The Celestial Tribunal was silent.
Dozens of divine figures floated around a circular dais of light, their faces veiled by flowing golden mist. Behind them, countless runic mirrors displayed scenes from the mortal realm — all focused on a single man.
Li Feng.
The mortal who defied Heaven's decree.
The collector who turned divine essence into fuel.
His latest act — slaying an envoy and claiming Heaven's Token — reverberated through every layer of the celestial network. Even the runes that stabilized the heavens trembled faintly.
An Archon finally spoke, his voice edged with the sound of thunder.
"He's broken through another barrier. The Twilight Energy within him now merges both Abyssal and Celestial Codes. His existence violates balance."
Another replied, "It's not violation. It's evolution. Heaven's laws… are data. And he's learning to rewrite it."
Silence again.
The First Seat — an androgynous being of radiant white flame — turned toward the central mirror. Their eyes blazed with compressed galaxies.
"And yet Heaven's Token responded to him."
A murmur rippled through the Tribunal.
"Heaven itself allowed access to the Fragment Realm?"
The First Seat's tone cooled.
"No. It adapted. The Token does not choose by morality — only by authority level. He now qualifies."
A heavy pause fell. The mirror flickered, showing Li Feng floating above the ruined Martial Academy — cloak fluttering in the twilight wind, eyes half-closed, as the System shimmered faintly behind him like a ghost of logic.
"Then monitor him closely," the First Seat declared. "If he reaches 1000 attributes before Heaven stabilizes, we initiate Code Purge: Seraph Protocol."
Lightning coiled above the dais as the decree was sealed.
Mortal Realm, Twilight Horizon
Li Feng stood alone amidst the ruins, the silver token hovering above his palm.
It pulsed like a miniature sun — not of fire, but of compressed law. Symbols danced across its surface: runes representing Balance, Authority, Access, and Trial.
[Item Detected: Heaven's Token (Fragment Gateway)]
[Usage Requirement: Attribute Threshold ≥ 3000 | System Authorization Confirmed.]
[Proceed?]
Li Feng's lips curved.
"Proceed."
The token disintegrated into threads of radiant code, spiraling upward into the sky. Space twisted violently as a rift formed — vast, silent, and filled with swirling fragments of color.
It looked less like a portal, and more like Heaven had been shattered and rebuilt in reverse.
A breeze lifted his cloak.
Then he stepped through.
[Entering: Fragment Realm]
A deafening hum followed. For a heartbeat, Li Feng's senses fractured — every nerve resonating with a thousand laws trying to overwrite one another.
Then the light cleared.
He stood on an endless platform of floating islands, each one orbiting a colossal crystal core. Rivers of glowing fragments flowed between them like molten constellations.
[System Note: Fragment Realm — Residual plane created from Heaven-Abyss conflict. Contains lost laws, discarded divinities, and attribute echoes.]
[Caution: Attribute storms and Collector Entities detected.]
Li Feng's gaze sharpened. "Collector Entities?"
A low, mechanical growl answered.
From the horizon, something emerged — humanoid, yet skeletal, made of silver fractals. Its eyes blazed with streams of raw code. Each movement left behind trails of attribute motes.
The System flickered.
[Host Analysis: Unknown construct. Attribute density — 520 units. Threat level — High.]
[Special Note: Capable of harvesting and reclaiming attributes from other beings.]
Li Feng smiled faintly. "So Heaven made copies of me."
The construct raised an arm, light forming a spear. The world bent around the weapon as if laws feared to be touched by it.
Then it launched forward.
The impact shattered half the island. Fragments exploded outward, forming luminous storms. Yet when the dust cleared, Li Feng stood unscathed — his hand gripping the spear's shaft midair.
[Collected: +12 Strength]
[Collected: +8 Speed]
[Collected: Skill Fragment — Fragment Authority (1/10)]
"Your energy leaks too easily," he said calmly.
He pulled the spear free — and with a flick of his wrist, shattered the construct into data.
It dissolved, leaving behind dozens of shining bubbles.
Li Feng raised his hand.
+15 Intelligence
+11 Energy Control
+3 Law Comprehension
+Skill Fragment: Fragment Authority (2/10)
His aura expanded slightly, bending the nearby rivers of light toward him.
The System chimed.
[Attribute Collection Progress: 374 / 1000]
[Estimated Completion Time: 17 hours, 42 minutes.]
But before he could move, the ground beneath him rippled — light gathering like a pulse.
He looked down.
The island wasn't solid; it was alive.
A deep voice resonated from the ground itself.
"Collector… you trespass upon the remains of the Law-Heart."
The crystalline surface cracked open, and a massive entity emerged — a fusion of spirit and geometry, like a god's skeleton forged from equations.
[Entity Detected: Fragment Warden (Remnant Law Construct)]
[Estimated Attribute Density: 2400+]
[Warning: Entity capable of negating collection for 10 seconds per cycle.]
Li Feng's eyes gleamed.
"Perfect. A real test."
He stepped forward, and the Realm responded — gravity, energy, even light twisted toward him. The Warden's voice deepened.
"The Heavens are broken because of your kind. Collectors. Leechers of existence."
Li Feng's tone remained calm. "I don't leech. I optimize."
With that, he vanished.
The next moment, the sky screamed.
Twin afterimages collided — one silver, one twilight. Shockwaves ripped through the realm, scattering fragments like snow. Li Feng's blade of condensed energy met the Warden's palm of pure law.
Each strike produced numbers, flickering midair like equations being rewritten.
+6 Strength
+10 Energy Control
+1 Law Comprehension
+12 Willpower
[Skill Fragment: Law Resonance (3/10)]
The Warden roared, unleashing a sphere of divine energy. It struck Li Feng point-blank, obliterating the island in light.
Silence.
Then — a ripple.
Out of the dust, Li Feng walked calmly, cloak torn, eyes blazing with mirrored light.
[Damage sustained: 43% of outer barrier.]
[Activating Twilight Harvest (Passive).]
All around him, the scattered fragments reversed direction — every piece of shattered energy flowed back toward him.
[Collected: +21 Strength]
[Collected: +15 Intelligence]
[Collected: +4 Law Comprehension]
[Skill Complete — Fragment Authority (Lv1 Unlocked).]
Li Feng clenched his hand, and reality flickered.
When he reopened it, the Warden was frozen — its body half-transparent, its power siphoned into his system.
"Harvest complete," Li Feng said softly.
The System chimed again.
[Progress: 893 / 1000]
[Special Reward Triggered: Law Fragment — "Eternal Algorithm" Acquired.]
[Temporary Title: Reality Compiler.]
He looked up at the now-quiet sky. Above the shattered islands, a single path of light had appeared — straight into the core of the Fragment Realm.
The System spoke again, voice lower than before, almost reverent.
[Final Stage Available: Central Law Vault.]
[Warning: Unknown Collectors detected ahead.]
Li Feng's gaze hardened. "Competitors?"
A flicker in the distance answered — several figures stepping from the light, each exuding the same System aura as his own.
Their eyes locked onto him — and every one of them smiled faintly.
"Li Feng," said one, voice distorted. "You're not the only Collector anymore."
Li Feng's pulse didn't change.
He simply smirked.
"Then let's see who gathers Heaven first."
The sky rippled, collapsing the light paths into chaos.
And the Fragment Realm descended into war.