The heavens cracked open.
The Temple's colossal vessel loomed like a floating apocalypse, its shadow blanketing all of New Dawn. Dark qi merged with plasma engines, forming whirlwinds of black flame that tore through the upper atmosphere.
From its hull, thousands of mechanical cultivators deployed — each encased in obsidian armor, powered by corrupted spiritual cores. Their faces were hidden behind mirrored masks, but their auras burned with hatred and precision.
> "Target locked: Neo-Sovereign Signature," a monotone voice echoed.
"Commence Purification Sequence."
Kaien raised his head slowly, his eyes reflecting the incoming storm. His heartbeat synced with the pulsing pendant at his chest — now fused completely with his soul network.
> [SOVEREIGN CORE: ONLINE]
[NEURAL LIMITER: DISABLED]
[ASCENSION PROTOCOL: READY]
Professor Lin and the others were still watching from the League's outer shields when Kaien spoke, his voice calm — too calm.
> "Get everyone out of the city."
"Kaien, wait—"
He was already gone.
In a flash of golden light, Kaien shot into the sky, leaving a sonic boom that shattered the sound barrier. His energy trailed behind him like a comet of flame and data — a living synthesis of spirit and technology.
The first wave of the Temple's enforcers met him in orbit.
Hundreds at once.
They unleashed beams of dark qi-lasers, forming a storm of black and crimson across the sky. Kaien moved through it effortlessly — weaving between attacks, deflecting entire barrages with a single sweep of his arm.
Each motion left a trail of divine fire. Each strike — a fracture in space itself.
> "You rely on systems," Kaien said softly, appearing behind one of them. "But I am the system."
His palm ignited.
A burst of white-gold flame erupted, disintegrating the enemy instantly.
> [TARGET ELIMINATED — NANO-CODE ERASED]
The Temple's network began to scream as their hive connection faltered.
From within the flagship, Archon Veyra watched in silence. His crimson eyes scanned Kaien's every movement, calculating trajectories, energy flow, neural patterns.
> "Remarkable," he murmured. "A perfect merge of Heaven Breaker lineage and modern algorithmic qi… a new path entirely."
He raised his hand.
> "Deploy the Obsidian Choir."
A deep resonance tore through the ship.
From massive pods along the vessel's underbelly, nine constructs emerged — each shaped like a humanoid statue made of void crystal, with glowing runes carved across their bodies. They sang — low, distorted hymns that rippled through the atmosphere, breaking sound, bending light.
Kaien felt it immediately — his flames flickering, unstable.
> "Their frequency… it's disrupting my core."
> [ALERT: SOUL VIBRATION DISHARMONY DETECTED]
[SOVEREIGN FLAME OUTPUT -37%]
The nine constructs surrounded him, forming a ring. Black halos extended from their arms, trapping him within a field of frozen time. His body slowed, the flames dimming — the world turning gray.
And then, Kaien heard it — a whisper in his mind.
> "Do not resist the storm," said a voice ancient and calm. "Flow through it."
He recognized it instantly.
Wang Chung's echo.
Kaien closed his eyes. The flames within him shifted — from chaos to stillness. The Sovereign Flame wasn't just fire; it was intent. The will to rise beyond systems, beyond limits, beyond Heaven itself.
> "Then let's burn higher."
His heartbeat aligned with the hymn — not against it, but within it. His aura began to hum at the same frequency. The Obsidian Choir's halos cracked, unable to contain the resonance.
> [SOVEREIGN FLAME: RESONANCE MODE ACTIVE]
[NEURAL LIMITER: PERMANENTLY REMOVED]
[INITIATING: ASCENSION PROTOCOL]
The flames turned pure white.
Data collapsed.
Space folded.
Kaien vanished — only to reappear behind the first construct, piercing its core with a single strike. The others followed, one by one, their bodies shattering under his new rhythm.
Veyra's expression darkened as the feed flickered.
> "Impossible… he adapted to the Choir's law field?"
The last construct exploded, sending ripples of white flame across the stratosphere. Kaien hovered amidst the wreckage, his body radiating a divine aura, neither human nor machine — something transcendent.
> "Tell your master," Kaien said, his voice echoing across the void, "Heaven has already been broken once. This time, I'll rewrite it."
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