The sky cracked like glass.
Chen Ming stood at the edge of a floating island, the wind tearing through his robes, divine flames flickering in his eyes. Below him, the Sky Realm churned—a realm of drifting platforms, shattered constellations, and roaring tempests of divine energy. Above, a jagged breach split the heavens, raw chaos spilling through. War had come.
No more waiting.
No more hiding.
The first battle of the Divine War had begun—and he was its blazing spear.
A surge of golden energy flared around him—Soulflame Unison, the perfected union of mortal will and divine essence. Behind him, Lanmei hovered on a silver lotus, bow in hand, her aura calm but lethal. Beside her, Ye Yue's moonlight armor shimmered, her eyes locked on the horizon with silent fury.
From the far side of the floating battlefield came their enemies—champions of the Court of Stone and Silence. Clad in obsidian and granite, they glided forward atop chunks of floating marble, wielding gravity-bound techniques meant to crush stars and rip apart divine essence.
Chen cracked his knuckles.
"Let's see if they can silence this."
He launched forward, the sky rippling with the force of his movement. In a flash, he was in the midst of the enemy vanguard. Time slowed.
He could see the tremor in the blade of the lead warrior, the way divine pressure distorted the air.
Too slow.
Chen's palm opened—Soulbrand Flameburst erupted outward, spirals of crimson fire laced with silver shooting in every direction. The enemy cried out, half of them incinerated before they could raise their shields. The other half fell back, stunned by the force.
Lanmei followed behind, her arrows splitting into dozens mid-flight, each one finding a target in the disoriented enemy lines. Ye Yue descended like a falling star, her blade cutting arcs of moonlight that shattered constructs of stone and force.
But this was only the vanguard.
From the far edge of the broken sky, a divine general emerged—twice as tall as a man, a body carved from marble and pulsing with divine runes. His voice echoed across the battlefield like thunder grinding against earth.
"Chen Ming. You dare defy the decrees of the Council of Balance. You side with the impure goddess Lysaria. You must be severed."
Chen wiped blood from his cheek, smirking.
"I've been severed already. Didn't work."
With a roar, he surged again, flame bursting from his heels. The divine general met him with a blow meant to collapse mountains. Their fists met in a shockwave so massive that entire sky islands disintegrated. The clash tore through clouds and turned stars to dust.
Behind them, divine lightning began to fall. The very Sky Realm itself was reacting.
And from distant clouds, other divine factions watched with narrowed eyes.
Meanwhile…
In a mirror-chamber deep in the Flame Court, the Matriarch watched through a burning scrying flame. Around her, other divine beings murmured in disbelief.
"He's… bending the Realm to his will."
"No mortal should have lasted this long—let alone forced a divine general back!"
The Matriarch did not speak. But her fingers clenched tightly around her staff.
"He's not mortal anymore," she whispered. "And we weren't the only ones watching him."
Back on the battlefield…
Chen's flames had changed. They burned not just hot—but true. His blows disrupted divine law. The general fell to one knee.
Lanmei took the opening. Her final arrow pierced the stone general's forehead, embedding deep with a burst of spiritual moonlight.
Chen stood over the crumbling body, chest rising and falling, divine power coiling around him like a living storm.
Then—the sky cracked again.
A new portal opened. A different divine army marched through. Banners of the Court of Dusk and Echoes, flowing like silk across starlit wind.
Ye Yue stepped beside Chen, her voice low.
"This is just the beginning."
He nodded.
"Then let's make them remember the name Chen Ming."