My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Above the Nine Heavens.

The sky was filled with stars, solemn and deep.

Each star projection represented a terrifying deity.

The brilliance of the sun shone brightly, dazzling and eye-catching.

Among the stars, it may not have been the strongest, but it was certainly the most attention-grabbing.

However, at that moment, something stirred.

The starry realm trembled.

All the star projections shook in that instant.

Countless mythical beings felt it and looked up toward the starry realm.

"Has a Heavenly Sovereign raised their throne?"

"How envious!"

"When will I ever achieve such heights?"

These mythical beings, each serving a Heavenly Sovereign, had been granted the privilege of casting their light across the heavens, with their own stars, and thus could sense this disturbance.

Meanwhile, in the Abyss, the Unknown Lands, the Sky-Suspended Sea... in the sacred grounds of the Sixth Heaven...

Many Yang God Heavenly Sovereigns raised their heads, a look of surprise on their faces.

"A new throne has appeared?"

"Who is ascending the throne?"

"There are fewer and fewer thrones left."

Casting one’s light across the heavens as a Yang God was different from being a mythical being.

It required a definitive throne.

Typically, a throne was obtained either through a chance encounter, the exchange of benefits, or... through forceful seizure.

Seizing a throne through force was extremely rare.

The difference between a Yang God with a throne and one without was like the difference between a Yang God with a Creation Treasure and one without—vast.

Those strong enough to seize a throne usually didn’t need to do so through force.

In the next moment, a Yang God Heavenly Sovereign narrowed their eyes, a look of astonishment crossing their face.

"The Great Sun... the Sun... has this fellow gone mad, daring to seize the throne of the one in the Sixth Heaven?"

Many Yang Gods watching the starry realm either chuckled or gasped in shock.

For so many years, no one had dared attempt to seize another’s throne.

Now, someone had finally appeared... and they had aimed for the highest!

The figure seated in Taihuang Palace, a dominant figure among the Yang Gods in the Sixth Heaven, was a true powerhouse.

For an unseated Yang God to challenge them... was suicide!

"Haha, I thought it might be some ancient powerhouse, but it turns out... just an ordinary one. This person’s courage exceeds their wisdom!" A blue-robed Yang God spoke, gazing at the small new sun in the starry realm.

That star was also competing for the Great Sun throne.

But compared to the Great Sun of Taihuang Palace, it seemed far too small.

"A farce!"

"A joke!"

"If the one from Taihuang Palace acts, no matter where this fool hides in the heavens, there’s no escape."

The blue-robed Yang God, finding amusement in the situation, had already discerned the challenger’s background and was about to return to his meditation.

But suddenly, he glanced up at the starry realm again, his expression shifting to one of surprise.

"Two... two Great Suns?" The blue-robed Yang God was intrigued. "Some strength, but not enough.

"With this level of power, he could easily secure a throne. Why provoke the one from Taihuang Palace? He’s overestimating himself..."

But in the next moment, yet another sun was reflected in his eyes.

The words he had planned to say were swallowed back down.

"Three Great Sun star projections... How is this possible?"

Not every star projection had the potential to bear a divine throne.

For example, the star projections of mythical beings could not.

A regular Yang God Heavenly Sovereign, even through a lifetime of effort and fortune, could only manifest one star projection capable of bearing a throne.

But three? What could that mean?

And then, his expression changed dramatically.

In the starry realm, sun after sun began to rise.

It was like witnessing the grand scene of "A lone smoke pillar in the desert, the sun setting over the long river," but on a cosmic scale.

One brilliant sun after another ascended, each larger than the last!

The dark yet luminous starry realm pulsed with waves of light as the suns emerged.

Four suns!

Five suns!

...

Until... ten suns!

Amid the stars of the heavens, there were now ten Great Sun thrones.

These ten Great Sun thrones represented ten suns!

"Heaven cannot tolerate two suns, and now a battle for the throne... has begun!" the blue-robed Yang God gritted his teeth.

Earlier, he had looked down on the Yang God who dared challenge the Great Sun throne.

But now, he realized he had grown too old and lost his ambition.

To have refined ten star projections capable of bearing Great Sun thrones was a rarity since the dawn of time.

And those who had accomplished such a feat had all ascended to the Ninth Heaven.

Now, this mysterious Yang God had openly declared war on the Great Sun throne.

The Sixth Heaven... would no longer be peaceful.

Taihuang Palace... was in for a lot of trouble.

But then, he hesitated.

Heaven cannot tolerate two suns, but what if this mysterious Yang God... won?

Would that mean there would be ten suns in the sky?

At the same time, in Taihuang Palace...

An old man among the mythical beings wiped the sweat from his brow, staring at the sky. "Have my old eyes gone blind? Why are there ten suns up there?"

The other mythical beings were also looking up at the starry realm, their expressions filled with shock.

An old man, his heart trembling, couldn’t help but say, "Is a Heavenly Sovereign... challenging the Great Sun throne of Taihuang Palace?"

The other mythical beings were all shaken.

Such grand events were only recorded in ancient texts—when had they ever witnessed one in person?

"Ten suns in the sky... and no throne?" One mythical being thought in disbelief.

Compared to this display, his own Heavenly Sovereign seemed pathetic, even though they held a throne.

Now... this...

"Ahem, it’s getting a bit too hot in Taihuang Palace. I’m going back to cool off!" One of the mythical elders quickly excused himself and dashed away.

Seeing this, the others followed suit.

"Ah, my Heavenly Sovereign’s 1,786th grandchild is about to be born. I should go check on the family!"

These mythical powerhouses knew what was coming.

Before, when the leader of Moon God Ancestor Palace was injured, their Heavenly Sovereigns might have dared to get involved.

But now, a powerful figure was challenging the Great Sun throne of Taihuang Palace...

The battle for the throne would be relentless, far more intense than the conflict between Taihuang Palace and Moon God Ancestor Palace.

Now, Taihuang Palace would have to slow its attack on Moon God Ancestor Palace to deal with the "Ten Sun Heavenly Sovereign."

If they attacked Moon God Ancestor Palace now, they would be walking to their deaths.

The mythical beings quickly left.

The golden-robed man watching this scene wore a deep scowl.

"Ugh... why is it so hot!"

In a fit of rage, he overturned the table.

He didn’t care much that someone was challenging Taihuang Palace’s Great Sun throne. What he cared about was... his achievements were gone!

Across the myriad worlds, all living beings looked up at the sky, seeing ten suns now shining above.

They didn’t know what had happened, but they knew something terrifying had occurred.

At that moment, in the Canglan Realm, Qi Yuan looked relaxed.

"Ten suns in the sky, ten to one—absolute victory.

"I’m younger than the one from Taihuang Palace—victory.

"I’m more handsome than the one from Taihuang Palace—victory!

"I have a stylish blood-red robe, and he doesn’t—victory!"

Qi Yuan used the comparison method favored on Blue Star and quickly reached his conclusion.

"So, I am the true sun. The fake sun—when will you fall?"

With ten suns in the sky, Qi Yuan had formally declared war on Taihuang Palace.

Originally, he had planned to wait until he had gathered more stars, maybe a trillion golden cores, before ascending to the higher realms.

After all, there were so many unfamiliar stars in the myriad worlds, and he had social anxiety.

But now, to find the Flowing Wind Realm, he had no choice but to act early.

"Sigh, the myriad worlds are too cold. And it’s not just the people—it’s the climate, freezing everything. The cold has taken over beautiful palaces and handsome men.

"Thankfully, I’m here, bringing ten suns with me. Finally, the world won’t be cold anymore!"

Qi Yuan wanted to make a grand speech.

Unfortunately, his current number of golden cores was too few. Otherwise, he would have arranged them into words and displayed his message across the myriad realms.

Then, all living beings in all worlds would see Qi Yuan’s proclamation.

"My only regret is that I don’t have a black hole sun. All my suns look the same, lacking diversity in their species. The world becomes too monotonous, too boring."

Qi Yuan let his thoughts wander.

Imagine a world without a sun.

It would be like The Wandering Earth, an icy wasteland covered in frost, where people desperately needed sunlight.

The setting of The Wandering Earth was very similar to Blue Star. If Qi Yuan were to give their Earth a sun, he wouldn’t give them an ordinary one—he’d give them a black hole sun.

The people of The Wandering Earth would surely be moved, singing a heartfelt song of gratitude for the warmth that filled their four seasons.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Qi Yuan softly said to the Golden Canary, "Move the sun core a bit closer to that star. It’s too dim, not bright enough."

Inside the stellar core, Ning Tao opened her eyes, her gaze tinged with melancholy, but she nodded slightly. "Alright."

The golden core stars drifted through the starry realm, heading toward a dim, ordinary star.

In Moon God Ancestor Palace, at the frontline of the Demon Abyss battlefield...

A Yang God Heavenly Sovereign sat in a mysterious place, looking at the ten suns in the starry realm with joy in her eyes.

"This is... a blessing from the heavens!"

Moon God Ancestor had recently been injured, and it was impossible to keep it a secret.

Although she didn’t know why Moon God Ancestor had left the palace, the injury was real.

Once this news spread, Taihuang Palace would undoubtedly rally other forces and launch an attack on Moon God Ancestor Palace.

But now, a Heavenly Sovereign had appeared to challenge a throne!

And they were targeting Taihuang Palace’s Great Sun throne!

Taihuang Palace had been thrown into disarray.

For Moon God Ancestor Palace, this was a gift from the heavens.

With Taihuang Palace caught up in its own crisis, the other hesitant factions would definitely avoid getting involved.

The pressure on Moon God Ancestor Palace had eased.

But at that moment, the Yang God Heavenly Sovereign’s face changed. "Those ten suns... they seem to be heading toward the starry realm of Moon God Ancestor Palace."

Then, a thought occurred to her. "Could it be a friend of Moon God Ancestor?

"No, all who hold the Great Sun throne are enemies!"

The Great Sun and Moon God Ancestor thrones were in direct opposition, eternally hostile.

For one to ascend to the next level, they had to form a union.

But one would have to sacrifice themselves to allow the other to succeed.

This was why the Great Sun and Moon God Ancestor were locked in a struggle to the death.

The Yang God Heavenly Sovereign’s expression grew complicated. "If he claims the Great Sun throne, he will become an even more terrifying enemy of Moon God Ancestor Palace... Sigh."

With worries weighing on her mind, she decided not to dwell on them any longer.

In the Demon Abyss, bathed in darkness and deep red light, the red began to brighten.

Mist filled the air.

In an elegant room, the scent of blood mingled with a faint fragrance.

A woman lifted her dark hair, revealing a blood-stained white robe. The robe was simple, with no intricate designs, save for a delicate jade ornament hanging from her belt.

As the bloodied robe fell to the floor, the woman stepped into the bath.

Her pale shoulders, like smooth porcelain, caught a few droplets of water, while beneath the surface, her skin turned pink from the heat of the bath.

The woman held the delicate jade ornament in her hand, a hint of melancholy flickering in her eyes.

She couldn’t remember how long it had been since the jade had last glowed.

Every time she returned from battle, she would bathe, staring at the jade, lost in thought.

As if she were waiting for it to glow again, as it had in the past.

Just then, a transmission talisman lit up.

It was a message from her senior sister.

"Back from battle again?"

"Yes."

"Sigh, after all these years, you’re still the same.

"Do you really think it’s that easy to accumulate enough merit to ask Moon God Ancestor to intervene?"

"I’m already more than halfway there. It won’t take much longer." The woman clenched the delicate jade tightly, her expression determined and stubborn.

Once, she had been an empress who loved peace and shunned conflict. Without his help, pushing her forward, she would have perished long ago.

But after returning to Moon God Ancestor Palace, she had changed. She knew she couldn’t stay the same.

Only by becoming stronger, by accumulating enough merit, could she ask Moon God Ancestor to act—so she could once again meet him under the ancient cypress, by the lake in July, in the snow.

"You’ve been so focused on accumulating merit that you’ve fallen behind the other Moon Maidens. It’s dangerous, you know?"

"I know."

"You’re so stubborn. I won’t try to persuade you anymore.

"But... Moon God Ancestor was injured recently, so even if you have enough merit, it might be difficult to ask her to act."

The cold woman furrowed her brow, gazing out the window and beyond the formations, toward the lone moon in the sky.

The pale, white moonlight fell like snow, and the woman reached out, catching the moonlight in her hand.

"I understand."

"Sigh, if not for the arrival of the Ten Sun Heavenly Sovereign, our Moon God Ancestor Palace would be in serious trouble."

The woman had heard of the Ten Sun Heavenly Sovereign, the mysterious figure who had recently appeared.

At that moment, she sensed something and looked up toward the stars, toward her own star projection.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly because... she saw ten suns.

Just then, a voice came through the transmission talisman.

"Did you see? The Ten Sun Heavenly Sovereign’s star projection has entered the realm where Moon God Ancestor Palace resides. It seems to be very close to you."

The woman stared blankly at the stars. Perhaps because the ten suns were nearing her star projection, she felt warm.

Her star seemed to glow a bit brighter as well.

"I see it." She looked down at her smooth, delicate hand, watching as the light from the ten suns fell into her palm, warm and gentle like spring rain.

"They didn’t stop. They’re moving deeper into the starry realm of Moon God Ancestor Palace. It seems they truly are in league with Moon God Ancestor."

High above, the ten suns drifted out of the woman’s sight, moving toward another region.

But the sunlight that had briefly touched her hand remained, cradled in her fingers.

She wasn’t sure why, but perhaps because of the cool breeze or the fleeting warmth of the sunlight, she suddenly recalled the second message Qi Yuan had sent her through the Red Armor.

"As if I saw you..."

At the same time, a mixture of joy and sorrow flickered in Qi Yuan’s eyes.

"Don’t stop. She still can’t... be too close to me."

"I haven’t... reached the heavens yet!"