THE CHAOS SOVEREIGN

CHAPTER 8

Lu Chen looking up at the massive fist. He felt the pressure was trying to crush his bones, but his Chaos Devouring Root was vibrating with excitement. This was the ultimate meal.

"Let there be chaos, let there be chaos! Let there be chaos!!" Lu Chen whispered.

Instead of running, Lu Chen jumped, and became a streak of black lightning, flying straight into the center of the Emperor’s giant chest.

He stabbed the Void-Severing Dagger deep into the Emperor’s heart of light.

Immediately, the black energy from the dagger began to spread like oil. The Emperor’s giant form began to flicker. The golden light immediately turned to grey.

"No! My power! My immortality!" the Emperor screamed. His voice was no longer loud and proud; it was sounding very low and he became afraid.

Lu Chen held onto the dagger, feeling a rush of power so great, it nearly made him pass out. He saw memories of his mother’s face, the burning of his childhood home, and the years of being called trash by the Afure Cloud sect disciples. He took all that pain and turned it into a vacuum.

The Emperor’s giant body began to collapse, shrinking down to a normal man.

The golden throne behind them cracked down and fell into pieces.

The Emperor fell to his knees, his skin pale and his eyes were dull. He was no longer a god. He was just an old man with nothing left. Lu Chen stood over him, the black dagger dripping with a strange, shiny liquid.

The high guards were gone. The palace was in ruins. The sky above was no longer golden; it was a deep, quiet violet.

"Kill me," the Emperor whispered, looking up at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen looked down at the man who had caused him so much suffering. He thought about the throne and power. Then, he sheathed his dagger.

"No, I will not kill you," Lu Chen said to the man. "But living as a mortal in the world you stepped on... that is a much better punishment for you."

Lu Chen turned his back on the broken Emperor, walking toward the edge of the floating palace and looked down at the world below. Lu Chen felt like a hero, and he was free from the first war.

The first war was over. The throne was empty. The nine heavens are waiting.

Lu Chen moving down from the long, broken stairs from the sky. He did not look like a king. His clothes were dirty, and his face was tired. But he felt lighter. The heavy weight of his destiny was gone.

In the valley below the palace, many people were hiding. These were the —people with broken powers, poor farmers, and orphans. They had been told that they didn't belong to society all their lives and that they were trash.

A small girl, one of her legs was injured, walked up to him. "Is the golden king gone?" she asked.

Lu Chen knelt down, reaching closer to the girl so he was small like her. "He is gone," he said with a kind smiling face. "Now, the world belongs to people like us."

Lu Chen did not go back to the fancy cities. Instead, he went to a dark, quiet forest called the Black Mist Valley. Most people stayed away because it was not holy. To Lu Chen, it was perfect.

He started a new school and called it the Void God Sect. It was not a place for rich or perfect people. It was a place for the outcast.

Their houses were simple, they used wood and stone to build warm, or simple huts where they live.

There were no guards at the gate for security. If you were hungry or needed a place to sleep, you could come in.

Lu Chen did not teach them how to be better than others. He taught his students how to turn their pain into strength.

He took his black dagger and carved his rules into a large rock for everyone to see: “No one is trash. Everyone is free.”

One evening, Lu Chen sat by a campfire. He was cooking a sweet potato with firewood in the ashes. His hands were covered in garden dust.

An old man who sat down next to him. "The Heavens will be angry, Lu Chen, You were meant to sit on that golden throne. You are breaking the rules of fate," the man whispered.

Lu Chen handed the man a piece of the hot potato. "The throne is just a chair, and fate is just a story someone else wrote about his/her life.”

Lu Chen said calmly.

He looked at the valley and saw his students laughing and sharing a meal. No one was screaming, or was afraid of others.

Lu Chen wasn't a hero in a book anymore. He was just a man with a home and friends. The Nine Heavens were still high above, but Lu Chen liked to serve the dirt beneath his feet much better than the throne. He was truly free.

The news spread through the villages and dark alleys of the world. It was a message for the people who usually hid from the higher disciples.

"If you have been called an outcast, come to the Black Mist Valley. If you're having a broken spirit root, Lu Chen has a place for you." the announcer whispered to the people.

Soon, a long line of people began to arrive at the gates of the Void God Sect. There were old men with scarred hands, young boys who had broken spirit root, and women who had lost everything to the Emperor's wars. They were all afraid seeing Lu Chen standing on a simple wooden platform to greet them. He wore a plain black robe.

Lu Chen told the crowd, "The world ignored you because they thought you were weak, They were wrong. To survive in a world that hates you takes more strength than any Emperor has, you all are here to be trained on the truth of life."