More than a hundred years had passed since the Star Palace quelled the Blazing Heaven Rebellion.
Time flowed like water. As the years washed over the world, people gradually forgot the chaos that had nearly overturned the realm. What remained in their memory was only a vague legend — a heaven-shaking duel between two beings who had ascended to godhood.
The Star Lord and the Evil King.
Two opposing forces standing at the boundary between righteousness and darkness.
In the end, atop the Heaven-Reaching Tower, the Star Lord defeated the Evil King, allowing starlight to once again dawn upon the earth.
With the Evil King fallen, the Blazing Heaven faction vanished into obscurity.
The divine artifacts returned to their rightful places.
Peace spread across the seas.
For the past century, the world had remained stable. Aside from occasional friction among smaller states, the five great kingdoms — Giantwood, Vermilion, Kunlun, Shenwu, and Yunmeng — had all enjoyed tranquility.
Yet beneath the still waters of peace, a new catastrophe at the Boundary Realm was already quietly brewing.
Giantwood Kingdom — Senluo City
A crescent moon hung like a hook in the night sky.
At the center of a vast basin stood a colossal tree reaching toward the heavens. Its trunk was silver-white, its enormous crown dense with leaves that shimmered with faint pale light, like countless stars scattered across the sky.
Beneath its canopy lay a brightly illuminated city.
This was the greatest city of the Giantwood Kingdom — Senluo.
The city had always been peaceful and prosperous.
But tonight, a sudden blaze erupted in the southern district.
Flames slithered through the streets like fiery serpents, devouring vast sections of the city. Screams and cries shattered the calm night.
Thick smoke billowed into the sky as the fire spread rapidly.
The roads in the south were packed with fleeing citizens, all desperately running north in panic.
At that moment, groups of figures appeared from the eastern, western, and northern sides of Senluo City. Some leapt across rooftops and walls, while others soared through the air using magical artifacts. Instead of fleeing, they rushed straight toward the inferno.
They were Lin Masters of the Giantwood Kingdom.
As soon as they reached the southern district, they began casting water- and earth-type techniques, attempting to suppress and control the flames.
But within the blazing fire, another group suddenly emerged.
There were dozens of them.
Each wore black hunting attire and cloaks, and every face was hidden behind a ferocious Asura mask with glaring eyes and fanged teeth.
The leader wore a red iron mask.
Raising his hand, he swiftly formed a seal.
Instantly, the surrounding flames seemed to come alive. They gathered together and transformed into eight gigantic fire serpents, lunging toward the incoming Lin Masters.
The blazing serpents resembled living crimson pythons.
Where their bodies passed, buildings collapsed, and wood and stone alike were reduced to ash.
The Lin Masters unleashed various techniques to resist them.
Yet right behind the serpents, the masked arsonists charged forward as well.
Soon, the two sides clashed violently within the sea of fire.
A streak of light shot across the southern sky like a falling meteor.
It plunged directly into one of the fire serpents.
The serpent instantly scattered into drifting sparks.
But the meteor did not stop.
It shot straight toward the man wearing the red mask.
BOOM!
The impact blast sent flames and debris flying more than ten meters away, briefly clearing an empty circle free of fire.
At the center stood two figures locked in confrontation.
The red-masked man stood in a forward stance, one palm extended.
Opposing him was a young man whose upper body shone with blazing white light so dazzling that his face could hardly be seen.
Their palm and fist collided in midair.
"Blazing Sun Palm?" the red-masked man said in surprise.
"I didn't expect the Giantwood Kingdom to still have descendants of the Wuli Clan."
"Who are you?" the young man demanded.
The red-masked man pointed at his Asura mask.
"You don't recognize this iron Asura mask?"
"I am a messenger of the Star Palace."
The young man said nothing.
The blazing light around his body intensified.
Like a rainbow-piercing beam, he lunged toward the red-masked man.
Dozens of Miles Away — The Sacred Tree
At the very heart of Senluo City stood the colossal silver-trunked tree.
Both its bark and leaves glowed faintly in the night.
This was the sacred tree of Giantwood —
Qingluo.
Under the cover of darkness, two figures quietly appeared.
Both wore black hunting garments and long cloaks as they walked slowly across a meadow blooming with flowers beneath the sacred tree.
The soft glow of the tree illuminated their forms.
One was tall and slender, wearing a golden Asura mask.
The other, slightly shorter, wore a white Asura mask and followed behind him.
With a light leap, the two crossed several massive twisted roots and landed before the trunk of the sacred tree.
The man in the golden mask reached out and touched the glowing trunk.
Without turning around, he said,
"Wu, guard the formation for me."
"Yes, Master."
The white-masked man retreated dozens of steps and jumped onto a nearby root.
The golden-masked man stared at the trunk.
Suddenly, two eerie golden beams shot from his eyes and penetrated the sacred tree.
Ancient runes appeared across the trunk.
The surrounding aura changed abruptly.
The sacred tree began to tremble violently as emerald leaves fell like rain.
The golden light in the masked man's eyes grew brighter.
Gradually, the runes became stained with gold.
As the golden light completely filled the inscriptions, a massive crack slowly opened along the trunk.
From within flowed a strange luminous substance — something between liquid and mist.
It drifted through the air before converging into streams of light and being absorbed into the golden-masked man's eyes.
"Haha… As expected of the essence of the sacred tree," he laughed.
"It contains astonishing spiritual power and vitality."
Before his laughter ended—
A gigantic phantom fist suddenly formed in the night sky and smashed downward.
"Master, watch out!"
The white-masked guardian burst into white light and shot upward, blocking the attack.
BOOM!
He was blasted over a hundred meters away like a cannonball and crashed into the grass beneath the tree.
The phantom fist shattered in midair.
"Hmm?"
A surprised voice sounded in the night.
Then a second, even more powerful fist shadow descended.
The golden-masked man's eyes dimmed as he stopped absorbing the tree essence.
Turning around, he struck upward with a palm.
BOOM!!!
The colossal fist and palm exploded apart in the sky.
The shockwave flung open his black cloak, revealing white-and-gold battle attire beneath.
He had taken the attack completely unharmed.
Looking toward the sky, he said calmly:
"What a remarkable Divine Fist technique."
"I acknowledge your skill."
A tall and powerful man appeared in the night sky.
He dropped heavily like a falling mountain and landed firmly upon a curled tree root.
He appeared to be around thirty years old and wore dark green military armor.
After glancing at the massive crack in the sacred tree, his fierce eyes locked onto the golden-masked man.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Why are you destroying our sacred tree?!"
The golden-masked man smiled behind his mask.
"So you are Li Changfeng, Shadow Lin of the Giantwood Kingdom."
"It seems your fist technique truly inherited the essence of the Ninth Lin Master."
"An honor to meet you."
Li Changfeng frowned.
"How do you know me?"
"Who exactly are you?!"
The masked man laughed loudly.
"I am the Evil King — Wan Tian."
"That's impossible!" Li Changfeng shouted.
"The Evil King died a hundred years ago!"
"You weren't even born back then, were you?" the masked man replied calmly.
"And you were not in the Star Palace either."
"So how can you be certain whether I died or not?"
Li Changfeng hesitated.
If this man truly was the Evil King, his power would rival the Star Lord himself.
Defeating him would be impossible.
But the man's goal was to destroy — even absorb — the sacred tree's essence.
Retreat was not an option.
Li Changfeng gathered his spiritual power.
Veins bulged across his body as he roared:
"Anyone who destroys our sacred tree… must die!!"
Countless massive fist shadows erupted from his strikes.
The golden-masked man's hands glowed with golden light.
His palms multiplied into a thousand phantom hands.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Fists and palms collided endlessly in the sky.
The sacred tree shook violently, its glowing leaves scattering like stars.
Even the grass across the forest floor was blasted apart by the shockwaves.
Flowers and leaves filled the sky.
Li Changfeng's heart trembled in shock.
"The Thousand-Hand Buddha Technique?!"
"How does he know this palm art?!"
The battlefield roared like collapsing mountains.
Neither side retreated even half a step.
But Li Changfeng knew the truth.
His fist technique was immensely powerful, yet it consumed tremendous spiritual power.
If the stalemate continued—
The moment his strength ran dry would be the moment of his defeat.
With a final burst of force, he leapt high into the air.
His fists turned into palms.
One hand raised toward the heavens.
The other slowly drew a circle before him.
Sacred scriptures murmured from his lips.
Behind him, a colossal Buddha phantom slowly appeared, radiating seven-colored divine light and overwhelming spiritual pressure.
He would use everything he had to kill this enemy here.
Yet the golden-masked man only smiled faintly.
Golden light appeared in his eyes once more.
He raised one hand toward the sky and drew a circle with the other—
performing the exact same technique.
"What?!" Li Changfeng gasped.
The masked man radiated the same seven-colored holy light.
Behind him appeared an identical Buddha phantom.
He was performing the exact same sacred technique—
Formless Tathagata.
"How is this possible…?" Li Changfeng muttered in disbelief.
In that moment, his confidence shattered.
His movements slowed by half a beat.
That instant of hesitation was fatal.
The masked man instantly matched Li Changfeng's casting rhythm.
Both men opened their palms simultaneously.
Their palms merged with the giant Buddha palms behind them.
"Sacred Art — Formless Tathagata!!"
Two colossal Buddha palms slammed toward each other before the sacred tree.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
The impact unleashed a devastating shockwave.
The entire sacred forest beneath the tree was annihilated.
The colossal sacred tree trembled violently.
Countless glowing leaves fell from the canopy like stars filling the sky.
The white-masked guardian, previously knocked down, was blown into the forest by the blast — yet he twisted midair and landed steadily.
The two Buddha phantoms locked palms before the sacred tree.
Neither side could advance even an inch.
The two warriors appeared perfectly matched.
But then—
A strange golden light burst from the golden-masked man's eyes.
Within his left pupil, three golden petals suddenly appeared.
Like a blooming golden flower.