The battlefield was silent.
The azure flames had faded, and only the lingering hum of divine energy drifted through the ruin.
Shattered mountains floated in midair, wrapped in light; the sea below boiled as if remembering the destruction that had just unfolded.
Lin Feng stood alone at the heart of it all, his robes swaying in the celestial wind. His sword still glowed faintly — a soft, steady pulse of azure radiance that resonated like a heartbeat.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Every inch of his body screamed with exhaustion; even with the power of the Sovereign Flame coursing through him, maintaining that domain had pushed him to the limit.
"So this… is the strength of my bloodline," he whispered to himself.
"To command the heavens… and yet, be chained by them."
But even as he tried to suppress his energy, the ruin itself began to tremble once again — faintly at first, then violently, as if some unseen pulse echoed from its depths.
The ground split apart.
The sky rippled.
And from beneath the ruins of the shattered temple, a blinding light erupted.
---
A massive rune array rose into the air, spreading across the horizon. Each sigil was older than time itself, etched with patterns that no living cultivator could comprehend.
Golden veins of power extended like roots, connecting every fragment of the ancient ruin together.
A deep, resonant voice echoed from within the abyss:
"...After a million cycles, the Sovereign's resonance awakens once more."
Lin Feng's eyes snapped open.
That voice… it wasn't human. It wasn't even divine in the way mortals understood divinity. It was primordial — like the voice of the world before creation.
"Who speaks?" Lin Feng called, his aura rising instinctively.
"I am the Core of the Eternal Ruin," the voice answered.
"The heart of what was once the Sovereign's battlefield… and his tomb."
The light intensified, and from it emerged a vast spirit construct — a figure of translucent gold and stone, easily a thousand meters tall, its form shifting between man and monument.
Its eyes glowed with galaxies. Its presence distorted space.
---
The construct looked down at Lin Feng, studying him with a gaze that pierced through flesh, soul, and fate itself.
"You carry the mark," it said slowly.
"The azure flame that once burned across the heavens. The inheritance that defied the order of gods."
Lin Feng remained silent, his hand steady on the hilt of his sword.
"If you know who I am," he said, "then you also know I have no intention of stopping."
The construct's expression did not change, but the air around it thickened with divine pressure. The ruin's walls began to fold, forming an endless arena of stone and starlight.
"The Sovereign's heir… and yet, unproven."
"Your bloodline awakens, but your heart is still bound by mortality."
It raised one hand, and the world trembled.
"Show me the will that dares to inherit his throne."
---
Lin Feng barely had time to react before waves of divine energy descended upon him like mountains.
Each pulse carried the weight of worlds — laws of destruction, rebirth, time, and order compressed into pure force.
He gritted his teeth and raised his sword, meeting the onslaught head-on.
Clang!
The collision ripped through the ruin, tearing space apart.
Lin Feng's sword aura burst outward, forming a spiral of azure light that barely deflected the impact.
He was thrown back, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Damn it… it's not an enemy I can cut easily," he muttered.
The construct's voice thundered:
"The Sovereign cut through the heavens not with strength… but with conviction. Show me yours!"
Lightning of divine color rained from the heavens, forming thousands of swords aimed directly at him.
Lin Feng's eyes blazed.
"Conviction? Then witness mine!"
He slammed his hand to his chest, releasing the seal of the Azure Sword World once again — but this time, instead of expanding outward, the world collapsed inward, fusing directly into his sword.
The blade screamed with life, a living extension of his soul.
"Azure Sovereign Style — Eternal Resonance!"
He vanished.
The next instant, he was everywhere at once — his form splitting into countless afterimages, each one cutting through a different trajectory of divine energy. The ruin itself shuddered as sword qi and divine law collided.
The sound was deafening — like the universe being rewritten through battle.
---
When the light finally faded, Lin Feng stood at the center of a massive crater.
The Ruin Core's form was fractured — thousands of golden shards floating in midair.
But instead of collapsing, it bowed.
"You have proven yourself," the voice said, softer now, almost reverent.
"The Azure Sovereign's flame burns within you — untamed, eternal."
A brilliant light gathered in its palm — a crystalline heart pulsing with divine essence.
"This is the Heart of the Ruin — the last memory of your predecessor. Take it, and the path to the fifth seal shall open."
Lin Feng approached, his expression solemn.
The heart hovered before him, radiating warmth that felt both alien and familiar.
"Another seal…" he whispered. "Then my path continues."
As his fingers brushed the crystal, a surge of images flooded his mind — visions of the Azure Sovereign standing alone against legions of divine beings, his sword raised toward the heavens, his voice defiant:
"Even gods must bow before will!"
The vision shattered.
When Lin Feng opened his eyes again, the crystal was gone — absorbed into his chest, merging with his core.
The Ruin Core's form began to fade.
"Go, heir of the flame," it said. "The heavens have begun to stir. And soon… they will come for you."
Lin Feng looked up, his eyes glowing faintly azure.
"Let them," he said quietly. "I've already defied worse."
---
Far beyond the ruin, in the hidden sanctums of countless sects, the divine mirrors that had recorded the battle began to crack — unable to withstand the pressure of what they had witnessed.
Elders from all across the realms watched in silence.
Some bowed their heads in awe. Others trembled in fear.
"He… awakened the Ruin Core itself…"
"Even the Sovereign failed to do that before his fall…"
Within the Heavenly Sword Palace, the Grand Elder clenched his fists, his expression unreadable.
"Lin Feng… just what are you becoming?"
---
As Lin Feng stepped out of the collapsing ruin, the world around him began to shift.
The skies darkened, and the sound of distant thunder rolled across the horizon — not natural thunder, but the judgmental hum of divine awareness.
The heavens themselves were watching.
Lin Feng looked up, his sword gleaming faintly blue.
"If the heavens wish to test me again," he murmured,
"then I'll cut them down one by one."
With that, he turned and walked into the storm, his back straight, his aura calm — but behind him, the ruins of the Eternal Domain continued to glow, whispering of the return of the Azure Sovereign's heir.