Back at the Divine Sun, atop a vast circular platform hovering above the sun's blazing surface, Di Jun hovered cross‑legged above the platform while his children sat in formation below. Beside him floated Chang Xi, the Moon in Goddess—the Primordial of Lunar Radiance.
Her features were flawlessly symmetrical, and her pale, porcelain skin glowed softly in the sunlight.
She wore a flowing robe spun from night mist and moonbeams. The fabric was so fine that it seemed to shift with the air itself.
The phases of the moon were embroidered in faint silver thread across her pale-white robe, whispering of ancient cycles and celestial grace.
A subtle and vast lunar halo floated behind her, arcing like a perfect silver disc in the dark sky. It hovered and pulsated with yin resonance.
She floated gracefully, and calmly observed the ten young golden crows.
"How prepared are you?" she asked softly, her gaze shifting to Di Jun, who was now fully focused.
"Seventy percent," he replied eyes still closed.
A long pause stretched between them, cosmic and heavy, before he broke it. "Do you think they'll come to stop me?"
Chang Xi turned, her eyes catching the golden arcs of flame lashing across the sky, and bowing away from her. "I don't know," she answered back. "Some of our kind are walking contradictions. I cannot predict what they'll do… not anymore."
Di Jun opened his eyes, a sharp glint of molten sunlight within them. "Then, they will?"
She didn't answer, but instead, floated lightly toward the platform. As she floated above it, the flares around her bent and cooled, the heat of the sun receding in deference.
"They might. Or they might not. Even time struggles to decide which thread to follow," she said her voice calm.
With that, she floated toward the top of the platform. The surrounding solar flares recoiled instinctively, cooling and parting in reverence as she passed.
He watched her float over his children. "Would you stop me?" he said as he stood up.
She paused, a subtle gesture that charged the silence with meaning. "I don't stop the sun from rising. I only reflect the light it gives," she replied, her tone like moonlight, distant and gentleness, veiling its depths.
His gaze lingered on her. After a moment, he said, "Then...stay near."
She waved her hand, and a white, pale barrier enveloped the entire platform. Then she looked back and said, "I always am. Now—your turn."
He descended slowly, his presence calm but commanding. He raised a hand and cast a golden barrier over Chang xi's reinforcing her protection with his own.
Then, floating above them, he said with calm authority, "Release the suppression. Don't resist it anymore. Just focus on merging with the Sun Law. Nothing else."
One by one, they obeyed. Each loosened the restraints they had placed on themselves, allowing the breakthrough to surge forth.
The moment they did, ten golden Sun Law threads, previously invisible to the naked eye, emerged from the fabric of space itself.
They slithered like divine serpents through the void, each one drawn toward its destined crow.
As soon as the threads merged with them, a transformation began. Their humanoid forms twisted and shifted, feathers unfurling in radiant waves as they returned to their original golden crow shapes.
Then came the screeches—raw and powerful cries that echoed across the surroundings.
The sun responded in kind. Solar flares spiraled like wild storms, the sky itself boiling with golden fire, as if the very will of the sun roared in celebration.
The Sun Law threads coiled tighter around their souls like divine chains forged in the heart of a star.
Each loop constricted with celestial authority, attempting not just to bind, but to dominate.
Panic bloomed in their hearts.
"Father didn't say anything about this." This thought echoed through each of them, laced with fear.
Di Jun's eyes narrowed as he sensed the change within them. His voice thundered across the platform, shaking the solar flares into spirals.
"Don't let them bind you! Fight! Prove your will is unbreakable!" His words rang out like war drums, igniting a blaze of resolve in their eyes.
With gritted beaks and burning souls, they roared in defiance, "Father is right we can't be weak-willed!" screamed the eldest and as he said this, the golden chains binding him snapped; each shatter releasing molten threads of pure essence.
The others followed one by one their chains breaking into fragments.
The broken fragments didn't vanish. Instead, they liquefied into radiant gold and surged into their very souls, fusing into their foundations.
From pain came power. From bondage, transcendence.
Floating above, Chang Xi watched closely, her serene beauty shadowed by a flicker of concern.
"They're fortunate," she said softly, moonlight dancing across her robe. "Had they failed to resist… the chains would've consumed their sense of self. They would've vanished into the Law itself."
"If breaking through to the Law Bearer realm is already this intense…" Di Jun's double pupils remained fixed on the storm of solar essence above.
"What do you think will happen to us when we reach the Grand Law Realm? Do you think these laws would try to absorb us?"
Chang Xi's expression darkened. A breeze of cold lunar radiance stirred her robe as she replied, "I don't know. But I doubt it will be gentle. The Celestial Mandate may truly try to end us during that tribulation. To it, we've became an uncontrollable force."
Di Jun's brows furrowed and said. "Not all of us crave bloodshed,"
"I know," she replied softly as she looked at him, "But rumors speak of Delxi annihilating thousands of galaxy clusters. And now he hides, hunted by the Mandate like a rogu—"
Before she could finish, the surrounding space trembled. And the Laws began to vibrate in unison, especially the Sun Law, which pulsed like a heartbeat rippling through the Void.
Her eyes narrowed. "What's going on?" she said while extending her consciousness around trying to sense the cause.
"The Laws are welcoming them," Di Jun said, his voice hushed but steady.
"They've broken free of the chains. The fusion is complete. They're no longer just heirs of the Sun—they are the Sun Law bearers."
Chang Xi exhaled. "If we're sensing this… then others can, too."
"Yes," Di Jun admitted, his tone weighty. "But the barrier I placed should obscure the exact location, well for now. Only those with strength nearing ours would even come close to finding this place."
••••
At the spiraling stairs Timorath sat cross-legged before his monolith. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and his aura flared to life, a storm of Law energies swirling around him.
Dozens of distinct Law auras surged forth, each at the pinnacle of Rank Six, straining at the edge of the vast abyss that led to Rank Seven. Meanwhile, his Time Law was at an early Rank Nine.
"They've arrived," he murmured. "Harbingers of change."
Then, as though the revelation were nothing more than a passing breeze, he closed his eyes once more and returned to his meditation, unshaken and unmoved in his stillness.
•••••
Vastoth had been flitting from place to place across the Divine Realm, teleporting in a blur.
Suddenly he halted amidst the golden clouds. Below him, a vast forest stretched until it ended in a mountainous area.
He narrowed his eyes as he gazed toward the blazing divine sun in the distance. "What's happening there?" he muttered, sensing abnormal activity.
But before he could think further, his gaze snapped toward the distant west, to the far end of the forest, where a more pressing disturbance pulsed through space.
"I don't have time for this nonsense," he growled. With a sharp twist of space, he vanished once more in a flash of silver light.
••••
Across the universe, a select few Primordials—those closest to the Divine Sun—felt the ripple of change. Unlike their distant counterparts, who remained oblivious, these nearby Primordials reacted immediately and rushed toward the divine sun, drawn by instinct, curiosity, and greed.
Among the rushing figures was clone of Vyrinox, slithering silently at the rear of the group. His long, gleaming form cut through space like a whisper of shadowed intent.
"We should slow down," rumbled a tortoise-shaped primordial. His voice was deep and wary. He glanced at his companion, a horned humanoid. "What if the Creator is still there?"
The horned one scoffed. "This vibration's too weak to be from the Creator. Still, I've never felt anything like it before."
Overhearing this, Vyrinox narrowed his serpentine eyes as he drew closer. "The Creator?" His thoughts surged.
"So that's it. No wonder Di Jun's power had surged overnight. And his children are breaking through now? That's no coincidence."
A knowing smirk twisted across his scaled face. Clues clicked into place with unnerving ease.
If the Creator truly visited the Divine Sun, then something far greater is unfolding, and I need to be ready.
••••
Back at the Divine Sun, the young golden crows hovered above the platform in their true forms, radiant and pulsing with newfound strength.
"First Brother, how do you feel? I swear I could crush my old self with a single strike," one of them exclaimed, his eyes gleaming.
"Don't get cocky and lose focus," the eldest warned, his voice steady as his gaze swept across his siblings. "It feels like we haven't reached the peak yet."
"Understood, first brot—"
Their words faltered. Their voices caught mid-sentence.
A strange, unnatural calmness fell over the space, a silence that wasn't peaceful.
Even the surrounding solar flares, once chaotic and restless, grew still. Too still.
"What's going on?" the chubby one asked, unease creeping into his voice.
The eldest's eyes narrowed. "I think...it's here."
They all understood what he meant.
Their eyes swept their surroundings, and what they saw froze them in place. The raging solar flares had vanished.
The once-turbulent surface of the Divine Sun was now eerily calm, as still as a mirror. It was a sight none of them had ever imagined.
Then, they turned their gaze to their father.
Di Jun stood motionless, his expression grave and his gaze fixed on the sky above.
Suddenly, an enormous eye, vast beyond their comprehension, materialized above the Divine Sun. Its presence blanketed the region with a crushing pressure.
The young crows felt it immediately, as if the weight of the cosmos had settled on their bodies.
Di Jun looked up, his stance steady and his aura restrained, but his eyes burned with readiness.
Then, a voice echoed across the laws themselves. Cold. Mechanical, and Divine.
[Detected: New Law Bearers. As per the Creator's orders, they are to undergo tribulation. Searching for appropriate tribulation... Match found... Commencing.]