Chapter 56: Hall of Starfire

At the top of Zhong Lou.

After watching that torch flame pierce the pitch-black night sky until it vanished, Xia Mingyu’s expression turned solemn.

He straightened his back and waited in silence.

One minute, two minutes, ten minutes passed; the open ground behind him remained unchanged.

Xia Mingyu: “???”

“Could it be that no one else in the entire world shares my will?” Xia Mingyu’s lips twitched.

He had expected that after activating his ability, a group of towering, muscle-bound warriors rivaling Lü Fengxian himself would immediately appear before him to aid his grand cause.

He had even deliberately adopted a solemn demeanor to leave a good impression on these mighty men.

“Trying to cleanse the entire world by myself? That’s just ridiculous.” Xia Mingyu’s composure cracked.

Ssssh.

At that moment, a cold night wind swept through, making him shiver.

Meanwhile, exhausted from everything he’d endured during the day, a deep wave of drowsiness washed over him.

“I’ll go back to sleep. I’ll check again tomorrow.”

Xia Mingyu yawned and chose to descend the stairs and leave.

Guest room bedroom.

Xia Mingyu lay on a soft, large bed layered with silk quilts, closed his eyes, and soon fell into deep sleep.

The room was so quiet that only his steady breathing could be heard.

Yet while his body sank into slumber, the rhythm of his dream had only just begun.

“Where is this place?”

Xia Mingyu gazed in bewilderment at the magnificent hall before him.

The towering crystal dome was painted with countless exquisite murals, each depicting epic battles from Blue Star—filled with blood and fire, tears and lamentations.

Their lifelike detail seemed as if carved by the world’s greatest master over a lifetime.

The floor was paved with greenish copper and iron; twelve colossal obsidian prisms soared upward, each glowing with clear radiance and embedded with a torch whose flame burned bright and transparent at its peak.

“Is this a dream?”

Xia Mingyu opened his palm and found his body was no longer flesh and blood, but a mass of blazing flames.

He had become a “fire” man—in the literal sense.

Moreover, within this grand hall, he felt an illusion of absolute dominion.

As if the substance, shape, temperature, and even the fundamental physical laws here could be molded like clay at his will.

“Should I try?”

Xia Mingyu snapped his fingers.

The next instant, the countless murals on the crystal dome sprang to life like a cinematic projection.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Artillery roared across the sky, and the deafening roar of aircraft flew overhead.

Ssssh.

The twelve obsidian prisms, which had appeared impossibly solid, now rose and lowered in height according to his will.

“It’s like being a god!”

Xia Mingyu exclaimed.

Crackling!

At that moment, two more blazing torch flames rose within the hall.

But unlike him, they did not form “fire” figures; instead, they quickly dissipated, revealing two figures enclosed within.

“Where is this place?” one of the figures asked in confusion.

It was a young man, around twenty, wearing a sword at his waist.

Tall and upright, his golden hair shone like sunlight, his eyes a beautiful, oceanic blue, his features delicate and refined—more like a statue meticulously carved by a god than a living man.

The white knight’s uniform he wore carried an air of noble elegance.

This was the first time Xia Mingyu had ever met someone whose appearance matched his own.

As for the other figure brought by the torch flame—it was utterly unlike anything else.

A giant, two meters and sixty to seventy centimeters tall, his skin slightly copper-toned, wearing only a linen loincloth, barefoot and bare-chested.

His body was immensely muscular; even the strongest, most enhanced bodybuilder from Blue Star before his Chuanyue would have looked like a chick beside him.

His chest was broad and thick, his muscles sharply defined, each block as hard as bronze; his legs stood like twin pillars, firmly supporting his massive frame; his shoulders were so wide they seemed capable of shouldering the entire sky.

Most striking of all, his entire body—including his face—was covered in a network of scars, some long and serpentine, others broad and trench-like.

Some scars had turned white and blended into his skin—clearly old wounds from years past; others still bore a faint pink hue—freshly healed.

It was unimaginable how many brutal battles or beatings one must endure to be entirely submerged by scars.

“Huff… huff…”

The giant did not speak, only scanned the hall with wary eyes, his breaths coming like those of a wild beast.

Soon, after being stunned by the war projections above, both men simultaneously fixed their gazes on the blazing “fire man”—Xia Mingyu.

Clearly, they both realized he was the one who had dragged them here.

“What terrifying pressure.”

The golden-haired youth stared intently at the “fire man,” his expression tense.

In his perception, the figure was fused with the entire world—every movement carried the power to shake it to its core.

Moreover, since arriving in this hall, his minor divine blessings had been suppressed, nearly impossible to activate—and

The golden-haired youth glanced at the giant standing nearby, clad only in a linen loincloth.

He was certain the giant carried no hidden identity-protecting artifacts, yet the giant’s head bore no divine protection whatsoever.

This meant the grand hall even blocked the world’s protection from all sentient beings.

If so, the identity of the “fire man” was obvious—a true, eternal god!

Thinking this, the golden-haired youth’s pupils shrank sharply.

“Great god, may I ask why you have drawn us into your divine realm?”

The golden-haired youth slowly stepped before the “fire man” and bowed deeply.

At these words, the giant’s pupils also shrank sharply. He marched forward with iron-tower legs, stood before the “fire man,” and silently bowed his head in respect.

“This is a bit excessive—they think I’m a god.”

Xia Mingyu looked at the two bowing before him, slightly exasperated.

He didn’t know how to explain—should he just play along and pretend to be a god to command these two obviously powerful men?

No—he needed companions, not followers.

“Immortal god, I revere your greatness and supremacy, but if you require me to become your devotee, please grant this humble one the right to refuse.”

Seeing the “god” remain silent, the golden-haired youth bowed again and spoke respectfully.

“For I am already a believer of the God of the Sun and Justice, and I have resolved to devote my entire life to the greatest, most magnificent endeavor in this world—seeking justice.”

He explained earnestly.

(End of chapter)