The sky split open like a wound.Golden light poured from the heavens, spilling across the Valley of Echoes. The dunes glowed with divine fire, and every grain of sand seemed to tremble in reverence—or fear.
A thousand armored riders surrounded Li Shen in a tightening circle. Their banners bore the sigil of the Heavenly Alliance—five sects united under the decree of the Celestial Emperor himself.
At their head rode Marshal Yuehan, a woman of silver hair and cold, unreadable eyes. Her armor shimmered like moonlight, and the spear in her hand pulsed with sacred light.
"Li Shen of the Void," she called, her voice echoing across the dunes, "by decree of Heaven, surrender the Codex or face erasure from all realms."
Li Shen stood still, his tattered robe fluttering. The air around him shimmered faintly—the residual light of the Codex's mark still pulsing beneath his skin.
"Erasure," he repeated softly. "So Heaven fears what it cannot understand."
A murmur rippled through the soldiers. None dared move.
Marshal Yuehan's expression did not change. "You've taken lives beyond counting. The Codex warps your soul. Surrender it, and perhaps your spirit can still ascend."
Li Shen looked up toward the blazing sky. "Ascend? I have seen your Heaven. It is not above—it's just another prison built from fear."
Then he moved.
The sand exploded.
The first wave of soldiers never reached him. Shadows bled from the ground, swallowing their blades before they could strike. Li Shen's sword drew arcs of black flame, each swing folding space itself.
One moment he was surrounded—the next, he stood behind the marshal.
Her spear thrust backward with inhuman precision. Li Shen caught it with two fingers. Sparks scattered like falling stars.
"Impressive," he murmured. "Heaven trains its hunters well."
She twisted the spear, breaking free, then leapt high into the air. Light gathered behind her as dozens of divine seals ignited.
"Judgment Spear: Ninefold Descent!"
The sky collapsed. Spears of radiant energy fell like meteors, shaking the valley.
Li Shen raised his sword. The Codex runes on his arm flared. Shadows rose like an ocean wave.
"Void Art: Mirror of Silence."
The world went still.
All the light froze midair—every spear suspended, every voice trapped in silence. For an instant, time itself bowed to the Codex's will.
Marshal Yuehan's eyes widened. "You've… mastered it?"
Li Shen's gaze was calm. "No. It's mastering me."
He lowered his sword, and the frozen light shattered. Spears fell apart like glass, dissolving into dust.
From above, a voice thundered across the heavens.
"ENOUGH."
The clouds parted, revealing a colossal figure—radiant, faceless, wearing a crown of stars. The Celestial Emperor himself had descended.
Even Yuehan dropped to one knee, trembling under the weight of his presence.
"Li Shen," the Emperor's voice boomed, "the Codex is not yours to wield. It is the memory of creation itself. Return it, and I shall spare this realm."
Li Shen met his gaze without kneeling. "Creation cannot beg for permission from its own memory. You built Heaven on the bones of silence—and called it order."
The Emperor's light darkened. "Then you choose defiance."
Li Shen closed his eyes. "I choose truth."
He lifted his sword to the heavens. The runes on his arm ignited one by one, forming a spiral of symbols that reached into the clouds.
"Codex Art: Verse Thirteen—Eclipse of Heaven."
The world screamed.
Light and shadow collided, twisting into a vortex that swallowed the sun. The heavens cracked, spilling fragments of starlight across the desert. The Emperor's voice thundered, but even divine sound was drowned by the roar of the Void.
Marshal Yuehan shielded her eyes. "What have you done, Li Shen?"
He stood in the storm, his hair whipping in the wind, eyes glowing with twin flames—one black, one white.
"I've shown Heaven its reflection."
When the storm faded, silence returned.
The Emperor was gone—only a fragment of his crown lay half-buried in the sand, still glowing faintly. The surviving soldiers fled in terror.
Li Shen fell to one knee, breathing heavily. The Codex floated before him, pages fluttering like wings.
In its center, a new line burned itself into existence:
"When Heaven forgets mercy, the Void remembers balance."
Marshal Yuehan approached slowly. Her armor was cracked, her spear dim. "You've destroyed the Emperor's avatar. The heavens will send more."
Li Shen looked up at her. "Then I'll be ready."
Yuehan hesitated, then lowered her weapon. "I was sent to kill you. But I saw something today that no scripture ever spoke of."
"What did you see?" he asked quietly.
She looked at him, eyes filled with both fear and awe.
"A mortal who made the heavens bleed."
To be continued…