"Lian's Original Technique: Void Draw—Slayer of the Stars."
"Seven Heavens Technique, Final Form: Severance Tranquillity."
They roared at the same time.
Lian's arm swept upward in a clean arc. In his hand was a blade formed from pure Qi, a perfect phantom of Guǐ Shā Shǒu. It was transparent, yet ancient sigils slithered along its length like living things, flickering in and out of existence.
Opposite him, the grey entity tilted its sword slightly.
Instantly, every trace of light in the world was dragged toward the edge of that blade.
The mindscape turned colourless.
Soundless.
White.
Crack.
The entity's slash broke through space as it shot forward.
Splat!
The grey entity dropped to its knees.
Blood splashed across its chest in a wide arc.
"Oho… yes… that's it," it muttered, voice weakening as its body began to deteriorate into drifting ash.
"Don't follow the Dao that was handed to you. Reject it… and carve your own"
Half its torso was already gone.
"It may have been brief… but it truly was a pleasure having a body."
It looked at Lian one last time, eyes strangely peaceful.
"You can have this back. It was yours to begin with. I'm sure you've proven yourself to Guǐ Shā Shǒu."
It tossed the sword through the air. Lian caught it with one hand without looking.
The entity chuckled softly.
"Hehehe… I wonder if you realise what you just did. That martial art of yours… it is terrifying…"
"It cut through Dao."
"For that moment… You were the writer of the universe rules brief, as it might have been."
Its eyes closed.
Then it vanished completely.
"Ohoho…"
Splat!
Lian coughed up a mouthful of blood and dropped to his knees. His arms trembled as he raised his hands in front of his face.
"Tch… what is this feeling…?"
His fingers shook uncontrollably.
"It's like… I've been living blind all this time."
His gaze drifted outward.
Everywhere he looked, translucent ancient characters floated through the air, weaving, overlapping, forming invisible laws that governed everything.
"Martial Da?!"
They felt impossibly old. Vast. Endless.
No matter how hard he tried, he could only comprehend the tiniest fragment of them.
"Ah… I'm so tired…"
Lian fell forward, face-first into the ground as darkness swallowed him.
"Calm down, you brat," the Alrick spoke, striking two fingers between Lian's brows and forcing his body back onto the stone table.
"I will not have you run rampant when I'm this close."
He struck precise blows to different points across Lian's body again. Each tap carried intent, guiding, sealing, correcting. Lian's frame began to settle. The wild tremors faded. His form looked… complete.
"Yes… That's it. The forge is done," the Alrick muttered, dropping the broken hilt of the hammer to the floor.
Lian's body now looked pristine, a portrait of perfection. His muscles were neither bulky nor lean, but balanced with frightening harmony, as if he had spent every day of his life tempering himself through cultivation. From head to toe, he possessed the structure of a perfect martial vessel.
"Tch… I keep losing out on this brat."
The Alrick reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a small gourd.
"My Ten-Thousand-year Silver Moth Dew Wine… gone just like that."
He uncorked it and poured the liquid over Lian's body. The silvery fluid flowed across his skin, seeping into his pores, painting him in a faint metallic sheen.
"You'd better thank me properly for this, brat."
The Alrick bit his own finger and let a drop of blood fall onto Lian's chest. With that blood, he began tracing complex inscriptions across Lian's body symbols that pulsed faintly with ancient power.
"Divine Forge Open: Heavenly Baijiu Body."
The moment the final inscription was completed, Lian's body began to change.
His skin turned emerald, green, smooth and lustrous like jade.
Then it shifted to a deep, molten orange.
Crack.
The colour fractured like a shell breaking apart, and his skin returned to its natural tone—yet something about it was no longer human.
The Alrick stepped back.
Heavenly energy began rushing toward Lian from all directions, so dense it distorted the air. His body slowly lifted from the stone slab, suspended in midair.
"It's complete…" the Alrick whispered, wiping a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Once he receives the heavenly blessing… he will possess a divine body."
"Ohoho…"
"Ha, this old man truly is something. I knew that he took his art seriously, but to think that he would use that forbidden art, I am sure it took at least a hundred years of his spiritual cultivation," Bo mussed, watching from the void.
He folded his arms, observing Lian's suspended body with quiet satisfaction.
"He really does take pride in his work. Hah… I suppose I can give him one more barrel as thanks."
Bo stepped closer.
He opened his palm. Resting there was a tiny silver sword, so small it looked like an ornament. Yet it carried an ancient presence. A faint white light pulsed from it, and the air around it hummed with pure sword intent.
"Since you now have a divine body… You might as well take this for your sword heart."
The small sword drifted forward. It passed through Lian's skin as if it were mist and embedded itself directly over his heart. It melted into him without resistance.
The moment it settled, it began to pulse violently, drawing in the surrounding heavenly energy even faster.
Inside Lian's mindscape, only two characters appeared.
破天
Lian's consciousness began to return.
His eyes slowly opened to the sight of the chamber, heavenly Qi cascading over him like a waterfall.
"What a great feeling…" he murmured.
"It's like the world is embracing me."
Crack.
The walls of his dantian split apart.
Qi surged upward violently, flowing from his lower dantian to the middle, then rushing toward the upper.
"My Shen… my Qi… my Jing…"
"They're flowing as one…"
A mysterious, indescribable sensation spread through him. His hair lifted as spiritual power streamed around his body while he slowly descended back toward the stone table.
"破天… so this is the name my martial will carry. Breaker of the Skies."
"I wonder what kind of domain I'll be able to create with this…"
His feet touched the ground.
"Well done, reaching the Martial Sovereign realm, brat. With a perfect body, no less," the Alrick said, coughing lightly.
"What's more, you owe me for all your achievements from now on."
Lian raised his hands, flexing his fingers, moving his arms slightly as he tested himself.
"Waaah… my body…"
"It feels unreal, I feel like I can do all the techniques I been practising in my head with ease." His eyes drifted to the Alrick and took a martial bow.
"A thousand thanks for this favor I will never forget it."