Chapter 15: The Blue Pole Star Arrival

The dimensional passage collapsed with a shriek of tortured space, violently depositing Ao Yetian and his three partners onto the frigid earth of a new world.

The air was instantly different—heavy, dense, and tingling with Profound Energy, a sensation that washed away the low-level, murky feel of the TDG realm.

They landed hard in a chaotic tangle of limbs and debris, the residual power of the dimensional jump scattering the immediate surroundings.

Ao Yetian’s Profound Core thrummed with invigorating excitement, soaking up the richer energy like a starved man at a feast.

He immediately stabilized, his eyes flashing with the cold, assessing focus of a predator in a new hunting ground.

Xiao Ning’er, Ye Ziyun, and Yang Xin were already on their feet, the ATG energy reacting differently to each of them.

Xiao Ning’er’s Dragon Bloodline pulsed, greedily drawing in the profound energy to reinforce her technique.

Ye Ziyun felt the stabilizing effect on her pure Soul Force.

Yang Xin, the pragmatist, immediately began analyzing the atmospheric energy composition.

"The air is... thick with power,"

Xiao Ning'er breathed, flexing her hand as a faint, pure green Profound Energy sparked around her fingers—a power level she couldn't have dreamed of in Glory City.

"This is the Blue Pole Star,"

Ao Yetian confirmed, referencing the plot of Against The God.

"The initial starting point. Our profound energy now has a proper foundation to grow."

Before he could lay out the plan, a sound cut through the crisp air—a desperate, ragged cough nearby.

Ao Yetian tracked the sound to a small, isolated clearing dominated by a sprawling, ancient tree.

Underneath the tree lay a youth, no older than Ao Yetian, pale and convulsing.

The boy was dressed in simple, worn clothes, and a faint, dark-purple discoloration was spreading across his lips.

Ao Yetian recognized the face instantly: Xiao Che.

The timeline has already diverged,

Ao Yetian realized with a jolt of cold excitement.

‘Xiao Che was supposed to die from poison in his bed chamber, and his soul was swapped for Yun Che's from the Profound Sky Continent, allowing the true hero to be reborn. With Nie Li not being reborn in the TDG world, it might also be that Yun Che didn't get reborn here.’

The original protagonist, the one destined to find the Sky Poison Pearl and ascend to godhood, was simply dying a normal, tragic death.

Yang Xin, ever the scientist, knelt quickly.

"The poison is highly concentrated. His Soul Force is weak; he won't last another minute."

Ao Yetian didn't hesitate.

This wasn't a problem; it was an opportunity.

The dying youth was a direct pathway to the Sky Poison Pearl—the legendary artifact that Yun Che used to purify and cleanse toxins, and a potential, limitless source of Profound Energy purification.

Ao Yetian needed that artifact.

"He dies. But I won't let him be,"

Ao Yetian commanded, his voice sharp and absolute.

"Ning'er, Ziyun, use your stabilizing energies. Yang Xin, observe. This is how we claim our inheritance."

He pushed his Profound Energy forward, not to heal, but to force the timeline.

He quickly located the hidden, sealed spiritual consciousness in Xiao Che’s body—the residual echo of the soul that should have been swapped out.

Ao Yetian had no desire to host another soul, but he needed the body to survive long enough for the artifact to be secured.

He focused on the dying young man, using a unique technique he vaguely recalled: a temporary suppression of the soul’s departure.

"The Sky Poison Pearl is tied to this body,"

Ao Yetian explained, his eyes glowing with purple light as he worked.

"It will only manifest for the soul destined to wield it. We need to claim that destiny."

He then performed a mental action, ruthless and final: he used his superior Profound Energy to shove a minute, infinitesimal fragment of his own consciousness into the dying boy’s mind, creating a spectral anchor that mimicked a soul transfer.

The moment the fragment connected, the air shimmered, and not just from the artifact.

A chill, unlike the cold of the external world, emanated from the CEO card tucked into Ao Yetian’s robe.

The card pulsed with a deep, obsidian hue, and a cold, focused thought sliced through the turbulent energies of the dimensional aftermath.

[PROTAGONIST CONFLICT DETECTED. HIGH-LEVEL THREAT IMMINENT: ANCESTRAL GODDESS CONNECTION.]

The realization slammed into Ao Yetian’s mind.

He had forgotten the ultimate threat: Yun Che was bound to the Ancestral Goddess, a connection that transcended realms and timelines.

By interfering with his reincarnation, Ao Yetian was inviting divine retribution—the Goddess would detect the displacement of her chosen one.

Before Ao Yetian could react, the CEO card surged.

It was an autonomous act of self-preservation, a defense mechanism against a rival multiversal system.

A black, needle-thin spike of pure Dimensional Authority shot out from the card and plunged directly into the spiritual void where Yun Che’s soul should have been residing.

There was no sound, only a flash of negative space, instantly consumed.

[RIVAL PROTAGONIST SOUL: NEUTRALIZED. ANCESTRAL GODDESS CONNECTION: SEVERED. PATHWAY: SECURED.]

The action was brutal, absolute, and terrifying.

The card had absorbed and eliminated the soul of the original protagonist and deliberately cut the cosmic ties that would have connected this timeline to the ultimate divine power of the ATG universe.

It had done this without Ao Yetian's permission, viewing him merely as the current "User" whose path needed clearing.

Ao Yetian stumbled back, his Profound Core reeling from the sheer, predatory power of the card.

He had always known the card was dangerous, but he had underestimated its consciousness and its terrifying power to rewrite reality at the highest level.

‘The card doesn't approve of two protagonists in the same world’

The cold, clear thought formed in his mind.

‘It is a greater menace than any single enemy. It is a sovereign entity.’

As the temporal residue settled, the grey, ancient-looking Sky Poison Pearl materialized and sank directly into Xiao Che’s palm.

It pulsed faintly, immediately beginning to absorb the poison and draw in the chaotic profound energy of the surroundings.

Xiao Che’s convulsions stopped.

His breathing became shallow, but stable.

Ao Yetian pulled back, sweating from the mental and spiritual exertion.

"What was that energy, Yetian?"

Yang Xin questioned, her eyes wide with shock.

"It felt… older than this world!"

"That,"

Ao Yetian said, pocketing the silent, obsidian card,

"was the sound of our competition being permanently eliminated. The price of our path is absolute solitude."

He couldn't reveal the truth of the Goddess's connection, but he made the danger clear.

"The body is stabilized. The artifact is secured,"

Ao Yetian announced, his eyes fixed on the now breathing youth.

"The Sky Poison Pearl has manifested,"

Ao Yetian announced, his eyes fixed on the powerful artifact now bonded to the corpse.

"The key to power is here. The boy is no longer important."

He used a simple pulse of Profound Energy to cleanly disintegrate the unfortunate corpse, leaving only the Sky Poison Pearl hovering in the air. Ao Yetian extended his hand, and the pearl—now a keyless, ownerless artifact—flew instantly into his palm, bonding to his own Profound Energy.

He held the pearl, feeling its vast, purifying power. It was everything he had hoped for: a source of purification, detoxification, and a limitless filter for the raw energy of this realm.

"The timeline is ours,"

Ao Yetian stated, looking at his three partners. The richness of the ATG realm's Profound Energy was already beginning to stabilize their TDG-based cultivation, pushing them to new heights.

"This artifact, the Sky Poison Pearl, allows us to purify and rapidly absorb Profound Energy without suffering backlash. It is our greatest asset,"

Ao Yetian explained.

"We no longer need the child. We are the new rulers of fate here."

He looked at his partners, a mix of genuine pride and cold ambition in his gaze.