The golden-haired girl stepped into the isolated realm where the Source of Magic churned wildly.

Clad in light attire, she moved with elegant grace. Her clear eyes outshone even the starry expanse beneath those colossal wings.

Like a maiden from a fairy tale who’d tumbled after a rabbit into this world—pure and radiant—she seemed utterly out of place amid the chaos.

Yet the space around her shattered simply because she existed.

"!"

The Ancient Star Beast was stunned.

No one had dared intrude here for centuries, disrupting her solitude.

But today, that peace had been shattered—not once, but twice.

"Another... Demon Race..." she murmured.

Within the realm, the monstrous horn forming from Star Power blurred again, dissolving back into shimmering energy that surged outward to suppress the tremors.

Her pressure no longer focused solely on Louise.

"L-Luluie?!"

Louise never expected Luyi to appear here.

She couldn’t fathom anyone else daring to enter the heart of the Illusory Star Field.

*Did Luluie also know the Ancient Star Beast was gravely wounded?*

*But that shouldn’t be possible...*

Only she, as a reincarnator, possessed such profound insight.

*And why would Luluie come here?*

In truth, Luyi knew nothing of the beast’s weakened state.

Even at its peak, she would have come anyway.

"Ghh..."

Though the pressure dispersed, Louise still strained under its weight.

Gravely injured, she couldn’t endure the Star Power and the beast’s aura much longer.

That same energy now surged toward Luyi—

Only to vanish the moment it neared her, as if unworthy to exist in her presence.

But the colossal beast, its rank far beneath Luyi’s, sensed nothing within the sea of Star Power.

"Golden-haired Demon," the Ancient Star Beast’s gaze locked onto Luyi, thunderous. "Are you allied with that rude silver-haired one? Such a feeble creature, yet you covet the scales of the Ancient Star? Bold indeed!"

Her voice shook the realm like a storm.

Louise’s mind reeled.

"I barely know her," Luyi replied, distancing herself.

Then she spoke words that ignited the beast’s fury:

"I came to propose a trade. I require your soulblood—"

**BOOM—**

Star Power and the Source of Magic exploded before her before she could finish.

**"INSOLENT DEMON!"** the beast roared. **"DARE REPEAT THOSE WORDS!"**

Louise froze. *Soulblood?*

The essence blending soul and cultivation—precious to any being.

Especially to a wounded Ancient Star Beast.

*She’d been nearly killed just for asking for a few scales!*

*Luyi demanding soulblood outright? She’ll be torn apart!*

Even injured, the beast’s rage could unleash devastating power.

"Luluie, stop!" Louise cried desperately. "Apologize! You don’t understand its Star Power—"

Luyi ignored her completely.

"Local beasts truly lack manners," she said calmly. "I could have offered terms you couldn’t refuse."

The beast’s fury peaked. Louise’s intrusion had angered her—but Luyi’s arrogance ignited pure wrath.

"Terms I couldn’t refuse? *Hah... HAHAHA!*"

Laughter echoed, thick with killing intent.

*For Louise, I’d cripple half her cultivation.*

*For this one... I’ll break her utterly. And make her suffer the Ancient Star Beast’s judgment.*

Star Power and the Source of Magic coalesced into a lethal spearpoint above Luyi.

One strike would leave her near death.

Yet the golden-haired girl kept walking, undisturbed.

"Luluie, MOVE!" Louise screamed. *Does she not grasp this power? She’ll die!*

**WHOOM—**

As the spearpoint closed within half a meter, Luyi lifted her head.

Deep within her artificially crimson eyes, true molten gold surged—

Like crimson-gold flames igniting beneath a starry veil!

The Demon Sovereign’s pressure erupted.

Savage, tyrannical waves of the Source of Magic crashed between her and the spear.

**CRACK—**

The spear shattered mid-air, exploding into glittering fragments.

"What?!"

The Ancient Star Beast recoiled, sensing the pressure radiating from Luyi.

*Rank suppression.*

A soul-deep chill froze her limbs, slowing her very thoughts.

*Impossible!*

As the purest descendant of the Ancient Star Beasts, she should never feel this from a mere demon!

Only the bloodline of the Star Devouring Demon Emperor could—

"Royal blood..." she gasped. "Are you... of *His* line?"

*Huh?*

Louise, fading into the background, mentally blinked. *Aren’t I the real princess here?*

But bloodline or not—overstepping was overstepping.

The beast would make Luyi pay.

"Then so be it—"

Her eyes blazed with starlight. Dull scales ignited with ancient radiance.

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

The realm trembled. Beyond its membrane, the vast starfield beneath the colossal wings resonated with the beast.

A torrent of starlight poured down, flooding the space with raw Star Power.

Louise choked. *Even wounded... this power could erase me ten times over.*

The beast reared its head.

Above them, the Star Power condensed into a phantom firmament—

A sky too heavy for any mortal to bear.

Luyi kept walking until she stood before the colossal muzzle.

The beast gazed down at the tiny figure.

"Remember this punishment," it intoned. "It will haunt you forever."

The sky fell.

Crushing weight warped space itself, shattering reality—

Like the myth of Atlas bearing heaven’s edge.

But the girl was no demigod.

She could not hold this sky.

She would be crushed.

—*Should have been.*

Yet Luyi simply raised her hand.

Pale fingers pierced the firmament’s barrier, sinking into the illusory heavens.

Beyond the Demon Sovereign’s aura, a second ancient presence rippled outward from her—

The breath of the Constellation Dragon.