The eye of the sea collapsed; the stone coffin shattered. As though the Solar Sacred Emperor had heard the weeping cries of all living beings, he actually appeared against all heavenly law!

All living creatures wept in anguish. Blood flowed in rivers across the earth, the sky was draped in sorrow, bones lay piled into mountains — their grief-stricken wails shook heaven and earth. Countless people called out to the ancient human emperor, hoping he would return from the dead.

In the end, it came true.

This peerless hero of human history returned against all heavenly law, appearing at the moment of humanity’s greatest despair — when the most terrifying Dark Upheaval in all of history had descended upon the world.

No one had foreseen it. Long ages had passed. His lineage had been severed. Even his descendants had been killed to the last — yet he still came back, for the sake of all living beings, to fight one final battle.

“The Solar Sacred Emperor — it truly is our human Sacred Emperor!”

“The Human Sovereign — it is him, it truly is him who has returned!”

Throughout the long ages, only the Solar Ancient Emperor and the Lunar Ancient Emperor had ever been revered as Human Sovereigns. Their achievements shook ten-thousand-year spans of history; they had governed all under heaven and won the hearts of all people.

The Great Emperor Techniques of later generations had drawn upon the methods of those two. The Solar Sutra and the Lunar Sutra were revered as the mother sutras of all.

At this moment, some elder saints were crying out, howling, overcome with the utmost excitement — wishing they could fly into the sky at once and pay their respects, to express the agitation and reverence within their hearts.

In this most perilous of moments, praying to heaven had been useless. Prostrating before the earth had yielded no result. Calling out to all the deities and demons of the heavens had brought no response. Only the Solar Sacred Emperor — the one who lay deepest within people’s hearts — had appeared.

This caused many to weep with hot tears, to cry out and sob, calling out again and again, hoping the Human Sovereign could bring stability to the heavens, pacify the upheaval, and restore peace to the great earth.

Yet many also felt deep shame. After the lineage of the Solar Sacred Emperor had declined in former days, it had suffered a catastrophic blow — slaughtered to the last by the powerful Golden Crow Clan, while no one had extended a hand in aid.

That was truly cause for humiliation. The bloodline of the Human Sovereign had nearly been severed. Had Ye Fan not saved a little child named Tong Tong, it would truly have come to an end. Where had they all been at that time?

And yet today, when the Dark Upheaval had descended and universal annihilation loomed, the world had only then thought of the Solar Sacred Emperor — calling out to him to return and bring the bloodshed to an end.

“We are unworthy of the Human Sovereign. We have no face to stand before the Human Ancestor!” Many people were filled with remorse.

To this day, the Human Sovereign had only one bloodline remaining in the mortal world. That was truly a sorrowful thing to say — yet he appeared without any thought for himself in humanity’s most desperate hour, manifesting to confront an ancient Supreme Being of old.

The human skin stained with fresh blood swelled and expanded. His commanding bearing caused all to tremble in awe. Hair unbound and flowing, he had transformed into the Solar Sacred Emperor — divinely martial and peerless — grasping his Emperor Weapon as he descended once more to reign over all under heaven.

Not to flaunt his might. Not to receive the adulation of ten thousand peoples. But to emerge for the sake of pacifying the upheaval. No one knew his true state. Every heart was raised to the throat. The Solar Sacred Emperor was going to fight for them.

“It is you… the Human Sovereign! To think you can still appear.” The expression of the Supreme Being of Light and Darkness flickered — no one could tell what he was thinking as he fixed his gaze upon the figure before him.

No one responded. That powerful physique was enveloped all around by swirling mists of cloud. Hair unbound, the eyes held a hollow desolation that filled those who saw them with grief — no divine light, no brightness.

Yet his Emperor Weapon was trembling. The stone pagoda blazed with radiance. Billions upon billions of immortal rays danced in flight, illuminating eternity — and then, nourished by the blood of the Solar Sacred Emperor, erupted with the most terrifying of auras.

“You… are no longer the true Solar Sacred Emperor. You cannot stop my advance!” The Supreme Being of Light and Darkness said coldly.

He extended one finger and pointed forward. In an instant, divine chains swept outward — law made manifest into divine order, peerless across all generations — piercing the heavens. Their intent was to bind and chain the Human Sovereign where he stood.

With a resounding impact, the stone pagoda shook. Imperial might rose ten-thousand-feet high, severing the endless chains of law and grinding all of it to nothing. Those strands of order could not press close.

“Boom!”

The Solar Sacred Emperor soared against the heavens. He slapped a palm forward, and brought with it one of the great laws — shifting the stars and reversing the cosmos. Both combatants vanished instantly to the space beyond.

“Be assured — I have no desire to destroy this primary star either. Leave behind the seeds of life, preserve them for future use.” The Supreme Being of Light and Darkness said icily, then followed into the space beyond.

The left pupil of his eye was plunged in darkness, as though it could swallow the universe — containing everything in existence, grinding it all to nothing. In that moment, the left pupil blazed. Darkness enveloped the void, swallowing all the heavenly stars — the world lost all light, leaving nothing but darkness.

This was his law. This was his Dao. It came to intercept that palm strike of the Solar Sacred Emperor — reaching out to swallow and extinguish it.

In an instant, the vault of heaven shattered. From the Solar Sacred Emperor’s palm erupted endless light and fire, blazing and burning, breaking through the gloom — as though it had ignited the hope within the hearts of all living beings.

“Boom!”

Ultimately, the Supreme Being of Light and Darkness had no choice but to extend his hand, pressing forward to suppress the blow, clashing against that great hand. The impact shook both tremendously, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He had forgotten — he had said the opponent was not the true Solar Sacred Emperor, yet he himself was no longer the Supreme Being at the height of his power throughout all of history. He now had a deficiency. Though he still surpassed quasi-emperors and still wielded imperial might — still commanded those laws — in the end he had severed himself with one slash and was no longer complete.

“Hum!”

That divinely martial middle-aged man opposite him drove a fist forward, the divine might overawing all creation, the hair all over his head in wild and frenzied motion — yet within his eyes there was no divine light, only blood. Even so, he continued his powerful assault, protecting all living beings.

This was the Solar Emperor Fist — devouring the cosmos, unrivaled above and below heaven — pressing down upon the stars and causing them to tremble and tumble one by one.

The Supreme Being of Light and Darkness felt a jolt of alarm. This was a human skin in a wondrous state — bearing the undying impression left behind by the Solar Sacred Emperor. It was a fighting dharma body of combat, not the true physical form — and yet even so, it was this powerful.

“Boom!”

The Supreme Being of Light and Darkness — he naturally would not acknowledge that any other Great Emperor or ancient sovereign surpassed him. He had once attained the Dao; he had once reigned supreme over the primordial universe; he had once looked down upon the nine heavens and ten earths, alone above all — and naturally he dared to do battle with anyone who had ever lived, in any age.

Brilliant light erupted. Resplendent radiance struck the universe, shaking the mortal world — this was a great clash between Supreme Beings, shaking all under heaven.

With only a human skin remaining, the Solar Sacred Emperor still commanded this level of imperial power — halting the Lord of Samsara in his tracks, the Solar Emperor Fist shaking him until he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

Yet that skin was also cracking apart — more blood trails appeared across it, shocking to behold.

“There is the battle will of his former life, and he has borrowed the battle power of that time — but it is only a temporary feat, and it will come to its end…” the Supreme Being of Light and Darkness said coldly.

With a great booming roar, the stone pagoda in the Solar Sacred Emperor’s hands shook, casting down a great expanse of blazing firelight — and chaos swirled around it, making it look terrifying beyond measure.

When the stone pagoda was thrust forward to suppress everything, the entire universe shuddered. The Solar Sacred Emperor’s might erupted, stirring all the heavens. Even the Lord of the Divine Ruins, the Lord of Samsara, and the Stone Emperor of the Undying Mountain, far away in other star domains, all turned their heads to look in this direction, each of them visibly moved.

With a shuddering impact, the Supreme Being of Light and Darkness’ right hand produced a divine staff — short, no more than one foot in length, forged from the golden metal of Dao tribulation — so radiant it dazzled the eye, so brilliant that even the Milky Way seemed to dim beside it. His left hand produced an ancient shield, pitch-black all over, forged from dark gold — terrifying and forbidding, like a black hole.

These were his Emperor Weapons — the Staff of Light and the Shield of Darkness!

And so too were his eyes — his right eye brilliant, his left eye dark, embodying light and darkness.

The violent collision erupted with light and darkness combined. The Staff of Light and the Shield of Darkness shared a common origin, having been nurtured within a single divinity that was then divided into two weapons — when they collided with each other, it was as though the heavens themselves were being split open, the power sufficient to awe the universe.

Boundless light was released. Infinite darkness surged forward. Light and darkness were embodied to the fullest — born apart to the left and right, then merging together to produce a cosmic explosion.

Even so, the stone pagoda drove inward. The Solar Sacred Emperor’s valor was unmatched and peerless. The stone pagoda clashed against the Emperor Weapons of Light and Darkness, while the supreme law contained within the human skin also gathered fully together and bore down in suppression.

“Boom!”

The Supreme Being of Light and Darkness shot into the sky, hair spread in all directions. Blood covered him entirely. Blood poured in a continuous stream from the corner of his mouth. Even before he had regained his footing, he stumbled again — nearly losing his balance completely.

On the other side, the Solar Sacred Emperor’s greatest fighting will had nearly been worn away. The human skin had been damaged, split open with still more wounds — the sight of it was harrowing. That powerful physique might fall at any moment.

The stone pagoda shook and shone of its own accord, hovering above him, shielding this form from falling, and nourished by the sovereign’s blood — proving far more powerful than it would have been in an ordinary revival. For it was unwilling on behalf of its master — more terrifying even than in a state of spontaneous recovery.

“A dead man — I have no need to exhaust myself against you. To truly destroy you would consume some of my life force. It would not be worth it.” The Supreme Being of Light and Darkness spoke.

These words, falling on the ears of all the saints, were utterly despairing — for it was clear the Supreme Being of Light and Darkness had not truly exerted himself to the fullest. He had merely been conserving his life essence.

After all, it was only a human skin. No matter how powerful, it could not truly defy heaven. Even if it bore the Solar Sacred Emperor’s greatest fighting will, there was a limit.

The Supreme Being of Light and Darkness put away his weapons and cast one cold glance at the Ziwei Star Domain: “Let this place have its temporary peace — but how long can you hold out? Can you truly endure?”

He did not linger, for there was no time to waste. He had exhausted far too much on the path to immortality, and he was in desperate need of replenishing his vital essence to halt his aging.

“Solar Sacred Emperor, you are truly deserving of respect — even in death, you are still like this. But was it worth it, for them?” That was his final word.

To be given such an evaluation by a great enemy — the character of the Solar Sacred Emperor could well be imagined.

Many people in the Ziwei Star Domain felt guilt-ridden. The Solar Sacred Emperor had nearly come to have no descendants left in this domain at all — yet at the most perilous of moments, who had come to protect them?

The Solar Sacred Emperor rose up, dragging his ruined form — and moved in silence to the Ziwei Star Domain, gazing down over the ancient lands where he had once fought and once served as protector. From those hollow eyes, drops of blood fell again — like crystalline teardrops.

At last, he sat down. He settled there upon that great purple star, still and unmoving. His hair gradually grew somewhat ashen, and his back was no longer quite so straight.

He sat this way without speaking a word. No one knew his state. No one knew whether any will still remained within him. All the people of that entire ancient star looked up at him.

An empty, ruined form remained — only an imperial pagoda to keep him company. Nothing else, nothing more. He was only a candle guttering in the wind — a solitary old man, silently guarding an ancient star, refusing to let any enemy approach.

This left the people of the Ziwei Star Domain in profound grief. The Solar Sacred Emperor of former times — unrivaled above and below heaven, unable to be challenged by any — how could he have been brought to this? No one could oppose him. Yet now, for the sake of protecting them… he had come to this.

“Ahhh…!”

All people wept in grief. The former Solar Sacred Emperor seemed unable to remain in the world much longer — yet still, at the very last, he was striving to protect this land, causing every living being upon that entire star to weep without being able to stop themselves.

The Solar Sacred Emperor had grown old in the end. This was not his true physical form — yet through this form, people felt the final solitude and desolation of a hero at the close of his days.

All living beings cried out in grief. A surging tide of thoughts and prayers poured inward, vanishing into that steadily aging form — yet it changed nothing.

The Solar Sacred Emperor’s hair turned ashen. He tried to rise. He tried to travel to distant lands for one last battle — but in the end, all his power was gone. That decaying form bled, then toppled.

From his eyes fell the last teardrop of blood — and he dissolved into a tattered, broken human skin that would never rise again. Only a stone pagoda wailed in anguish, its roar shaking the heavens, blazing with ten-thousand-feet of radiance — standing guard over him, refusing to leave.

Throughout the universe, all had fallen entirely into the Dark Upheaval. Everywhere was blood and water. Countless Ancient Life Lands were ravaged. From this point forward, there was no one left who could stop it — no true Great Emperor remained alive and whole…