CHAPTER 16: THE HUNGER OF THE VOID AND THE HEAVEN'S TREMBLING
The black eclipse did not stop at the borders of the Eastern Continent. It was an infection of reality itself, a cancerous growth of obsidian shadow that moved with a predatory hunger. As Li Xiao stood at the epicenter of the Grand Hall—which had now transformed into a floating island of void-matter—the world outside was being systematically dismantled. The mountains that once formed the Blue Cloud Sect were being unspooled into raw spiritual threads, spiraling upward into Li Xiao's open palms. This was no longer cultivation; it was a cosmic reclamation.
Within the hall, the four pillars of his power—Lin Yue, Wei, Han Xue, and Yan Feng—remained paralyzed. The revelation of the Fifth Simulation had not only shattered their hearts but also their understanding of existence. They were looking at a being who had worn the mask of their savior, their brother, and their master, only to reveal that those roles were divine punishments.
"Master... no, Devourer..." Lin Yue's voice was a ghost of its former self. She looked at her black sword, the weapon forged from her regret, and saw it beginning to dissolve into the dark mist. "If everything was a lie... if the Master who died for me was just a prison for you... then was my entire life a mistake?"
Li Xiao turned his abyssal gaze toward her. His face was no longer human; it was a shifting topography of shadows, with violet veins pulsing like dying stars. "A mistake? No, Lin Yue. Your life was a masterpiece of divine engineering. The Heavens needed a 'Saint' to anchor my 'Sin'. You were the perfect lock because your love was real. That is the cruelty of the Heavens—they used your genuine heart as the material for my chains."
He raised his hand, and the sky above the Sanctuary literally peeled away. Beyond the atmosphere, the 'Heaven's Will' began to manifest. It appeared not as a person, but as a colossal, golden eye that spanned the entire horizon, its pupil a swirling galaxy of ancient laws and lightning.
[ Warning: Heaven's Will has detected the breach of the Fifth Seal. ]
[ Divine Punishment: The Seven Calamities of Erasure—Initiated. ]
The golden eye blinked, and seven pillars of celestial fire descended from the stars, each one capable of resetting a world to its primordial state. The continent shook, and the oceans began to boil instantly. The survivors of the Great Sects, who were watching from the distance, fell to their knees in prayer, thinking the end of the world had arrived.
But Li Xiao only laughed. It was a sound that didn't belong to the world of the living—a deep, resonant vibration that caused the golden fire to flicker and dim.
"You spent five thousand years trying to 'redeem' me through pain and sacrifice!" Li Xiao roared, his voice shaking the pillars of the universe. "You made me feel the agony of being human! You made me taste the salt of tears and the bitterness of death! And now, you think a few sparks of celestial fire can stop me? I have already endured the worst you could offer—I have endured being a Hero!"
He stepped into the air, walking toward the golden eye. With every step, the 'Fate Tax' intensified. He wasn't just harvesting the energy of the cultivators anymore; he was harvesting the 'Natural Laws' of the world. He was stealing the gravity, the light, and the time that the Heavens used to govern the continent.
"Lin Yue! Wei! Han Xue! Yan Feng!" Li Xiao's voice boomed through their souls. "The Heavens used you to seal me. Now, I give you a choice. Do you cling to the 'Righteousness' that was forced upon you, or do you follow the monster into the Void? If you choose the Void, I will give you a power that no God can grant. If you choose the Light... then die with your masters!"
The four of them looked at each other. They saw the boiling oceans and the falling stars. They saw the golden eye of the Heavens, which looked at them not with love, but with the cold indifference of a judge. And then they looked at Li Xiao—the monster who had given them everything in four lives of pain, even if it was a 'sentence'.
"I do not care if the Master was a prison," Lin Yue whispered, standing up and gripping her dissolving sword. "The man who died for me in the lightning was the only one who ever truly looked at me. If he is a monster, then I shall be his shadow."
"I am the shield of the sands!" General Wei roared, his armor shattering to reveal a body glowing with obsidian energy. "If my brother is the void, then I am the wall that guards the void!"
One by one, they chose. They surrendered their Imperial Luck, their Divine Talents, and their very identities to Li Xiao.
[ Ding! The Four Pillars have fully converted to 'Void Apostles'. ]
[ Harvesting of World Laws: 30% Complete. ]
[ Evolution: Primordial Devourer - Stage 1. ]
As the four pillars merged their essences into Li Xiao's aura, his power reached a level that caused the golden eye of Heaven to bleed liquid light. Li Xiao reached out his hand and literally grabbed one of the pillars of celestial fire, crushing it in his palm like a dry twig.
"Is this all?" Li Xiao whispered, his obsidian wings spreading until they eclipsed the entire moon. "I have waited for five thousand years to taste the flavor of a God's regret. Today, the Architect is not just rewriting a sect, or an empire. I am rewriting the very concept of 'Heaven'."
He lunged toward the golden eye, his body becoming a black streak of annihilation. The Great Eclipse was no longer just a shadow; it was the mouth of the Devourer, opening wide to swallow the very Will that had once dared to judge him.
The continent was silent. The war of the sects was over. The era of the Heroes was dead. Only the Architect and his four shadows remained, ascending into the star
s to dismantle the heavens, piece by piece.