The sky boiled like blood trapped in a cauldron. Thunder clawed at the heavens, not in rage, but in divine judgment. Jian Wuxin stood alone atop the shattered summit of Mount Kairo—a place once worshiped as a nexus of Qi purity. Now, the air burned with celestial decree.
Across from him floated five silhouettes, descending in eerie synchronization. They wore the robes of Heaven's Elders, shimmering in gold, silver, and starlight thread. Their faces were pale masks of contempt.
Each of them had a name whispered in scriptures and chiseled into heaven's laws:
Elder Thalos of the Verdant Law, master of the Life and Rot Dao.
Elder Jinrui of the Platinum Mind, wielder of Mental Domain and Reflection Dao.
Elder Xiang De, the Crimson Path, fireborn sage of Destruction and Renewal Dao.
Elder Numiel, Storm of the Void, lightning-dancer of Thunder and Void Dao.
Elder Iseria, Queen of Stillness, wielder of Time and Gravity Dao.
Their auras created storms in every direction. The mountain trembled—not in fear, but in reverence for a battle that only legends would remember.
Jian stood shirtless, robes torn from past battles, his breathing calm, his eyes closed.
"Where is the girl?" Elder Thalos asked, voice like a withering forest.
Jian cracked his neck and stepped forward, bare feet crunching stone.
"She watches," he said. "That's all she needs to do."
"You believe you can face all five of us alone?" asked Iseria, her voice distorted by a time ripple.
Jian opened his eyes, glowing with indigo sword aura.
"No," he replied. "I know I can."
---
The battle began not with shouting—but with silence.
Elder Jinrui vanished first, entering a mental plane. His Reflection Dao fractured Jian's mind into five versions of himself—each embodying a fear, a regret, or a hidden weakness.
Jian staggered.
He saw:
A version of himself bleeding as Frostveil died in his arms.
One chained, having never left the temple.
One ruling the world, soulless, empty.
One as a child, staring at a father who never returned.
One where he was just... normal.
Internal Monologue:
Is this who I could have been? Or who I ran from?
The real Jian gritted his teeth. "I am all of them," he whispered. "And none of them."
He unsheathed his invisible sword.
> "Sword Technique: Soul Eclipse."
The mental projections broke. Jinrui gasped as his reflection shattered—and Jian stepped out of the illusion with blood leaking from his left eye.
"First one's free," Jian muttered, hurling a blade of thought so refined it bypassed the material.
Jinrui fell, blood spraying from his forehead, severed from consciousness.
---
"Scatter!" Iseria snapped, and the Elders obeyed.
Elder Xiang De raised his hands.
"Law of Red Ash: Immolation Pathway!"
The entire mountain caught fire.
Flames bent toward Jian, drawn by Dao.
Jian did not move.
He inhaled.
> "Sword Dao — Formless Shear."
The flames parted—not extinguished, but divided—into thousands of petals that circled him harmlessly. Xiang De's eyes widened.
"Impossible. Fire obeys destruction. It must consume."
"Your fire seeks to devour," Jian whispered, "but I have nothing left to burn."
He moved.
The mountain cracked beneath his foot.
He arrived behind Xiang De in a breath.
> "Sword Form Nine — Heaven's Mend."
A curved slash, soft as wind, cut through Xiang De's chest, not slicing flesh, but spirit.
The fire inside Xiang De died.
Two down.
---
Thalos and Numiel attacked together.
Vines erupted beneath Jian, soaked in rot and life simultaneously. Above, thunder coiled into spears.
Jian was caught between birth and annihilation.
"Too slow!" Numiel roared, unleashing lightning.
Jian turned.
> "Passive Activated — Master of the Swordless."
He picked up a sliver of broken tree bark. The moment it touched his hand, it glowed.
Numiel's bolt struck—but Jian parried.
The bark snapped, but the bolt split.
In that breath, Thalos's vines pierced his back.
Blood gushed from Jian's mouth.
"See?" Thalos said. "You bleed."
Jian grinned through crimson teeth.
"Good," he rasped. "That means I'm still learning."
He grabbed the vines—and pulled.
Thalos flew toward him.
Jian headbutted the elder with such force the vines exploded from his own back.
He carved a blade from bone.
> "Sword Form Five — Ash Bloom Severance."
He slashed.
Thalos's entire shoulder disintegrated, rotting away from its own life.
Then came Numiel.
He charged down with a lance of thunder.
Jian smiled.
He lifted both hands.
> "Dual Dao Reversal: *Void Drain."
He absorbed the Qi from the thunder.
And redirected it—into the sky.
A second sun appeared.
Lightning cascaded across the clouds.
Numiel screamed as his own power bent around and struck him from behind.
Four down.
---
Only Iseria remained.
She did not move.
The world around her began to slow.
Time bled.
Gravity inverted.
Jian stood, trembling.
This… this isn't just time. She's stopping the experience of cause.
He vomited blood, knees buckling.
Frostveil stood in the distance, shouting—but no sound reached him.
Jian could feel the strain.
He was being removed from the world.
Iseria floated toward him, her hand aglow with divine symbols.
"You are not eternal," she said. "Only entropy is."
Jian smiled.
"No," he whispered. "Only story is."
And then he remembered.
> A blade made from the concept of defiance.
> A step that cuts through time.
> A swing that denies authority.
He rose.
> "Final Technique: Heaven Rejected Blade."
He swung.
The cut did not move through space.
It erased the moment itself.
Time collapsed. Iseria's hand crumbled before touching him.
She staggered.
"How…?"
Jian stepped into her personal space.
And whispered:
"You forgot. I am not a man. I am a question."
He flicked her forehead with a finger.
Her core shattered.
Iseria fell.
---
The world was silent again.
Five Elders lay broken.
Jian stood in the storm of their Qi.
Frostveil came to him, touching his trembling hand.
"You nearly died," she whispered.
"Not today," he replied, collapsing into her arms.
From above, the Heavens watched.
And finally—they began to fear. For Jian Wuxin had done the unthinkable.
He had wounded their very law.