The Immortal Plane did not sleep.
Even under moonlight, sect bells tolled, disciples meditated, merchants whispered of treasures, and cultivators sharpened blades for the next duel. But tonight, the air felt heavier, as if Heaven itself pressed upon the earth.
It was not because of celestial storms, nor because of natural disasters.
It was because of one youth's defiance.
Feng Xieyun.
His name rolled across mountain ranges, drifting from clan to clan. Where elders gathered, they muttered of his Heavenly Demon Dao. Where disciples sat cross-legged, they spoke his feats as if he were already legend. Some dismissed him, claiming arrogance would slay him before long. Others grew restless, sensing a storm of fate forming around him.
And in the heart of the Jia Clan, preparations for that storm had already begun.
---
The ancestral chamber was cloaked in shadows. Dozens of lanterns burned with ghostly blue flames, illuminating murals carved into the walls—murals of chains binding a swirling sea of chaos.
At the center of the chamber stood Patriarch Jia Wenzhao, draped in gold and black. His hands formed seals, his aura thick as mountain peaks. Around him, elders knelt, their faces pale under the crushing weight of the ritual.
Before them knelt Lian Zhe, her delicate form restrained by glowing chains driven into the floor. Runes crawled across her skin like serpents of light, suppressing the essence boiling within her veins. Her lips were pale, but her eyes blazed with defiance.
"You think I will bend to your schemes?" Her voice rang sharp. "No chain can hold me forever."
Elder Jia Hong sneered. "Your arrogance mirrors his. Good. Then both of you will break together."
Patriarch Wenzhao raised a hand for silence. His gaze locked upon her with predatory calm. "Do you feel it, girl? The stirring in your blood? The whispers you cannot silence?"
Lian Zhe's body stiffened. She had felt it. That warmth, that whisper, that unfathomable presence reaching through her soul.
Wenzhao's smile was thin. "Yes… the Chaos Goddess herself breathes through you. Not fully awakened, but close. You are her incarnation, whether you will it or not."
Gasps echoed from the kneeling elders. To speak it aloud was to confirm what many feared but few dared acknowledge.
"She is the vessel?"
"The embodiment of Chaos itself?"
Wenzhao spread his arms. "And we—the Jia Clan—will not cower. We will claim that essence. With it, our clan will rise above sects, above heavens. We will not bow to gods or fate."
Lian Zhe spat blood on the ground. "Dreams of worms."
The chains tightened, drawing a cry from her throat.
Wenzhao's expression never wavered. "Tonight, the ritual begins. Whether willingly or not, your blood shall become the key to Heaven's Gate."
---
Far from the ritual chamber, across mountains scarred by battle, Feng Xieyun staggered onward. His wounds wept crimson, his robe hung in tatters, yet his eyes burned brighter than ever.
Every step was agony, but every step was fueled by the whisper still echoing in his soul.
Her voice.
The Chaos Goddess. His wife.
Though he could not yet grasp the truth, though the memories eluded him, some part of him knew. That warmth was not foreign. It was his.
"Across lifetimes, across worlds… you are mine."
The words burned like fire in his veins.
His system's cold chime interrupted his thoughts.
> [System Update: Heavenly Interference Detected.]
[Side Mission Unlocked: Break the Chains of the Incarnation.]
[Reward: Partial Soul Resonance.]
[Failure: Death of Incarnation Vessel.]
Xieyun's eyes sharpened.
"Lian Zhe…"
The system's cruelty was clear—dangle her life as bait, force him deeper into battle, all while feeding hatred. A snare laid by the Unknown God.
But hatred did not consume him. Not yet. His heart beat with something else, something the system could not measure.
Resolve.
"I don't need your rewards," he growled. "I'll tear down their chains because she is mine."
Lightning sparked faintly around his body, crimson arcs licking at his bloodied skin. His Heavenly Demon Dao was evolving—not into mere destruction, but into a path that defied even the schemes of gods.
---
Within the Jia Clan's grand council hall, messengers arrived one after another. Reports of disciples slain, strongholds reduced to ash, shadows whispering of Xieyun's march forward. Elders argued, their voices sharp as blades.
"Even injured, he cuts down all who stand in his way. This is madness!"
"We cannot underestimate him. If he reaches the gates—"
"He will not reach them."
Patriarch Wenzhao's voice silenced the chamber. His hand slammed upon the jade table, cracking it. "By dawn, he will be drowned in blood. Our formation masters have woven a net across the skies. Even if he crawls to our walls, he will die before he lays eyes on her."
"Patriarch," one elder asked cautiously, "and if he survives?"
Wenzhao's eyes gleamed like cold steel. "Then Heaven itself will strike him down. The boy's arrogance has already stirred the Heavenly Will. If he dares defy us, the skies will deliver judgment."
---
That night, the heavens rumbled.
Xieyun ascended a jagged ridge overlooking the Jia Clan's sprawling city. Towers rose like teeth, walls shimmered with layered arrays, and above it all hung a storm of qi so dense the stars themselves seemed distant.
He dropped to one knee, coughing blood, yet his gaze never faltered.
The system chimed again.
> [Warning: Heavenly Suppression Net Detected.]
[Estimated Survival Chance: 0.5%.]
Xieyun's lips curved into a bloody grin. "Half a percent? Then I'll carve a path through that half."
Lightning flared around him, crimson arcs painting the night. His aura surged, shaking stone, rattling the heavens themselves.
For the first time in his life, he did not simply crave strength.
He demanded it.
Not for himself.
But for her.
"Lian Zhe… wait for me. Even if the heavens break, I will stand before you."
And somewhere deep within the sealed chamber, Lian Zhe's lips curved into a faint smile, though chains cut into her flesh.
Because she heard him.
---
The storm above the Jia Clan's city howled.
The clash between Heaven's judgment and one defiant youth was about to begin.
And in the shadows of the immortal plane, a darker whisper stirred—low, ancient, filled with hunger.
The Unknown God.
"Good… struggle, child of Creation. Struggle, and hate, and break yourself. Every drop of your rage, every wound you bear, feeds me. When the time comes, you will be mine."
But another voice—softer, fiercer, eternal—answered in defiance.
The Chaos Goddess.
"No. He is mine. Across lifetimes, across death, across betrayal—he is mine."
The heavens themselves trembled as two unseen wills clashed, and Feng Xieyun's path became the battlefield of gods.