The dust had barely settled when silence fell over the broken battlefield. Cracks webbed across the skies like scars, remnants of a realm torn open and stitched shut by sheer force of will. The six cultivators—Chu Feng, Shi Hao, Lin Feng, Tang San, Fang Han, and Nie Li—stood face-to-face with the man who floated above them, calm as the void.
The man's white robe shimmered like woven constellations. He gave no killing intent, but his presence weighed on them like a galaxy pressing down.
"I am the Herald," he said. "A messenger from the Celestial Tribunal."
Nie Li's eyes sharpened. "Celestial Tribunal? That's just a myth told in the World of Chaos."
The Herald turned to him, voice flat. "Then your world is built on lies."
Chu Feng stepped forward, Voidbreaker still sparking in his grip. "Tell us what you want. We just sealed an ancient horror—you think now is the time to play riddles?"
The Herald ignored the hostility. "You did not seal it. You delayed it. What you faced was merely a pawn from the Outer Dead Realms, long buried beyond time."
He gestured skyward.
From the fragments of the broken rift, a map formed—etched in lightning, blood, and cosmic fire. Circles overlapped with countless planes, names burned in forgotten scripts: The Tribunal Plane, Abyssal Nirvana, Thunderfall Sanctum, Divine Ash Realm…
Fang Han's voice turned low. "What… are these?"
"Battlefields," the Herald said. "Sealed battlegrounds of the last Heavenly War. The gods you know—the ones who fell into legend—didn't die. They were bound by chains of judgment, hidden by cosmic pact."
Tang San frowned. "Why?"
"Because the heavens fear what they created," the Herald said.
Shi Hao scoffed. "Let me guess. We're the 'chosen' to stop what's coming?"
The Herald nodded. "You are vessels. Each of you carries an echo of an ancient god—broken shards that must either awaken… or be destroyed."
Suddenly, each of the six felt something stir inside. A suppressed presence—old, watching, and now… trembling.
Chu Feng clenched his fist as the storm within him howled. "So this was never about just protecting our worlds. We're part of something bigger."
The Herald raised a hand. "You've seen the first movement of the Great Cycle. But more will come."
With a motion, he opened a portal of pure law behind him. Inside swirled visions—worlds on fire, titans devouring stars, oceans evaporating under a single gaze.
"You must ascend to the Tribunal Plane. There, your echoes will either awaken… or consume you."
"No," Lin Feng said. "We decide our path, not some higher order."
The Herald turned slowly. "Then die with your pride."
In a blink, the world bent.
The six were pulled—no, hurled—through space and concept. They didn't teleport. They were rewritten.
When they opened their eyes, they stood atop a stone platform suspended in pure emptiness. Stars spun above and below, yet there was no up, no down. Dozens of other platforms floated nearby, each with figures standing on them—some familiar, some alien, all powerful.
Fang Han narrowed his eyes. "This is…"
Nie Li answered, voice tense. "The Tribunal Arena."
A voice boomed across the void—not the Herald's, but something older.
"Let the Trial of Inheritance begin."
Pillars of light descended on each of them.
They screamed—not in pain, but revelation. Memories not their own flooded in—flashes of gods who once ruled galaxies, of betrayals written in the marrow of time. Blood oaths, divine wars, and one unchanging truth:
The Heavens were broken long ago… and they never healed.
Chu Feng fell to his knees as black lightning burst from his back and formed a crown of storm above him. Tang San hovered in a cocoon of soul energy, ancient threads dancing like dragons. Lin Feng's sword cracked and reshaped itself, becoming translucent—a blade of destiny.
Then Shi Hao opened his eyes.
And the entire Tribunal trembled.
His voice was calm, but echoed with ten thousand ancient tones.
"I remember now. I was never meant to be a weapon. I was the one who broke the sky."
The Herald reappeared, watching from the void's edge.
"Let us see," he whispered, "if the fragments of gods can become whole again… or burn this reality with them."
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To be continued in Chapter 16: Skybreakers' Memory 🌌