Chapter 151: The Deity Seated Above the Heavens

[Timeline returns to the day Vivian was captured by Tian Dao]

[Night, Steam Capital Core District — within a hidden villa]

Under the dim glow of a hanging chandelier, the three high-ranking members of the Hidden Star Society — Xian Nv Zuo, Tian Xie Zuo, and Chang She Zuo — occupied separate corners of the grand hall.

Unlike their usual habit of wearing masks to conceal their true faces, today their features were fully exposed to the air of Kong. It was as if they had shed a layer of disguise — yet, in truth, they had only donned a deeper chain.

Tian Xie Zuo swirled his wine glass, the crimson liquid tracing a seductive arc along the crystal rim. The refined middle-aged man wore a frown, his chest adorned with the ‘Gear Crest’ — a symbol of one of the twelve Brass Noble Families of Steam Capital — now glinting coldly under the light.

In stark contrast to Tian Xie Zuo’s aristocratic poise stood Chang She Zuo·Tarn. Though dressed in a well-tailored suit, his round belly betrayed a man long accustomed to indulgence. And now, as he devoured his steak with ravenous haste — like a starving soul from the Lower City — his manners were crude, almost vulgar.

Yet oddly, as each bloody slab of meat disappeared into his mouth, the purple-and-blue scars marring his face visibly faded — healing before their eyes.

“Chang She,” Tian Xie Zuo broke the silence at last, “did the Catastrophe from Wudou Tian Du truly fail to see through your identity?”

At the sound, Chang She Zuo paused mid-chew, lifting his head from the plate.

“Relax,” he said, grease glistening on his fingers as he waved dismissively. “Among the cadre, my concealment skills are second to none. That one might’ve sensed I was holding back, but my true identity? Absolutely not. After all, from an energy signature alone, Stellar Core and Stellar Source are indistinguishable.”

He set down his knife and fork, then sucked the oil from his fingertips before wiping his face with a napkin. His playful smirk vanished.

“But honestly,” he continued, “I’d worry more about the Yufemia from the Liyang family. She’s not showing any sign of leaving Steam Capital anytime soon. And worse — she’s started picking up on our traces. I’ve even stopped going to my favorite restaurant.”

He chuckled, now completely healed, and wiped his mouth with the cloth. “Let her dig. Once the plan’s done, we’ll be long gone. She’ll find nothing.”

“Indeed,” Tian Xie Zuo·Leidon murmured, his voice tinged with something unreadable — a distant, absent look in his eyes.

At that moment, Xian Nv Zuo, who had been quietly filing her nails with a silver manicure tool by the window, suddenly lifted her gaze.

“Leidon,” she said coldly, “you’ve worn that mask so long, you’ve forgotten how to take it off.”

“Don’t forget your true identity. And remember what happened to the one thirteen years ago.”

“Humans… are the least trustworthy of all.”

Leidon’s expression froze. He turned to her, his voice icy.

“Yufemia, that line should be coming from you.”

“After all, you seem to be enjoying your role as Saintess quite thoroughly.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a genuine devotee of the Machine God faith.”

Xian Nv Zuo set down her tool. Slowly, she raised her hand toward the moonlight streaming through the window, admiring the smooth, jade-like sheen of her perfectly manicured nails.

Yet her voice — so delicate, so feminine — carried a chilling, unnatural edge.

“Leidon, don’t you dare compare me to you.”

“I don’t waste time playing games with weak humans.”

“To me, pets are pets. And if a pet dares to set its paws on the table…”

“Then I’ll break those paws myself.”

Her words struck like a blade.

Leidon’s eyes narrowed. His fingers clenched into fists. The moment the last syllable left her lips, his back erupted with a whip-like surge — a purple-tinged scorpion tail lashing out from between his shoulder blades, now poised against Yufemia’s slender, pale neck.

“Yufemia,” he hissed, “don’t you dare equate me with those weak humans.”

“Weak humans?”

Before she could reply, a voice — cool, mocking, and utterly calm — cut through the air from the front entrance.

All three Hidden Star Society members froze. Their heads snapped toward the foyer.

“Leidon,” the voice said, “come now. Repeat what you just said — right in front of me.”

Tian Dao stepped into the hall, his black coat sweeping across the floor, its hem brushing over the intricate gear-patterned tiles.

He smiled — but his eyes, a piercing sky-blue, betrayed no warmth.

Without waiting for Leidon’s response, a wave of dark Stellar Energy erupted from Tian Dao, wrapping around Tian Xie Zuo like a living shadow.

“Gah!”

Leidon was lifted off his feet, suspended midair, as the black energy constricted his throat. He clawed at the invisible bonds, his fingers bleeding, veins bulging with desperation.

Just as death seemed imminent, Xian Nv Zuo — the one who had just provoked the conflict — stepped forward.

“Tian Dao, Lord,” she said quickly, “Leidon merely spoke in haste. Please, do not take offense.”

“Yufemia,” Tian Dao turned his gaze to her, his expression serene. “Are you teaching me how to handle my subordinates?”

She flinched. Her mouth opened — then snapped shut. She knew full well the power behind Tian Dao’s presence, the absolute authority that brooked no challenge.

But Tian Dao didn’t intend to kill.

As Leidon’s consciousness began to fade, the black energy dissolved like smoke.

Crack!

Leidon crashed to the floor, gasping for breath, trembling, alive.

Tian Dao adjusted his coat collar, his tone as calm as ever.

“Leidon. Next time, choose a place where I can’t hear you.”

“After all, I’d rather not be seen as a beast ruled by hunger and instinct. I prefer to think of myself as human.”

“And frankly? To me, you’re no different from the ordinary people outside.”

The three officers fell silent. Their eyes locked onto Tian Dao — filled with fear, awe, reverence… but never hatred.

Because just as lambs never resent the lion’s claws, so too did the Stellar Beast-Intelligent Species understand: strength was the natural order. The strong should dominate.

Tian Dao paid no mind to their thoughts. He walked past them, with Dannika at his back, and settled into the largest sofa in the center of the room.

His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest — a crisp, rhythmic beat echoing through the hall.

It rang against Chang She Zuo’s chattering teeth, Yufemia’s flushed cheeks, and Leidon’s shallow coughs.

After a moment, Tian Dao spoke again.

“Did you complete the task I assigned?”

The words fell like a stone into still water.

The entire villa seemed to hold its breath.

Under the dim chandelier, Tian Dao’s face remained expressionless — but the weight of his presence pressed down on the three officers like an invisible storm.

He claimed to be human.

Yet in their eyes, he was far more like a Sovereign of the Stellar Beasts — a god seated above the heavens.

For in his sky-blue gaze, there was no flicker of humanity. No empathy. No mercy.

Only cold, absolute stillness — a perfect, emotionless indifference.

To him, neither ordinary humans nor the so-called Intelligent Species were anything more than playthings — toys to be toyed with, manipulated, discarded.

While Leidon and his kind saw themselves as superior to humans…

Tian Dao was something else entirely.

He was not above them.

He was above all.

And yet, this truth — this terrifying, godlike detachment — was precisely what Leidon and his kind craved.

So when Tian Dao spoke, even the man who had just been seconds from death found the courage to answer.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end