That was a majestic dragon.
Its shattered battle armor, weathered by time and chaotic energies yet unbroken, and the ancient circuits flowing across its brow to form crown-like horns—all bore witness to its once-transcendent status.
Its form hovered between illusion and reality, profound yet hollow. Its vast wings draped from a ruined throne, resembling from afar a patch of dark, mysterious starfield.
A starfield long shattered. Utterly silent.
—For a spear pierced its body, pinning the ancient sovereign dead upon that broken throne.
Silent space. Crumbling ruins. An emperor slain upon his seat of power.
All declared that era long ended, those years destined for dust.
Yet Luyi’s faint will, descending upon this place, altered everything. It stirred the corpse of the ancient emperor… who slowly… opened his eyes.
Crimson-gold light flooded the dead silence, becoming the last twin suns in this extinguished realm.
But those pupils remained lost. Unfocused.
For in that ancient war, he had already died.
This awakening held only instinct.
He sensed the flow of primordial starlight. Felt Luyi’s will.
And in that moment, toward Luyi’s will, he slowly… lowered his head.
Even as the motion shattered more of his form.
Even as his eyes flickered.
Even though he was once… the peerless, noble Emperor.
Luyi’s will was too faint. It soon dissipated into the barren void.
With its fading, the dragon’s instinct vanished too.
The setting sun sank into darkness—as if it had never risen.
Upon the throne, he sank once more into eternal slumber.
...
The scene shifted back to Stellar Abyss Academy.
Luyi knew nothing of what happened in the distant stars.
But suddenly… she felt like she’d accidentally gone too far.
Because with her careless gesture, the starry sky above truly changed.
Star Power gathered in the heavens, carrying an ancient pressure. With but a thought, that primordial force would descend into her waiting hand!
Though she swiftly reined in her authority, Star Power still spilled across the sky, forming an aurora before her and Alices.
Ending here would’ve been fine.
But the shifting stars triggered something else—Stellar Abyss Pillar suddenly convulsed!
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
An unprecedented pressure erupted from the Pillar’s core.
Birds scattered in panic. Hearts trembled nearby!
Ghostly blue light flared along the Pillar’s obsidian crystal surface, surging wildly toward the sky!
Pure Source of Magic surged, as if breathing life into the crystal column—transforming it into the Dark Emperor’s colossal claw from ages past, tearing through heaven and earth to grasp the stars!
Above, claw marks across the starfield glowed with the same dark energy, becoming bottomless abysses radiating soul-chilling dread.
Space warped. From afar, the starfield around those abysses seemed devoured.
As if the Star Devouring Demon Emperor had returned!
Amidst the chaos, a beam of eerie light shot down from the abyss above—aimed straight at the beach, at Luyi and Alices!
The ancient Emperor’s pressure roared toward them!
*We’re dead! We’re dead!*
Alices froze in terror.
She’d never faced an Emperor’s might.
Luyi merely watched the descending beam, unmoved.
It held no hostility.
Quickly, the beam halted before her.
Its glow faded, revealing a flawless, translucent polyhedral crystal—its material identical to the Stellar Abyss Pillar.
At its center swirled a pattern forged from Source of Magic: a six-winged beast crushing a giant star, devouring its core amid scattered stardust.
Its meaning was clear.
“This… this is the Star Devouring Demon Emperor’s sigil!”
Just recovering, Alices plunged into deeper shock.
What had she just seen?
Luyi waved casually at the stars—and the Stellar Abyss Pillar awakened. This crystal, the Demon Emperor’s legacy, simply… fell into her hands?
This was the Star Devouring Demon Emperor’s inheritance!
Even sci-fi novels wouldn’t dare write this!
“…”
Luyi remained calm. She took the crystal and slowly tucked it into her spatial vortex.
“Seems the stars finally had enough,” she murmured.
The beam’s descent would’ve drawn many eyes.
She sensed figures already rushing toward the beach.
“Let’s go, Alices. We’re leaving.”
She grabbed Alices’ hand.
“H-Huh?!”
Their figures vanished from the sand.
Wind howled, erasing all traces of their presence.
...
“The Stellar Abyss Pillar… it’s awakened!”
“The last activation was over a century ago.”
“Is another inheritance of the Star Devouring Demon Emperor about to emerge?”
The Fourth Prince wetting himself at the banquet seemed trivial now. All eyes fixed on the colossal abysses tearing the starfield.
They knew what this meant.
Some stood speechless before the Emperor’s handiwork. Others felt their own insignificance gazing at the void. Many recorded the scene with Yingxiang Stones.
“This is the Dark Emperor’s legacy…”
“Legend says the Pillar itself holds one of the Star Devouring Demon Emperor’s ultimate combat techniques. Even copying its surface…”
Prince Leon stared up at the abyss, face solemn, heart pounding.
Coming to Stellar Abyss Academy was the right gamble.
He’d not only seen Luyi—he’d witnessed the Pillar’s rebirth.
On the roof of a cheap inn at the edge of the Stellar Abyss Domain, a petite white-haired girl watched, a smile spreading across her face.
“Good. Very good.”
“I thought I’d need to dig up the Star Devouring Demon Emperor’s legacy myself after arriving at the Academy. Never expected it to leap out like this.”
“Did it appear… because of me?” she mused, then her ruby eyes turned icy, frenzied. “My despicable elder brother—the current Abyssal Emperor. You don’t know I’ve been reborn, do you?
I won’t be foolish again. What I lost, I’ll reclaim from the royal bloodline piece by piece. What I suffered, I’ll make you repay a thousandfold…
I’m back. And this time—I’ll be your judge.”
“Let this comedy of revenge and rebirth begin at Stellar Abyss Academy—”
Beneath the night sky, she smiled. “All glory shall be mine.”
That night, countless communication crystals flickered. Data flooded from Stellar Abyss Academy, racing across the Abyssal Demon Realm.
In visible realms. In hidden corners.
Like a boulder crashing into still water—countless undercurrents stirred in the deep.
All foretold a coming tsunami.
...
