The wind was still across the scarred plains.
Ash from fallen beasts scattered into the air, and the faint echo of clashing swords had long faded into memory. Lin Feng sat alone atop a jagged black cliff, the Azure Sword resting across his knees, its blade faintly trembling with an inner pulse of life.
The journey through the beast lands had changed him. The battles had refined his killing intent, but more than that — something deeper was stirring within him.
A feeling… that the sword was alive.
He slowly exhaled, the breath carrying traces of azure light. His bloodline—the Nine-Headed Azure Dragon—was still resonating faintly from his previous battles. Yet even that ancient blood now felt small before the faint, boundless energy whispering from the sword's core.
"You've been restless lately…" Lin Feng murmured, running his hand across the sword's spine. "Just what are you hiding from me?"
The sword answered — not in sound, but in sensation.
A low hum, almost like a heartbeat, rippled through his soul. Then came a voice — ancient, heavy with power, yet carrying a sorrow that seemed eternal.
"Child of my blood and will… the second seal has been undone. The world within the sword calls to you."
Lin Feng froze.
The voice didn't echo in the air — it resonated inside him, vibrating through his meridians, reverberating in his mind like divine thunder.
The Azure Sword flared with blinding light, symbols dancing across the blade — ancient runes, glowing in azure and gold. The heavens themselves seemed to respond. Clouds twisted. The sky bent.
"Who… are you?" Lin Feng whispered, though he already knew the answer.
"The one whose will you inherited… the Azure Sovereign."
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That name alone carried weight enough to shatter mountains. Lin Feng's chest tightened, breath catching. He had felt fragments of the Sovereign's intent before — in the Abyss, during the tomb inheritance — but this was different. This was presence, not memory.
"You have awakened two seals," the voice said, each word reverberating through his soul. "The second has opened the gate to my true legacy… the world within the Azure Sword."
The runes on the sword flared brighter. Space itself began to distort around Lin Feng. His instincts screamed danger, but the voice was calm — majestic yet mournful.
"If you would seek strength beyond the heavens… step forward."
Before Lin Feng could react, the world shattered.
Azure light erupted from the sword, engulfing everything in a tide of celestial brilliance.
He felt his consciousness being torn from his body — not painfully, but with divine inevitability. His soul was being drawn in, spiraling into the sword's heart like a falling star.
For a moment, he felt weightless — suspended between worlds. Then, silence.
When Lin Feng opened his eyes again, the world had changed.
He stood upon an endless sky-sea — waves of blue flame rippling across the horizon. Mountains floated upside down, bleeding rivers of light into the void. The heavens were cracked, constellations swirling like torn fragments of glass.
"This…" he whispered, awe flickering in his eyes. "Is this… inside the sword?"
"You stand within my final creation," the Sovereign's voice answered, now echoing all around. "A world forged from my battle, my will, and my death."
Every word painted the realm with weight. The air itself felt alive — ancient and heavy with divinity. Ruins of palaces drifted across the horizon, each inscribed with forgotten runes of the Azure Lineage. The very sky pulsed with sword intent — sharp, serene, eternal.
"Within this world lie nine seals," the Sovereign continued. "You have awakened two. The third slumbers in the Tomb Palace — if your will can endure what lies ahead."
Lin Feng clenched his fists, his pulse racing.
Even standing still, he could feel invisible pressure crushing down upon him — like the gaze of the heavens themselves. But amid the weight, he felt something else: purpose. The sword's resonance inside him wasn't a burden; it was a calling.
He raised his gaze toward the distant horizon.
There, at the edge of the broken world, stood a colossal citadel of light — floating in the void, surrounded by ethereal dragon statues. Each statue pulsed with azure flame, their eyes closed as if slumbering.
The Tomb Palace of the Azure Sovereign.
Lin Feng exhaled slowly. "The third seal…"
"Go, inheritor," the voice whispered, growing faint. "But know this — every seal you awaken brings you closer to my truth… and my sin."
The final word echoed strangely. Lin Feng frowned, but the voice had already faded. Only the sound of the burning sky remained.
He tightened his grip on the sword and took his first step forward. The moment his foot touched the azure ground, the world trembled — as if recognizing its master's successor.
Azure light burst beneath his feet, forming a radiant path toward the distant palace.
Each step made the air ripple, the pressure mounting — testing, judging. But Lin Feng's eyes only grew sharper.
"I don't need heaven's approval," he murmured, his aura surging like a rising tide. "If this sword bears your will… then I will master it, not be bound by it."
He vanished in a flash of blue, racing across the endless expanse — toward the Tomb Palace that waited at the end of eternity.