The cosmos trembled as Lin Chen fell.
Once, they called him Sovereign of Ten Thousand Stars. Ruler of the Supreme Heavens. Husband to empresses whose beauty eclipsed galaxies. His name alone made entire worlds bow.
But in the end… it wasn't his enemies who killed him.
It was his own sworn brothers.
"Lin Chen," sneered the black-robed man standing over his broken body. "Your time is over. You hoarded power, hoarded women. Did you think the rest of us would kneel forever?"
Lin Chen coughed blood, his once divine body cracked like shattered jade. Around him, his loyal wives — the Phoenix Empress, the Sword Goddess, the Elf Queen — were fighting desperately, their cries shaking the heavens.
But he was finished.
As a final mockery, they struck him down on the very altar where he once married his first love.
His vision blurred. The last thing he saw was Phoenix Empress Xueyao's tear-streaked face, her fiery wings burning as she roared in grief.
Then—
Darkness.
Nothingness.
But fate… was not done with Lin Chen.
Somewhere, in a minor mortal realm far below the grand cosmos…
A young man's eyes snapped open.
"Guh—!" Lin Chen gasped, sitting up violently. Sweat drenched his skin.
"Wh-Where the hell am I?!" he blurted, looking around.
The room was small, shabby. The bed creaked. The air smelled faintly of mold.
No golden palaces. No starlight robes.
Just… a rundown outer disciple's quarters.
He looked down at his hands — thin, weak, calloused.
His once indestructible, godlike physique? Gone.
Instead, he was in the body of some outer sect trash disciple named Lin Chen… same name, but a nobody.
For a long moment, he just sat there, stunned.
Then —
"Pfft—" he snorted.
Then chuckled.
Then threw his head back and laughed.
"Hahaha! The mighty Lin Chen! Sovereign of Ten Thousand Stars! Reborn… as a broke outer disciple?!"
He clutched his stomach as he laughed so hard it hurt.
"Oh heavens, your sense of humor is terrible! Hahaha!"
But then… the memories flooded back.
His wives.
His empresses.
His sworn loves — scattered across the galaxies, grieving, thinking him dead.
His heart clenched painfully.
"Xueyao… Yun Xi… Alara… all of you…"
His fists trembled.
He remembered their vows.
Remembered the feel of their hands in his.
Remembered their laughter, their kisses…
And remembered their tears as he fell.
Lin Chen stood up, eyes blazing with fierce light.
"I don't care if I start from scratch," he growled. "I will rise again."
His lips curled into a familiar, cocky grin.
"I'll climb back to the top, realm by realm… bed by bed— cough, I mean… step by step!"
He cracked his knuckles.
"And I swear… I will find each and every one of my wives. I will marry them again, one by one."
His grin turned wicked.
"And this time, I'll make them fall even harder for me. Heh."
He threw open the creaky door.
The sun of this tiny mortal world blazed down on him.
Lin Chen, the Fallen Sovereign, stepped out into the light.
A weakling now… but soon to ascend again.
"And first…" he muttered, eyes gleaming,
"...I need to punch some arrogant young masters in the face."
Somewhere far across the universe...
In a palace of burning flames, the Phoenix Empress Xueyao suddenly shivered.
Her tears stopped.
Her heart, dead for centuries, beat once more.
"...Chen'er…?" she whispered.
[End of Chapter 1]