The deeper Lin Feng stepped into the glowing crater, the thicker the air became.
Each breath felt like drawing in liquid light; every movement caused the void itself to ripple.
The ruins beneath his feet were not stone — they were crystallized fragments of divine energy, remnants of a battlefield that once reached beyond realms.
The crater's heart pulsed with faint azure light, its rhythm synchronized with the beating of his own Celestial Core.
It was calling him — beckoning him forward.
Behind him, Wu Tian hesitated.
"Lin Feng… I can't follow you in there. The energy—it's devouring my Qi."
Lin Feng nodded once, understanding. "Stay back. If I don't return… tell the elders what lies here."
Wu Tian hesitated, but the sheer gravity of Lin Feng's aura silenced him. He could only watch as Lin Feng walked alone into the heart of the abyss.
---
The light within the crater thickened into mist, glowing like the dawn of a new world.
In its center floated a massive object — a fragment of a sword, half-buried in the air itself, as if pinned between dimensions.
Azure lightning arced across its surface.
Ancient runes flickered faintly, spelling words lost to time.
Lin Feng's breath caught. "The Azure Fragment… the Void's heart."
He reached out slowly, but before his fingers could touch the fragment, the mist began to churn.
A low hum rolled through the crater — soft at first, then rising into a deafening roar.
The air split open.
From within the rift emerged a second serpent, smaller than the first yet infinitely more terrifying — its scales translucent, its form constantly shifting as if made of stars themselves.
Its eyes glowed with cold, divine intellect.
"You slew my lesser form," it hissed. "But I am no beast. I am the will of the Void itself."
Lin Feng's grip tightened around his sword.
"So be it. Then I'll carve through the void too."
The serpent's laughter reverberated like collapsing worlds.
"You dare to challenge the heavens' reflection? Then perish, Azure inheritor."
The serpent's form dissolved into thousands of fragments, each one a blade of light.
The sky darkened.
Space itself bent inward — and the battle began.
---
Lin Feng vanished in a blur, his Void Step activating instinctively.
Each movement left behind afterimages made of blue flame, as his sword clashed against the serpent's body.
Every collision sent shockwaves across the abyss — time and space cracked under the force of divine intent meeting Celestial will.
But the serpent's body was eternal — reforming again and again, its essence impossible to pin down.
Lin Feng's strikes tore through it, but each time, it dissolved into mist and reformed elsewhere.
A dozen slashes. A hundred.
The serpent only grew stronger.
Lin Feng's breathing quickened; celestial blood ran down his arm.
At this rate, even his new Celestial body would shatter.
He needed insight — not power.
He steadied his stance, closing his eyes mid-battle.
The Azure Sword vibrated faintly in his hand, an ancient voice whispering through his consciousness:
"The void cannot be cut… only understood."
Suddenly, Lin Feng's perception shifted.
He saw the battlefield differently — not as matter and light, but as currents of existence, threads of reality interwoven like rivers of starlight.
The serpent's form was no longer chaotic — it had rhythm, a pulse that matched the beat of his own Celestial Core.
He exhaled.
"Azure Sword Art — Fifth Form: Heaven's Rebirth."
The words were a whisper, but the heavens trembled.
His sword blazed, turning his entire body into a column of blue flame.
The Azure Sword cut downward — not through the serpent's body, but through the rhythm that sustained it.
A single sound echoed — snap! — like a string breaking.
The serpent screamed, its body twisting violently as fissures of light raced across it.
It tried to reform, but Lin Feng pressed forward, step by step, each motion carrying divine resonance.
"Break."
With a final strike, he cleaved the serpent apart.
A tidal wave of Azure energy erupted, flooding the entire crater.
Wu Tian, watching from afar, fell to his knees as the light swallowed everything.
When the radiance faded, Lin Feng floated above the crater's center, surrounded by motes of divine dust.
The serpent was gone.
Only the Azure Fragment remained — now shining brighter than before, as though acknowledging him.
---
He descended slowly.
The air shimmered around him as the fragment's energy reached out, enveloping his sword.
His Azure Sword trembled violently — runes blazing across its surface.
A voice echoed in his mind, deep and ancient, filled with calm authority.
"So the successor of the flame has come. The second seal shall awaken."
Light exploded outward.
The Azure Fragment melted into pure energy, merging directly into the Azure Sword.
The blade changed — its color deepened, its form sleeker, and faint wings of light extended from its hilt.
A divine melody filled the air — the hum of a sword that remembered eternity.
Lin Feng's aura surged.
The Celestial Core within him stabilized, its energy flowing seamlessly into the Azure Flame.
He could feel his soul expanding — his perception stretching beyond the realm itself.
For a moment, he saw a vision:
A vast battlefield among the stars, where countless gods clashed, their swords tearing through constellations.
At the center stood a lone figure in blue — the First Azure Sovereign, wielding a sword that could cut destiny itself.
"The Azure Flame burns not to rule… but to defy."
The vision faded.
Lin Feng opened his eyes, breathing heavily.
The power coursing through him was indescribable — vast yet serene.
The Azure Sword hummed in response, as if alive.
He whispered, "You and I… are one step closer."
---
But the silence didn't last.
Wu Tian's voice broke the calm. "Lin Feng… the others — they're gone!"
Lin Feng turned sharply.
All around the upper cliffs of the abyss, blood stained the rocks — the other Inner Court disciples were dead, their bodies mutilated.
Sword wounds, not beast marks.
He knelt, fingers brushing across a trail of dried blood.
There, carved into the stone, were three words:
"Beware the Silver Moon."
His expression darkened.
Before he could speak, a cold voice echoed through the mist.
"So you found the fragment after all."
A figure stepped from the shadows — tall, draped in silver light.
His eyes gleamed with faint moonlight, his aura sharp as frost.
Lin Feng's sword arm tensed.
"Lu Xiang."
The man smiled faintly. "It seems you've grown. The Azure Flame truly is dangerous… which is why I must extinguish it now."
Lin Feng's killing intent ignited instantly, the air trembling around him.
"Then come. Let's see if your moonlight can outshine my flame."
Their auras collided, shaking the abyss once more.
And as Azure and Silver light clashed, the entire Starfall Abyss roared — heralding a battle that would echo through the Heavenly Sword Palace for centuries.