The crater left behind by the clash between Vạn Thiên Phong and the Divine Executioner was still smoldering, warping the laws of space around it. Even time seemed hesitant to flow near the aftermath of such destruction. High above, the shattered sky bled streaks of divine gold as the Heavenly Path Monument trembled, struggling to contain the name that now blazed across it: Vạn Thiên Phong — Heaven's End.
Far from the battlefield, hidden realms stirred. In the Nether Palace of the Forbidden Abyss, where sunlight never reached and even ghosts feared to tread, a figure cloaked in violet mist opened his eyes. They glowed with curiosity... and something darker.
"The heavens have cracked, and a name has been written in blood and defiance," he murmured.
Moments later, across dozens of secret worlds, messages began to circulate. They were short, cryptic invitations:
"To the one who dares defy the order of all things. Come. The Shadow Council awaits."
Back in the Divine Trial Grounds, silence finally gave way to murmurs. Dozens of the most elite cultivators still knelt before Phong—not by force, but by awe. Even Long Jiutian, hailed as a future Immortal Monarch, kept his head bowed low.
One voice broke the stillness.
"Senior Vạn," a girl whispered. She was trembling, her robes torn, face pale from battle. But her eyes shone with desperate hope. "Please... teach us. Show us your path."
Phong turned his gaze on her. She flinched—but didn't back down.
He stepped forward.
"I am not a teacher," he said coldly. "Nor a savior."
Her face fell.
"But..." He reached out and touched her forehead gently, and a single strand of golden-black energy entered her body. Her aura erupted instantly, rising two entire realms.
"You have potential. Whether you ascend or fall... is up to you."
Then he turned to the others.
"Follow me, and you may glimpse a truth that even gods fear."
A roar of cheers exploded behind him.
---
As days passed, the name Vạn Thiên Phong became legend. His act of devouring divine qi, annihilating the envoy and executioner, and shaking the very foundation of the trial was not merely recorded—it was seared into the memory of every cultivator who lived to witness it.
But Phong... he remained unchanged. Or rather, he grew even more silent.
More distant.
Because he knew—this was only the beginning.
---
That night, deep in a hidden mountain valley untouched by mortal eyes, Phong stood alone.
The stars above twisted strangely, converging into a spiral. A portal of shadow and violet lightning bloomed from thin air. From it, stepped five cloaked figures. Their faces were hidden, their auras vast yet suppressed to near-nothingness.
One stepped forward, offering a scroll sealed with obsidian wax.
"You are invited," the voice rasped, "to the Shadow Council. A place where fate's enemies gather."
Phong took the scroll without hesitation.
"Why me?" he asked.
"Because you are no longer part of the game," another figure replied. "You are the flaw in destiny's design."
A pause.
"And perhaps... its replacement."
Phong narrowed his eyes.
"I'll come," he said. "But only to see if your shadows can withstand my light."
They vanished.
---
Inside his soul sea, the draconic shadow that had bowed to him stirred once more. Its thousand eyes opened.
"They fear you, Master," it rumbled. "Not for your power—but your freedom."
Phong nodded silently.
And then, a whisper from the depths of the cosmos echoed into his mind.
"Come to the Eclipsed Tower. There, the truth shall be unveiled."
The scene shifted.
---
Meanwhile, in the Divine Palace above the Ninth Heaven...
The Sovereign of Light sat upon a throne carved from stars, face twisted in fury.
"How did a mortal erase a Divine Executioner?" he roared.
Around him, the other Sovereigns were silent.
Only one spoke—a woman whose eyes glowed with cosmic frost.
"He is no longer a mortal," she said. "And worse... he walks a path we abandoned long ago."
The Sovereign gritted his teeth. "Then what do you propose?"
"We awaken her," the frost-eyed woman whispered. "She who was sealed for fearing none... not even us."
A chilling silence followed.
The Sovereign closed his eyes.
"So be it."
---
Back in the mortal realm, Phong stood at the base of the Eclipsed Tower—a monolith made from interwoven realities, where time moved sideways and screams echoed from walls that had no mouths.
He stepped inside.
And the tower welcomed him.
Dozens of figures turned toward him—some in awe, some in terror, and a few in anticipation. These were the exiled, the condemned, the rebels of destiny. Each a legend, each a sinner in the eyes of the heavens.
At the top of the spiral staircase, a throne awaited.
One figure stood beside it—a girl.
Not just any girl.
Bạch Tiêu Nhiên.
She looked unchanged from the day they last met: silver hair flowing like moonlight, her eyes still that cold storm of beauty and danger.
But now she was different.
Now she wore the mark of the Shadow Council.
Phong froze for half a heartbeat.
"Nhiên?"
She didn't smile.
She simply said:
"Took you long enough... villain."
[End of Chapter 31]