Chapter 2: The Emperor Descends Upon the World Nine stars align in a celestial string; the gates of heaven swing open!

"Ssst! Ssst!"
Three or four soldiers in silver armor were cut down on the spot. As their numbers dwindled, the black-armored troops grew even more ferocious.
“So you want me, Huo Guang, to turn traitor? Never!” Huo Guang’s spear suddenly flared with a silver light.
A thunderous boom erupted.
The black-armored commander’s eyes widened in alarm; he staggered back seven paces before regaining his footing.
“Kill! Kill him! Kill Huo Guang!” the black-armored commander roared in a rage.
Five more black-armored soldiers charged to join the commander, together bearing down on Huo Guang.
The silver-armored troops were on the verge of total annihilation, but none gave ground. Each stood fast, defending the bamboo lodge to the death.
Outside the main bamboo lodge stood seven or eight attendants, their faces tinged blue with terror, bodies trembling uncontrollably. At their head, a middle-aged eunuch in official robes managed to maintain a trace of composure, gripping his horsetail whisk in anxious distress.
At that very moment, above in the heavens, the ninth star finally aligned with the path of the eight-star conjunction.
A deafening roar shook the world as the Nine Stars lined up, splitting the sky.
When the Nine Stars aligned, the Celestial Gate opened!
A wild wind arose.

Gales swept the land. Above, countless black clouds materialized from nowhere, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Rain poured down in torrents as the dark clouds rolled in.
Amid these strange omens, neither side of soldiers outside the bamboo lodge paid any heed. They saw only an ordinary downpour and continued their desperate battle. The only difference was the deepened darkness, which granted the silver-armored troops a brief moment to catch their breath.
Every soldier in silver armor swore to defend the bamboo lodge with his life, to protect the prince of Great Yan within.
The eunuch’s face was etched with sorrow. “Late Emperor, please bless the prince with your spirit from the heavens!”
Inside the main bamboo lodge, the doors were tightly shut.
It resembled a study, with eight redwood bookshelves brimming with volumes. In the center stood a large redwood desk, complete with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Sixteen glass oil lamps illuminated the room brightly.
To the east rested a wooden bed, and upon it lay a youth of seventeen or eighteen years, dressed in splendid yellow robes embroidered with dragons. He lay motionless, his face ghastly pale, sweat beading on his brow, wracked by pain.
A green light suddenly flickered across the youth’s face, vanishing in an instant, only to reappear again and again. He grew ever more tormented in his sleep.
Hours had passed, yet his suffering showed no sign of abating.
Then, at the moment when the Nine Stars aligned, a sudden gust of cold wind swept through the chamber.

The chill wind was abruptly drawn toward the youth, sucked straight into the “Celestial Gate” point on his forehead.
A tremendous boom sounded from within that point. Green radiance surged forth, enveloping the youth’s body as an overwhelming force erupted from him.
The sixteen flames of the oil lamps trembled violently, cowed by the surging power, as if on the verge of being snuffed out.
The youth’s body resounded with thunderous booms.
And then—a dragon’s roar burst from within him.
The roar was mighty, but outside, no one heard a thing.
The aura radiating from the youth grew ever stronger, rising up to the heavens.
It pierced the bamboo roof and shot straight toward the sky.
A shockwave blasted apart the black clouds above the lodge. The downpour, too, began to dissipate.
As the clouds broke, high above the lodge, a dragon-shaped white cloud appeared, coiling in the sky—its horns bold, its eyes fierce, glaring toward the heavens.