The Age of Starfall
> "The beasts of the stars shall teach our children to climb higher. To fear nothing. Even extinction." —Zaxton, Realm Master of the Fourth
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I. The Scatter Protocol
Following their silent return from the Fifth Realm, Zaxton and his elite team initiated Phase Two of his grand plan. Known to only his most trusted moons and lieutenants, this was called the Scatter Protocol.
Across all four realms, hidden gates and dimensional hollows—prepared in advance by starforged geomancers—opened quietly in remote wild zones, forgotten mountains, subterranean root networks, deep-sea trenches, and forbidden sky altitudes.
From these gates, Stella Demons spilled forth.
But these were not continent-breaking monstrosities. These were low and mid-tier fiends, captured and shackled with Zaxton's personalized seals—each one crafted from his minor solar essence, preventing them from growing too powerful or escaping certain bounds.
Each one, however, was still vastly superior to the usual beasts of cultivation the realms were used to.
They were nightmares made flesh.
Shardbeasts, creatures of crystalline skin that fractured light into blades—released into the glass forests of the Second Realm.
Cicadons, burrowing fiends whose screams bent the bones of weaker cultivators—sent into the ruined fields of the First Realm.
Tesseral Vexwings, flying creatures that shimmered in and out of time—set loose in the sky jungles of the Third Realm.
The Hollow Hounds, packs of near-invisible demonic predators that could smell ambition—now hunting the outer lands of the Fourth.
These were just the beginning.
Each realm was now seeded with trial zones, often called Starfall Wilds by the local sects.
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II. Immediate Fallout
First Realm – Fire Beneath Ashes
The weakest realm felt the brutal bite of change.
Thousands of small sects fell in the first year. Ancient orders collapsed under the sudden exposure to enemies beyond comprehension.
But amidst the ashes, new heroes rose.
Children born of nothing, street orphans, wandering beast-tamers—those with raw willpower—began to awaken in the presence of these demons. Their souls naturally adapted. Some even bonded with weakened Stella Demons, forming Soul Cords—a new form of cultivation that fused demonic essence with mortal will.
The First Realm—once the weakest—began to breed prodigies faster than any realm.
Second Realm – The Forge Realm
Known for its artisans and alchemists, the Second Realm did not fight the Stella Demons—they experimented.
Using captured beasts, they forged Stellar-grade weapons, armor made of spectral bone, and even constructs powered by demon cores. The technological and mystical boom rippled across all realms, sparking a new Arms Revolution.
Zaxton allowed it. Encouraged it.
They would need these creations soon.
Third Realm – Civil War of the Sky
With the previous rebellion crushed by Zaxton's brutal return, the Third Realm had only recently begun to rebuild.
Now, with the arrival of these beasts, the power vacuum fractured once more.
Some sects tried to hide and shield their disciples. Others—bolder, hungrier—used the Starfall zones to prove their worth, sending cultivators into the worst zones and publicizing their victories.
This led to the Skyfire Schism, a bloody competition that killed many—but also produced the first known Starborn Sect, a force whose entire cultivation base revolved around Stella Demon blood and arenas.
They did not worship Zaxton.
They became his weapons.
Fourth Realm – Cultivation Through Crisis
The Fourth Realm had the largest population of Ringed Planets, Gas Giants, and False Stars. The invasion by demons did not overwhelm them, but it unified them even further.
Zaxton's Stellar Bastions—already spread across the realm—became training halls and fortresses. Within five years, nearly every major planetary power had adapted new Stella resistance techniques, and for the first time in history:
Gas Giants sparred regularly with Demons.
Ringed Planets bred Combat Moons—artificial satellites designed to lure, trap, and battle stronger demons.
A new generation of False Stars emerged—younger, faster, forged in real war.
Zaxton himself watched from afar, silent.
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III. Cultural Shift – The Era of Demon Trials
This era would later be known as the Demon Trial Epoch.
Books were rewritten.
Sect entry exams changed.
Even children, barely five years old, were now taught how to recognize Stella Demon blood trails.
In the First Realm, cultivators needed to slay at least one Shardbeast to become inner disciples.
In the Third Realm, sects began to import demons from the Fourth Realm to simulate ascension trials.
In the Second Realm, high-level forgers competed to design armor sets that could suppress specific Stella traits.
And in the Fourth Realm, a prophecy began to circulate:
> "From the trial ashes shall rise Ten Starborn Kings. One will sit beside the Lone Star. One… may surpass him."
The Codex of Stars and Fangs
> "Words etched in voidstone. Blood as ink. Breath of suns as fire. Let no starbeast go unlabeled. Let no cultivator rise in ignorance."
—Zaxton, upon completing the Stellar Codex
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I. Birth of the Living Tome
After a decade of observing the results of the Starfall Protocol and the surging changes across the realms, Zaxton came to a powerful conclusion:
> There must be a system. A scripture. A future-proof method to harness the chaos.
Thus, in the Depth Wells of Solmourn, beneath the 8th Stellar Bastion of the Fourth Realm, Zaxton sacrificed a piece of his starcore, combining it with the last breath of a slain mid-tier Stella Wyrm. He sealed both inside the skeleton of a Fifth Realm Soul Owl, a beast once used by stars as information gatherers.
The result was not a book.
It was a sentient artifact:
The Stellar Codex.
It pulses with solar veins.
It has no pages, only dimensional folds.
It speaks in whispers and reveals itself only to those it deems worthy.
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II. The Contents of the Codex
The Stellar Codex updates in real-time, scanning the cultivation ecosystem for data. It is now the supreme source of cosmic knowledge within the four realms.
1. Starbeast Lore Archive
Entries on over 4,000 Stella Demons, categorized by origin realm, bloodline trait, elemental nature, and combat protocols.
Includes diagrams made of moving cosmic light, able to simulate real-time behavior of certain demons.
Certain entries are locked—only Zaxton and his chosen heirs can access these hidden types, such as the "Mirrordream Eaters" or "Time-Tide Swarms."
2. Forbidden Cultivation Paths
Hybrid cultivation arts that use demon cores, stardust ichor, and Voidwrought breath.
Techniques such as:
Stellar Devour Method – absorb and fuse starbeast instincts into your will.
Astral Bone Reweaving – replace your skeleton with adaptive cosmic bone.
Moonshard Incarnation – grow false moons that orbit your soul core.
These techniques come with brutal risks—many die, and others mutate—but for those who succeed, power equal to small stars is possible.
3. Battle Data Logs
Records of every major demon cultivator battle, realm-wide.
Tracks outcomes, tactical decisions, and possible counter-moves.
Some battlefields are converted into training simulations through Codex-generated astral projections.
4. The Codex Trials
Once per realm cycle, the Codex itself opens a trial gate—a domain of stars, beasts, and chaos.
Those who enter fight illusions of real Stella Lords from the Fifth Realm, or simulations of past cataclysmic wars.
Victors are granted:
Codex Brands—sigils of star law etched into their souls.
Starheart Fragments—raw chunks of collapsed minor stars to fuel cultivation.
Codex Companion Beasts—semi-sentient starbeasts bred within the Codex's own internal reality.
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III. The Expanding Ecosystem
The Codex didn't just guide cultivators. It reshaped the way the entire cultivation economy operated.
1. Rise of Codex Guilds
Entire organizations formed around:
Mapping starbeast migrations.
Hunting specific demons to feed Codex entries.
Protecting Codex trial participants.
They operate across all realms and are sworn to neutrality, lest Zaxton erase them personally.
2. Beast-Integrated Sects
Some sects now take starbeast cores as part of disciple initiation, and a few dare to breed with lesser starbeasts to create hybrid lineages.
The Dawnscale Sect births cultivators with scales and solar breath.
The Fanged Moon Cult raises children bonded to Void Lupines from birth.
3. Agricultural and Material Shift
Fourth Realm farmers now grow Luminous Spirit Grain, which feeds on starbeast remains.
Miners hunt for Meteorite Tendons—organic material from fallen demons used in constructing homes, armors, and ships.
Stellar Containment Arrays become more common—used to hold live demon specimens for training or resource extraction.
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IV. Codex Secrets and the Fifth Realm Reaction
Unbeknownst to most, Zaxton encrypted a section of the Codex—one that is slowly building toward a Fifth Realm Infiltration Blueprint.
It contains:
Weak spots in Fifth Realm spatial defenses.
Theoretical maps of Star Lord movement patterns.
Cultivation techniques capable of blending one's presence into the stellar current—the primary energy field of the Fifth Realm.
But with this growing influence came ripples across the higher realms.
The Fifth Realm noticed.
Some of the weaker stars went quiet.
Others dispatched Stellarchs—agents who walk like men, but whose shadows burn like stars.
Some are rumored to have entered the Starfall Wilds… hunting for the Codex.
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V. Closing Scene: The Codex Whisper
In the deepest chamber of the 12th Stellar Bastion, the Codex sat atop a floating monolith of starlit bone.
It opened itself. Pages unwound like galaxies.
A phrase pulsed in deep scarlet through the chamber.
> "The Codex dreams of a war not yet written.
The stars hunger for defiance.
And a new chapter… begins with blood."
Zaxton stood before it, his flame hair dimmed to red-gold.
His second ring shimmered blue. His eyes were sunlit obsidian.
He whispered:
"Then we'll write in starlight and rage."