Silence.
Not the silence of still air — but the silence of eternity.
The kind that lingered after the death of gods.
Lin Feng drifted through an ocean of suspended light, his boots touching down on air that felt almost liquid. Below him, entire continents floated upside down, their surfaces cracked like shattered jade. Rivers of azure flame coursed through their fissures, illuminating the dark firmament above.
He took a slow breath, feeling the sword's aura hum in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Every inhale drew in traces of divine essence, ancient and vast. It wasn't spiritual energy. It was something older — raw fragments of creation itself.
"So this is… the Azure Sword World."
His voice vanished instantly, swallowed by the sheer immensity of the realm. The world was both infinite and confined — a paradox of space, folded within a single sword.
Lightning of azure hue flickered across the fractured horizon. Far in the distance, chains of divine metal hung from the heavens, binding colossal celestial corpses — dragons, saints, and titans who once served the Sovereign. Their eyes were closed, sealed by runes that shimmered faintly like dying stars.
Each chain carried weight enough to crush a mountain, yet they swayed as if breathing.
"This is no mere memory…" Lin Feng muttered. "This world lives."
He walked forward, and with each step, the air around him distorted. Time warped — the cracks in space flickered between past and present. One moment, the land was desolate; the next, it blazed with ancient glory.
He saw glimpses — the Azure Sovereign, robed in celestial light, standing atop the heavens, his sword raised against divine armies. His roar split eternity, his blade cutting through the Heavenly Law itself.
And then, as suddenly as it appeared, the vision was gone. Only ashes remained.
"A reflection… of the battle that ended heaven's age."
The Azure Sword pulsed faintly in his grasp — alive, aware, almost trembling. It was guiding him. He could feel the direction, a faint pull toward the farthest edge of the world.
There, above a sea of fractured stars, floated a titanic citadel — the Azure Tomb Palace.
It hovered in the void like a god's mausoleum, encircled by twelve colossal dragon statues, each one chained and silent. Their scales were carved from the same azure light as the sword, and their eyes shimmered faintly, as though dreaming.
Even from afar, Lin Feng could sense the oppressive pressure emanating from it — not malevolence, but authority.
The weight of a will that once ruled the heavens.
"Within this world lie nine seals," the Sovereign's voice whispered faintly, echoing from nowhere and everywhere.
"The third slumbers beyond that gate. To reach it, you must pass through the Sea of Azure Fire — the flames that burned gods to dust."
Lin Feng's expression tightened. His sword aura instinctively flared around him, a storm of sharp azure arcs spiraling outward.
He looked down — and saw it.
An endless ocean of light-blue fire, calm yet immeasurably deep, stretching beneath the floating continents. Its surface shimmered like glass, but beneath it burned countless souls — remnants of divine beings devoured by flame.
Even from this distance, the heat pressed against his body like molten air.
> "A sea formed from the Sovereign's final battle… the divine flames of his wrath."
He understood instinctively that no ordinary cultivator could survive even a breath of that fire. It was divine law in liquid form — the residue of rebellion itself.
Still, Lin Feng's eyes didn't waver. His path was forward — always forward.
He leapt from the floating cliff.
The moment his feet touched the air above the flame, azure tendrils of energy rose like living serpents, whispering forgotten oaths. His dragon bloodline stirred violently in response, protective and furious.
He began walking.
Each step caused ripples across the fiery ocean. The azure flame licked at his robes, his skin, his soul. Pain seared through him — not physical, but existential. The fire tried to burn away everything that wasn't pure will.
"So this is your test…" he hissed through clenched teeth. "You want to strip me down to nothing… and see if I'm worthy."
Every flame that touched him peeled away a fragment of weakness — fear, doubt, hesitation — leaving only determination. The Azure Sword glowed brighter, responding to his endurance.
As he advanced, faint whispers began to echo from the flames.
"He defied heaven."
"He bled for mortals."
"He was betrayed… by the sky itself."
The voices sounded mournful — the dying echoes of beings who once followed the Azure Sovereign into war. Lin Feng clenched his fists tighter, feeling their sorrow pulse through him.
"Rest easy," he whispered. "Your Sovereign's will won't end here."
With each step, his aura sharpened until the air screamed around him. Sword energy flared outward like a divine storm, carving a path through the sea of fire.
Then, far ahead, a silhouette appeared — a figure cloaked in light, standing upon the burning sea.
Its voice rang out, deep and cold:
"Who dares tread upon the path of the Sovereign?"
The flames parted, revealing a majestic being clad in azure armor, wings of divine light unfolding behind it. Its eyes glowed like twin stars — emotionless, ancient.
Lin Feng gripped his sword, azure light coursing up his arm.
"So… the guardian appears."
The figure drew its blade, the flames roaring higher in reverence.
"To inherit his will, you must first survive mine."
The sea erupted, and the two figures clashed — sword against sword, heaven's fire against dragon blood — the battle shaking the entire inner world.