The Sun Returns Home

Chapter 9: The Sun Returns Home

Taiyi awoke before the sky had fully brightened.

He hadn't really slept, though. His eyelids felt heavy, but the mess of thoughts in his mind refused to settle. One moment it was Di Jun's tired face from last night, saying, "Brother's here," and the next it was the Chaos Bell in his Dantian giving a sudden, spasming tremor. Outside, the sea of clouds was still inky blue, with only the faintest, almost invisible hint of dawn breaking in the east.

He lay still, but his divine sense sank into his body.

The Chaos True Sun Fire in his Dantian was behaving itself, its interwoven golden and red flames flowing gently. It looked noticeably stronger than it had three days ago. But the bell beside it was rather annoying. The Chaos Bell hung there, and every so often, its body would inexplicably tremble, emitting a low hum that shook his entire Dantian.

"Old pal," Taiyi thought, "can you just say what you want to say? This twitching is freaking me out."

The bell ignored him.

Taiyi sighed and sat up. The two jade pendants lay side-by-side on his bedside table, one a Golden Crow, the other a hawk, both emitting a gentle glow in the dim morning light. He reached out and picked up the Golden Crow pendant, holding it in his palm. The jade was warm, pressing against his skin, and the warmth crept up his arm, as if trying to burrow into his heart.

He had to go to the Sun Star today.

It wasn't just about familiarizing himself with his power; he wanted a place to be alone. The Heavenly Court was too noisy, not with sound, but with an invisible, suffocating clamor. Everyone's gaze held expectations, calculations, and an eager desire for "Your Majesty Eastern Emperor, you must lead us to carve out a bloody path." He was starting to feel overwhelmed.

He pushed open the window, and the cool, damp morning breeze rushed in, making him shiver. Outside, the sea of clouds churned, and the silhouettes of distant palaces were still hidden in the shadows. At this hour, even the patrolling demon soldiers were drowsy, their footsteps sparse.

He changed into a simple, dark, close-fitting outfit made of soft fabric that felt comfortable against his skin. He paused while tying his belt, then hung both jade pendants on it—the Golden Crow on the left, the hawk on the right. After hanging them, he looked down and suddenly felt a bit amused. What was this? A charm? But could a jade pendant really block the calamities that were bound to come?

As he leaped from the back balcony, the wind shrieked past his ears.

He fell, accelerated, then transformed his body into a golden rainbow. This time, he flew somewhat carelessly, the trajectory of his rainbow light in the sea of clouds wobbling as if he were drunk. After flying for a while, he suddenly snapped back to reality—No, he was the Eastern Emperor Taiyi now, and he needed to act like it.

The rainbow light straightened abruptly, his speed skyrocketing as he tore through the sea of clouds, heading southeast.

Taiyi paused as the Sun Star appeared in his vision.

The colossal star hung in the void, its surface churning with an unending tide of golden waves. The light was blinding, and waves of heat washed over him from afar, scorching his face. He hovered there for a long time, and the restlessness in his heart gradually subsided.

This was home.

He activated his protective True Sun Fire, and golden flames flowed out from his body, enveloping him. Then, he flew towards the Sun Star, not quickly, but like a traveler approaching a home he hadn't seen in many years, a mix of eagerness and the hesitant apprehension of returning home.

The closer he got, the higher the temperature became.

When he was still several hundred miles from the surface, the surrounding void began to warp, light bending into strange arcs. Ordinary Grand Unity cultivators would have to stop here, as the further they went, the greater the consumption of their protective magic, which they couldn't sustain. But Taiyi only felt... comfortable.

He felt truly comfortable.

It was like a frozen person soaking in a hot spring; every pore opened, greedily absorbing the pure energy of the surrounding True Sun Fire. The violent flames, capable of instantly vaporizing metal, were as gentle as a spring breeze upon him. His protective True Sun Fire wasn't depleted; instead, it grew brighter, its color transitioning from pale gold to deep gold.

This was the benefit of his innate origin.

Among the countless cultivators in the Great Wilderness, perhaps only two could have crawled out from the heart of the Sun Star like him—himself and Di Jun. This familial closeness in his bloodline was something that could never be achieved through later cultivation.

He stopped when he was only fifty miles from the surface.

He closed his eyes and spread out his divine sense.

A peak Grand Unity's divine sense, when fully deployed, could cover thousands of miles of mountains and rivers. But here, on the Sun Star, the violent flame energy interfered with divine sense, and an ordinary Grand Unity cultivator would be considered formidable if they could probe a thousand miles. Yet, Taiyi's divine sense spread out as if it were in water—the Sun Star Origin Mark gave him a natural immunity to the flames here.

His divine sense became an invisible net, slowly cast over the sea of golden fire.

He "saw" the flow of the flames, the nodes where energy converged, and the nascent, innocent fire spirits deep within the sea of fire. Even deeper, the liquid fire churned, and each drop of fire contained enough energy to obliterate a Taiyi Golden Immortal.

"Not enough."

Taiyi opened his eyes and descended, plunging into the liquid fire.

The scorching heat instantly enveloped his entire body.

But this time, he didn't use his power to resist. Instead, he lowered his defenses, allowing the liquid flames to scour his body. The scalding torrent of fire seeped into his skin, his flesh, and the depths of his bones. The Chaos True Sun Fire in his Dantian spun joyfully, like a starving child presented with a feast, devouring it ravenously.

Comfortable.

It was damn comfortable.

He floated in the middle layer of the sea of fire, as if bathing, for two full hours. Only when the magic power within him swelled to the point of pain, and the Chaos True Sun Fire grew to the size of his fist, did its rotation slow—he had reached his limit; any more would be overeating.

He slowly opened his eyes, feeling the surging power within him.

In terms of magic power cultivation, he stood at the very peak of Grand Unity, half a step away from becoming a Quasi-Saint. But that half-step felt like an invisible membrane, right before his eyes, yet impossible to break through.

It wasn't a lack of magic power—the Sun Star Origin Mark, the Chaos True Fire refined from Blood Fiend, and the Chaos Bell's constant nourishment added up to more than enough to form the foundation of an early Quasi-Saint.

Something was missing.

It was the lack of that "Oh, so that's how it is" enlightenment, the absence of that clarity of "I know what I want to become." It was like building a house; all the bricks, tiles, and wood were ready, but without a clear blueprint, the house couldn't be built, and if it were, it would collapse.

With a thought, the Chaos Bell flew out of his Dantian.

The bell body hovered before him, its ancient, dark yellow surface glowing faintly with three rings of sun patterns. The dark red edge on the rim was faintly visible—the mark left after refining the Blood Fiend. Taiyi reached out, pressing his palm against the bell's body.

A warm sensation spread through his palm, and a steady, rhythmic vibration emanated from within the bell, like a heartbeat.

This time, when his divine sense probed inside, it was much smoother.

The Chaos Bell had forty-nine innate restrictions, corresponding to the fifty Great Daos, with Tianyan's forty-nine. The original Taiyi had refined thirty-seven restrictions, getting stuck before the thirty-eighth. He had been stuck there for tens of thousands of years. It wasn't a lack of magic power, but a lack of realm—the thirty-eighth restriction onward involved the essence of space-time laws, which could only be understood by touching the Hunyuan realm.

Taiyi's divine sense arrived before the thirty-eighth restriction.

It was a curtain of chaotic light, filled with countless fine space-time dao patterns flowing within it, making one dizzy just looking at it. He took a deep breath—though there was no air in the sea of fire—and his divine sense, like a needle, slowly pierced inward.

BOOM--

A massive amount of information flooded in.

It wasn't text, nor was it images, but a more direct "feeling." Feelings about the "flow rate" of time, the "layers" of space, and how to slow down time in one area while folding space in another. These fragmented feelings were chaotic, like pieces of a torn puzzle, sharp and cutting his primordial spirit.

Taiyi gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, sorting and piecing them together bit by bit.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly felt something.

His divine sense withdrew from the restriction, and he opened his eyes, a chaotic light flashing within them before disappearing. He raised his right hand, palm facing up, and with a slight shift of his mind.

The surrounding flames suddenly stilled.

They didn't extinguish, but solidified—centered on him, all the liquid flames within a ten-zhang radius froze. The surging waves hung in mid-air, and the flowing flames became static golden crystals. The entire area was as if paused, with only him and the Chaos Bell still functioning normally.

Time-Space Stasis, in its nascent form.

Although it could only be maintained for three breaths, the range was only ten zhang, and the consumption was terrifyingly high—this single use depleted nearly thirty percent of his Dantian's magic power. But he had succeeded.

After three breaths, the flames flowed again.

Taiyi panted, sweat beading on his forehead, but his heart felt like it was burning. It worked, this path was viable. The nascent form of Time-Space Stasis, combined with the destructive power of the Chaos True Sun Fire against order laws, and the suppressing might of the Chaos Bell—now, even if he truly faced an early-stage Quasi-Saint, he would dare to contend.

No, not just contend.

He could win.

He retracted the Chaos Bell and sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing. The pure True Sun Fire energy around him surged, quickly replenishing his consumption. The recovery was faster than before—his control over power had become more refined, naturally increasing recovery efficiency.

After recovering, he didn't rush to leave. His divine sense probed deeper into the Sun Star.

He still remembered the secret realm fluctuation the System had alerted him to. His divine sense traveled downward, passing through layers of sea of fire, reaching the periphery of the core area. There was indeed an abnormal fluctuation point, very faint, like a heartbeat, thump, thump.

The fluctuation carried the chaotic and disordered aura unique to chaos.

As Taiyi's divine sense approached, it was repelled by an invisible barrier. It wasn't a defensive barrier, but a barrier of "level"—the law level of that secret realm entrance was too high; his divine sense couldn't reach it.

[Secret Realm Entrance Protected by Chaos Laws]

[Recommendation: Reach the Quasi-Saint realm and gain initial mastery of Primordial Power before attempting again]

As expected.

Taiyi withdrew his divine sense, feeling a sense of relief instead. Having a goal was good; he was afraid of a completely blurry path ahead. This secret realm was most likely a remnant of a Chaos Demon God, and the contents within were probably extraordinary. To enter, he had to break through to Quasi-Saint first.

Then he would break through.

He rose from the sea of fire and flew outward. Passing through layers of blazing flames, he exited the surface of the Sun Star and returned to the void. Looking back, the massive star hung quietly, radiating infinite light and heat.

It was time to go back.

On the way back to the Heavenly Court, he detoured to that asteroid belt. He found a star fragment the size of a house and landed, summoning the Chaos Bell with a raise of his hand.

It was time to test it out.

He imagined an early-stage Quasi-Saint enemy standing before him—someone like Kunpeng. That old fellow was an early-stage Quasi-Saint, having advanced through trickery, with a shallow foundation, perfect to use as a hypothetical enemy.

With a thought, the Chaos Bell ascended, its mouth aimed at a larger fragment below.

This time, it wasn't a simple chime of the bell.

Taiyi formed seals with both hands, his internal magic power surging out. The sun patterns on the surface of the Chaos Bell lit up intensely, and the dark red edge became as clear as blood. The bell began to spin, faster and faster, stirring the surrounding void and forming visible whirlpools.

"Suppress!"

With a single shout, the Chaos Bell descended with a roar.

There was no sound.

Or rather, the sound was swallowed by the bell itself. The massive star fragment beneath the bell's mouth trembled violently, then, starting from the center, it annihilated inch by inch. It wasn't breaking, it was annihilation—the existence of matter was directly erased, not even dust remained.

The area of annihilation continuously expanded, engulfing the entire fragment in the blink of an eye. Its momentum did not decrease, continuing downward, plowing a dark, bottomless gully in the void. This was the trace of space being completely pierced through, chaotic energy poured in from the breach, making a wailing sound, like ghosts crying.

Taiyi panted, retracting the Chaos Bell.

This strike consumed forty percent of his magic power. But the power... it was potent. He was confident that if Kunpeng didn't dodge and took this strike head-on, he would lose a layer of skin even if he didn't die.

This was the power of the Chaos Bell's second level of control.

He was satisfied and turned to fly back. He pondered in his mind: next, he should prepare to break through to Quasi-Saint. He wouldn't take the path of severing the three corpses—that required finding three Innate Spirit Treasures with compatible attributes, and also cutting out his good thoughts, evil thoughts, and obsessions with a knife, which was too painful and too fake. Thus, he could only prove the Dao through force.

Proving the Dao through force was difficult, difficult because it required accumulating magic power comparable to a Saint. But he had the System, the Sun Star, and time—though not much left.

By the time he returned to the Sun Palace, it was already afternoon.

He pushed open the door and entered. The sleeping quarters were so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat. He walked to the desk and sat down, taking out the "Calamity Survival Record" again.

He unfolded it and picked up his brush.

This time, he wrote quickly:

"Grand Unity peak, nascent Time-Space Stasis."

"Sun Star secret realm requires Quasi-Saint to enter."

"Next, break through to Quasi-Saint."

After finishing, he looked at the still-wet ink and remained silent for a while, then picked up his brush and added a sentence:

"Proving the Dao through force, not severing three corpses."

These were his decisions, harsh words spoken to himself.

The light outside the window slowly slanted westward, and the Sun Star at the edge of the sea of clouds began to sink. Taiyi put away the jade slip and walked to the window, gazing at the sky, which was burned red by the sunset.

Starting tomorrow, he would have to fight for his life.

The sermon at Zixiao Palace was imminent. After it, the Great Wilderness would truly become chaotic. Before then, he had to become strong enough, strong enough to protect the people he wanted to protect and walk the path he desired in this murky water.

He touched the two jade pendants at his waist.

They were warm, like two living hearts.