Lex's body surged with power, transforming into a massive, radiant golden figure. A brilliant golden mist erupted around him, enveloping his entire body in a powerful glow.
As soon as Di Jun saw Lex's new form, his expression changed completely. All of his confidence disappeared. He quickly dropped to one knee and bowed, his voice shaking as he spoke.
"Forgive me for my disrespect… O Creator," he said. "I didn't know. I thought you were just…"
He stopped, unable to finish in front of Lex, as he thought no excuse would matter since he had taken a sword against Lex.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. I just came to use the sun," Lex said casually, his form returning to that of a man—white hair flowing, his white robe lined with gold embroidery giving him a distinct, almost otherworldly presence.
He looked striking by human standards, though neither Di Jun nor Luna were familiar with such tastes.
"Thank you for your mercy," Di Jun said, rising slowly, still feeling like he'd narrowly avoided death.
"I never expected the Creator to be this… easygoing. The last time I saw him, he seemed much more—"
He stopped his thoughts short. "Where am I going with this? Better not let curiosity get the better of me."
"May I ask my children to leave, O Creator?" Di Jun said as respectfully as possible.
"No need," Lex replied. "This is their opportunity. Tell them to watch closely, they may gain something from it."
With that, Lex moved toward the sun's north pole, its blazing solar flares unable to even graze the edges of his white robes.
Back on the sun's surface, Di Jun appeared before the ten golden crows.
"Father, are you here to play with us?" asked one of them, a crow with silver-tipped feathers.
"No," Di Jun replied firmly. "The Creator is here. All of you, prepare yourselves, don't embarrass me in front of him."
"The Creator? Who's that?" one of the crows asked, already shifting into her humanoid form—a young girl in flowing red robes, her hair glowing with golden light.
The others followed suit, transforming into humanoid forms and lining up solemnly in front of Di Jun, the playfulness fading from their expressions.
"The Creator is not someone you speak of lightly," Di Jun said, his tone uncharacteristically solemn. "You are about to witness his presence, which is rare that even I did not expect it," he said.
One of the younger crows—a boy with short golden hair—looked up at Di Jun and asked, "If he's really that powerful, why would he come here?"
Di Jun didn't answer right away. He turned his back to them, letting a solar flare sweep over like a breeze. "I wouldn't dare guess his full reasons," he said. "But he told me he's here to use the sun."
"Maybe he's here to take our home," the youngest daughter muttered.
Di Jun suddenly let out a rare laugh, deep and unexpected.
They stared at him, puzzled. Their father rarely spent time with them, always absorbed in cultivation, except when pushing them to produce more descendants, something they all quietly found troublesome.
"What made you laugh, Father?"The eldest stepped forward and asked.
"Because you still think this sun is ours." Di Jun said, still smiling.
"He could take our home, yes," he continued, his voice calm. "He could turn this entire star into dust with a glance if he wished.
But that's not what someone like him does. He doesn't just take, he reshapes, create, and leave behind something even greater."
The younger ones exchanged glances, unsure if they were more awed or unsettled.
"Watch closely," Di Jun continued. "The Creator doesn't move for no reason. If you understand even one moment of what he's about to do, you may step into eternity.
So watch, listen, and remember. If even a trace of his intent rubs off on you today, it will be more than a lifetime of cultivation."
"Let's go. We'll watch from a safe distance," Di Jun said, rising into the void with a ripple of golden heat. His ten children followed swiftly behind.
After several minutes, they stopped millions of miles away from the divine sun. The burning star still blazed fiercely in the distance, its surface roiling with solar fire.
Di Jun hovered in the emptiness of space and sat cross-legged in the void. His children also sat behind him.
"This is the perfect spot," he said. "Focus your divine sense. Tune out everything else and concentrate only on the Sun Laws."
"But what if other laws show up too?" asked the youngest, eyes wide with curiosity.
Di Jun glanced at him with a faint smirk. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not strong enough to sense other laws yet.
The only reason you can even survive near the sun is because of my authority. Without it, you'd all be dust."
"Aiy, we know, Father. You've said that a million times already," grumbled the seventh child, a round-faced boy who always seemed a bit too relaxed. "Still, none of us has reached the peak of the Rule Bearer Realm. It's too hard."
"You're just lazy," the youngest shot back. "The rest of us already made it."
"What do you mean lazy?! I'm cultivating at my own pace!"
"Yeah? That pace hasn't moved in three hundred years," another sibling quipped with a smirk.
"Enough," Di Jun said, his tone calm but absolute. The playful tension snapped to stillness.
"It's starting."
They all turned to the sun, its surface had stilled unnaturally. Solar flares froze mid-eruption. Even the light around it dimmed.
Then the laws began to tremble, especially the Sun Law as they vibrated with an unnatural high frequency.
"Focus on the Sun Law—now!" Di Jun commanded sharply, closing his eyes. His children immediately followed his lead, settling into deep concentration as the surrounding space vibrated with golden brilliance.
Up above the sun, Lex retracted his hand. Then, with a flick of his wrist, several damaged Dao weapons floated before him—half-repaired relics he had deemed unworthy.
Some could only be fully restored with materials from the Voidsea, which he obviously didn't have. He kept only the Void Piercer and a few others with interesting abilities.
The weapons hovered in formation, pulsing faintly with weakened Dao intent. So potent was their residual power that even the universal laws kept their distance.
Lex raised his hand again, and the sun obeyed.
Its light surged. Not gradually, but violently. In an instant, its brilliance grew tenfold, flooding the divine realm in white-gold radiance.
All across the realm, beings of great power lifted their heads. Eyes squinted as a hush spread. The divine beasts fled their habitat in fear, scrambling for safety.
"What is that Di Jun doing?" asked a woman from atop the divine moon. She stood on her silver balcony, her hair flowing like starlight, her white robes gleaming under the celestial glow. Cosmic gems shimmered in her hair, her aura serene, but curious.
The Primordials stirred. Some took flight, drawn toward the blazing sun in search of treasure or revelation. Others stayed behind, being cautious because, no matter how mighty Di Jun was, he couldn't make the sun behave this way.
Above the sun, Lex remained motionless, steadily manipulating its heat and pressure. The flames raged and the surface rippled like molten glass.
As the sun roared, the Sun Law responded by fully enveloping the Dao weapons in searing brilliance as they began to heat under its divine intensity.
Far off, Di Jun's heart pounded. "Three million years. In just three million years, I'll reach Peak Rank 8," he thought, barely able to contain his excitement.
The Sun Law had never felt so close or so tangible. Witnessing Lex's manipulation of the flames and pressure alone was accelerating his comprehension at an impossible pace.
His aura stirred, wild and blazing as he turned his gaze briefly toward his children, all seated behind him in silent focus.
"They're close," he realized. "Right at the cusp of the Law Bearer Realm."
He grinned as he thought, "If they broke through now… my three million years might be cut in half." And this time, he didn't try to hide his excitement.
The sun's intensity surged so violently that it scorched the surrounding divine space.
Golden flames twisted through the void, warping everything they touched.
The Primordials who had rushed toward the spectacle halted mid-flight. Their eyes widened as they saw space itself burning, and their instincts screamed at them not to approach.
They exchanged uneasy glances and came to the same chilling conclusion without speaking.
"Only the Creator can bend the laws like this," muttered one of them who had four hands and a purple, muscular body. His ancient, deep voice trembled with awe and fear.
Without another word, they turned back and fled toward the divine realm, no longer chasing a possible treasure. None of them dared approach now that they understood who stood above the sun.
After three days, the melting of the Dao weapons finally ended.
"Now's the time," Lex thought as he fused them together. With a single wave of his hand, the molten remains reshaped into a book; black and heavy, humming faintly with suppressed Dao intent.
Without hesitation, Lex cast a domain around himself.
"Huh? Why a domain?" Luna asked, watching from the edge of his right shoulder.
"Did you forget what we're dealing with?" Lex replied calmly.
"But even if someone sees, it's not like they'd understand a Dao Initiate technique, let alone a fragment of a Dao King's," Luna said, puzzled.
"I'm not hiding it for others' sake," Lex said, his tone measured. "I don't like unpredictability. If something goes wrong, I want to be the one in control when it happens."
He then opened the newly-forged book. Its black pages were cool and metallic under his fingers.
Carefully, he began inscribing the Dao King fragment into it, carving each rune with absolute focus. Luna fell silent, hovering nearby, watching every stroke.
Three minutes later, it was done. The final symbol glowed softly—and then, like a switch had flipped, the technique vanished from Lex's memory.
"Looks like I was faster than it," he muttered, exhaling in relief. The fear of losing the technique was gone.
But just then, the book began to tremble.
"Don't tell me even Dao-grade materials can't contain a Dao King's technique," Luna said sharply, eyes narrowing as a blinding light erupted from the book.
Lex's domain caught the light before it could escape.
Then, suddenly, the book went still and the brightness faded.
Lex quickly stored it in his pocket dimension.
"Trying to run from me, huh?" he said with a faint smirk, before waving his hand.
Instantly, the divine sun's laws returned to thei,r natural state as if nothing had ever happened making the scrambling divine beasts to stop and looked dazed as if what they experienced had never happened