The continent stirred. For the first time in centuries, sect banners were raised in unison, not for a crusade against demons or foreign invaders, but against a single man.
That man was Feng Xuanlong.
Three provinces already bent to his shadow, their sects subdued, their chosen crushed. Fear had once kept them silent. Now, desperation made them unite.
The Coalition of Heaven gathered at the foot of Cloudpierce Mountain: five grand sects, three royal clans, and dozens of minor factions, their cultivators numbering in the thousands. Leading them were Heaven's Chosen untouched by Xuanlong's grasp—a cold-eyed sword maiden of the Frostjade Pavilion, a thunder-wielding prodigy from the Stormbreaker Sect, and a pale scholar whose scrolls glimmered with divine light.
Their purpose was simple: sever the villain's rise before his shadow drowned the heavens.
Inside the Nine Flames Heavenly Clan, the air trembled with unease. Courtyards filled with whispers of armies marching, banners blotting the horizon. Disciples shifted restlessly, some fearful, others eager for war.
But at the heart of the clan, Feng Xuanlong remained unmoved.
Before him shimmered the Villain System, its crimson screens flickering with new warnings.
[System Alert: Host's notoriety has reached 'Continental Infamy.' Counterbalance enacted by Fate. Multiple Heaven's Chosen and sect alliances are converging.][Optional Scenarios triggered: "Face the Coalition" or "Ambush the Weak Links."]
Xuanlong's lips curved into a sharp smile. So Heaven thinks it can crush me by gathering ants. Let them come.
Behind him, his five disciples knelt, awaiting orders. Yan Ruyan's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Master, allow me to infiltrate their ranks and spread corruption before the battle begins. Half their morale will crumble before blades are drawn."
Qiao Ling's voice was calm. "Resources and escape routes are sealed. If they come, they bleed until they are corpses."
Meiyu smirked. "Or corpses bound in chains."
Meilin spoke last, shadows dancing around her. "Give the word, Master. We shall bury their coalition under eternal night."
Xuanlong turned his gaze to the distant mountains, where smoke from sect camps rose like storm clouds. His voice was soft but sharp as obsidian.
"Prepare. Let the world witness what becomes of those who gather against the villain."
When dawn rose, so too did the Coalition of Heaven. The air quaked as thousands of cultivators ascended into the skies, banners snapping in the wind. Sword light, thunder arcs, frost mist—an army of brilliance surged toward the Nine Flames territory.
At the vanguard strode the sword maiden, her blade unsheathed, its edge glowing with icy purity. She called across the heavens, her voice carrying for miles.
"Feng Xuanlong! You, who defile the heavens with chains and devouring flames! Today, destiny ends your shadow!"
The coalition roared in unison, their killing intent forming a wave that darkened the skies.
Then the heavens themselves trembled.
Black fire blossomed from the Nine Flames Sect, swallowing the horizon. Chains unfurled from the void, linking heaven and earth, binding sunlight into dusk. At the center of it all, Feng Xuanlong stepped into the sky, crimson eyes glowing like twin suns of ruin.
"You gather," he said, voice rumbling across mountains. "You threaten. You believe yourselves heroes of heaven. But before me, you are merely fuel."
He spread his arms. Shadows surged.
[System Event Triggered: "Mass Fate-Devourance." All participating enemies generate Fate Fragments upon defeat. VP gains multiplied fivefold.]
The clash erupted like thunder tearing the world apart.
The thunder prodigy descended first, arcs of lightning coiling into a dragon. Xuanlong's chains met it mid-air, tearing the dragon apart and binding its lightning into knots of black fire. The prodigy screamed as his Dao dimmed, threads of fate unraveling into Xuanlong's grasp.
The Frostjade maiden struck next, sword light cleaving through shadow. Her strike froze the air itself, shards of winter falling like stars. For a moment, her blade pierced the black flames, touching Xuanlong's chest.
But instead of blood, the strike drew nothing but endless chains that devoured her cold Qi. Her sword dimmed, frost melting into ash.
The scholar unfurled his scroll, divine runes cascading to suppress the villain's aura. Light pressed down like mountains, each character sealing a path of Dao.
Xuanlong raised a hand, and with a pulse of black flame, devoured the words themselves. The scholar's mouth opened in horror as the scripture that had defined his life dissolved into nothingness.
All around, sect cultivators clashed with Xuanlong's disciples. Yan Ruyan's whispers seeded treachery among the coalition ranks, comrades turning on each other mid-battle. Meiyu's shadows wrapped fallen cultivators into chains, dragging them screaming into darkness. Qiao Ling shattered defensive arrays, opening paths for slaughter. Meilin spread her spatial distortions, trapping hundreds in endless night loops until their screams died away.
The Nine Flames Heavenly Clan fought like demons unleashed, their fear forged into fanaticism under Xuanlong's shadow.
At the height of the battle, the heavens split. Tribulation clouds churned above, lightning veins tearing across the sky.
[System Alert: Host has triggered an unsanctioned fate-devouring beyond Heavenly Tolerance.][Emergency Breakthrough: Semi-Deity Realm threshold unlocked.]
Xuanlong laughed, a sound that shook the world. Black chains spiraled around him, weaving into a throne of shadows. Upon it, he sat, his aura expanding until it drowned the heavens themselves.
The coalition broke. Sect leaders screamed for retreat. Armies scattered, their unity collapsing into chaos.
But the villain did not allow escape.
Chains lashed across the skies, dragging cultivators back into his devouring flame. Screams echoed. Fate threads snapped one by one, fueling his rise.
At last, when dusk fell, the battlefield was silent. Mountains cracked, rivers boiled, the sky dimmed. The Coalition of Heaven lay in ruin, banners burned to ash.
Feng Xuanlong stood amid the wreckage, eyes glowing with devouring light. His disciples bowed in triumph.
The world would remember this day. Not as the day Heaven's coalition triumphed—but as the day the villain of destiny ascended toward godhood.