Beastmaster of the Ages

It also rained in Orderia, but it didn't rain water. Instead, small embers came falling from the flaming sky above. Each time the nova source burst out, flaming clouds would gather to a point where flaming rain would fall. Whenever that happened, the world would turn into an endless sea of flames that blanketed everything. People would have to take shelter in the cities and settlements that had their formations turned on to block the rain. As for the trees and everything else outside those places, only those that had absorbed enough nova source to develop a resistance to the fiery rain wouldn't be set aflame. Eventually, they would absorb enough divine patterns from the nova source to become materials used to make pills and artifacts.

Each time it rained, everyone in Orderia felt like they were burning. Matters of survival, competition, and oppression were always the main concerns in Orderia, and the rain was just another thing they had to survive. Looking into the distance, it looked like countless shooting stars were falling, leaving one pothole after another on the ground. Rumbling could be heard all across the place.

As there was no night in Orderia, rest and fatigue weren't part of their daily cycle. They couldn't afford the time for it, for when they were out cold, they would quickly get in trouble. For instance, if one were to be asleep during a flaming rain, they would no doubt die from it. The rain spanned the entirety of the sun—even through the territory of the celestial orderians.

There, there was no sect, no empire, only the race. The survival instincts of their race were embedded deep in their hearts. This was a land that was forbidden to the Myriad Solar Sects, who thought of the celestial orderians as madmen, totem users of flaming destruction whose only goal was violence and gore.

However, the celestial orderians had never seen the Myriad Solar Sects as their enemy. Instead, they were merely prey. Their true enemies came from the depths of the endless cosmic aether, like plunderers of nova source worlds or elites from other nova source worlds. That was why they had to cultivate and grow stronger.

The two sides of the sun were completely different worlds, with the territory of the Myriad Solar Sects filled with internal strife while the celestial orderians had complete unity. Their formless and united will had been passed along countless generations, bellowing like the roar of the flaming rain.

As the ember rain fell over countless settlements and cities, it stopped outside the place on the opposite side of the Voidsky Flame Pillar. There was no flaming pillar there. Instead, a gigantic divine palace was built on the place where the pillar was supposed to stand, absorbing all of the energy from the pillar. This grand palace was ancient and eternal. Each pillar stood tens of thousands of meters tall and every tile was at least a thousand meters wide, engraved with the symbol of the sun. There were countless sculptures of totems in every corner of the palace, resembling gravestones. One would even be able to find a sculpture of Huiye Shi's moonfiend.

The palace was large enough that even totems a few kilometers tall could move and fight there without issue. This was none other than the Divine Sun Palace, the sacred land of the celestial orderians. It served to suppress the surge of the nova source, absorbing the other Voidsky Flame Pillar entirely into itself. From a distance, the palace was covered in flames that stood millions of meters high, so high that they touched the flaming clouds.

From even further away, the palace looked like a gigantic flaming head with its mouth open in a terrifying roar. There were two flaming balls where its 'eyes' would be, each about fifty thousand meters wide. They shone so brightly that the palace was hard to look at properly. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that they contained a fundamental cosmic force that didn't come from the sun's nova source. The eyes were actually stellunar sources, though they were much smaller than the Divine Moon Realm's. That was because the stellunar source worlds had been compacted many times to achieve that relatively small size, changing even the density and power contained within!

While it was only a fraction of the size of a normal moon, they were completely different things. The cores were no bigger than a small ball. It was only possible thanks to the celestial orderians' access to a nova source, which was said to be able to sustain higher lifeforms for millions of years.

Any lifeform from a mortal world would be shocked stupid at the sight of this divine palace. It was no longer apt to call it a building; it was will incarnate and seemed to have a life of its own. It represented the propagating willpower of the celestial orderians. Every one of them would be able to see the Divine Sun Palace once in their lives when they were brought there at the age of three for their sacred pilgrimage, during which their racial will would be imprinted into them. Nobody had the right to refuse the ceremony. As their seniors often said, even if they ended up at the edge of the universe or were reduced to ashes, there was no changing the blood that flowed through their veins.

......

The embers that rained down on the divine palace were swallowed by its even bigger flames. Amidst the flaming rain, a dragon about two thousand meters long was freely flying about. It was dark red and had three pairs of fleshy wings on its back. Its horns looked like branching antlers that sported ninety-nine skyward spikes in total. Though it looked bloody, it wasn't actually blood. Instead, the embers turned blood red the moment they touched its body. Its great roar disturbed the flames around it as it landed before the divine palace.

A black-haired, black-eyed youth dressed all in black dismounted the dragon. Blood-fire burned around his body as well. When the flames scattered, one would be able to see that he was a cold, yet handsome man with an aura that was as insidious and terrifying as the dragon. At the center of his brows was a blood-red eye that burned with the same blood-fire.

The dragon returned to his lifebound space after they landed. He adjusted his black armor as he stepped into the shrine ahead of him, walking past countless flames and towering sculptures. Finally, he entered a grand hall, struggling to keep his eyes open from the bright, red-gold light.

"This humble servant greets Your Solar Majesty." He didn't dare to look up, having immediately prostrated himself the moment he entered the hall. He kept his face flat on the ground, even letting his third eye touch it.

Countless beasts' roars echoed throughout the hall. It felt more like a chaotic jungle than an audience hall, though the bright light blinded everyone.

"Raise your head," said the heavy voice. There was so much pressure in the voice that the youth sweated just from hearing it.

"Understood." He struggled to get up and looked ahead, seeing nothing but seas of flame. It felt like flaming starlight was clashing all over him and making him see things. He grit his teeth and calmed himself, allowing his eyes to adjust. In front of him was a throne around ten meters tall, adorned with nine dragon heads, each with an agonized expression. The throne itself seemed like the bodies of nine dragons. It was designed to make the one seated in it look like they were dominating dragons. There was a blinding body of light on the throne that the youth had a hard time looking at. The figure looked to be around five meters tall, despite being seated. His flaming eyes looked just as blinding as the two 'eyes' of the divine palace. Only his fluttering hair was visible.

"What is it?" the voice rang. The youth felt his ears boil again.

Taking a deep breath to stifle his fear, he said, "Your Solar Majesty, the Voidsky Realm has taken out the Imperial Ninedragon Tomb for the Voidsky Skirmish. It doesn't feel like a mere test."

All of a sudden, the hall fell completely silent. The deafening roars from before could no longer be heard. The young man lowered his head and looked at the ground, awaiting his reply silently.

"It's the imperial tomb of your race's ancestors?" the person on the throne said mechanically.

"Yes."

The proclamation was followed by another stretch of silence.

"Hmph... are they trying to rebel?" Immediately, the roaring could be heard again. The young man closed his eyes and prostrated himself once more, his fingers shaking with fear.