Yun Lintian exhaled, his breath misting in the frozen void.
His eyes glowed, shifting through colors—gold, azure, crimson—before settling on pure white.
"Since you're so curious…"
He raised the Heaven Sunderer—and the blade screamed, its edge splitting the fabric of the domain itself.
"Let me show you a fourth."
The moment Yun Lintian's eyes settled into pure white, the void trembled.
Not from fear—but from recognition.
"Light," Lu Xingzhi murmured, his thousand voices merging into one. "The First Dawn's authority."
A knowing, ancient smile, as if he had been waiting for this very moment.
"I knew it," he said. "You carry more than just fragments. You carry the essence of the Primordials themselves."
Yun Lintian didn't respond.
The Heaven Sunderer blazed, its steel dissolving into pure, scorching radiance. The light wasn't just bright—it was conceptual, the very idea of illumination given form. Where it passed, the void burned away, revealing the raw canvas of existence beneath.
Lu Xingzhi's thousand copies raised their hands in unison.
"Let us see if your light can outshine eternity itself."
The battle reignited.
Yun Lintian flickered.
No—he was the flicker. The instant between darkness and dawn. He moved, and the universe rewrote itself to accommodate his presence.
The Heaven Sunderer cut.
A singular line of radiance split the domain, carving through a hundred of Lu Xingzhi's copies before they could react. The severed clones did not bleed—they unraveled, their forms dissolving into strands of time that scattered like broken threads.
Lu Xingzhi's remaining selves laughed.
And the severed threads rewove themselves, the clones reforming from the very fabric of the domain.
"Time cannot be cut," Lu Xingzhi declared. "It can only be… redirected."
His thousand hands pulled.
And the flow of time within the domain reversed.
The light of Yun Lintian's sword retreated, the slash undoing itself. The unraveled clones stitched back together. Even Yun Lintian's own movements rewound, his body forced back to his starting position.
But Yun Lintian smiled.
"Light doesn't obey time," he said.
Yun Lintian's body erupted.
Not with heat—with creation itself.
A star ignited in the palm of his hand, its birth so violent that the surrounding time screamed and twisted, unable to contain it. The newborn sun expanded, swallowing a quarter of the domain in an instant.
Lu Xingzhi's copies scattered, some evaporating under the star's radiance, others fleeing into the folds of time.
But the True God himself stood firm, his true form stepping forward.
"A sun?" He chuckled. "I have witnessed the birth and death of galaxies."
Its light dimmed, its fires cooling into embers, then ash, then nothingness—all in the span of a single breath.
"Time erodes all things," Lu Xingzhi said. "Even light."
Yun Lintian nodded, as if impressed.
"Then let's try something time can't erode."
He snapped his fingers.
And the concept of darkness ceased to exist.
The void was no longer void.
There was no "darkness" here anymore—only light, infinite and absolute. No shadows. No dimness. Just radiance, so complete that even the idea of obscurity burned away.
For the first time, his expression twisted—not in pain, but in discomfort.
"You erase the very laws of existence," he murmured. "Not even the Primordials were so reckless."
Yun Lintian shrugged.
This time, Lu Xingzhi met him head-on.
Their clash was not physical.
Every strike rewrote reality. Every parry shattered dimensions.
When Lu Xingzhi punched, he didn't aim for Yun Lintian's body—he aimed for his past, his future, the very moments that defined him.
But Yun Lintian was light.
And light existed in all times at once.
When Yun Lintian slashed, he didn't cut space—he cut possibility itself, severing the threads of fate that bound Lu Xingzhi to victory.
But Lu Xingzhi was time.
And time healed all wounds.
Back and forth they fought, neither gaining ground, neither yielding.
The domain shuddered, unable to contain their battle. Cracks spread through the void, revealing glimpses of the true universe beyond—a universe that screamed at the sight of them.
"You are strong," Lu Xingzhi admitted, his voice no longer mocking. "Stronger than any heir I have met."
Yun Lintian did not respond.
His eyes glowed brighter.
And Lu Xingzhi realized—
This wasn't his limit.
The True God grinned, his teeth gleaming in the endless light.
"Show me everything."
"Sure." Yun Lintian exhaled—a long, measured breath.
The infinite light around him flickered, dimming for the briefest moment.
Not mere shadow. Not absence.
But Darkness as a primordial truth, as fundamental as light itself. It spilled from Yun Lintian's pores, swallowing the radiance without extinguishing it—coiling around him like a living shroud.
Light and darkness swirled around him, neither conquering the other, existing in perfect, impossible harmony.
Lu Xingzhi's grin widened.
"Hah… hahaha…!" His laughter started as a chuckle, then grew into a roar, shaking the crumbling domain. "I knew it! I KNEW IT!"
His thousand copies dissolved, folding back into his true form as he stepped forward, golden eyes blazing with revelation.
"You're not just borrowing their power—you're reconstructing them!" His voice dropped to a whisper. "You're the Seed of Fate."
The term echoed in the void, heavier than any divine decree.
Yun Lintian's expression didn't change—but his grip on the Heaven Sunderer tightened. He had heard those words before.
"The Seed of Fate," Lu Xingzhi repeated, savoring each syllable. "The fool who thinks he can become the next Creator."
Then Yun Lintian smiled.
"And here I thought first-generation True Gods were supposed to be wise."
Lu Xingzhi laughed again, delighted. "Oh, I am no sage. I am merely a witness." He spread his arms. "The God of Time told me eons ago—'One day, a madman will come, seeking to rebuild what was broken.'" His gaze sharpened. "I never thought I'd meet you personally."
Yun Lintian flexed his fingers, light and darkness spiraling around them. "Disappointed?"
He wasn't surprised much about Nian Shi's manipulation.
"Fascinated." Lu Xingzhi's golden eyes gleamed. "Let's see if you can back up that arrogance."