THE FALLEN CELESTIAL SOVEREIGN: I AWAKENED AFTER ELEVEN LIFE

Chapter 8: The Hunters Arrive

The first arrow pierced the stone where Mo Tianyu had been standing only a heartbeat earlier. The impact shattered the rock into dust. He neither flinched nor looked surprised. Someone had found him. The silence that followed the Heavenly Tribulation had been too perfect. A disturbance powerful enough to shake the Heavenly Dao could never remain hidden for long. Slowly, he turned toward the opening in the ruined sanctuary.

Three figures descended through the fractured ceiling, each cloaked in silver robes embroidered with clouds and stars. They landed lightly upon the broken stone, surrounded by rippling spiritual pressure. None of them looked older than thirty. Yet every movement carried the confidence of seasoned immortals. Their cultivation far surpassed anything found in the Mortal Realm.

The leader glanced around the ancient shrine before his gaze settled on Mo Tianyu. Then he frowned."...A beggar?"The woman standing beside him folded her arms."This is the disturbance?"The third cultivator burst into laughter."We crossed realms... for him?"The leader's expression twisted with annoyance.

"The Heavenly Court's intelligence has become a joke."He looked at Mo Tianyu as though examining an insect."You.""State your name."Mo Tianyu remained silent. His newly awakened Authority of Divine Sight observed them instead. To ordinary eyes, they were merely powerful cultivators.To his divine vision, they were wrapped in dark threads of karma. Countless innocent lives clung to them like ghosts.Executioners.Not protectors.

The leader noticed the prolonged stare and smirked."Afraid?"Mo Tianyu finally spoke.No."His calm voice echoed through the ruined sanctuary."I'm remembering."The three assassins exchanged puzzled looks. The woman scoffed. He talks like a madman."The youngest laughed again."This will be quick."The leader nodded. Our orders are simple."He slowly drew a black sword."Destroy the soul."Leave nothing behind."

The words confirmed everything. They had not come to investigate. They had come to erase him. Not because of what he had done.Because of who he was. Mo Tianyu lowered his gaze. Eleven lifetimes of betrayal flashed through his mind. The prince was murdered by his brothers. The scholar was burned alive. The healer executed.

The farmer who watched his children starve.Every tragedy.Every carefully orchestrated death.Now...The cycle had returned. Only this time...He remembered. A quiet smile appeared on his face. The first genuine smile he had worn in countless lifetimes. The assassins stopped. Something about that smile unsettled them.

The leader narrowed his eyes."What are you smiling at?"Mo Tianyu lifted his head. Golden eyes met three pairs of mortal ones."I finally understand."Understand what?"Why Heaven fears me."For the first time since entering the sanctuary, his spiritual pressure expanded. It was weak compared to his former glory. Barely First Mortal Realm. Yet the quality of that aura made the air itself tremble.

The woman instinctively stepped backwards."...Impossible."The youngest frowned."It's only pressure."Kill him."They attacked together. Three techniques erupted simultaneously. A rain of spiritual swords.A flood of blue flames.A spear of compressed lightning. The sanctuary disappeared beneath explosions. Stone pillars collapsed. Dust filled the chamber.

The assassins landed lightly, convinced the battle had already ended."Nobody.""He must have been vaporised."Then a voice spoke behind them."So slow."The three cultivators spun around. Mo Tianyu stood exactly where they had first seen him.Untouched.Not even his tattered robes had been scorched. The leader's confidence finally cracked."How?"Mo Tianyu answered honestly."You attacked the place where I was."Not where I would be."

The words sounded simple. Yet they revealed an impossible truth. His Divine Sight had allowed him to perceive every fluctuation in their intent before they moved. To them, it looked like an impossible speed. To him...It was merely stepping aside. The youngest assassin roared and charged forward, sword raised high."I'll cut you down!"Mo Tianyu sighed softly."You still don't understand."

He slowly raised his right hand. Only one finger.His index finger.Nothing more. The assassin laughed."Are you mocking "The fingertip touched the centre of the man's forehead. Everything stopped. The assassin's sword froze inches from Mo Tianyu's face. His eyes widened. Then...His spiritual energy collapsed. Every meridian in his body was sealed simultaneously. He fell lifelessly to the ground.

The remaining two stared in horror."What... what technique was that?"It wasn't a technique."Mo Tianyu looked at his own finger, almost as though rediscovering an old habit. It was a fragment of a forgotten divine art. The Finger of Returning Origin.Not an attack.A command. For an instant, it forced all spiritual energy back to its source. Against stronger opponents, it would achieve little. Against these assassins...It was absolute.

The woman screamed and unleashed her strongest secret art. A crimson phoenix erupted toward him. Mo Tianyu extended the same finger again. The phoenix vanished. So did its master. She collapsed beside her companion without understanding what had happened. The leader's sword slipped from his hand. His face turned pale."You're..."The words refused to leave his mouth.

He finally understood why the Heavenly Court had acted so quickly. This wasn't merely a reincarnated cultivator. This was something else. Something ancient.Something that should never have awakened. He turned to flee. One step.Two.Mo Tianyu's voice stopped him."You carried Heaven's orders."The leader froze.

"But did Heaven tell you my name?"Silence. Mo Tianyu appeared before him in an instant. One finger rested gently between his eyebrows."My name..."His golden eyes burned with quiet authority."...is Mo Tianyu."The final assassin collapsed. Silence returned to the ruined sanctuary. Three corpses lay upon the ancient stone. Mo Tianyu looked at his hand.

He had defeated them with a single finger. Not because they were weak.Because fragments of his former self were returning faster than anyone expected. Yet even as the battle ended, his Divine Sight caught something hidden high above the clouds. An invisible pair of eyes.Watching.The observer lingered for only a heartbeat before vanishing. Mo Tianyu's expression grew solemn. The assassins had never been the true threat. They had merely confirmed one thing. Heaven knew he was alive. And now...Heaven was watching his every step.