Liu Huoyan had died once before.
She remembered it clearly—the feeling of steel piercing her chest, the betrayal in her lieutenant's eyes, the cold spreading through her limbs as her blood soaked into desert sand. Her mercenary company, Red Phoenix Battalion, dead around her. Three years of brotherhood murdered for a rival warlord's gold.
She remembered thinking, as darkness closed in: Is this all there is?
Then a star had fallen from the sky.
That's what it looked like, at least. A meteor of silver-blue light that crashed into the desert with enough force to vaporize her would-be killers. She'd felt hands—impossibly gentle—lift her broken body. Felt warmth flood through her wounds, not healing them, but keeping her alive just long enough.
And she'd seen his face.
Young. Too young to hold such ancient eyes. Starlight literally bleeding from his skin as he channeled techniques she couldn't comprehend. She'd watched him work for three hours straight, his cultivation base sustaining her life force while he found a proper healer, never once faltering, never once asking who she was or why he should care.
"Why?" she'd gasped when she could finally speak.
He'd looked at her with those impossible eyes. "Because I could. Because you deserved better than dying in sand to treachery. Because..." He'd paused, and for just a moment, she'd seen something vulnerable beneath his power. "Because I know what it's like to be betrayed by those you trust."
That was two years ago.
Now, Liu Huoyan stood on a rooftop three hundred li from the Azure Cloud Sect, watching dawn break over distant mountains, and felt the star mark on her left shoulder burn with purpose.
The Sovereign has given me a task, she thought, channeling her fire qi through her meridians. Time to burn the corrupt.
"You're up early."
She didn't turn. She'd felt Warbringer's approach—the man moved like an avalanche, impossible to miss once you knew what to feel for. "Couldn't sleep. Too much planning to do."
Tie Shan settled beside her, his massive frame somehow finding balance on the narrow rooftop edge. "The Sovereign's task weighs on you."
"No." Solar shook her head. "The opposite. It steadies me." She clenched her fist, watching flames dance between her fingers. "For two years, I've trained. Cultivated. Served the Court from shadows. But this? This is direct action. This is judgment."
"This is also incredibly dangerous," Warbringer noted. "A Nascent Soul cultivator is not prey to be taken lightly."
"The Sovereign will handle Elder Crimson Sky. Our job is ensuring everything else goes perfectly." Solar turned to face him. "You have concerns?"
The scarred general was quiet for a moment. "I served a king once. Watched him make decisions that sent thousands to their deaths. Some were necessary. Some were..." He trailed off. "Some were pride masquerading as strategy."
"You think the Sovereign is being prideful?"
"I think our Sovereign is twenty-seven years old and declaring he'll kill a three-hundred-year-old Nascent Soul expert in the heart of a Great Sect." Warbringer's expression remained neutral. "That is either divine confidence or divine foolishness."
Solar's qi flared, heat rippling the air. "You dare—"
"I dare speak truth," Warbringer interrupted calmly. "As the Sovereign would want. He values our honest counsel, not blind worship."
*Does he?* Solar wondered. She thought about the Court meetings, the way the Sovereign maintained his stellar projection, never showing weakness, never admitting doubt. Or does he need us to believe he's infallible?
She pushed the thought away. Dangerous. Disloyal.
"The Sovereign saved my life when he had no reason to," she said quietly. "He found me dying in the desert and spent three hours keeping me alive. He could have simply walked past. Could have taken what he wanted from my corpse. Instead, he gave me purpose."
"And you've given him your life in return."
"Gladly." Solar met his eyes. "I was a mercenary, Warbringer. I killed for coin. My company slaughtered villages when the pay was right. I told myself we were just surviving, but..." She looked at her hands. "These hands took innocent lives. Before him, I was heading nowhere but damnation."
"And after?"
"After, I have a chance at redemption." Her voice strengthened. "The Sovereign doesn't just give orders. He gives meaning. Every task serves justice. Every mission protects the powerless. He's shown me a better way."
Warbringer was silent for a long moment. "I understand," he finally said. "My king was a fool who wasted thousands of lives. But you... you've found a leader worth following."
"You don't sound convinced."
"I'm a soldier. I follow orders." He stood, preparing to leave. "But I'm also a strategist. And this plan has too many variables." He paused at the roof's edge. "If things go wrong, Solar, if the Sovereign falls... what then?"
"Then we die avenging him," she said simply.
Warbringer nodded slowly. "That's what I thought you'd say." He dropped off the roof, vanishing into morning shadows.
Solar turned back to the sunrise, but her mind churned.
What if Warbringer is right? What if this is too ambitious?
Her star mark burned, and suddenly she felt it—the Sovereign's qi, reaching across three hundred li, a thread of power connecting them. Not words. Not commands. Just... presence. Acknowledgment.
He's checking on us, she realized. Making sure we're prepared.
The connection faded, but warmth lingered.
Solar smiled. See, Warbringer? A god doesn't need to explain himself. He simply is.
---
Two Years Ago
"You need rest," the healer said, finishing her work. The elderly woman had charged an astronomical fee, but the young man had paid without hesitation. "Your meridians were shredded. I've repaired them, but you'll need months of recovery."
"I don't have months," Liu Huoyan growled from the bed. "My company—"
"Is dead," her savior stated flatly. "All of them. I counted forty-three bodies."
The words hit like physical blows. Jiang Wei. Old Chen. Little Fen who'd just turned sixteen. All dead.
"Zhang Kui," she hissed. "That bastard... he betrayed us for—"
"Fifty thousand spirit stones from Warlord Huo." The young man held up a ledger he'd apparently looted. "The contract is quite detailed. You were worth twenty thousand alone—apparently your reputation as the 'Desert Phoenix' made you particularly valuable dead."
Liu Huoyan stared at him. "Who are you?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he moved to the window, looking out at the city below. "Someone who understands betrayal. Someone who..." He paused. "Someone who's building something. An organization that operates by different principles."
"Principles?" She laughed bitterly. "Principles don't exist in our world. Only power and profit."
"Is that what you believe?"
"It's what I know."
He turned, and she saw starlight literally swirling in his eyes—a cultivation technique beyond anything she'd witnessed. "Then let me show you differently. Join me, Liu Huoyan. Swear yourself to my Court, and I'll give you power, purpose, and a chance to be more than a sword for hire."
"Your Court?" She tried to sit up, winced. "What Court? You're barely older than me."
"Age is irrelevant to destiny." He approached the bed, and she felt the weight of his cultivation base—Core Formation realm, same as her, but something about his qi felt different. Vast. Cosmic. "I offer you a choice. Walk away, rebuild your mercenary life, continue the cycle of blood for gold. Or..." He extended his hand. "Join the Celestial Court. Become Solar, Throne of the Sun. Burn away corruption. Protect the innocent. Serve true justice."
"And serve you?"
"And serve the cause I represent."
Liu Huoyan looked at his hand. Every instinct screamed this was insane. She didn't know this man. Didn't know his organization. Didn't know if he was righteous cultivator or elaborate fraud.
But she remembered dying in the sand. Remembered her company's blood. Remembered thinking her life had amounted to nothing but coin and corpses.
"What would you have me do first?" she asked.
He smiled. "Rest. Recover. Train. When you're ready, I'll summon you to the Hall of Infinite Stars, and you'll meet your fellow Court members. For now..." He placed something on her chest—a jade token carved with a sun symbol. "This is your Star Seal. It will let me contact you and you contact me. Guard it with your life."
"I don't even know your name."
"In the Court, I am the Celestial Sovereign. That's all you need to know."
"And outside the Court?"
That vulnerable expression crossed his face again. "Outside, I'm just someone trying very hard not to fail the people counting on me."
Then he'd vanished, dissolving into silver-blue light like a descending star.
Liu Huoyan had stared at the jade token for hours.
Three days later, she'd received her first summons. Appeared in the Hall of Infinite Stars. Met Lunar, who'd joined a month before. Received her first mission: protect a caravan of refugees from bandits.
No pay. No profit. Just... justice.
She'd killed the bandits and saved forty lives.
And for the first time in her mercenary career, she'd felt clean.
---
Present
Solar's communication talisman vibrated. She pulled it out—a message from Morningstar, encrypted with Court ciphers.
"Elder Crimson Sky confirmed for Elders' Council. Used leverage as suggested. Target will be in Enforcement Hall, third floor meditation chambers, at peak spiritual hour. Sealing formations active. Perfect isolation. -MS"
Solar crushed the talisman, letting it burn to ash in her palm.
Three days, she thought. Three days until we prove the Court's power.
Or three days until everything collapsed.
She jumped from the rooftop, fire qi propelling her across the city toward her safehouse. She had preparations to make. Weapons to check. Contingencies to plan.
But more than that, she had faith.
The Sovereign had saved her life. Had given her purpose. Had looked at a blood-soaked mercenary and seen potential for redemption.
Whatever he commands, I will execute, she swore silently. Even if it costs my life.
The star mark on her shoulder burned in response, and she swore she heard his voice, distant and echoing:
"Trust in the Court. Trust in each other. Trust in the stars."
Solar smiled, flames dancing around her hands.
For the Sovereign. For the Court. For justice.
She would burn away corruption.
Even if she had to burn herself out to do it.