The world above roared in flame.
Chunks of earth, trees, and shattered stone crashed down like meteors as Xiao Yun fell into the depths. He gritted his teeth, bracing his body as the tunnel swallowed him whole, the heat of that attack searing his back even through the collapsing roof.
The girl.
He twisted in midair and grabbed her limp body just before she tumbled into a jagged wall. Blood oozed from her foot where the trap had pierced her, and her face was pale from shock. But she was still breathing.
The Second Gate had worked—but not perfectly.
This wasn't the full phase of the Void Rebirth Manual's Second Gate, just a fragment: Void Step, a one-time emergency escape by displacing the user through unstable spiritual terrain.
He'd punched a hole through the dimensional crust.
And now they were falling.
Fast.
Xiao Yun grunted as they hit water—freezing, dark, and impossibly deep. It swallowed them both in silence, quenching the echoes of the explosion above.
He swam fast, one arm wrapped around the girl as he kicked toward the glowing pulse he felt deeper below.
That was no ordinary cave.
Something ancient was beneath.
A light shimmered far below—dim, purple, almost like the glow of his Void Core. He followed it, lungs burning, every stroke a battle. His mortal shell was still too weak, his veins only barely stabilized from the first gate.
But he dove anyway.
They broke through into an underwater chamber. Gravity shifted. Water flowed up instead of down, forming a whirlpool that dumped them into an ancient shrine carved into black jade.
Xiao Yun rolled onto the smooth floor, coughing violently. He checked the girl—still breathing, barely. He let her rest.
Then stood.
The air here… was pure. Rich with spiritual energy. Dense qi coiled in the air like fog, and the walls were lined with glowing runes—most broken, some intact. This was a tomb. No… a sanctuary.
A sealed immortal cultivation chamber.
Xiao Yun walked forward slowly, careful not to trigger traps. His eyes adjusted to the dim violet glow of void flames burning in jade sconces on the walls. They flickered as he passed, recognizing the power in his blood.
And at the end of the hall—
A throne.
Obsidian. Carved into the form of a serpent swallowing a star. And on it sat a corpse in full black armor, robes faded with time, but the aura—
He stopped.
He knew that armor.
It was his.
His original set. The first Void Emperor Armor he'd forged from the husks of nine divine beasts and bathed in the blood of saints.
Then that meant—
He stepped closer.
The corpse on the throne… was him.
Or rather, a fragment of him. One of the Seven Shadow Vessels he'd hidden before his betrayal. He hadn't expected any of them to survive the purge.
And yet here it was.
Preserved. Waiting.
As if it knew he'd come.
The corpse's chest pulsed faintly, and a voice echoed through the chamber—cold, hollow, his own voice warped by time.
> "If you're hearing this… it means I lost."
> "You were reborn, weren't you?"
> "Then listen carefully, Xiao Yun. This world is worse than we thought. The Celestial Realms have merged. The Void has thinned. They know about us. The real enemy… isn't the sect."
> "It's us."
The voice cut out.
Xiao Yun frowned.
The hell does that mean?
But there was no time to think.
The corpse's mouth opened—and a black orb rolled from its throat, floating toward him.
His heart raced.
The Void Heart Relic.
It held memories, power, essence—one of the seven keys to unlocking his true form. He raised his palm and let it sink into his chest.
The world vanished.
Flashes of memory surged into him—
A city burning in golden fire.
A blade forged from star cores.
A man in white robes with his face, smiling… before plunging a spear into the throat of a giant serpent.
The smile never faded.
Xiao Yun's body convulsed. His dantian swelled with new energy, and his meridians expanded again. Not by force, but by inheritance. The Second Gate—Soul Stabilization—was now complete.
He dropped to one knee, gasping.
A wave of violet qi burst from his body, shaking the walls of the shrine.
Behind him, the girl stirred.
Her eyes fluttered open, confused, dazed. "Where… where are we…?"
He turned to her.
"You'll live," he said simply.
Her gaze met his. Something about him had changed. His presence was sharper. Like staring into a blade that had just been unsheathed.
"Y-you saved me."
"I saved myself," he replied, standing. "You just happened to be close."
She lowered her eyes. "My name is Ruo Lin."
He didn't respond.
The shrine trembled.
Cracks spread across the walls.
No… not just the shrine.
The Void Qi he'd unleashed had destabilized the old formation. It was crumbling.
The throne behind him split down the middle, and the corpse—his corpse—dissolved into ashes.
The path had been used. The vessel was no longer needed.
"Get up," he said.
Ruo Lin stood, wincing from her wound. "Where do we go?"
Xiao Yun stepped toward the back of the chamber. The wall rippled like water.
"Out."
He reached forward—then froze.
Another ripple.
But this time, not from him.
Something was on the other side.
BOOM.
A blast of golden light smashed through the wall, sending shards of jade flying in every direction. Ruo Lin screamed and ducked behind the throne rubble.
Xiao Yun raised his arm to block.
A figure stepped through the smoke.
Young. Tall. Eyes glowing blue with divine light. A floating rune behind his back shaped like a sun.
Sect robes.
But not from any sect Xiao Yun remembered.
This one bore the mark of the Celestial Harmony Domain—a force that didn't even exist in his era.
"You match the Void signature," the man said, eyes narrowing. "By decree of the Solar Tribunal, you are under arrest for residual god-killing essence. Surrender your soul."
Xiao Yun smiled coldly.
"Do I look like I surrender?"
The man didn't speak. He just moved.
Fast.
A blade of pure light formed in his hand as he dashed forward, the ground shattering beneath each step.
Xiao Yun stepped sideways, avoiding the first swing by a breath, but the heat of the weapon still burned his skin.
The second slash tore through the air like thunder. He ducked, grabbed a fallen shard of void jade, and infused it with qi.
It pulsed.
He hurled it.
BOOM!
The jade exploded mid-air, momentarily blinding the Celestial attacker.
"Ruo Lin! Run!" he shouted.
She stumbled toward a crumbled opening in the side wall. Light bled through.
The Celestial disciple recovered fast, forming another weapon—this time a bow made of golden threads. He drew a single arrow, shaped like a dragon's fang.
"This one won't miss," the man said.
Xiao Yun's expression didn't change.
He raised both hands.
His void qi howled—dark tendrils coiling like a storm around him.
"Let me show you what missing really means."
He slammed his palms together—
Void Rebirth Manual, Hidden Art: Star Collapse.
The chamber exploded into black.
Light and shadow clashed. The walls screamed. Ruo Lin disappeared into the light. The arrow launched—
Straight into Xiao Yun's chest.
But it didn't pierce.
His skin cracked… then held.
His body convulsed, and he roared, his qi flaring so violently that the golden bow snapped in the man's hands.
The enemy staggered back, eyes wide.
"How—!?"
Xiao Yun stepped forward, chest smoking, eyes glowing with murderous light.
"I'm not done yet."
But he was.
The entire ceiling cracked above.
He looked up.
And saw dozens.
Dozens of robed figures descending from the clouds above the chamber, their presence so overwhelming the air itself turned to lead.
They floated in silence, each cloaked in a golden aura.
One of them stepped forward.
An old man. His eyes like burning stars.
"You are the Void Tyrant," he said.
His voice shook the ruins.
Xiao Yun raised his hand, cracked fingers twitching.
He had enough qi for one more strike.
Maybe two.
The old man raised a single finger.
And the world turned white.