Just as the stone wall closed, an exceedingly concealed fluctuation arose from a spot some dozen zhang from the platform. It swiftly vanished into the void.
The fluctuation crossed the void, and when it reappeared, it was beside a gigantic star wreathed in towering waves of flame.
The giant star was enormous and scorching hot, radiating intense golden light. Countless streams of Vast Righteous Qi flowed around it, issuing faint roars. The sounds were like pines sighing in the wind, like running water—soft, yet vast and majestic. Not far from the giant star, layer upon layer of clouds spread across the heavens, blanketing the sky. Dyed entirely gold by the light, they appeared incomparably brilliant. Near the star's center, patches of floating cloud were swept up and torn apart by the Vast Righteous Qi, pulled from the cloudbanks like tassels and drawn into the currents, vanishing in moments.
At that moment, the clouds abruptly churned, and a figure burst out from within. It was Kong Hongwu, his face dark and grim. He was no longer dressed as a scholar, but wore a strangely styled suit of star armor. The armor was made of plates of varying sizes, linked by fine chains. There seemed to be gaps between the plates, yet those gaps were filled with inscriptions. The inscriptions emerged from the armor plates, tangled through the seams, then surged into other plates. Besides faint inscriptions, every plate bore specks of starlight and indistinct patterns of stars.
The instant Kong Hongwu emerged from the clouds, he stood still in midair. Dense clouds formed beneath his feet as clear light flickered in his eyes while he gazed at the giant star overflowing with radiance, saying nothing for a long while. The golden rays not only dyed the armor around him gold—even golden