CHAPTER 161 — FLICKERS OF DESTINY
1. Training Under a Pseudo-God
A quiet hush fell over the topmost cultivation platform of the Astral Forge Sect.
The Sect Master, Sovereign Xuanyang, stood barefoot under the swirling canopy of astral clouds. His long hair drifted like starlight. His mere presence bent the air, as though the world itself bowed to him.
Before him stood Lin Xuan and Tian Zhaofeng — newly declared direct disciples.
Tian swallowed. Lin stared steadily.
Both felt the pressure of standing before a being who had once shattered a mountain range with a casual wave.
Xuanyang smiled faintly.
"Relax. If I wanted you dead, we would not be standing here."
Tian choked.
Lin held perfectly still.
The Sect Master raised his hand.
A ripple of reality spread outward, forming a dome of silver-blue.
"Today," Xuanyang said, "you both take your first step toward understanding what it means to cultivate in the higher realms."
He looked at Tian first.
"You have raw strength, but your qi is scattered. Too much force wastes itself. Power without unity is a broken blade."
Then his gaze fell on Lin.
"And you… your foundation is vast, but too gentle. You're cultivating like a scholar approaching a storm. You must learn to dominate your own strength."
He tapped the air. Two glowing spheres materialized.
"For Tian: compression."
"For Lin: expansion and convergence."
The spheres hovered before them.
"Break them."
Tian grinned and immediately threw a punch.
Lin studied his sphere carefully.
The Sect Master clasped his hands behind his back, watching.
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Tian's Trial: The Crushing Star
Tian punched.
The sphere rippled but did not break.
A second punch — stronger — dented the air.
Xuanyang nodded. "Again."
Tian's aura erupted.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
Each punch shook the platform.
"Not bad," the Sect Master said, "but your intent is still too external. Strike not with your fist — but with your will."
Tian inhaled.
His posture tightened.
His fist glowed like an actual star.
CRACK—!!
The sphere shattered.
Tian staggered but grinned through the sweat pouring down his forehead.
Xuanyang smiled.
"Good. You may someday surpass me in brute force… if you survive long enough."
Tian coughed.
Lin tried not to laugh.
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Lin's Trial: The Expanding Universe
Lin stepped toward his sphere.
It felt infinite — like a miniature world.
Xuanyang observed closely.
"Lin Xuan. Your cultivation path is unique. Most build a core, a spirit, a body. But you built a world. That world expands… but you never learned to control the expansion."
He gestured.
"Control this sphere. Make it yours."
Lin placed his palm on it.
And instantly his world resonance surged — sun, moon, planetary rings pulsing in response.
The sphere pushed back.
It resisted him.
Lin narrowed his eyes and expanded his inner universe slightly — just a sliver.
The sphere vibrated.
"Good," Xuanyang murmured. "Now unify."
Lin gathered the pull of his two suns, the gravity of his planets, the breath of his world laws—
BOOM.
The sphere exploded into harmless motes of light that merged into Lin's chest.
Xuanyang raised a brow.
"…Faster than expected."
Tian stared. "Why is he always like this?!!"
Lin blinked innocently.
The Sect Master clapped once.
"Good. The foundations are set. From here, I will push you both into realms of comprehension most cultivators never see."
He extended his hand toward the horizon.
"Now watch."
The sky bent.
Stars appeared where there should have been none.
Lin and Tian froze.
For a moment, they saw the true power gap between themselves and a pseudo-god.
The Sect Master smiled gently.
"You will surpass this someday. But first… you must survive what is coming."
He lowered his hand.
And far beyond the Titan Realm, in a distant dying world—
Something screamed.
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2. A World on Fire — Xuan Yueyin's Fall
The skies were burning.
Not with flame — but with pure void.
Cracks spread across the heavens like frost across glass. Entire cities collapsed as gravity warped. People cried, prayed, begged—
And the Abyss answered only with silence.
Xuan Yueyin ran through the ruins of what used to be her sect's sacred mountain. Her once-white robes were torn and soaked in ash. Her phoenix flame flickered weakly around her — too faint to shield anyone else.
Behind her, the mountain cracked open.
A vortex of writhing darkness consumed it whole.
"No… no… NO!"
She stumbled over rubble, catching herself on shaking palms.
Screams echoed from every direction.
Her Master.
Her junior sisters.
Her home.
Gone — swallowed by a tide of absolute oblivion.
A child she had tried to carry away slipped from her weakening arms hours earlier, claimed by the void before her eyes.
Even now she heard the echo of his last cry.
Her chest tightened painfully.
I couldn't save him… I couldn't save any of them…
Her phoenix flame surged in grief — then was smothered by the chains of corruption stamped onto her soul.
She crashed to her knees.
"Please…" she whispered to the sky. "Somebody… anyone… save us…"
The heavens cracked open in answer.
But not with salvation.
A colossal Abyssal maw opened in the sky, devouring the last fragments of her realm's core.
Her world was ending.
Tears streamed down her face as she staggered backward — but there was nothing left to run toward.
Just ruin.
Just darkness.
Just death.
But then—
A sudden, sharp fissure tore through the collapsing space behind her.
A rift.
Unstable. Violent.
But real.
Yueyin whipped around.
Her heart surged.
A way out—
She threw herself forward as the last pieces of her world cracked like a shattered mirror. Behind her, the Abyss roared, tendrils reaching for her legs—
FWOOOM—!!
Space folded.
Her vision warped.
She screamed as the void swallowed her—
—then she was expelled like refuse into an unfamiliar realm.
She crashed through a rocky outcrop, tumbling in dust and blood.
Her body shook uncontrollably.
Her world… her family…
Gone.
And then, just before consciousness slipped from her—
She saw the distant glow of a sect's outer patrol lights.
"…please… don't let me die…"
Her vision faded to black.
And the Abyss devoured the last fragment of the realm she once called home.
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