The air solidified as the Heavenly Commander descended fully into the battlefield. His golden boots touched the ground with a sound like a ringing bell—clear, sharp, and unbearably loud. The earth quaked in response, ripples spreading outward like waves across water. Even high-level cultivators staggered, struggling to remain standing.
Rui alone stood firm.
His sword pointed directly at the intruder, its edge gleaming with a quiet, deadly promise.
The Heavenly Commander studied him with cold disdain. "Your audacity is boundless. Mortal sects have long forgotten their place, but you… you surpass even their arrogance."
Rui didn't blink. "My place is wherever I stand. And right now, I stand between you and my people."
The Commander's expression darkened. "You believe yourself capable of opposing heaven?"
Rui stepped forward, his aura swelling. "Belief isn't necessary. Proof is enough."
The Commander's killing intent poured downward like a waterfall of divine pressure. Many of the Evergreen Moon Sect disciples dropped to their knees involuntarily, faces pale, veins bulging as they struggled to breathe. Some fainted outright.
"Rui—!" Elder Lin shouted, choking under the oppressive weight.
Rui clenched his jaw. The pressure gnawed at him, crushing down harder than any mountain. His bones creaked. His muscles strained. His organs felt like they were being squeezed by invisible hands.
But he refused to bow.
He planted his foot forward, and the ground beneath it cracked open like brittle glass.
The Heavenly Commander raised one hand. The gesture was slow, graceful—almost casual—but it carried the weight of absolute authority.
"Submit," he commanded.
Those standing behind Rui grimaced as their bodies trembled uncontrollably. The command wasn't a suggestion; it was backed by heavenly law, infused with divine power. Even resistance became sin.
Yet Rui felt something strange.
The command washed over him… but it didn't latch on. The force behind it dispersed inside him, unraveling like threads of fog. His heart, his mind, his will—none of them bent.
Rui exhaled sharply, his eyes narrowing.
"Not interested."
The Commander's eyes widened slightly—a crack in the facade of divine calm.
"You… resisted a Heavenly Edict?"
Rui raised his blade. "I told you already. Heaven doesn't rule me."
The battlefield collectively held its breath. Even the enemy sects—who moments ago sought to kill Rui—couldn't help but stare. They were witnessing something unbelievable.
The Commander lowered his hand. "Very well. I will erase you myself."
He shot forward in a burst of golden radiance, the ground melting beneath his acceleration. Rui barely had time to react before a palm strike, infused with divine Qi, crashed toward his chest.
Rui twisted his torso and dodged by a hair's width. The air behind him exploded, the shockwave launching dirt and bodies skyward. He countered instantly, thrusting his sword toward the Commander's ribs.
But the divine warrior's body glowed with incandescent energy, and Rui's blade screeched against an invisible barrier—unable to pierce.
"It seems you misunderstand," the Commander said. "Heaven is absolute. No mortal blade can wound me."
"Good thing I'm not using a mortal blade," Rui replied.
He forced more Qi into the weapon. The sword trembled, its edge vibrating at a frequency that made the very air shiver. A dim shadow wrapped around it—something ancient, something predatory.
The Commander's expression shifted again. "That… energy…"
Rui didn't give him time to analyze it.
He vanished.
A step, a flicker, and Rui appeared behind the Commander. His blade cut downward, slicing through the golden aura. Sparks flew, but this time—just barely—the divine barrier cracked.
The Commander leapt back immediately, eyes wide. "Impossible!"
Rui flicked blood—or perhaps divine essence—off the tip of his blade. "Nothing is impossible. Only untested."
A deep hush fell over the battlefield.
For decades, centuries even, mortals had knelt before heavenly mandates. The idea of resisting was madness. But Rui had cracked a divine shield. He had made heaven bleed.
The Evergreen Moon Sect disciples felt something ignite inside them—a wildfire of hope.
A fire that refused to die.
Elder Shaya pointed her spear skyward, voice ringing out:
"Follow Senior Brother Rui!! Not even heaven can suppress us!"
A deafening roar answered from thousands of throats.
The Commander raised his arm again, and the sky darkened. Thunder coiled in the clouds, swirling in a vortex above. Divine lightning gathered—thick, serpentine strands of white and gold.
"Since you dare defy heaven…" the Commander declared, "then receive heaven's punishment!"
The sky cracked open.
A massive bolt of divine lightning surged downward, thick as a tree trunk, carrying annihilation itself. The mere sight of it made disciples scream and throw themselves aside.
Rui didn't run.
He inhaled—slowly, deeply.
His own Qi spiraled, compressing rapidly inside his core. His meridians throbbed, muscles bulging as he forced every shred of energy into a single point.
Then, as the lightning descended, Rui swung.
His blade met the heavens.
A blinding explosion lit the battlefield, wiping out all sound. Dust and energy surged outward in a violent dome. The shockwave tore through the landscape, uprooting trees and leveling hillsides. Countless disciples were thrown off their feet.
And when the dust finally settled…
Rui stood.
Smoke curled from his clothes. His skin was scorched in several places. Blood trickled from his lips. His arm trembled—but he remained upright, sword still in hand.
Half the divine lightning had been split.
The other half had been redirected into the mountain behind them, carving a massive molten canyon into the stone.
The Commander stared, stunned beyond words.
Rui exhaled slowly. "That all you got?"
The Commander trembled with fury. "You… insolent insect…! HOW DARE YOU—"
Rui interrupted him by lifting his blade again. His voice was cold, steady, and merciless.
"You said heaven's punishment?"
He pointed the sword at the divine warrior's throat.
"Let me show you **mine**."
The Commander charged.
Rui charged.
The sky itself seemed to crack under the impending collision.
And thus began the first true battle between Rui and the heavens—
a battle that would be remembered for generations.