The ancient ruins trembled under the weight of battle. Pillars that had stood for a thousand years crumbled one after another, and the skies above the Black Forest were torn open by waves of spiritual energy.
Lin Feng stood amidst the chaos, his breathing uneven, his sword arm dripping with blood. All around him, the defeated geniuses of the Eastern Continent lay scattered, groaning in pain. Their pride had been shattered long before their bones.
For a hundred years, the East had been humiliated — trampled upon by the North, West, and South. But today, a single youth stood alone to defy that fate.
And three shadows stood before him — each one a peak genius of their continent.
---
Frost coated the battlefield as Feng Xuan of the Northern Continent stepped forward, his silver hair glinting like shards of ice. Every breath he took froze the air.
Behind him, a storm of snowflakes condensed into thousands of glittering spears. "You've done well, Eastern rat," he said, voice emotionless. "But your struggle ends here."
To his right, flames roared. Yan Luo, the Flame Monarch of the Western Continent, hovered in the air, his skin glowing like molten metal. "Heh… I'll reduce him to ash. The Golden Core Pill belongs to me."
And behind them, arcs of black lightning flickered through the void. Ye Rou, the Saintess of the South, stood barefoot upon a storm cloud, her robe fluttering in the wind. "Boys… let's finish this quickly. I'm tired of waiting."
The three auras collided, creating a storm of power so great that even the protective barriers of the ruins began to crack.
Lin Feng tightened his grip on his sword. His bloodline burned; his dragon soul rumbled within. The faint image of a Nine-Headed Dragon coiled behind him, its golden eyes blazing.
"Three against one?" he said coldly. "Good. Saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one."
---
Yan Luo struck first.
The sky turned crimson as he raised his flaming spear and roared, "Solar Burst Spear — Third Form!"
A pillar of fire thicker than a mountain exploded toward Lin Feng. The heat distorted space itself; even the ground melted into lava.
Lin Feng's expression remained calm. He raised his sword and whispered:
"Azure Sword Art — Fifth Stance: Shattering Sky!"
A brilliant azure arc shot forward, meeting the inferno head-on. The two forces collided with a sound like thunder. The explosion sent shockwaves across the ruins, toppling ancient statues and tearing apart mountains in the distance.
Lin Feng skidded back several meters, his arm trembling from the impact. Yan Luo merely grinned, flames licking his shoulders. "You're strong… but still far from enough!"
Before Lin Feng could respond, the temperature plummeted.
Feng Xuan moved.
His frost domain expanded across the battlefield, freezing the molten ground solid in an instant. His sword flashed, releasing a blizzard that trapped Lin Feng within an icy prison.
"Northern Ice Domain — Eternal Glacier!"
For a heartbeat, everything went still.
Even the wind froze.
Lin Feng exhaled softly, frost forming on his lashes. "Impressive."
Then his eyes sharpened — and his battle intent erupted like a storm.
Sword qi exploded from his body, shattering the ice around him. A dragon's roar shook the heavens as his Slaughter Intent and Battle Intent fused.
He stepped forward, his aura climbing higher, faster, fiercer.
"Azure Sword Art — Sixth Stance: Dragon Ascension!"
A dragon of pure sword qi burst from his blade, spiraling upward and tearing through Feng Xuan's domain like lightning through glass. The Northern prodigy coughed blood and stumbled back, his frost armor cracking.
But before Lin Feng could press forward, a flash of black light split the sky.
Ye Rou had moved.
Her lightning blade danced, each strike faster than the last, her voice echoing like distant thunder. "He's open. I'll end this."
She vanished.
Lin Feng's pupils contracted — she had entered lightning form. The next instant, a sharp pain tore across his back. Blood splattered the ground.
Then another cut. And another.
Ye Rou reappeared behind him, lightning dancing across her body. "Too slow."
Lin Feng staggered, one knee hitting the ground. His breathing grew ragged; his sword arm trembled. For the first time, doubt flickered in the hearts of the watching Eastern cultivators.
"Senior Lin…!" Lan Yu cried out. "You can't fall here!"
---
Lin Feng's vision blurred. Flames, frost, and lightning swirled together — the combined might of three continents pressing down upon him.
Yan Luo's spear glowed crimson, Feng Xuan's blade glittered with ice, and Ye Rou's lightning pulsed like a storm about to devour the world.
All three attacked at once.
For a brief moment, Lin Feng felt something strange — not fear, but clarity.
So this is it… the edge between life and death.
His consciousness sank inward. Deep within his dantian, the Sword of Destiny Manual began to glow — brighter than ever before. The ancient characters within it shifted and merged into one final verse:
"When heaven's shackles break and the mortal blade touches fate,
The Seventh Stance shall awaken —
The sword that decides destiny."
The world around him seemed to fall away. There was only the sword… and destiny.
---
The Third Stage — The Seventh Stance
His aura exploded.
The storm, the flames, the frost — all were blown back by an unseen force. Lin Feng rose slowly, his tattered robes fluttering, his eyes glowing with an azure-gold light.
Behind him, the phantom of a colossal azure sword appeared, piercing through the clouds. The nine-headed dragon coiled around it, roaring to the heavens.
The power was terrifying — divine, almost holy.
Yan Luo froze mid-attack. Feng Xuan and Ye Rou's expressions shifted from arrogance to pure disbelief.
"What… what is this aura?"
Lin Feng's voice was calm — almost gentle.
"Azure Sword Art — Seventh Stance: Destiny Severing Blade."
He moved.
The sword strike was simple — no flourish, no noise — yet the world seemed to split in half. The heavens dimmed, the earth cracked, and all sound vanished for a heartbeat.
Then came the boom.
The azure light engulfed the battlefield. Yan Luo's flames were extinguished instantly. Feng Xuan's frost armor shattered. Ye Rou's lightning was devoured like a candle before a storm.
All three were thrown hundreds of meters back, crashing into the broken pillars of the ruins. Their weapons snapped. Their blood painted the ground.
When the light faded, Lin Feng stood alone, his sword lowered, his breathing slow and steady. The golden glow of the Golden Core Pill shimmered beside him — untouched.
Silence reigned.
Then, like a tide breaking, the Eastern cultivators erupted into cheers.
"He did it…!"
"Lin Feng won!"
"For the first time in a century… the East has triumphed!"
Lan Yu ran forward, tears glimmering in her eyes. "You're insane," she laughed breathlessly. "But you did it."
Lin Feng smiled faintly, sheathing his sword. "A promise kept."
He turned to the fallen geniuses of the other continents, his tone cool. "Tell your masters — the East has awakened."
The wind carried his words across the ruins. For the first time in a hundred years, the name Lin Feng would be remembered as the youth who broke the heavens' balance.