Tang Dynasty: Inherit the Evil Sword Immortal and destroy gods and demons with one thought!
Chapter 14 - The Nine Calamity Stars Approach the Ecliptic, the Jade Emperor’s Concerns

Chapter 14: The Nine Calamity Stars Approach the Ecliptic, the Jade Emperor’s Concerns

In Yidu, the battle over, Li Yuanba returned to his prince’s mansion. The world’s chaos was, for now, irrelevant to him. As he entered, soldiers cast astonished glances. His aura had transformed—deeper, steadier, like an unscalable mountain.

At the mansion’s training ground, built for him by the imperial court, Li Yuanba stood on a vast arena forged from meteoric stone, unyieldingly hard. In the centre, he clasped his hands, celestial constellation power surging. His Thunder Drum Urn Hammers materialised as if by magic.

Whoosh! He swung them, unleashing a torrent of star power that swirled around him, crackling with celestial thunder and fire. Claws—wolf-like, eagle-sharp—flickered on the hammers. Boom! A single strike shook the arena, leaving three hundred-meter-long gashes like grotesque scars.

“My power is at least tripled!” Li Yuanba marvelled. Since his enlightenment in the black cocoon, his Dou Wood Xie Constellation had awakened, its might amplified. Even his hammers had evolved, now able to dissolve into starlight for easy storage. Yet, he didn’t understand why this change occurred.

He recalled the black aura sparing him, unlike the others who were hurled back. Instead, it unlocked his body’s shackles, triggering an overwhelming breakthrough that forced him into meditation. By the time he emerged, the battle had ended, and the pale hand had vanished.

“I can’t figure it out… Why did that hand feel devoid of hostility, almost like it helped me?” Li Yuanba chuckled, realising he was the only one unscathed, even benefiting from the ordeal. Could the hand have aided me intentionally? He dismissed the thought swiftly. That hand allied with the Ten Demon Kings, possibly the Heavenly Demon Emperor himself, my sworn enemy. Why would it help me?

If anyone had ever selflessly aided him, it was that frail figure from long ago. Gazing at the stars, warmth filled Li Yuanba’s eyes. During his confinement in the Prince of Qin’s mansion, when madness left him battered, a slight boy would appear, applying herbs with pale, trembling hands…

Pale hands… Wait! A jolt struck Li Yuanba, freezing him in place. A bold, almost absurd idea surged within. The hand that felled eight masters—it resembled Li Qiye’s! “Too similar… even the familiar sensation matches!” he declared. Could Li Qiye still be alive? His fists clenched, heart roiling. The hand’s initial appearance had sparked familiarity, but the chaos had clouded his thoughts. Now, it felt like the bond he shared with Li Qiye during their time together. The hand itself, though longer and stronger than Li Qiye’s childish one, bore uncanny similarities—an instinctive recognition he couldn’t explain.

This sparked a wild hope: Li Qiye might be alive. Yet, logic contradicted it. Ten years ago, Li Qiye was sent to the Demon-Sealing Tower, a prison even gods couldn’t escape, teeming with demons. How could a frail boy survive? Still, the hand was too familiar. “Is it… my imagination?” Li Yuanba questioned himself, unable to answer. Though the hand had vanished, it rooted itself in his heart. In the Celestial Court, the Jade Emperor sensed Erlang Shen’s return with ten thousand troops. In the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, Yang Jian strode forward. “True Lord, why return so soon?” the Jade Emperor asked.

Yang Jian bowed. “Your Majesty, at the South Heaven Gate with Taibai Jinxing, I learned the Mortal Realm’s unrest had ended. The mysterious figure mentioned by the Tang Emperor struck, defeating Shu Mountain’s five cultivators and aiding the Heavenly Demon Emperor’s rebirth. Fearing Demon Realm unrest, I returned, while Taibai Jinxing investigates the Mortal Realm.”

The Jade Emperor nodded. Stabilising the Demon Realm outweighed Mortal Realm concerns. Yet, he was intrigued. The mysterious figure bested Shu Mountain’s five elders, no mean feat for mortals with near-immortal potential. Such a figure shouldn’t be obscure.

The Queen Mother whispered, “Your Majesty, the Heavenly Demon Emperor, Lord of the Demon Realm, is a lingering threat in the Mortal Realm…” “No matter,” the Jade Emperor replied calmly. “The Tang dynasty isn’t as fragile as it seems, or it wouldn’t be the Mortal Realm’s foremost power. Li Shimin, bearer of the Purple Micro Emperor Star, has the means to stabilise it. Another matter troubles me more…”

“The Nine Calamity Stars?” the Queen Mother ventured. The Jade Emperor sighed. “Yes. Taibai Jinxing foresaw the Nine Calamity Stars nearing the ecliptic—a dire omen.” Few things warranted his concern, but this was one. The cosmos, divided into the Six Realms within and the chaos beyond, harboured the Nine Calamity Stars, bearers of supreme yin and evil. These stars rarely appeared in the Six Realms’ skies, except when approaching the ecliptic.

When they did, their malevolent yin energy would invade, disrupting the Six Realms’ yin-yang balance. Imagine the cosmos as a Taiji diagram: the Six Realms as the yang fish, the outer chaos as the yin fish. The Nine Calamity Stars, carrying the outer yin, threatened to overwhelm the balance, dominating the diagram. This was no trivial matter. Their evil surpassed the malice of demons, ghosts, or beasts—even the fiercest spirits would shudder before it.

The Jade Emperor murmured, “Perhaps I’m overthinking. Records show the Nine Calamity Stars have neared the ecliptic before, only to retreat. Hopefully, it’s the same this time… After all, nothing in the Six Realms should connect to the outer chaos…”

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.