The void between worlds was not empty.
It breathed.
It shivered.
And as Lin Feng's group stepped through the Heavenly Sword Palace's ancient teleportation array, they entered a corridor of fractured light — an endless expanse of broken space.
The wind here wasn't wind at all, but the flow of raw law energy, slicing across the void like blades. Whole chunks of shattered stars floated in the distance, glowing with lingering divine fire.
The Eternal Ruin Domain lay beyond this place — sealed in a collapsed dimension that had once been part of the heavens themselves.
---
"Steady!" Elder Shen's voice echoed as the group stabilized their qi barriers. "The space storms here can devour even a Celestial!"
Energy surged from the elders' palms, forming a protective formation around the disciples. But Lin Feng walked calmly at the center, the Azure Sword strapped to his back, faintly glowing.
The storms that lashed against him… dissolved on contact.
He barely noticed them. His eyes were fixed ahead, on a swirling fissure of golden light that pulsed like a heartbeat.
"That is the Ruin Gate," Elder Bai said grimly. "Once we pass it, we enter a dead world."
The disciples shuddered. "A dead world?"
Elder Bai nodded. "A realm that once lived and now rots between time and creation. Even Heaven's light cannot reach it."
Lin Feng said nothing. But in his chest, he felt it — that faint, ancient call, whispering through his blood.
It wasn't fear that stirred him.
It was recognition.
---
Suddenly, the void trembled.
The formation shuddered violently, and a shadow erupted from the endless darkness ahead — enormous, many-eyed, and covered in scales that shimmered with starlight.
A Void Devourer Beast.
Its roar tore through the storm, warping space with sheer sound. The disciples staggered, qi shields flickering.
"Damn it!" Elder Shen cursed, slashing out with his sword. Blades of divine light shot forward, but the beast's scales deflected them easily.
Its mouth opened — a swirling vortex of destruction.
Lin Feng's gaze sharpened.
"Step back."
Before the elders could stop him, Lin Feng drew his sword.
The Azure Sword flared, and with it came an eruption of azure light that painted the void like dawn breaking across eternity.
The beast lunged. Lin Feng didn't move.
Instead, his eyes turned cold, and he whispered,
"Azure Soul — manifest."
The air trembled.
A dragon's roar echoed through the void — ancient, majestic, eternal.
Behind Lin Feng, a colossal spectral dragon emerged, formed entirely of azure flame. It coiled protectively around him, its eyes gleaming with divine intelligence.
The creature's claws grasped the very fabric of space — and ripped.
The Void Beast froze mid-lunge.
Then, without sound, it dissolved into dust.
Not even blood remained.
The disciples stood in stunned silence.
Elder Shen's jaw tightened as he watched Lin Feng lower his sword, the dragon fading back into his aura.
"He… killed it with a thought…"
"No," Elder Bai murmured, his eyes narrow. "He purified it. That flame isn't mortal — it's divine."
---
As they resumed their journey, whispers spread quietly among the disciples.
"Senior Brother Lin's sword… it's alive."
"Did you see how space itself obeyed him?"
"No wonder the Sect Master sent him. Even the heavens bend around his aura."
But not all whispers were admiration.
Among the group was Han Yue, a young celestial cultivator from one of the palace's rival branches. His eyes glinted with jealousy as he watched Lin Feng walk ahead.
"No man should hold that much power," he muttered. "If he continues like this, none of us will matter."
Elder Shen, walking behind, heard him but said nothing. He too could feel it — the oppressive divinity around Lin Feng that was slowly deepening. It wasn't just cultivation. It was evolution.
---
Half a day later, the group reached the heart of the void — where the Ruin Gate waited.
It was beautiful and terrifying.
A massive rift suspended in the nothingness, glowing gold and silver.
Streams of time itself flowed through it — past, present, and future intertwined like ribbons of light.
Elder Bai frowned deeply. "The temporal flow is unstable. Entering will subject us to temporal decay — time trying to erase our existence."
A disciple gasped. "Then how do we—"
Before anyone could answer, Lin Feng stepped forward.
His aura expanded, and for a moment, the currents of time stilled.
He raised his sword and pressed its edge into the golden fissure. The blade sang — a deep, resonant note that made the very void vibrate.
Azure energy spread outward like a tide, forcing back the twisting currents of time.
"You intend to force open a divine gate alone?!" Elder Shen shouted, alarmed.
But Lin Feng's expression was calm.
"No," he said softly. "I'm commanding it."
With that, he slashed.
The Azure Sword released a pulse of divine authority — not destructive, but absolute.
The fissure obeyed.
The swirling chaos parted, forming a stable passage wrapped in azure light.
Elder Bai and the others stared in awe.
"He… bent time itself."
Lin Feng turned slightly, his gaze cool.
"Move quickly. This door won't remain obedient for long."
The group stepped through.
---
When the light faded, they emerged beneath a violet sky.
The land was endless ruin — shattered mountains, floating islands, rivers of molten light flowing through cracked ground. In the distance, broken temples floated upside-down, their inscriptions glowing faintly.
And above all — a colossal sword scar that split the heavens from one end to the other.
Even Elder Shen trembled at the sight.
"What… what kind of battle could do this?"
Lin Feng looked up, his eyes reflecting the endless scar.
He could feel it pulsing faintly — a rhythm that matched his heartbeat.
"The Azure Sovereign's sword," he said quietly. "He cut through heaven itself here."
Everyone turned to him, stunned.
But Lin Feng's gaze had already shifted.
Far away, beyond the cracked horizon, a faint golden light shimmered — the heart of the ruin calling to him.
"That's where we're headed," Elder Bai said. "The central temple."
Lin Feng nodded.
"Then let's begin."
As they advanced through the broken lands, the ground trembled beneath their feet. From beneath the ruins, glowing eyes opened — beasts born from divine corruption.
The disciples reached for their swords.
But Lin Feng simply drew his.
Azure flame blazed once again, forming a barrier of living light.
"Stay behind me."
The sword sang — and the world answered.
Every corrupted beast within sight was consumed by azure fire, purified into nothingness.
The elders said nothing. There were no words left.
Because as they watched Lin Feng walk forward, bathed in the glow of his own flame, they no longer saw a disciple.