The fall of the Silver Moon fleet sent shockwaves through the First and Second Heavens. In less than a day, the name "Shen Yuan" had shifted from a forgotten myth to a living nightmare. But while the High Heavens scrambled to fortify their borders, the Sovereign was already moving.
"One general is not enough to siege the Sun-Emperor's citadel," Shen Yuan said, standing on the bridge of a captured Silver Moon war-ship, now repainted in the obsidian and violet of the Void.
Beside him stood Iron-Eye, his massive axe resting on his shoulder, and Hecate, who was staring at the northern horizon with a look of pure loathing.
"We are heading to the North-Star Abyss," Hecate said. "To the Frozen Sea. You're going to wake her, aren't you?"
"Frost-Weaver," Shen Yuan replied. "She was the only one who could track a god through a blizzard. Without her eyes, we are blind to Luo Feng's movements."
The Frozen Sea – Northern Border of the First Heaven
The North-Star Abyss was a place where the laws of heat did not exist. The ice here wasn't made of water; it was [Spirit-Frozen Essence], cold enough to turn a Core Formation cultivator's blood into glass in seconds.
The ship halted miles away from the center, unable to push through the jagged ice-spikes that rose like teeth from the dark water.
"Wait here," Shen Yuan commanded.
He stepped off the deck, his boots crunching on the frozen surface. The Aegis of the Fallen Star hummed, its internal heaters glowing red-hot to fight off the absolute zero environment.
At the center of the abyss sat a single, solitary ice-palace. It had no guards. No one was foolish enough to trespass here. Inside the main chamber, encased in a block of eternal, blue diamond, was a woman with hair like silver silk and skin as pale as the moon.
Frost-Weaver, the Second General of the Void.
Shen Yuan placed his hand on the diamond block.
"Master... it is too cold..." Tian Yu's voice shivered within his mind. "This isn't just ice. It's a curse of Silence."
"Luo Feng knew she was the most dangerous to his plans," Shen Yuan whispered. "So he didn't kill her. He froze her in a moment of time where I was still 'dead'. To her, I haven't been gone for ten thousand years. I've been gone for a second."
Shen Yuan didn't use fire to melt the ice. Fire would shatter the delicate balance of her soul. Instead, he used [Void-Resonance].
He began to vibrate his own molecular structure to match the frequency of the ice.
"[Eighth Gate: The Gate of Stillness]"
The palace began to scream. The blue diamond didn't melt; it turned to mist, evaporating into the air. The woman's eyes snapped open. They were not violet or black. They were a piercing, robotic white.
She didn't fall. She landed on her feet, her hand instinctively reaching for a bow that wasn't there.
"Sovereign?" she whispered, her voice like ice cracking on a lake. "You... you were late. The tea has gone cold."
"I apologize, Frost-Weaver," Shen Yuan said, a rare hint of a smile touching his lips. "I was delayed by a few millenniums of treachery."
She looked around, her white eyes scanning the palace, the sea, and finally, the sky. "The stars are in the wrong position. The Sun-Emperor's light is too bright. And... I smell the stench of the Silver Moon on the wind."
"They are waiting for us," Shen Yuan said.
"Then let us not keep them waiting," Frost-Weaver replied. She reached into the air, and the surrounding ice-palace literally folded itself, shrinking until it formed a long, crystalline bow in her hand. "[The Arctic Needle] is thirsty, Master."
The High Heavens – The Golden Palace
In the center of the Second Heaven, the Sun-Emperor, a being whose body was made of living plasma, sat on his throne. Before him knelt Luo Feng, the High Priest.
"The Frozen Sea has thawed," the Sun-Emperor's voice vibrated, causing the gold floor to melt. "The Weaver is awake. The Sentinel is armed. And Shen Yuan has reclaimed the Aegis."
"Your Majesty," Luo Feng said, his head bowed low. "We still have the [Heavenly Array of the Twelve Constellations]. He cannot reach the Second Heaven without passing through the Star-Gate."
"The Star-Gate?" The Sun-Emperor let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-explosion. "Luo Feng, you fool. You still think he is playing by our rules. He isn't coming for the Gate."
The Emperor pointed toward the horizon of the First Heaven.
"He's going to pull the First Heaven into the Second. He's going to collapse the layers of reality until we are all standing in the same grave."
"Prepare the God-Slaying Cannons," the Emperor commanded. "If the world must burn to kill him, then let it turn to ash."