The wind howled across the vast sky, carrying with it the scent of ash, frost, and blood. In the upper realm of the Celestial Court, where clouds danced with divine energy, a single piercing cry shattered the silence of heaven.
"Yun Qianyu, for defying divine decree-you are hereby stripped of your celestial title and banished to the Demon Realm!"
Lightning cracked across the sky as guards of pure golden light dragged a figure draped in white silks toward the Divine Mirror. Her silver hair glistened like moonlight, and her eyes-once full of compassion-now shimmered with fury.
"I only protected what I loved!" she cried. "Is that my sin?"
The Heavenly Emperor's voice echoed coldly, "Emotion clouds judgment. You are no longer fit to wear heaven's name."
Before she could speak again, a powerful surge of light hurled her from the clouds. Her body plummeted through the skies, tearing through mist and storm, a silver streak of sorrow and flame.
She fell.
And the heavens turned their back.
Far below, in the Black Mist Forest-a place shunned by mortals and feared by spirits-the clouds trembled as something bright pierced the night. A silver star crashed into the heart of the forest, shaking trees and awakening slumbering beasts.
Demonic cultivators from the nearby palace turned to the sky.
"Did you see that?" a young demon warrior gasped. "A star fell... no, a person."
At the edge of the forest, hidden by shadows, stood a tall figure dressed in red with golden embroidery-the symbol of the Demon King's Court. She watched the falling light with narrowed eyes. Her name was Mo Lianxue, first daughter of the Demon King, feared for her talent and cunning.
"A fallen celestial?" she murmured. "How amusing."
Yun Qianyu awoke on a cold slab of blackstone, weak and dazed. Her divine qi was gone, replaced by a dull ache in her bones. Around her, the Demon King's palace loomed like a fortress of obsidian and bone. She had been captured, her wrists bound by sealing talismans pulsing with demonic energy.
A demon servant approached, sneering. "The King wants to see you. Try anything, and you'll die before you beg."
Yun Qianyu said nothing. She had not expected mercy here.
Inside the throne hall, the Demon King sat with eyes like dying suns. "So," he rumbled, "Heaven has given us a gift. A fallen fairy... or perhaps, a weapon."
Yun Qianyu stood tall despite her restraints. "I will never serve you."
The King laughed. "We'll see."
From behind a crimson curtain stepped Rong Xianzhi, the second prince of the demon clan. Unlike his father, his presence was quiet and refined. He studied Yun Qianyu with a gaze that held no mockery-only curiosity. Her grace, even in ruin, struck him deeply.
Later, alone in the courtyard of withered lotuses, Yun Qianyu stared at the moon. Her expression was like carved jade-flawless but unfeeling.
She had once guarded the moon gate of Heaven. Now she was little more than a prisoner.
"Do you ever miss it?" came a voice.
She turned. Rong Xianzhi stood at the edge of the garden, hands folded behind his back.
"Miss what?"
"The stars. The sky. Who you were."
Yun Qianyu didn't answer. After a long silence, she replied softly, "The sky does not miss me. Why should I miss it?"
He was about to say something more when a sharp voice interrupted.
"So this is the great celestial beauty?"
Mo Lianxue stepped into the moonlight, dressed in robes that shimmered like bloodied roses.
"You may have fallen from the sky, but down here, you are nothing," she sneered. "Don't think your looks will earn you favor. Not from my father, and certainly not from Prince Xianzhi."
Yun Qianyu's gaze didn't flinch. "I want no one's favor."
Lianxue's smile twisted. "Good. Because you'll get none."
Elsewhere, far beyond the borders of the Demon Realm, in the sacred mountains of the Jade Spirit Sect, a lone cultivator sat in meditation beneath a waterfall.
His name was Liang Fenghua, known across the realm as the Sword of Mercy. Though he possessed strength enough to shake kingdoms, his spirit was calm as still water.
That night, as the sky trembled, he opened his eyes. A faint pain stirred in his heart-foreign, but not unwelcome.
"A celestial has fallen," he murmured.
He did not know who she was.
He did not know what fate awaited them.
But somewhere in the depths of his soul, he felt the pull of destiny.
And so he rose.
As the winds howled and stars watched in silence, a once-divine warrior struggled to survive among demons, a prince watched her with quiet longing, a daughter plotted her downfall...
...and far away, a kind-hearted hero began the journey that would change all their fates.