Chapter Seventy-Five: The Newly Born Celestial Behemoth

After seeing off the supreme leader, Lan Tian lounged contentedly in the grand armchair of the conference hall, idly scrolling through Weibo as he considered whether the training hall ought to have some restrictions in place. Perhaps it shouldn't be so easy for everyone to access and master every technique without any obstacles. After all, things attained too easily are seldom cherished.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed upon a trending post—a Weibo entry from a student studying in Brazil. The post described the appearance of a terrifying monster in Brazil, one capable of unleashing ashen-white flames of inconceivable heat. In just a single night, the entire nation had been paralyzed!

There was also a photograph attached. Although the monster itself was not captured in the image, the devastation was evident everywhere: shattered ruins, a scene of utter desolation, chilling to behold.

Most of the comments beneath the post were skeptical, not only questioning the account but especially the authenticity of the photo. Many believed it to be a composite, suspecting the author of seeking attention. With modern technology, any photographic effect could be simulated on a computer. There had even been a viral video circulating online, claiming to show a human struck by lightning at high altitude. At the time, the world was astonished, speculating that cultivators might truly exist, only to later discover the footage was computer-generated. Since then, people had grown wary of images and videos online, seldom taking such things at face value.

Lan Tian, however, was different. The instant he saw the post, he was rooted to the spot, his body rigid with shock, cold sweat beading on his skin.

Ashen-white flames. A terrifying beast.

How could he not recall that dreadful cosmic behemoth from the stars?

The Stellar Beast, Flameze?!

No, Flameze was already dead! Moreover, with a body as colossal as a planet, such a creature couldn't possibly arrive on Earth without being noticed.

Then what, or who, was this monster?

"Bai! Get out here now, something terrible has happened!" Lan Tian shouted, panic rising in his chest.

"What is it? I'm busy refining the training hall. The techniques are too disorganized—I’m removing some unnecessary ones and keeping only what’s useful." Bai’s voice sounded after a delay, clearly absorbed in its task.

"Forget the training hall, we've got a catastrophe! Flameze might not be dead! It may have come to Earth!" Lan Tian yelled.

"Pfft, if you're going to joke, at least use your brain. If Flameze were on Earth, you wouldn’t be here talking to me—you’d have died a thousand times already." Bai scoffed. What kind of being was Flameze, after all?

A super life-form of the universe, reaching cosmic-level strength upon maturity, with infinite potential for growth. There were even secret records of Flameze individuals rivaling immortal gods!

Let alone setting foot on Earth, even approaching it, the planet would have been vaporized long ago by that dreadful grey flame!

"See for yourself!" Lan Tian, too anxious to argue, hurriedly handed over the Weibo post for Bai to inspect.

...

Bai examined the post, its expression unchanged, but the flickering of its three-dimensional projection betrayed inner turmoil. It fell silent, closed its eyes, and after several seconds, opened them again, terror evident in its gaze, and murmured, "You’re right... We’re in serious trouble. Take a look..."

With that, it projected an image—footage of the first appearance of the monstrous beast in that remote Brazilian town.

"Heavens! It really is Flameze!" Lan Tian instantly recognized that familiar, fearsome silhouette. "How can this be? Wasn't Flameze dead? How could it appear on Earth?!"

"Damn it! Your master is gone—who can possibly restrain it now?" Lan Tian was truly panicking. With his current, meager strength, he might be king on Earth, but before a cosmic behemoth, he was less than an ant.

What now?

He was nearly in despair. He had never imagined that, instead of cosmic forces arriving, it would be a deadly stellar beast that came!

This was even more terrifying than the arrival of those cosmic powers. If they came, well, perhaps they bore goodwill; and even if they intended to enslave Earth, there would still be a sliver of hope. With Lan Tian’s resources, given a little time, perhaps he could alter Earth’s fate as a slave world. But the stellar beasts were different. Most were savage, devoid of humanity, knowing only destruction—born to annihilate.

"Calm down for now, things aren’t as bad as you imagine," Bai said. "If it were the original Flameze, Earth would already be gone, and you wouldn’t be here fretting about it."

"That’s true. Even though I only witnessed that battle through your master’s perspective, it was evident how terrifying Flameze’s power was. For a small life-bearing planet like Earth, just a single breath would suffice to destroy it—there would be no need for all this devastation." Forcing himself to calm down, Lan Tian managed a reasoned analysis.

"You’re right, so I have both good news and bad to share," Bai nodded. "The good news is, based on my analysis—judging by this Flameze’s size and the power it’s displayed—it isn’t the same Flameze as before."

"In fact, I’ve long suspected as much. Your master, though strong, shouldn’t have been able to contend with the original Flameze. Yet they fought for so long, even perishing together in the end. In hindsight, those rumors about Flameze bearing offspring were not baseless. It’s likely that during that time, it was already gestating its next generation, which severely weakened its power!"

"This Flameze now may well be the child of the one from before, somehow surviving your master’s cosmic cataclysm and following us to Earth!"

"That’s the good news. The bad news is that stellar beasts are a race beloved by the origin of the universe itself. They are born invincible, needing no cultivation, with limitless potential. Unlike some races, which are born with star-level power but barely improve over a lifetime, stellar beasts are the exception. They start off weak, but given time, their growth knows no bounds!"

"That’s not so bad—if this Flameze was just born, its power should be low. Why do you say that’s bad news?" Lan Tian finally exhaled, the fear that had gripped him loosening. If it was merely a newborn, that was manageable. If it had been the original Flameze, there would have been no point resisting—he might as well have resigned himself to death.

"Good news? Hah. When I say its power is low, it’s only relative. For Earth, even a newborn Flameze is invincible!" Bai sighed in despair.