Darkness poured from the rift like a living thing—slithering tendrils of void energy that clawed at the skies, swallowing starlight. Fang Han hovered above it, his cloak of immortal qi fluttering wildly as the air warped around him. Beside him, Shi Hao's eyes glowed with ancient golden fire, but even he clenched his fists as an oppressive aura leaked through.
"This power..." Shi Hao murmured, "...is older than time."
From within the rift, footsteps echoed. A figure emerged—not massive, not terrifying in shape—but wrong. Its presence twisted space, made light bend unnaturally. It wore a tattered black robe with crimson runes that bled shadow. Its eyes were hollow, yet watching. It smiled without a face.
"Welcome," it spoke. Its voice echoed inside their minds. "To the realm you once sealed away."
Lin Feng, arriving seconds later in a burst of silver flame, halted midair. "That thing... it's not a god. Not even a demon. It's something else."
Chu Feng appeared beside him, his robes torn, face bloodied but defiant. He looked into the rift and clenched his fist. "I saw this in the Ancient Spirit Mirror. The Forgotten Gods—they weren't destroyed. They were imprisoned."
The others turned to him.
"By who?" Fang Han demanded.
Chu Feng's eyes flicked upward. "By the first generation... the Primordial Guardians."
The rift pulsed again. From its depths, more figures emerged—each one grotesque in a different way. One had no skin, its muscles exposed and burning with black fire. Another had countless eyes blinking across its chest. Each radiated a unique aura—ancient, foreign, and cold.
Suddenly, a wave of dark energy erupted outward.
BOOM!
Tang San appeared just in time, spinning his Blue Silver Emperor Spear to deflect the blast. "We're out of time!"
From across the broken sky, Nie Li rode a massive dragon inscribed with runes of fate. "These aren't enemies we can defeat with strength alone," he shouted. "We need to seal the rift again—before they fully awaken!"
Fang Han gritted his teeth. "We just tore it open!"
"No," Shi Hao said calmly. "They tore it open through us. We were bait."
Silence fell. Realization dawned on their faces.
The war between the cultivators... the clashes... Xu Yang's rage... everything had been manipulated. They were never meant to destroy each other. They were meant to open a path.
A shadow passed over them.
From the rift, a colossal figure began to rise—an entity with a crown of bone, carrying a blade forged from collapsed stars. As it raised its weapon, the heavens themselves groaned.
Lin Feng summoned his Heaven-Crushing Sword. "Enough. We end this now."
He charged.
The others followed.
What followed was chaos.
Fang Han ignited his internal universe, launching solar flares into the entity's chest. Tang San's spiritual threads wove a net of laws around the smaller Forgotten Beasts, binding them for seconds. Shi Hao morphed into his immortal battle form—ten thousand runes glowing across his body as he collided with a tentacled creature midair.
Chu Feng stepped into the rift. Alone.
He was drawn by a whisper. A familiar one.
"Come, Child of Lightning. Your storm is incomplete."
In the heart of the darkness, a throne floated—cracked and ancient. Upon it, sat an old man wreathed in black lightning.
Chu Feng's eyes widened. "...My ancestor."
The man looked up. "You carry the curse. But you also carry the spark to break it."
Chu Feng's entire body shook. The black lightning that once tormented him began to swirl around him, no longer hostile—but welcoming.
Outside the rift, Lin Feng was knocked from the sky. Fang Han was bleeding heavily. Even Nie Li's fate constructs were starting to flicker.
Then—
BOOM!
The sky split again.
Chu Feng emerged, wrapped in a cocoon of black lightning, his aura transcendent. His eyes no longer held just rage—but clarity.
He raised his hand.
Thunder answered.
With a shout, he descended, striking the colossal crowned entity with a bolt of void lightning that shattered the sound of reality itself.
The entity screamed—not in pain, but in recognition.
It knew him.
It feared him.
And in that moment, everyone watching knew—Chu Feng was no longer just a warrior.
He was becoming a god of storms.
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To be continued in Chapter 14: The Birth of a Storm God ⚡