CHAPTER 116 — The Warfront Trembles at His Return
(Full Novel Format—Option 1)
Light shattered around Lin Xuan like a meteor breaking through the atmosphere.
Wind—real wind—struck his face.
Cold. Violent. Metallic with the scent of ash and burning qi.
He had returned.
The world greeted him not with peace, but with smoke and ruin.
The horizon burned red.
Mountains cracked.
Spiritual veins flickered.
The once-green plains of the Northern Province were now blackened scars—a battlefield torn apart by abyss and flame.
Behind him, Bai descended with a deafening roar, creating a shockwave that leveled a ring of dying trees. His scales gleamed with lightning and divine power, far more majestic than before.
Lin took a long breath.
He felt the world—
not just with his senses, but with his world.
The inner earth pulsed like a living creature tethered to his soul.
It felt grown, heavier, richer.
And beneath it, buried like a dormant fear, lingered his old hesitation.
Upgrading the solar system.
He felt it now more clearly than ever:
that hesitation was acting like a weight shackled to his ankles.
His trial, the Primordial Dragon's words, his future self—
All of it pointed to the truth he refused to confront:
He could not reach the next stage of power unless he fully embraced his identity as a World Sovereign.
He exhaled, eyes narrowing.
"Soon," he whispered to the world inside him.
"I won't hold back anymore."
But not yet.
Because the battlefield roared.
---
1. The World After His Trials
Wen's voice cracked through the spiritual transmission:
> "LIN! You're back—thank the heavens!"
Lin spun toward the source.
In the distance, he felt them—
Mu, Wen, Sheng, and nearly thirty Cloudsky disciples, heavily injured, holding the line against an overwhelming tide of abyssal beasts.
Lin's face hardened.
"Let's go."
He and Bai shot forward like twin streaks of lightning.
The ground blurred beneath them.
As they arrived, the scene tightened Lin's chest—
Dead disciples.
Crumbling defenses.
A battle on the verge of collapse.
Wen stumbled backward from a lunging abyssal wolf—
only for Lin to intercept the beast with a single thrust.
CRACK—BOOOOM!
The wolf's body exploded into shadowy fragments blown apart by tribulation-charged lightning.
Mu, blood trickling down her chin, gaped.
"Lin…?"
He placed a hand on her shoulder, pouring healing qi.
"I'm here."
The relief that washed over her nearly brought her to her knees.
Behind her, Sheng bowed deeply, awe in his eyes.
> "The young master's presence alone increases the stability of the battlefield…"
Indeed—
Lin's aura, restrained though it was, radiated a pressure that made abyssal beasts hesitate, their instincts screaming at them to retreat.
Bai's dragon form expanded behind him, letting out a roar that split the clouds.
Abyssal monsters shrieked and fled.
The Cloudsky survivors stared, shaking.
They didn't recognize him—
not fully.
This Lin Xuan burned brighter.
Fiercer.
More terrifying.
Like a sovereign whose world bent to his will.
---
2. The Situation Is Worse Than Expected
Once the immediate beasts were slain, Wen hurried over, gasping as he spoke:
"Lin—while you were gone—everything changed."
Lin crouched to help him bind a deep wound and asked calmly:
"Explain."
Wen swallowed hard.
"Three of our allied sects were attacked simultaneously. Two were… destroyed. The third—Snowpeak Sword Pavilion—is barely holding out."
Mu added quietly:
"Their distress signal was sent two hours ago… but no reinforcements made it through the abyssal blockade."
Lin's jaw tightened.
"And the Abyssal Ancestor?"
Wen shook his head.
"No sign. But something else appeared."
Mu whispered:
> "The Abyssal Shade General."
Wen nodded grimly.
"He annihilated two sects by himself."
Lin closed his eyes, letting the weight settle.
The Shade General.
The portal atop Snowpeak.
World-Eater corruption.
Everything was accelerating.
---
3. Lin Xuan Assesses the Battlefield
Lin rose and spread his soul sense.
The world unfolded before him in terrifying clarity.
Abyssal camps writhing like tumors.
Shadow creatures burrowing into spiritual veins.
Abyssal generals forming a ritual circle.
A massive portal anchored above Snowpeak Pavilion.
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
This wasn't just an invasion.
It was a harvest.
Bai, sensing Lin's worry, leaned closer.
> "Master… you feel it too."
"World-Eater taint."
Mu paled.
"You mean… the abyss is merging with something else?"
Lin nodded.
"Yes. Something older. Stronger."
Wen's hands trembled.
"How do we fight something like that?"
Lin answered with certainty:
"We don't face it directly—not yet.
But we cut off its foothold."
---
4. The Draconic Mark Awakens
As Lin walked toward the edge of the battlefield—
WOOOOOOOM—
Golden runes blazed across his skin.
His eyes flashed with draconic brilliance.
The Draconic Recognition Mark awakened in response to the abyssal threat.
A massive wave of dragon pressure erupted—
rolling across the battlefield like a cosmic tide.
Cloudsky disciples fell to their knees, overwhelmed by awe.
Abyssal beasts shrieked, crumbling into mist.
Mu whispered, trembling:
> "Lin… what did the dragons do to you?"
Lin exhaled softly.
"Recognizing me."
---
5. Lin Opens the Inner World
Without hesitation, Lin swept his arm—
SHUUUUUM—
A portal of swirling, star-filled light opened.
"Everyone inside. Now."
The nearly thirty injured disciples limped through.
Their exhausted faces turned to shock as they entered:
A world soaked in pure spiritual qi.
A sky with twin suns.
Mountains shimmering with world energy.
A Saint—Shengyuan—greeting them calmly.
Mu stared in awe.
"This… is your world."
Lin nodded silently.
He saw it differently than before.
It wasn't just potential.
It was a responsibility.
And he had nearly let fear hinder it.
No more.
---
6. A Decision at the Borders of Snowpeak
With the injured safe and the surviving fighters restored through time-acceleration, Lin closed the portal.
He turned toward Snowpeak Pavilion.
Bai returned to his humanoid form and stood beside him.
Mu, Wen, and Sheng joined them.
Lin lifted his spear, his voice steady:
"Snowpeak's situation won't wait. We go now."
Mu nodded.
Sheng unsheathed his sword.
Wen took his position at Lin's flank.
But before they moved, Wen placed a hand on Lin's shoulder.
"Lin… the sage's trials changed you. But also… you seem troubled."
Lin looked toward the horizon.
Then, after a long moment, he whispered:
> "I chose the Path of a World Sovereign."
"But part of me is still afraid… of growing too fast."
"Of losing control."
Mu stepped closer.
"We trust you. Completely."
Bai added with a faint smile:
> "A sovereign who fears their own strength will never protect a world."
Lin's gaze trembled.
They were right.
He knew it.
He had known it ever since the third trial ended.
His fear was the last chain tethering him to weakness.
He clenched his fist.
"After Snowpeak… I will upgrade the solar system."
The group exchanged confident nods.
Bai grinned.
> "Good. Your world is waiting to evolve."
---
7. They Depart—and the World Reacts
The group launched into the sky.
Lightning wrapped around Lin's legs.
Starfire blazed behind him.
They crossed valleys and ruined cities in minutes.
Along the way—
they saw destruction, bodies, abyssal corruption spreading like a plague.
Lin's resolve hardened.
The world needed a sovereign.
He could no longer afford fear.
As they crested the ridge overlooking Snowpeak—
Lin's heart froze.
The entire mountain was engulfed in a spiraling abyssal portal.
The sky screamed.
Sword intent wept like dying souls.
And at the center, wings spread in black flame, stood the Abyssal Shade General.
He turned slowly.
Locked eyes with Lin.
Smiled.
> "Ah… world-seed child."
"We've been waiting for you."