I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

As the moon rose and the sun set, the fire in the town was finally extinguished by the time the sun went down.

Even the lava in the large pit in the center of the town has turned into grayish-brown rocks and a glassy color.

Even the suspended sphere of light had become dim and lifeless.

It felt like a long time had passed even though only half a day had gone by.

Meanwhile, Ye Jianxing, who was lying in a large crater of rubble, had finally recovered some of his true energy.

Unable to suppress the grief of losing all his brothers and the pain all over his body, he struggled to his feet and slowly walked toward the town to continue his unfinished mission.

As Ye Jianxing approached the town, he felt a wave of heat wash over him.

However, it was just a typical summer noon and didn't affect him much.

Step by step, Ye Jianxing staggered to the spot where the sun fragments had fallen.

It was even hotter here, but after circulating my true energy, it was still bearable.

Seeing the ball of light in mid-air, Ye Jianxing immediately tried to circulate his inner energy to take it into his hand.

However, the moment he circulated his true energy, Ye Jianxing felt a slight warmth in his arms, and the ball of light that was floating in mid-air suddenly shot towards him.

Ye Jianxing was immediately startled.

However, before he could react to this sudden change, the radiant ball of light struck his chest and vanished instantly.

Startled, Ye Jianxing immediately reached into his robes and grasped a slightly warm, round ball.

这 是
Ye Jianxing's heart stirred, and he took out the sphere from his pocket.

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary stone ball.

If it weren't for the scorching heat it felt when held, Ye Jianxing would have really mistaken it for an ordinary stone ball.

This was the sphere he had sensed earlier at the inn.
Originally, he wanted to study the stone ball that had been placed in his arms at some point.

However, he forgot about it afterwards.

Unexpectedly, this unexpected turn of events has drawn the solar fragments here.

Furthermore, the two sides appear to have merged.

Could it be that the stone sphere in his arms is also a fragment of the sun?
But, how is this possible?
He had no recollection of ever obtaining a fragment of the sun.

With his brows furrowed, Ye Jianxing pondered deeply.

As time passed, Ye Jianxing felt a sudden dizziness, and blurry, indistinct images began to appear in his mind.

Ye Jianxing vaguely felt that the scene before him seemed somewhat familiar.

It was as if he had been here long ago, and many times before.

But, how is this possible?
This is clearly his first time here, okay? Even the huge crater in front of him was formed by a piece of the sun that just fell. How could he have been here many times?

After racking his brains to no avail, Ye Jianxing could only shake his head and get up to walk out of the town.

The dilapidated town, with its staggering figures walking towards the setting sun, created a poignant and beautiful scene.

Soon, Ye Jianxing arrived at the border between the town and the mist, the first place where they emerged from the mist.

As the mist grew thinner ahead, Ye Jianxing was momentarily lost in thought. He turned and glanced again at the direction of the dilapidated town before disappearing into the mist.

He walked unsteadily, the faces and voices of his men constantly flashing through his mind.

Ye Jianxing paused slightly, wondering if he should bury his brothers.

just
Imagine them being reduced to ashes in the true fire of the sun.

Now, even if we wanted to give them a proper burial, it seems there's no chance anymore.

"Oh~!"

Ye Jianxing sighed and then went to find a stone tablet to carve the names of his brothers in remembrance.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ye Jianxing's eyes suddenly lit up.

Not far ahead, amidst a hazy mist, stood a large blue stone.

Ye Jianxing strode forward, circulating his internal energy, and suddenly drew his Embroidered Spring Blade from his waist.

However, just as Ye Jianxing was about to slightly move his wrist to carve the words, he suddenly froze on the spot.

In front of them, on one side of a blue stone, which was as smooth as if it had been cut by a knife, were engraved with lines of text. Upon closer inspection, they were all names of people.

Ye Jianxing looked at them one by one: Chen Yunben, Song Xinghua, Sun Ruibo, Xiao Xinbin, and Tian Wei.
Ye Jianxing was very familiar with all the names on it, because they were all the names of his subordinates.

Looking at his handwriting, it's as if he carved it himself.

Without realizing it, Ye Jianxing felt a chill run down his spine.

What... what's going on here? Who would imitate his handwriting and carve the names of his subordinates here?
Ye Jianxing circulated his true energy, suppressing the horrified and terrifying thoughts in his heart, and began to look down one by one.

Towards the end, the handwriting gradually became messy.

Upon seeing the last line of text, Ye Jianxing froze instantly, a feeling of extreme horror washing over him.

Ye Jianxing's final words!
How...how could this be?
This unbelievable situation instantly shocked Ye Jianxing.

He is clearly not dead, so how could his suicide note be here?
Ye Jianxing lowered his eyes and raised his hand with trembling hands.

He vaguely noticed that his arm seemed somewhat unreal.

Am I already dead?
The moment this thought arose, Ye Jianxing felt as if the surrounding environment had suddenly changed.

Looking again, the overall environment remained unchanged.

However, in front of that stone tablet, there was a figure that had been dead for a long time, leaning against it.

Looking again, who else could it be but Ye Jianxing?
The instant he saw the corpse's face, a flood of images and memories rushed into Ye Jianxing's mind.

It turns out he was already dead.

In fact, he has died many times over.

When they entered the mist, which is the gap between reality and the underworld, they became completely lost and eventually died tragically.

Even at the very end, he, who had reached the Innate Realm, died here.

However, in the end, he had the names of his brothers engraved on the stone tablet one by one.

In the end, he also failed to escape and died there.

As for their previous experiences in the town, those were the last lingering consciousness of their souls after death, returning to the underworld, combined with the souls of other deceased people, and ultimately evolved into this state.

They felt they had emerged from the fog.

In fact, it was only their souls that went out.

Or rather, they entered the underworld.

The area centered around the fallen solar fragments had long since evolved into a constantly cycling underworld under the influence of the dynasty's power.

If no other external force disrupts this, everything there will continue to repeat the scene from the two days before the sun sets.

The thin mist surrounding them is actually the barrier between the underworld and reality.

However, when stimulated, Ye Jianxing will awaken to the circumstances of his first death and see the reality, and may even have brief contact with it.

However, it can never escape the fog and truly step into reality.

Ultimately, he will be reborn again and again in the underworld, exploring the town time and time again, dying time and time again.

Until recently, it seemed that enough moonlight energy had accumulated within their souls, and things began to change; they began to evolve celestial personalities. Ye Jianxing, in particular, was even occasionally able to escape and ascend to heaven.

Although ultimately they could not escape the cycle of reincarnation.

But at least they weren't completely ignorant.

just
Ye Jianxing's face turned pale and gloomy.

He didn't want to go through this endless cycle forever.

However, although it condensed and evolved the celestial and divine status, it possessed powerful supernatural abilities.

However, it's still a long way from escaping the cycle of reincarnation in the underworld.

A look of sorrow involuntarily appeared on Ye Jianxing's face, and deep in his eyes was a look of utter despair and madness.

Reaching into his robes, a faintly visible, transparent bead appeared on his palm, emanating a continuous stream of mysterious energy.

"huhuhuhu"

Staring at the beads in his hand, Ye Jianxing's breathing gradually became heavy.

"Since escape is impossible, we might as well fight to the death."

Ye Jianxing's lips moved, and he mumbled incoherently.

In the next instant, Ye Jianxing raised his hand and swallowed the bead in his mouth.

"Gudong!"

As soon as he looked up, Ye Jianxing swallowed it forcefully.

The next instant, the bead that it had swallowed shuddered violently, instantly radiating brilliant light, and mysterious fluctuations spread out.

"Om~!"

In an instant, the surrounding mist began to churn violently, and the space itself rippled slightly before distorting.

In an instant, this space completely overlapped with reality.

Looking around, Ye Jianxing saw no mist, only a patch of charred, broken land, and even the back of the large blue stone was blackened.

However, in just a short while, the space around Ye Jianxing began to ripple once again, and the underworld, which overlapped with the real world, was gradually separating.

Even Ye Jianxing's body was being distorted by an invisible force, with waves of energy rippled across his body.

It seemed as if his body was about to shatter.

Sensing all this, a look of despair and relief flashed in Ye Jianxing's eyes. So it really wasn't working?

Just then, he suddenly heard a commotion in the distance.

"Here, here, sir, is there something going on here?"

"Hurry up"

Ye Jianxing looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of more than a dozen Imperial Guards running rapidly toward him. The leader was incredibly fast and had at least reached the Grandmaster level.

Upon seeing this, a look of joy and relief finally appeared on Ye Jianxing's face.

At least his mission might be accomplished.

Zuo Qipei moved with lightning speed, rushing forward at breakneck speed.

However, when he got up and got closer, he suddenly stopped.

He saw a large blue stone standing in front of him, and with his eyesight, he could see the names of people on it.

But that was certainly not the reason he stopped.

He stopped because in front of the large blue stone stood a phantom-like, transparent figure, smiling at them, its lips moving as if it were saying something.

However, no sound came out.

Frowning and looking closely, the illusory, transparent figure was dressed in the uniform of a junior officer of the Imperial Guard, with an embroidered spring knife at its waist, and a ball of light seemingly emanating from its chest and abdomen, radiating a hazy glow.

Thinking of the information he had received about other places where solar fragments had fallen, Zuo Qipei couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. This might be the same little flag that led the team to explore the forbidden area before, leading to their deaths.

As Zuo Qipei slowly stepped forward, just as he was about to say something, Ye Jianxing spoke silently.

As a renowned intelligence and secret service organization of the Ming Dynasty, they were still able to understand some spoken language.

Therefore, although Ye Jianxing did not make a sound, Zuo Qipei still understood his meaning.

"My mission is complete!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Jianxing suddenly circulated his inner energy, and his increasingly ethereal and transparent right hand forcefully plunged into his chest, grasping the radiant fragment of the sun.

Immediately afterwards, Ye Jianxing exerted force again, pulled it out of his body, and threw it forcefully at Zuo Qipei.

Seeing the rapidly approaching ball of light, Zuo Qipei frowned, circulated his inner energy to his palm, and gently raised it to catch it.

The sphere of light was warm, radiating rings of shimmering light, yet it also possessed a cool current that continuously flowed into his body, purifying and regulating his true energy while making his mind and consciousness clearer.

After shifting his gaze from the sphere of light, he looked again in the direction of the large blue stone.

Ye Jianxing was no longer there; a thin mist was rapidly spreading in their direction.

Seeing this, Zuo Qipei sighed inwardly and immediately shouted an order:
"Retreat! Get out of here."

Upon returning, Zuo Qipei immediately reported the situation to Wei Zhongxian and presented him with the fragments of the sun.

Of course, he didn't know that the ball of light was a fragment of the sun.

The only thing we know is that the orb of light must be a rare treasure.

However, he had no intention of embezzling.

After studying it, Wei Zhongxian discovered that it could slightly enhance physical strength, purify internal energy, and refresh the mind.

Similarly, none of them were kept for personal use.

One reason is loyalty to Tianqi, and the other is that its ability to enhance the power of Grandmaster-level experts is already extremely limited.

After all, Grandmasters are already the pinnacle of power in this world, and it's difficult for them to achieve much more significant improvement.

Even fragments of the sun, or the power that dynasties have invested in this world, would find it difficult to forcibly enhance the strength of a Grandmaster under the suppression of the rules of heaven and earth.

The power of the dynasty is indeed an external force, and it is difficult for it to directly enhance the strength of life in this world.

Unless it is a soul that returned to the underworld after death, or a soul that gradually condensed its status and then increased its strength through the life of this world.

It was precisely because the fragments of the sun were difficult to directly enhance one's strength that Wei Zhongxian presented them to Tianqi without much hesitation.

After obtaining the fragment of the sun, Tianqi placed it on his desk in the Qianqing Palace and played with it from time to time.

During this process, his physical fitness and internal energy did not improve much.

However, the mind becomes clearer and more lucid, making it easier to handle government affairs.

This made Apocalypse love it even more.

As time passed, more and more cool air currents flowed into Tianqi's body and into the depths of his mind.

Finally, one day six months later, a critical threshold was reached.

"Om~!"

With a buzzing sound, Tianqi felt a jolt in his brain. A mysterious power, mixed with warm and cool air currents, surged into his mind from the ball of light in his hand, condensing and evolving into a card: the Celestial Rank. (End of Chapter)