Chapter 13: Borrowing Fire from the Sun Star

What appears on the Sun Star?

Black spots will appear!

“And not just one!”

The Fusang tree rustled softly, like a whisper.

The blazing golden flames swirling among its thousands of leaves and branches flowed like water in all directions.

Almost simultaneously, the ancient, simple bell suspended among the treetops trembled gently.

Ding!

Ripples of spacetime surged forth.

The resonant bell tone parted boundless chaos, revealing a radiant river of time.

This river stretched onward, winding through chaos, reaching the distant, dark, and formless depths.

“Who is intruding on the Sun Star?”

A towering figure, wandering within the river of time, emerged.

His ink-black hair cascaded like a waterfall, bound by a high crown; he wore a brocade robe edged in gold, a jade belt at his waist, and cloud-treading boots, his bearing majestic.

Taiyi held a golden lamp in his hand, a crimson flame blooming like a lotus, illuminating all around and manifesting infinite mysteries.

He followed the timeline, looking back toward the outermost edge of the Sun Star.

A furtive shadow darted back and forth along several timelines near the Sun Star, disrupting the Sun’s true fire, gradually forming several dark zones at its outermost rim.

“What is this fellow doing?”

A thoughtful expression appeared on Taiyi’s handsome face.

“Fine, I’ll return first.”

Taiyi flipped his hand and tucked away the golden lamp; his towering form walked back to the present, seeming slow yet moving with astonishing speed.

The clouds of golden fire spreading through spacetime began to retract; boundless chaos and darkness immediately surged forth, swallowing the entire timeline he had traversed within moments.

The moment he stepped into the present spacetime, the stars shimmered.

Another unknown spacetime was folding.

The timeline it represented rapidly converged toward the Sun Star.

Ultimately, the entire timeline became a tiny speck of dust within the Sun Star.

“My brother!”

Di Jun appeared beneath the Fusang tree, clad in splendid robes with star-patterned, cloud-sleeved sleeves.

His brows arched like distant mountains, radiating a calm, restrained charm; his eyes gleamed like polished obsidian.

“Brother.”

Di Jun looked at Taiyi approaching him, and a brilliant smile instantly spread across his face: “What did you gain, my brother?”

Taiyi did not answer; instead, he gazed at Di Jun, who held a long sword, and frowned slightly: “Brother, your journey did not go smoothly, did it?”

Taiyi’s tone carried doubt, yet his gaze was nearly certain.

“It was fine.”

Di Jun casually sheathed his sword; a flash of cloudlight appeared, and in his right hand instantly materialized a lantern.

The lantern stood nine inches tall, entirely gilded, with two wicks burning into twin flames that intertwined like coiled serpents.

Observing its shape and examining its substance, it was indistinguishable from the golden lamp Taiyi had obtained.

Primordial Spirit Treasure: Sun Golden Lamp!

This treasure is supremely yang and fiery; there are nine in total, forming a complete set of spirit treasures.

Yet although this treasure originates from the Sun Star, not all of them exist within the Honghuang world.

Honghuang was created by Pangu, the supreme eternal true realm above all heavens.

The Honghuang Sun casts projections across all heavens, all worlds, and boundless spacetimes.

The sixth and seventh lamps in the brothers’ hands were both retrieved from Sun Stars in other dimensions.

Then, Di Jun spoke with casual indifference: “Though there was a slight detour on the way, the outcome was good—I not only obtained this lamp, but also encountered a fellow Daoist along the way.”

Taiyi nodded slightly, taking the golden lamp from Di Jun’s hand as he asked: “Did that Daoist leave a name?”

“Are you planning to avenge me, my brother?”

Upon hearing this, Di Jun raised his eyebrows, a slight smile curling his lips: “That Daoist came and went in a flash; after we exchanged a few blows, he retreated hastily and left no name.”

“Besides, when traveling abroad, which proper deity would announce their name?”

“That’s not certain.”

Taiyi smiled: “In today’s Honghuang, improper deities are growing ever more numerous.”

“Just look—there’s one right outside!”

With that, the two brothers turned their gaze simultaneously toward the outermost edge of the Sun Star.

Chenxing Shangzun emerged from the void, darting erratically among the tangled timelines.

He was in a terrible state.

“I’m finally back!” Chenxing Shangzun’s eyes filled with tears.

This journey was no easy feat. In a moment of carelessness within the mother river of time, Chenxing Shangzun was swept into a chaotic current.

He exerted tremendous effort to rediscover the correct temporal point.

He was even forced to activate a backup Dao-body.

Recalling the ordeal, Chenxing couldn’t help but sigh: “All because of the succubus!”

“Starting today, I’m quitting…”

The words caught at his lips; he stopped himself: “Never mind—I’ll quit tomorrow. Tonight, I must celebrate!”

He looked around. “Huh? Wait?”

“Where did they bring me?”

Gazing at the world encircled by endless divine flames, Chenxing Shangzun was stunned: “Is this still the Eastern Sea?”

“This is the Sun Star!”

Two divine beings appeared simultaneously, advancing with force.

“The Sun Star?”

Chenxing Shangzun’s lip twitched; knowing he was in the wrong, he hurriedly said: “Don’t misunderstand, I came only to borrow fire—I’m leaving now!”

Di Jun raised an eyebrow: “You come to borrow fire from the Sun Star during daytime?”

“Then tonight, are you planning to sneak off to the Moon Star?”

Taiyi snorted: “Next time, pick a better excuse—we’ve seen this act too many times.”

Ding!

The Chaos Bell rang.

Taiyi hurled Chenxing Shangzun back into the river of time.

“No! I just got back!”

“He mentioned the Eastern Sea?” Di Jun asked. “Have we ever seen him before?”

Taiyi thought for a moment: “I don’t think so.”

Wherever sunlight reached, he could see.

“Pity—there are more and more places in Honghuang now that sunlight cannot reach.” Taiyi sighed softly.

Obscuring the heavens and blocking the sun.

This is a divine art every primordial deity strives to create and comprehend.

No one wishes to expose all their secrets beneath the Sun.

“It’s not entirely bad.”

Di Jun’s eyes gleamed: “It means Honghuang’s vitality is growing ever greater!”

“What’s the point of a barren world?”

“The dimension I visited was utterly lifeless—the entire universe was decaying, not a single living being remained.”

Taiyi smiled: “Brother, you no longer despise them?”

“You always found those creatures spying on the Sun Star annoying.”

“One is one, two is two!” At Taiyi’s reminder, Di Jun’s gaze also showed a hint of disdain.

Due to the Sun Star’s uniqueness, deities always seek to investigate it.

This great sun hangs perpetually overhead; Taiyi can stand upon the Sun Star and observe the Honghuang earth, while countless eyes across Honghuang naturally gaze back at the Sun.

Yet the brothers truly did not fear their surveillance.

Because they held an advantage: the great sun is Pangu’s eye.

To look up at the Sun is no different than gazing directly into Pangu’s eyes!

Who could meet Pangu’s gaze without squinting, without frowning, without feeling guilty?

It’s no wonder they can’t see clearly!

Thus, compared to staring directly at the Sun, primordial deities on the earth prefer—and delight in—admiring the Moon.

Unlike the Sun’s blazing heat, which cannot be looked upon directly,

the Moon carries a gentler radiance.

It is like the care and tenderness of the Great Pangu toward all beings of Honghuang.

The Moon waxes and wanes, brightens and dims.

Whether it was a full moon, a half-moon, or a crescent moon, the spirits upon the earth never grew tired of gazing upon them.

The left eye glared with righteous fury, radiant and majestic.

The right eye radiated compassion, illuminating the endless night of ages past.

This led to a misconception: many spirits mistakenly believed the Taiyin Star was easier to probe than the Taiyang Star.

Thus, Wangshu’s troubles have always been greater than those of the two Taiyang Star deities.

Similarly, more spirits lay dormant in the spacetime surrounding the Taiyin Star.

(End of Chapter)