Far above the outer residences where Lin Hai writhed in pain, deep within the secluded meditation chamber carved into the mountain's heart, sat Sect Leader Yuan Xian.
He sat in silence, eyes closed, surrounded by countless ancient scrolls and crystal projections. The air around him shimmered faintly with residual energy from a forgotten age. A single flame floated before him—an eternal spiritual fire, passed down from one sect leader to the next since the rise of the Celestial Sect.
Tonight, as the fire flickered with unrest, Yuan Xian found himself pulled back through memories he had tried to bury.
The Universal War.
Twenty thousand years ago, the Celestial Sect stood not in ruin, but in supreme majesty. They had ruled half the known galaxies, led by a Celestial Body Being—an existence above gods, feared by all. Their knowledge of ancient technologies, spiritual warships, forbidden runes, and time-bound cultivation paths was unmatched. Fifty-five celestial domains had pledged loyalty to their banner.
But jealousy breeds betrayal.
The allied enemy celestial bodies—once vassals and students—turned against them. The war lasted a hundred years and swallowed entire constellations. In the end, the traitors could not destroy the Celestial Sect's Main Headquarters, but they struck a crueler blow.
They removed the sect from the Center of the Universe—the thriving core of intergalactic trade, cultivation resources, and celestial authority—and cast it into the Forgotten Galaxy, far beyond the outer edges of civilization.
Only six minor planets and two small stars were granted to them—a token of mercy or mockery, no one could say.
And yet, the enemy did not destroy the headquarters completely.
"They allowed our temples to stand," Yuan Xian murmured aloud. "They let the lower realms remain… left our knowledge buried beneath the rubble. As if daring us to claw our way back."
He knew why.
They feared the final act of his predecessor—Sect Leader Xuan Luo—a being who had stepped beyond godhood. When defeat was inevitable, Xuan Luo sacrificed his own Celestial Core to seal the true inheritance of the sect and banish all traitor sects from accessing the Celestial Database—an ancient system that held the truth of lost civilizations, cultivation origins, and unknown treasures.
The sacrifice was legendary. His name was carved into the records of time, yet now... even disciples in their own sect barely remembered him.
"Humiliation," Yuan Xian muttered. "We were once kings of the stars. Now we are mocked by middle-tier sects… trampled by low-tier ones."
He opened his eyes. Within them swirled galaxies of thought and weight.
Even the heavens fire Palace dares to humiliate us, he thought, offering their useless son as a marriage bond, believing money and temporary support would buy our surrender.
And yet… they are not wrong. The sect is weak. Starships are broken. Planetary resources are low. Our last Saint is aging. Elders grow desperate. Spies from all corners surround us like vultures, waiting for the last breath.
Only he knew the final key to the sect's resurgence was hidden somewhere in the ruins of their ancient headquarters.
Only he knew… that the Celestial Database had not been lost.
And tonight—just as that thought echoed in his mind—his flame flared once, briefly, then dimmed.
A sign.
A reaction.
Something… or someone… had touched a remnant of the sealed past.
His gaze turned to the north quadrant of the outer sect. "Who?" he whispered.
The stars outside remained silent.
But deep within the earth, fate had already begun to shift.