The sky was split.
The world within the Azure Sword groaned under divine pressure as the Heavenly Avatar descended an embodiment of judgment, a being forged from the will of Heaven itself.
It had no face, no voice of its own only radiance and law. Its body shimmered with divine inscriptions, and from its chest shone a golden core that pulsed like the beating heart of the universe. Around it spun rings of pure law, weaving together cause and effect, time and destiny, like a cage that encircled existence.
Every inch of Lin Feng's skin burned as that pressure fell upon him. His knees threatened to buckle, his bones cracked audibly, and his soul trembled as though being judged by the cosmos itself.
"Kneel."
The word wasn't spoken it manifested, an order carried by Heaven's will.
The air thickened. Space froze. Even thought became sluggish under the command.
But Lin Feng did not kneel.
He clenched his fists until blood seeped between his fingers. The Azure Sword in his hand screamed, its flames burning brighter in defiance. The dragon aura behind him coiled upward, roaring as though to answer the heavens.
"You think yourself divine," Lin Feng growled, voice low but thunderous. "But Heaven itself once knelt before the sword you now fear."
The Azure Sovereign's faint echo stirred within him, a murmur of both warning and approval.
"Careful, Lin Feng. The Heavenly Avatar cannot be slain by mortal means. Its core is the law itself."
Lin Feng's gaze never wavered. "Then I'll carve my name into that law."
The Avatar's hand lifted, and a torrent of divine light erupted from its palm.
Judgment fell — a beam of golden-white brilliance that incinerated everything in its path. Mountains vanished, rivers boiled into mist, and the world itself seemed to scream.
Lin Feng's body blurred. The Azure Sword flared, and azure fire erupted from his every pore. His sword intent surged upward like a storm, forming a colossal dragon of blue flame that coiled around him protectively.
The beam struck.
For a moment, all was silent.
Then the explosion consumed the world.
The shockwave tore through the Azure Sword World, splitting continents and crushing the sky. Yet through the smoke and fire, Lin Feng's figure stood — half his robes scorched, his body bleeding, his golden-dragon blood glimmering through the wounds like liquid light.
He exhaled sharply, blood dripping from his lips. His voice was hoarse but steady.
"You call that judgment? Then let me show you what defiance looks like."
He raised his sword.
The Azure flames surged higher, merging with the golden radiance of his dragon bloodline. His aura twisted into something terrifying neither human nor divine, but something beyond both.
The Azure Sovereign's whisper echoed faintly:
"This… this resonance… it surpasses even my own when I defied the Heavens."
Lin Feng stepped forward once — and the ground shattered beneath him.
He slashed.
The strike tore through the air like a comet, colliding with the Heavenly Avatar's chest. The sound was like a bell tolling at the dawn of creation. The Avatar staggered, its luminous body flickering.
But the divine being did not fall.
It raised its hand again, summoning countless chains of light from the void. Each chain was a law — gravity, time, cause, and death itself. They wrapped around Lin Feng, crushing his body, locking his soul.
For an instant, his breathing stopped. His body trembled. The light around him began to dim.
"Submit." The Avatar's voice rolled like thunder. "All that defies Heaven shall return to dust."
Memories flashed through Lin Feng's mind of the Azure Sovereign's rebellion, of his own rise from a nameless swordsman, of every scar carved into his flesh by the world's cruelty.
He remembered the faces of those who mocked him, the trials that nearly broke him, the heavens that always looked down upon mortals as ants.
And then — he laughed.
A sharp, wild laugh that echoed across the heavens.
"Return to dust? I was born from dust!"
His laughter turned into a roar. His aura exploded outward, shattering the divine chains one by one. The Azure Sword flared, its flames fusing with his dragon aura, until sword, man, and flame became one.
His voice thundered:
"I am Lin Feng — inheritor of the Azure Sovereign's will, bearer of the Nine-Headed Dragon Bloodline! If Heaven stands above, I'll split it open! If Law binds me, I'll break it apart!"
The Azure Sword pulsed violently — and then its core erupted.
A pillar of blue light shot into the sky, brighter than the sun, piercing the chest of the Heavenly Avatar.
"Sovereign Soul Flame: Lawbreaker's Edge!"
The world turned white.
The divine light of Heaven and the azure fire of rebellion clashed, twisting space into ribbons. Lin Feng drove his sword forward, step by step, his roar shaking the heavens.
Step! — The air cracked.
Step! — The Avatar's light dimmed.
Step! — His blade reached the core.
"Break!"
The sword pierced through the divine core. For a heartbeat, all of creation went silent — and then the Heavenly Avatar shattered like glass.
Fragments of golden law rained down, dissolving into motes of light that spread across the Azure Sword World. The divine aura that once suffocated him vanished, replaced by a vast stillness.
Lin Feng fell to one knee, panting, his entire body trembling. His blood sizzled on the ground like molten gold. But his grip on the Azure Sword never faltered.
The Sovereign's faint voice returned — gentler now, tinged with pride.
"You have done what even I could not. The Fourth Seal — the Lawbreaker's Edge — is yours. You now carry within you the right to defy the heavens themselves."
Lin Feng rose slowly, the azure flames around him calming into a faint glow. His eyes — once sharp and furious — now gleamed with quiet resolve.
"Heaven's judgment is nothing before will."
He looked up at the fractured sky — the wound he had carved into the divine. For the first time, he saw no fear in it. Only freedom.
And in that freedom, his sword hummed — alive, awakened, and bound forever to his soul.