Li Fan stood at the heart of the Divine Spiral, his body branded with the seven eternal laws. Divine light shimmered around him, yet his presence was not one of holiness or grace—it was raw, unfiltered will.

  Where the gods walked with elegance, he walked with fire.

  He had become a Genuine Celestial King, but unlike any before.

  Not born of legacy.

  Not chosen by the heavens.

  Crownless.

  The Celestial Pantheon Stirred

  Far above, where the Celestial Thrones hovered across the constellations, the gods convened. Their thrones were vast temples of concept—Truth, Order, Dreams, Justice, Hunger, Light, and more.

  The God of Eternity, draped in stars, gazed downward. “He has passed the Gate.”

  The Goddess of Order flicked her fan. “He should not exist.”

  The God of Dreams chuckled. “And yet he does. Perhaps we should not exist.”

  From behind them, Telrenzhar, the God of War, stood. His voice rumbled like thunder.

  “Let him face a true trial. If he is worthy of his flame, let him burn one of us.”

  A challenge.

  A divine duel.

  Back in the Spiral

  As the pantheon’s decree echoed, a flame-mark appeared before Li Fan—a divine brand of challenge. It bore Telrenzhar’s sigil: a blade through a burning sun.

  Yue Xian's voice whispered through the astral winds, carried by bond rather than presence.

  “They’ve noticed you.”

  He smiled.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “I’ve noticed them too.”

  The Arena of Thrones

  Constructed of divine will, it formed beneath the shattered rings of a dying moon. The battlefield was a continent-sized slab of obsidian, each edge falling into starlight void.

  Telrenzhar descended like a comet—wreathed in burning gold, wielding his blade Eonbreaker, a sword that split time and fate.

  “Name yourself, false king.”

  Li Fan summoned his Godslayer Flame, now imbued with all seven Laws.

  “I am Crownless.”

  The gods gathered above in their thrones.

  The duel began.

  Divine Duel

  Telrenzhar struck first—his blade cleaving through dimensions, trailing afterimages across eternity. Mountains rose and shattered with each step. Laws bent to his will.

  But Li Fan—he did not bend.

  He caught the blade with his flame-clad hands, his eyes reflecting countless battlefields. Each orb of law circled him, forming a crown of motion and concept.

  Fire met eternity.

  Sword met soul.

  Every clash shattered stars. Time distorted. For a heartbeat, past, present, and future were one.

  And in that singularity, Li Fan saw Telrenzhar hesitate.

  The war god, for a moment, saw himself reflected in the Crownless One.

  A warrior tired of battles.

  A being bound to duty.

  But Li Fan whispered, “I chose this path. You were chained to it.”

  His strike followed—a fusion of Truth, Chaos, and Death, wrapped in Life and War, anchored by Fate and Time.

  The Godslayer Flame pierced Telrenzhar’s heart.

  Aftermath

  Telrenzhar fell, but did not die.

  His divine form burned into a memory, kneeling before the Crownless King.

  “I yield.”

  Above, silence.

  Then the pantheon—one by one—stood.

  For the first time in millennia, a throne trembled… and a new one emerged beside them.

  An Empty Throne.

  Not shaped by concept, but by choice.

  It did not command.

  It invited.

  Li Fan turned his back on it.

  “I do not need a throne to rule.”

  Elsewhere

  A child watched from a forgotten realm.

  A dark entity stirred in the Abyss.

  And in the farthest corner of the broken firmament, an ancient prison cracked—sealed not by gods, but by something far older.

  The battle had ended.

  The war had just begun.