"Sheng… I think this is where we end it," Master Fu roared.
The colossal hand closed fully around the spear, pulling it back towards the clouds.
From its surface, thousands, no, millions of smaller palms erupted outward, striking again and again, each impact carrying a sealing vibration. The giant spear shuddered, fractures racing across its length like lightning veins.
Crack—crack—CRACK!
"Tchhh—!" Sheng Hong coughed up blood as the spear began to collapse, chunks of metal and flame scattering through the sky.
"It's not over yet, old man," Sheng snarled.
His fingers twisted into another hand seal.
Below, the blood formation split open, a writhing hole tearing through its centre. Rivers of blood surged upward, screaming as they fused back into the spear. Fire serpents coiled around it, hissing violently as they burned into the massive palm, blackening its golden surface.
Sizzle—HISSS—
"The first seal wasn't enough…" Fu thought, his palm still clenched, muscles trembling.
A sharp breath escaped him.
"If I open the second… half a decade of my foundation will vanish."
His eyes hardened.
"…So be it."
"The earth looks to the sky," Fu intoned,
"The sky looks to the stars, but Boshudo sees all."
"Song of Xuanwu: Second Verse."
Tang!
He struck another note.
The clouds above split apart, peeling back like a torn curtain. From the opening, an enormous face emerged, filling the heavens—its features like a Shinto mask, forged of gold and crimson. Its eyes blazed brighter than the sun, and its tongue protruded grotesquely, etched with ancient runes that pulsed with divine rhythm.
The face opened its mouth.
A soundless roar poured out, and the world bowed.
Mountains cracked.
The blood formations faltered.
But it still wasn't enough.
The black flames burned heavier, denser, devouring everything in their path. One by one, the countless palms were annihilated, reduced to drifting motes of shattered light.
"That law of his… made the attack misfire," Fu thought bitterly.
"He truly has grown."
"Though the path he chose is evil," Master Fu admitted silently,
"I cannot deny it—his understanding of the Law of Chaos surpasses my own."
The guzheng slipped from Fu's grasp and fell, its strings trembling as it vanished into the air below.
"What?!" Sheng Hong burst out laughing, a wide grin stretching across his face.
"Are you giving up, old man?"
"Hohoho," Fu chuckled softly.
"As if I could even if I wished to."
His gaze sharpened, locking onto Sheng.
"If I let you live, this world is sure to perish."
Fu raised his hand.
It moved slowly through the air, deliberate and steady. And with every inch his hand traced, another afterimage remained, frozen in place, each one forming a different hand seal.
"My foolish disciple," Fu said calmly,
"Allow me to teach you one last lesson before you go meet the Asura."
"To be considered a true Supreme, one must first master one's own Law. You have trained yours well," Fu continued, eyes unwavering.
"You possess raw power… but you lack something."
"Experience."
"My years walking Jiangsu have given me that."
The afterimages trembled.
Then, they aligned.
"Law of Harmony."
The seals resonated as one.
"World Reversal."
The heavens shuddered.
"I'm so sorry, Yùzhàn… I truly wanted to save you."
Fu's eyes darkened.
"I had hoped that most of you would survive this."
As his words fell, the ground began to creak deep, groaning sounds echoing like the world itself was in pain. The earth split, tearing free from itself, while above, the sky cracked, folding and turning inward.
Bang!
The ground became the sky.
And the sky became the ground.
"Ahhhhhhhh—!"
Screams tore through the air as people were flung upward, falling into the heavens.
Lian, who had been standing on solid ground only a moment ago, found himself plummeting downward, his eyes bulging in shock.
"What the hell just happened?!"
His gaze darted wildly, trying to understand his surroundings, but nothing made sense. Up and down no longer existed. Direction itself had been erased.
"Wu Hei, let's go."
Wu Hei seized Wang Li by the helm, his voice low and urgent.
"This fight has gone too far. If we linger, even we might die."
"Tsk…" Wang Li clicked his tongue, though he was smiling.
"And I was just starting to get into the groove."
He glanced around casually, as if the inverted world meant nothing to him.
"But oh well—what can you do?" he said lightly.
"As they say, when Supremes fight… It's the mortals who pay the price."
Wang Li levitated in the air, upside down, feet pointed toward the shattered heavens.
"See you soon, little brother."
With Wu Hei gripping his arm, the two of them vanished, swallowed by distorted space.
"Huff… huff…"
Wang Gu gasped for breath as he dove toward Lian, catching him before he could fall any farther.
"Brother—are you okay?!"
Lian hung against Wang Gu's shoulders, still reeling, his vision swimming.
From the distance, Bo Ming and Xai Bao came flying in, barely keeping their balance. The four of them landed hard atop a levitating array plate, trembling as it struggled to remain stable in the reversed world.
"Wang Gu…" Xai Bao said quietly, eyes shaking as he looked around.
"We're going to die here, aren't we?"
"I tried activating a teleportation array earlier," he continued, clenching his fists.
"But it failed."
He swallowed.
"Space is locked."
"Yeah… it's over," Wang Gu said grimly.
"If you are not a Martial Supreme, there is no escaping this space. The Laws of Time and Space have already been broken."
He clenched his fists.
"Unless… I open the seal as well."
Below them, Master Fu's hands trembled, though his expression remained calm as his thoughts churned.
"Sheng Hong," Fu spoke, his arm slowly extending,
"Do you know what happens after one breakthrough to Martial Supreme?"
Sheng Hong remained silent. His spear stood perfectly still, neither rising nor falling, as if it were frozen in defiance of the world.
"We are forced to sign a contract with the Imperial Palace of Heaven," Fu continued.
"A shackle."
"It exists to limit our power. Our strength directly challenges the Heavens themselves, so we are made to dampen it, to ensure we do not destroy the world simply by existing."
Fu's eyes hardened.
"But now that I have broken that contract…"
He looked straight at Sheng Hong.
"…it's over. For both of us."
The space around them twisted violently.
From the warped curvature of reality itself, chains formed from starlight, cold and ancient. They burst forth from the void, coiling around both Fu and Sheng Hong, binding their arms, their torsos, their very souls.
The air screamed.
"This," Fu said, his voice booming, echoing unnaturally loud inside Lian's mind,
"This is the price for going against the Heavens"