THE KING OF STARS

Chapter 71: THE MAN HEAVEN BURIED

"I remember who I was."

The words struck harder than the heavenly pressure crushing the world.

Everyone froze.

Even the Thrones.

Golden chains wrapped around Shen Yu's body trembled violently as memories surged back into him. Yun saw it happening in real time—ancient symbols igniting beneath Shen Yu's skin one after another like sealed stars reawakening.

The Restriction Brand was failing.

No—

Breaking.

Cracks spread through the golden prison covering his body while a terrifying aura began leaking into the world.

Not demonic.

Not righteous.

Ancient.

The heavens reacted instantly.

Every Throne turned toward Shen Yu simultaneously.

"Forbidden sequence identified."

"Impossible survivor confirmed."

"Executor-class existence detected."

Seraph's expression changed sharply.

"You survived deletion."

Shen Yu slowly raised his head.

For the first time since Yun met him—

His eyes were gold.

Not glowing.

Naturally gold.

Cold and vast like ancient suns.

Yun felt his breath catch.

The Shen Yu standing before them now felt entirely different from the man they had traveled beside.

Older.

Sharper.

Dangerous in a way that transcended cultivation.

The silver-robed woman stared at him in disbelief.

"You were one of them…"

Shen Yu laughed softly.

A tired laugh.

"One of their finest."

The chains exploded.

BOOM.

Golden fragments erupted across the sky as the Restriction Brand shattered completely.

The shockwave tore apart surrounding mountains.

The heavens trembled.

And Shen Yu's true aura descended upon the world.

Countless cultivators across distant lands collapsed instantly.

Ancient sect barriers activated automatically.

Sleeping ancestors woke in terror.

Because something heaven had personally tried to erase—

Had returned.

Yun staggered under the pressure.

The aura surrounding Shen Yu felt fundamentally incompatible with mortal existence. Space distorted around him while ancient scripts formed and vanished continuously in the air nearby.

The Thrones reacted immediately.

"PRIOR EXECUTOR RECOVERED."

"TRAITOR DESIGNATION MAINTAINED."

"ERADICATION PRIORITY UPDATED."

The Devourer watched silently from below.

Then—

Unexpectedly—

It laughed.

AH…

Its countless eyes narrowed toward Shen Yu.

THE LITTLE JUDGE LIVES.

Shen Yu looked down toward the abyss.

No fear entered his expression.

Only hatred.

"You should have died."

The Devourer's smile widened.

HEAVEN SAID THE SAME TO ME.

The world shook again.

The Root continued rising from beneath the shattered continent, its colossal silver branches piercing the heavens themselves while roots spread endlessly across the land.

Yun clutched his chest.

The heartbeat inside him was becoming stronger.

Silver threads and black threads intertwined beneath his skin now, growing denser with every passing second.

Dual synchronization.

The impossible convergence.

Seraph pointed toward Yun immediately.

"He must be terminated before stabilization."

Shen Yu moved instantly.

No warning.

No visible motion.

One moment he stood beside Yun.

The next—

He was in front of Seraph.

Their collision detonated across the sky.

Golden law shattered outward as both figures vanished into streaks of light moving faster than thought itself.

The heavens cracked.

Actual fractures spread across the golden sky as Shen Yu drove Seraph backward through layers of reality.

Yun stared upward in disbelief.

"That's… Shen Yu?"

Xie Ren wiped blood from his mouth and laughed weakly.

"I'm starting to think we never actually knew him."

Above them, the battle escalated instantly.

Seraph summoned massive rings of heavenly scripture around himself while spears of absolute law rained downward like divine artillery.

Shen Yu tore through them barehanded.

Every movement distorted the world.

Every collision produced shockwaves large enough to annihilate cities.

And still—

Shen Yu was winning.

The Thrones noticed immediately.

Three of them descended together.

"Heavenly Executor Seventeen has deviated beyond correction."

The title echoed across the sky.

Yun froze.

Executor.

Not cultivator.

Not immortal.

Executor.

The silver-robed woman's face darkened.

"So it's true…"

Yun looked toward her.

"What is he?"

Her eyes remained fixed upward.

"A weapon heaven created during the First Collapse."

Silence.

Then she added quietly—

"He was designed to kill Primordials."

The Devourer's laughter deepened beneath the world.

AND YET HE TURNED HIS BLADE UPWARD.

Above them, Shen Yu heard the words.

For the first time—

Emotion cracked through his calm expression.

Pain.

Rage.

Regret.

The descending Thrones attacked simultaneously.

Golden chains descended from heaven itself, each one carrying enough law to bind entire worlds.

Shen Yu raised one hand.

And stopped them.

The entire sky shook violently.

Golden cracks spread through the chains while ancient memories flashed across Shen Yu's eyes.

Yun suddenly saw fragments too.

Not through the Root.

Through Shen Yu.

A battlefield drenched in silver blood. The colossal trees burning. The heavens issuing judgment. And Shen Yu—

Younger. Colder. Standing among countless golden executioners.

Killing everything heaven commanded.

Until one day—

He refused.

The vision ended violently.

Shen Yu roared.

For the first time, Yun heard genuine fury from him.

The chains binding the sky exploded apart.

Three Thrones were thrown backward simultaneously.

The heavens trembled.

"Heaven lied to us," Shen Yu said.

Every word carried enough force to distort reality.

"You called it corruption."

Golden storms intensified overhead.

"You called them monsters."

The Devourer became silent beneath the world.

"And we obeyed."

Shen Yu slowly looked upward toward the remaining Thrones.

His golden eyes burned now.

Not with divine authority.

With betrayal.

"We burned creation for you."

The heavens answered immediately.

TRAITOR.

Nine Thrones raised their hands together.

The entire sky turned gold.

The silver-robed woman's expression changed to horror.

"They're invoking Final Judgment—"

Too late.

Above the world—

Something enormous began opening.

Not a gate.

A door.

Ancient. Infinite. Terrible.

Yun felt every thread inside him recoil instinctively.

Even the Root trembled.

The Devourer's smile vanished completely.

Then, for the first time—

The primordial being spoke with genuine seriousness.

THEY WOULD SACRIFICE THIS ERA TOO?

The door above heaven opened slightly.

And an eye looked through.

Not the heavenly eye from before.

Something far worse.

Something older than the Thrones themselves.

Yun looked at it once—

And immediately understood a horrifying truth.

The heavens were not alive.

They were controlled.