The Jade Emperor's decree spread throughout the Thirty-Three Heavens at an unprecedented speed.
Golden edicts streaked across the sky, flying to every corner of the Heavenly Court and into the depths of the boundless sea of stars.
The voices of the divine heralds resounded through the clouds.
"By the mandate of Heaven, the Jade Emperor decrees."
"The fiend Yang Jian has rebelled against his sovereign and destroyed our Heavenly Gate. Death cannot atone for his crimes!"
"All Star Lords of the heavens are hereby ordered to return to their positions at once and deploy the Stars of the Zhoutian Grand Formation to slay this brute together!"
"Thus decreed!"
Their voices were majestic, yet could not conceal that trace of trembling and the weakness beneath their fierce façade.
The Star Lords who received the decree reacted differently.
The Seven Lords of the Big Dipper moved at the command, transforming into streaks of light and flying toward their assigned Array Cores.
Some of the Star Officials among the Twenty-Eight Mansions sensed from afar the aura coming from the South Heaven Gate that made their Divine Souls tremble. They groaned inwardly, yet dared not defy the Jade Emperor's command and could only steel themselves and head there.
Within the Ziwei Star Palace.
The Ziwei Great Emperor looked at the edict in his hand, his brows tightly knitted as a complicated look flickered in his eyes.
He had once shared something of a friendship with Yang Jian and knew his character well.
Unless driven into a corner, someone as proud and aloof as Yang Jian would never have committed such an act of high treason.
Yet a sovereign's command was hard to defy.
In the end, the Ziwei Great Emperor sighed, rode the starlight, and hastened to the battlefield.
For a time, the