The sky still trembled from the aftermath of Chu Feng's clash with Xu Yang.
Ash fell like snow. The wind carried fragments of divine essence, glittering like stars scattered across a dying cosmos. The place where Xu Yang fell had become a scar in the heavens—a reminder that even the highest could bleed.
But across the many realms, the echo of this battle reached ears far more dangerous than Xu Yang.
---
In the Abyssal Flame World, a figure slowly opened his eyes beneath a volcano that had not erupted in a million years. His name—Fang Han.
A cultivator who defied fate. A man who rose from nothing, wielding powers that rivaled primordial gods. He felt the shift in the Dao.
> "Xu Yang has fallen..." Fang Han muttered. "So, the war truly begins."
The fire around him bowed. The volcano erupted not with lava, but celestial flames. As Fang Han stepped out, each of his steps burned through space.
---
Far to the west, on a floating mountain cloaked in starlight, Shi Hao, the Desolate Heaven Emperor, crushed a wine cup in his hand.
His golden hair flowed like silk, his gaze piercing through realms.
> "Chu Feng, eh?" he said with a faint smirk. "Interesting. He tore down Xu Yang. Maybe it's time I stretch my limbs."
Behind him, a legion of divine beasts knelt. He had conquered countless heavens, slain countless immortals. But this... this chaos intrigued him.
> "Let the devils crawl from their holes. The True Ones shall rise again."
---
In the Forbidden Sky Pagoda, Lin Feng, bathed in a whirl of cosmic sword intent, finished cutting through the 99th trial illusion. As the false world collapsed, he heard a whisper carried by the winds of fate.
> "Chu Feng... Xu Yang has fallen... the gods are stirring."
Lin Feng said nothing, only drawing his blade—Void Splitter—which hummed with ancient power. Behind him, ten thousand swords hovered, awaiting his command.
> "If the heavens fall, I'll cut them open."
---
In a world ruled by spirits, deep beneath the Sea of Eternal Memory, Tang San sat in meditation. Blue Silver Grass grew around him like a living sea. The moment Xu Yang's divinity shattered, he sensed it—through the threads of cause and effect.
A glowing trident appeared in his hand. His Asura Domain pulsed like a drum of war.
> "Balance has been broken," Tang San whispered. "I swore to protect peace... but perhaps peace must be reforged through war."
His eyes opened—serene, yet filled with conviction. The ocean rumbled.
---
Elsewhere, in a chaotic realm that shifted with every breath, Nie Li, the sage of countless reincarnations, stood within a palace of ancient scrolls.
He had seen it all before—in dreams, in timelines, in deaths.
> "It begins," he muttered. "The Great Collapse... again."
His fingers traced a scroll that glowed with black and gold.
> "But this time... I will not let fate control us."
A shadow moved behind him—one of his many clones, each existing across space and time.
> "Track Chu Feng," Nie Li ordered. "And find the source. This war is not random. Something... or someone... orchestrates it."
---
Meanwhile, Chu Feng stood alone.
Wounded, barely breathing, he drifted near the remains of Xu Yang's divine body. The Stormbreaker Spear floated beside him, cracked but pulsing faintly.
He looked down at the battlefield—once a sacred realm, now a graveyard of stars.
> "One down," he muttered, eyes dim. "But who's pulling the strings?"
Suddenly, a ripple passed through the void. A cold wind. A presence.
Then—a voice.
Not from the living.
Not from the gods.
But from the shadows beneath creation.
> "Well done, little chaos bearer..."
Chu Feng froze.
From behind the veil of dimensions, a figure wrapped in eternal night emerged—its face masked, its form flickering like a forgotten memory.
> "You broke the divine cycle... just as I foresaw."
> "Who are you?" Chu Feng growled, summoning the last of his energy.
> "A messenger. A herald of what comes next," the figure whispered. "The war of gods is merely a curtain... the true play lies behind."
Before Chu Feng could strike, the figure vanished—like a nightmare fading at dawn.
---
In a council chamber at the edge of the universe, The Hidden Ones gathered. Hooded figures, ancient and unnamed, watched the unfolding chaos with interest.
> "He has awakened it," one said.
> "The Balance is no more," said another. "Prepare the next move."
> "Should we alert the Primordial One?"
> "Not yet. Let them clash. Let the storm rise. And when they burn each other... we shall rise."
---
The heavens were no longer stable.
Realms trembled. Celestial rivers changed direction. The Divine Order fractured like old glass.
The gods were moving.
But in the center of it all—stood a single man.
Broken, bleeding, unbending.
Chu Feng.
And in the shadows, far below the realms of the gods...
Something darker began to stir.
---
End of Chapter 5.