CHAPTER 93 — Shadows in the Sect, Storm in the Soul
Cloudsky Sect's halls glowed softly under moonlight, battered yet recovering.
Night winds whispered across broken stone.
Most disciples slept uneasily, clutching talismans or memories of the fallen.
Only the patrolling guards remained awake—alert, tense, aware that the war was far from over.
Lin Xuan, however, did not sleep at all.
He sat cross-legged within his courtyard, the seal of his solar system glimmering faintly behind him.
Golden planets orbited in slow, deliberate motion around the inner sun.
Lightning cracked gently across his skin—subtle compared to the storm raging inside him.
Because he could sense it.
The stirring.
The demonic sect had not given up.
Someone was already inside Cloudsky Sect.
And something else…
Something powerful was rising within his inner earth.
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1. Inside the Inner Earth — The Saint Ascends
Lin's consciousness slipped into the portal of his inner world.
The shift was instantaneous—one blink, and he stood beneath the radiant sky of his inner earth, where golden clouds drifted above rivers of spiritual light.
And there stood Shengyuan—the Saint—in the flesh of his reincarnated form.
He had grown taller.
Broader.
The youthful frame he'd manifested after rebirth had matured into a refined physique etched with glowing veins of law energy.
The air around him trembled.
Shengyuan opened his eyes.
Lightning flickered in his pupils.
"Lin Xuan," he said in a calm, majestic voice.
"I have reached Peak Soul Transformation."
Lin's breath caught.
The Saint smiled faintly at Lin's reaction.
"I nurtured this body with your pills, and the inner world's accelerated time allowed me to grow rapidly. Combined with the remnants of my past life's laws…"
He clenched his fist.
A shockwave rippled through the entire realm.
"I stand once more at the peak of what I once was."
Lin exhaled in relief.
"Good. I'll need your strength soon."
Shengyuan strode toward him, radiating confidence.
"Then let me give you something in return."
He raised a hand.
Lines of law energy spiraled into a construct—a glowing token carved with shifting sigils.
"A Saint's Command."
Shengyuan pressed it to Lin's chest.
"It harmonizes with your solar system technique. Use it when you face an enemy far beyond you."
Lin nodded.
Inside his core, the solar system flared in response.
The Saint tilted his head.
"You seem troubled."
Lin explained the sensation—
the subtle ripple of killing intent brushing against his consciousness.
Shengyuan's expression hardened.
"The demonic sect has infiltrated Cloudsky. Their presence is faint but malignant."
He stepped back, folding his arms.
"Go. I will maintain vigil here. If needed, I will descend upon your enemies like divine judgment."
Lin smiled.
"Then I'll fight knowing a Saint stands behind me."
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2. A Whisper in the Wind — Danger Approaches
Lin returned to his courtyard just as Bai (spear) entered through the gate, spear resting on his shoulder.
"You felt it too, didn't you?" he asked.
Lin nodded.
Mu and Wen arrived next, both unusually tense.
"There's someone on the mountain," Wen said.
"A powerful aura, masked by something strange."
Dragon-Bai, curled around a pillar, lifted his head with a low growl.
"I smell blood."
Lin stood.
Then—
A sharp ripple cut through the air.
A sound so faint one could mistake it for a leaf falling.
But Lin's solar senses knew better.
"It begins."
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3. The Assassins Strike — Inside Cloudsky Sect
The first explosion hit the outer courtyard.
BOOM!
Guards screamed.
Blood mist filled the air.
Four masked assassins—clad in pitch-black robes stitched with demonic bone—materialized from spatial distortions.
Their weapons were needle-thin black daggers, dripping with corrosive qi.
"Find him," one hissed.
"The Abyssal Ancestor demands Lin Xuan's head."
Dragon-Bai roared from above, leaping into the sky, lightning surging along his wings.
Spear-Bai spun his spear, eyes blazing.
Mu activated a defensive talisman, its runes glowing silver.
Wen vanished into the shadows with a whisper.
Lin stepped forward, spear in hand.
"Come then."
---
4. The Solar Domain Activates
The assassins lunged.
But as they approached Lin—
Golden light erupted from the ground.
The sky dimmed.
Clouds froze mid-sway.
The wind bowed to his aura.
Lin activated a technique he had only theorized until now.
Solar Domain — First Expansion
A miniature solar eclipse appeared behind him, his planets spinning faster until they projected overlapping golden rings across the courtyard.
The assassins slowed to a crawl—
as though time itself resisted their movement.
"What—?!"
"Can't—move—!"
Lin's eyes glowed.
"You entered my domain.
Now suffer."
He thrust his spear, and the space around the assassins fragmented.
One assassin exploded instantly.
The others staggered back, barely escaping the collapse of space.
---
5. The Assassins Reveal Their True Power
They regrouped, forming a triangular formation.
Their robes tore open to reveal demonic sigils carved directly into their flesh.
Blood-red lightning danced across their bodies.
"Blood-Vein Limit… Unseal!"
Their cultivation surged—
each reaching the Late Nascent Soul Realm instantly.
Mu's eyes widened.
"They used forbidden blood rites!"
Lin frowned.
"Then they're desperate."
The assassins vanished.
Dragon-Bai slammed into one midair, tearing off its arm.
Wen reappeared behind another, slicing its spine with a shadow blade.
But the assassins regenerated—
their flesh knitting back with disgusting speed.
"Lin Xuan!"
The leader screamed.
"DIE!"
All three assassins converged.
---
6. Lin's Solar Spear Art — New Revelation
Lin inhaled deeply—
and the inner sun inside his dantian pulsed once.
White-gold flames engulfed his spear.
He whispered:
"Solar Spear Art…
Second Revelation—
Starfall Convergence."
The spear extended, becoming a streak of compressed cosmic energy.
He slashed downward.
The heavens answered.
A line of starlight descended—
silent, precise, devastating.
It cut through one assassin's neck cleanly.
Another tried to dodge—
but the spear bent mid-arc like a cosmic orbit and struck from behind.
The final assassin attempted to flee—
But Solar Domain closed around it like a cage.
Lin thrust.
The last assassin dissolved into ash.
Silence fell.
Only the crackle of lightning from Dragon-Bai's breath remained.
---
7. But Something Is Wrong…
Mu rubbed her arms.
"These assassins… they weren't here to scout or sabotage. Their formation was too coordinated."
Wen nodded.
"They came specifically for you, Lin."
Bai (spear) braced his weapon.
"And they were willing to die doing it."
Lin's eyes narrowed.
"That means one thing:
A much stronger enemy is behind them."
He gazed toward the northern horizon.
The demonic miasma rising there was faint—barely perceptible to normal cultivators—
but not to him.
Lin tightened his grip on his spear.
"The Abyssal Ancestor has begun sending Soul Transformation-level threats."
Bai (dragon) spoke low, almost trembling.
"Master… something is coming."
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8. The Final Message
Wen retrieved something from the ashes of the assassins—a cracked blood jade talisman.
He offered it to Lin.
Lin activated it with a thread of qi.
A voice hissed out of the talisman:
> "Lin Xuan… The Ancestor has awakened.
You are marked.
You cannot hide.
Your world will be devoured."
The jade shattered.
Mu looked pale.
Bai clenched his jaw.
Wen's eyes hardened.
Dragon-Bai growled so deeply the tiles under him vibrated.
Lin's expression did not waver.
"Let him come."
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