The light from the shattered mirrors didn't fade — instead, it gathered around Lin Feng like a storm of stars.
Each fragment carried a piece of his past self — weakness, arrogance, cruelty, obedience — now purified and drawn back into his soul.
The palace trembled.
Ancient sigils burned across the floor, forming a vast circle of azure flame.
In the air above it, nine runes hovered — faint, flickering, yet divine.
The voice of the Azure Sovereign resonated across the void:
"Three seals bind the soul, three forge the will, three awaken the law.
You have severed your shadows.
Now, awaken your truth."
The third rune ignited.
---
Flames of pure azure rose from the sigil, but this was no ordinary fire — it didn't burn the flesh.
It burned existence.
Lin Feng's spirit screamed as the flame engulfed him, tearing through every layer of his soul.
He felt his memories unravel, his emotions scatter like dust in a storm.
He saw flashes — his battles, his losses, his first sword strike, his mother's fading smile, his master's last words — all devoured by the azure fire.
"Is this… death?"
The Sovereign's voice whispered, cold yet gentle:
"Death is not the end.
The soul must be burned before it can shine."
---
The azure flames turned inward, burning away illusion and impurity.
Lin Feng's consciousness drifted in an endless void, surrounded by fragments of his shattered soul.
Each fragment pulsed with faint light — the echo of his will.
He reached toward them, one by one.
As he did, the flames shifted — no longer consuming him, but fusing with him.
Every breath became a blade.
Every thought became light.
From the center of his being, something ancient stirred — a spark that wasn't his own.
The Azure Sovereign's Soul Mark — dormant since the Second Seal — flared to life.
It intertwined with Lin Feng's spirit, not as master and disciple, but as equals.
Their voices overlapped, echoing across the inner realm:
"Two souls… one will."
A surge of azure light erupted skyward, splitting the heavens of the sword world.
---
For an instant, Lin Feng's mind expanded beyond time.
He saw visions not meant for mortal eyes:
A godlike figure — the Azure Sovereign — standing atop a mountain of broken stars, his sword piercing the fabric of the heavens.
Countless divine beings knelt before him, while the sky itself cracked under his gaze.
"Why do you rebel?" asked the voice of Heaven.
"Because I was born to awaken what you sought to control," the Sovereign answered.
As Lin Feng watched, the Sovereign's body dissolved into light, his essence flowing into a blade — the Azure Sword.
The memory faded, leaving Lin Feng trembling in awe.
"So this… is your true defiance."
---
The azure flames condensed into a spiral that entered his chest, merging with his heart and soul.
His aura expanded without limit, his spirit blazing like a sun.
The third seal shattered with a thunderous roar.
The Azure Sword floating in the real world — still beside Lin Feng's physical body — pulsed violently, releasing waves of azure energy that reached the heavens.
Elders within the Heavenly Sword Palace looked up in shock as the sky turned blue and the sound of a divine dragon echoed through the clouds.
Inside the sword world, Lin Feng's eyes opened — twin azure stars burning with the Sovereign's light.
"This flame… it purifies everything."
He raised his palm.
Azure fire danced across his fingers, dissolving the ground beneath him without heat — it didn't destroy; it refined.
"The Azure Sovereign Soul Flame," the voice whispered.
"A fire that refines not matter, but truth."
---
Lin Feng stood still, breathing deeply. His spirit now glowed faintly, a fusion of his mortal essence and the Sovereign's ancient will.
He could feel the pulse of the sword world itself — every stone, every wind current, every echo of ancient law.
It was as if the realm now recognized him not as an intruder, but as its master.
"This power… is not meant to dominate," he murmured.
"It is meant to see."
He looked up. The sky of the sword world shimmered with divine constellations, rearranging themselves into the shape of a blade.
The Sovereign's voice faded once more, but this time it sounded faintly amused.
"You've walked further than I ever did when I bore flesh.
The next path awaits in the depths — where my memories slumber."
"Go, inheritor. Seek the truth of my fall… and the reason heaven fears the Azure Flame."
---
The flames dimmed, and the azure sigil faded.
Lin Feng opened his eyes, now completely reborn.
His aura no longer belonged to a mortal cultivator — it carried the calm vastness of a sovereign.
The third seal had awakened.
The Azure Sword now pulsed in harmony with his heart.
"Three down…" Lin Feng whispered, gripping his sword tightly.
"Six more to go."
A soft smile formed on his lips — not of arrogance, but quiet resolve.
"Even heaven will remember my sword."