Cold tides and blazing flames interwove into an ice-fire hell, with mirror-image phantoms mixed into the chaos storm; life drain combined with Echo interference struck directly at the soul.

"We'll lose if this continues."

Bai Cheng's thoughts raced. "The power source of The Shadow of Judgement is the authority of the scales of judgement... and the balance of the scales is built upon the twin laws of sin and punishment, judgment and redemption."

She looked at the projections of the other six Star Lords.

"They are full of resentment toward the scales of judgement because they are all victims of this unresolved judgment... Their power naturally carries resistance and rejection of the authority of judgment."

An idea formed in her mind.

"Ning Xue!" Bai Cheng messaged through the belief network. "Analyze the energy composition of The Shadow of Judgement's sword light!"

"Analyzing... The sword light is composed of 71.3% Power of Conviction and 28.7% Power of Absolution; the two are in an unstable equilibrium."

"The Power of Conviction corresponds to punishment, while the Power of Absolution corresponds to redemption...

And the power of those six on the opposite side is, in essence, resistance against conviction!"

Bai Cheng's silver eyes lit up. "Zi Yuan, Blue Bird, Lu Duo, Yu Nian, listen to my commands next. We are not aiming for defeat, but for guidance!"

"We do not aim to defeat, but to guide!"

She swung her longsword, and the Guixu Torrent no longer clashed head-on but transformed into soft dark-gold ribbons, wrapping around the sword light of The Shadow of Judgement.

"Zi Yuan, strike the Power of Conviction part with your Tide Breaker saber intent! Blue Bird, blast the Power of Absolution part with lightning!

Lu Duo, inject Emerald Radiance into the weakest nodes of the sword light's energy structure!

Yu Nian, use your pure heart vine to attempt to merge the two powers!"

Though ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the four were puzzled, they executed the orders without hesitation.

Saber light, lightning, Emerald Radiance, and the vitality of the vines struck different parts of the judgment sword light simultaneously.

The judgment sword light trembled violently; the balance between conviction and absolution within was disturbed by external forces and began to spiral out of control.

Just then, Bai Cheng's figure flashed, appearing directly in front of The Shadow of Judgement.

She raised her hand, and the dark-gold imprint on her palm shone brilliantly. It wasn't an attack, but... a resonance.

Using the authority of correction and order contained within her own emperors imprint, she forcibly resonated with the chaotic twin laws within the judgment sword light!

"Judgment should not only consist of conviction and absolution... it should also include understanding and correction!"

Dark-gold light completely swallowed the judgment sword light.

The Shadow of Judgement's movements abruptly ceased.

And at that moment, the six Star Lord projections on the opposite side also stopped simultaneously.

They felt that the authority of judgment within The Shadow of Judgement, which they had resented for eons, was undergoing a fundamental change.

It was no longer cold conviction and hollow absolution, but had gained something else...

An inclusive, warmth-bearing will that sought to clarify right from wrong.

That was Bai Cheng's will.

Using her own understanding of justice, she temporarily overrode the operational logic of the authority of judgment.

"I may not be able to make a final judgment for you immediately," Bai Cheng's voice echoed across the arena.

"But I can promise you this. I will do everything in my power to uncover the full truth of that judgment and provide a verdict... that does not fail anyone, nor fails justice itself."

She looked at the six Star Lord projections. "Until then, I need your help—not as prisoners, but as... witnesses and seekers of the truth."

A long silence followed.

Astra's ice crystal projection was the first to kneel on one knee. "If your justice... has warmth, Han Yuan is willing to offer temporary loyalty."

Verdanti sighed softly, her emerald light-shadow bowing slightly. "Forest Whisper... is willing to believe once more."

Khaos's chaos storm slowly receded, condensing into a wild and unrestrained humanoid phantom who grinned. "Interesting! I'll play this out with you to the end!"

Seras's mirror projection nodded expressionlessly.

Ignis's Cinder City flames subsided, and he gave Bai Cheng a deep look. "I hope you won't disappoint us."

Echo's Echo projection emitted layers of sighs. "Then the echoes will point you toward all the buried clues."

The six Star Lord projections simultaneously transformed into six streams of light of different colors, flowing into the sword of belief in Bai Cheng's hand.

The sword's blade trembled as six intricate law etchings appeared, corresponding to Han Yuan, Forest Whisper, Chaos, Mirror Heart, Cinder City, and Echo.

Meanwhile, The Shadow of Judgement slowly dissipated, turning into specks of dark-gold light that merged into the emperors imprint on Bai Cheng's forehead.

The shape of the imprint changed subtly, with a circle of scale-shaped dark-gold patterns appearing around its edges.

The arena, the labyrinth, the Heart Mirror Corridor... all the trial scenes collapsed simultaneously.

Bai Cheng and her five companions reappeared beside dawn.

In the distance, on the scales of judgement atop the white giant tower, the dark-red heart of sin on the right tray shed a layer of blood-red color, faintly revealing a hint of golden light.

The voice of the scales sounded one last time, weary yet carrying a hint of relief:

"Trial passed!"

"Successor... thou hast obtained temporary authority of judgment!"

"The pursuit of truth and the execution of the verdict... are all entrusted to thee!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"May thou not fail this power... nor fail thy heart..."

The voice gradually faded away.

The law fluctuations of the Lei Hai Floating Island began to settle, and the illusory light-shadows trapped on the various islands gradually became clear and stable, as if they finally saw the hope of the day of judgment arriving.

Bai Cheng gripped her longsword tightly, feeling the six newly integrated law powers.

She looked up toward the depths of the sea of stars.

The chapter of the Emerald Sea had come to an end, and the sky island trial had just concluded.

But the true journey through the sea of stars and the unresolved mysteries of eons...

Had only just truly begun.

The engines of dawn restarted, and silver-white light pierced through the lightning sea, continuing toward the Dark Dust Star Belt.

Inside the ship, Bai Cheng spread out the star chart.

The next destination was another lost ruin recorded in the ancient texts of the star sea: the Thousand Tower Forest.

There, it was said that more secrets from the era of the ancient star sea war were sealed, and it might also hide... key evidence regarding that unresolved Great Judgment.