The stars whispered, and none of the living heard.
But Lin Feng felt it. In the marrow of his bones. In the air when he breathed. In the silence that had no wind. The Realm of Null Kings was not merely another enemy rising from the cosmic ashes—it was a summons. One that he knew would eventually come.
Ruoxi stood behind him, her arms crossed, lips drawn into a taut line. "That thing in the sky… It's not just watching us."
Yue Lian nodded, frowning. "It's waiting."
"Then I won't keep it waiting," Lin Feng said.
In order to enter the Null Realm, Lin Feng must first cross the Broken Veil, a dimensional threshold long forbidden even to gods. The location is buried beneath a ruined moon floating in pieces above the Skyfall Sea.
The trio rides shards of broken light, weaving between comets of fractured reality. Gravity bends like drunk poetry.
A gate appears.
Formed of black rings. A mouth with no teeth. A whisper of silence.
Lin Feng turns to his companions. "You two stay here."
Ruoxi scowls. "Hell no."
"I'm serious," he says. "This place feeds on hope. If you follow me, it'll devour your hearts before your bodies."
Yue Lian looks away. "Be careful. We'll be waiting."
Lin Feng steps into the Hollow.
No stars. No sky. No ground. Only memory of space.
Lin Feng walks across a plane that doesn't exist. Around him, throne-sized figures sit in spirals of static, their features wrapped in layers of erasure. They are the Null Kings—entities who once ruled before existence.
One rises.
Not a king of form, but a being of cancellation.
"You return, Xuanyin."
Lin Feng's jaw tightens. "I go by Lin Feng now."
The king bows mockingly. "Names. So fragile."
They speak in echoes:
Of Lin Feng's betrayal long ago
Of the First Pact he shattered
Of the Second Key, which was stolen from their domain
They offer him a deal:
"Make a new pact. Carry our essence. Let us exist again through you."
Lin Feng knows what carrying their essence means:
A cost of self-corruption
Memories overwritten
Morality frayed
He refuses.
"You want a puppet. I'm nobody's puppet—not anymore."
The Null Kings rage.
They unleash their envoy: a creature made from failed timelines, wearing the faces of people Lin Feng failed to save.
His old master. His younger brother. His mother.
Each attacks with grief in their eyes.
He falters. But he doesn't fall.
Instead of fighting back, he offers a pact of his own:
"Give me power—but I give you nothing in return. No body. No will. Only witness. You can see the world again—but never touch it."
The kings howl.
But one accepts.
The King of Hollow Will.
"You speak the language of freedom. Very well… We watch."
They brand his soul with an eye of absence.
Lin Feng emerges from the Hollow Gate.
Ruoxi runs to him. "You're late."
"I had a meeting with the invisible," he says.
Yue Lian touches his hand. "You're colder."
"I made a pact," Lin Feng says quietly. "But I didn't kneel."
Above them, the black starwheel turns.
In the distance, a figure watches from the peak of the Eternal Spine.
Caelir has returned.
And he is not alone.
To be continue...