The battlefield was a graveyard of fallen deities. Mountains of divine corpses stretched endlessly, their lifeless forms still radiating faint traces of power. The sky above churned with unstable energy, the very fabric of reality torn apart by the cataclysmic battle that had taken place here.
At the peak of this mountain of dead gods stood Fan Shen, his crimson robes drenched in golden blood. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he absorbed the last wisps of divinity from a slain Primordial God. The stolen power coursed through his veins, making his golden eyes burn brighter.
"More... I need more!" he growled, his voice echoing across the desolate realm.
The space before him rippled.
Not the usual distortion caused by teleportation, but something deeper—as if reality itself was being peeled back layer by layer. The air grew heavy, oppressive, as though the universe was holding its breath.
Fan Shen's head snapped up, his lips curling into a feral grin. "Finally."
A figure stepped through the rift.
Yun Lintian had arrived.
He didn't speak. Didn't announce himself. His mere presence made the mountain of corpses tremble, the dead gods' remains crumbling to dust beneath his feet as he walked forward.
Fan Shen threw his head back and laughed, the sound shaking the battlefield. "Look at you! The little ant from the Azure World has grown into a true monster!" His grin widened, revealing teeth stained with golden blood. "What brings you here? Come to join my feast?"
Yun Lintian's gaze swept across the slaughter. His expression remained impassive, but the temperature around them dropped sharply.
A sword materialized in his hand—not through spatial storage, but as if willed into existence by the universe itself. The God of War's greatsword, Heaven Sunderer, its blade etched with runes that pulsed with primordial power.
Fan Shen licked his lips. "No words for your old friend? Last time we met, you could barely stand against me. Now you dare face me alone?"
He twirled his Human Emperor Sword, the weapon humming with stolen divinity. "Have you finally learned the truth? That strength comes only through taking?"
Yun Lintian's fingers tightened around Heaven Sunderer's hilt. When he spoke, his voice was deceptively calm, like the stillness before a storm.
Fan Shen moved first, his body becoming a crimson streak across the battlefield. The Human Emperor Sword came down in an arc that split the very sky, its edge glowing white-hot with concentrated destruction.
Yun Lintian didn't dodge.
He raised Heaven Sunderer in a perfect parry.
The collision sent shockwaves rippling outward, obliterating the surrounding landscape. Mountains vaporized. The very air ignited. Stars in the distant sky winked out of existence from the force of their clash.
Fan Shen's eyes widened slightly—not at the blocked strike, but at the complete lack of strain in Yun Lintian's stance.
"Not bad," he admitted, grinning. "Let's see how you handle this!"
His form blurred as he unleashed Thousand God Slaying Strikes, each slash capable of cleaving through dimensions. The attacks came from all directions simultaneously, weaving a net of annihilation around Yun Lintian.
Every single strike was met with Heaven Sunderer's unwavering edge. Yun Lintian moved with impossible precision, his sword always in the perfect position to intercept, his footwork tracing an intricate pattern across the battlefield.
Fan Shen's golden eyes burned with fury as he disengaged, his chest heaving.
"You...!" His fingers trembled around the hilt of his Human Emperor Sword. "How?! I've absorbed seven Primordial Gods! Their power flows through my veins! Yet you—"
Yun Lintian stood motionless, Heaven Sunderer resting against his shoulder. "Power isn't just about quantity. It's about control."
"HAHAHA! I can't believe that you actually try to teach me." Fan Shen's laughter turned manic as golden blood dripped from his lips.
The air around Fan Shen distorted as stolen divinities awakened within his flesh. His right arm crackled with the Storm God's lightning, his left eye burned with the Fire God's flames, and his veins pulsed with the Thunder God's power.
"Don't pretend to be a god when you are not!"
With a roar, Fan Shen slammed his palms together.
The Storm God's wrath descended first—a thousand lightning bolts, each thicker than galaxies, arced down from the shattered heavens. The Thunder God's power amplified their fury, turning each strike into a cataclysmic explosion that could erase civilizations.
Yun Lintian didn't move.
The God of Light's radiance erupted from his left hand, forming a luminous shield that absorbed the lightning. Where the bolts struck, they didn't vanish—they transformed. The God of Balance's power refined the chaotic energy, turning destruction into harmony.
Fan Shen's eyes widened. "What—?"
Before he could react, Yun Lintian flicked his wrist.
The absorbed lightning reversed course—now infused with the Sun God's scorching purity. The bolts struck Fan Shen, not with mindless destruction, but with surgical precision, searing through his divine flesh.
"ARGH!" Fan Shen staggered back, his body smoking.
He looked at Yun Lintian grimacingly. "How dare you?!"
With a snarl, he unleashed the Fire God's fury. The battlefield became an ocean of blue flames, so hot they burned concepts rather than matter. Time itself warped under the heat, creating temporal eddies that could age even gods to dust.
Yun Lintian finally took a step forward.
The God of Darkness' power swirled around him, devouring the flames like a black hole consuming stars. Where the fire touched the darkness, it didn't extinguish—it inverted. The River God's essence flowed through Yun Lintian's veins, turning the heat into liquid oblivion that dripped from his fingertips.
Fan Shen's breath hitched as the transformed flames pooled at his feet.
Yun Lintian raised Heaven Sunderer. The God of War's power ignited along its edge, while the Mountain God's indomitable will hardened its steel.
Not with flashy techniques, but with perfect simplicity—a cut that transcended dimensions.
Fan Shen barely raised his Human Emperor Sword in time.
The impact sent Fan Shen skidding back, his boots carving canyons through divine corpses. His arms trembled under the force. For the first time, fear flickered in his golden eyes.
"You... how many gods have you absorbed?!"
Yun Lintian didn't answer. He stepped forward again, and the God of Death's aura pulsed around him. The shadows at his feet writhed like living things, whispering of endings.
Fan Shen's stolen powers roiled within him—the Water God's tides, the Wind God's gales—but for the first time, they felt... insufficient.
"No!" He spat golden blood. "I won't lose to you!"