related to the sign-in location or the content of the sign-in.

This System's functions still need to be explored.

Taiyi felt the changes within his body. After the thread of light merged into him, the Chaos True Sun Fire in his Dantian suddenly quieted down, as if it had met an elder. It obediently circled the newly added Origin Mark. He could feel that his control over the flames had improved by a large margin. The True Fire that he used to suppress with great effort now obeyed his every thought.

He tried to activate a wisp of True Fire.

Golden flames danced on his fingertips, as agile as living creatures. With another thought, a dark red color appeared in the center of the flames—the Chaos characteristic was still there, but it was more stable and controllable.

Success.

This sign-in was worth it.

Just as he was preparing to leave, the sea of light around him suddenly churned.

It wasn't an attack, but some kind of... resonance.

The core sphere of light trembled violently, emitting layers of halos. As the halos swept over Taiyi's body, the Sun Star Origin Mark within him immediately responded, emitting the same fluctuations.

Immediately after, the phantom image of the Chaos Bell automatically appeared.

Clang—

The bell chimed, not with its usual majestic roar, but with a clearer, more resonant sound, as if... it had found a long-lost companion.

The sphere of light trembled even more intensely.

Golden runes emerged from the surface of the sphere, drifting into the air and forming ancient array diagrams. Taiyi had never seen these array diagrams before, yet they felt inexplicably familiar—they were the law patterns of the Sun Star itself, the natural Dao marks formed by the star's operation over countless eons.

The phantom image of the Chaos Bell flew out and hovered above the sphere of light.

The bell began to rotate, and with each rotation, it absorbed a portion of the array diagrams. The golden runes merged into the bell, causing the patterns on its surface to light up, activating and strengthening various restrictions.

Taiyi watched this scene, stunned.

Is this... the Chaos Bell evolving on its own?

[Detected resonance between Chaos Bell and Sun Star Origin]

[Analyzing resonance content...]

[Analysis complete: Chaos Bell is absorbing Sun Star laws, restrictions are being strengthened, estimated addition of three layers of Great Sun restrictions]

As soon as the System's voice fell, the Chaos Bell trembled violently.

On the surface of the bell, next to the already complex patterns, new designs appeared—rows of shrinking suns, each one lifelike, as if True Sun Fire was truly burning within them. Three circles, a total of three sun patterns, encircled the body of the bell.

The resonance ended.

The Chaos Bell flew back to Taiyi's side, shrinking to the size of a fist and landing in his palm. The bell was warm, and the newly added sun patterns still emitted a faint glow, flickering like a breathing entity.

Holding the bell, Taiyi could clearly feel—it was different. The previous Chaos Bell was powerful, but it always felt distant, like borrowed power. Now, it was different. The bell truly recognized him, not as the identity of Eastern Emperor Taiyi, but as "him," the person.

That feeling... was like reuniting with an old friend.

He smiled and put the bell back into his body.

Time to go.

He turned and headed back the way he came, finding it much easier this time. The True Sun Fire no longer repelled him; instead, it actively parted to create a passage, as if bidding farewell to a king. He passed through the sea of fire, flew out of the Sun Star's surface, and returned to the void.

Looking back, the Sun Star floated quietly in space, its radiance still fierce.

But Taiyi knew, it was different now.

He possessed a part of that star.