On the night of the strike against the gods, Taiping delivers her final calculations to Zetian and Qin Zheng and drives them up Mount Ziwei to the Yellow Dragon Chrysalis coiled around the mountain. Qin Zheng entrusts her with his last will, instructing her to claim the two are sick for five days, then announce their deaths and transfer leadership to Qieluo and Yang Jian if they don't return. Zetian reflects that the revolution belongs to the millions of ordinary people now staffing the new government, and that she is part of a long tradition of those who fight for impossible futures.

After a tearful goodbye with Taiping, Zetian and Qin Zheng enter the cockpit. Zetian discards her fake pregnancy padding, joking it was Yizhi's baby; Qin Zheng mentions naming the real child Fusu. In a rare vulnerable moment, Qin Zheng calls Zetian by name and apologizes for being shaped harshly by the world. They embrace, acknowledging their shared rage, and stand united as two mortals daring to challenge the gods.

They launch the Yellow Dragon diagonally to match the Heavenly Court's horizontal velocity, accelerating through clouds and gravity's brutal pressure. Past the limits of their dream simulations, the strain becomes unbearable. Qin Zheng ignites the Dragon's tail, burning its spirit metal to propel them higher, transforming the Dragon into a blade of light. Memories of their lives flood the link as Zetian nearly breaks under the agony.

Spurred on by visions of Big Sister, Xiuying, Di Renjie, Wei Zifu, and Shimin urging her to "rise," Zetian locks onto Shimin's spirit signature. As the Dragon nearly exhausts its spirit metal, the Heavenly Court—a colossal twin-ringed structure—appears and smashes into them.