The next morning, Lin Feng woke before dawn with a singular purpose: advancement.
Divine Domain Level 2 within two months. The Patriarch had set an aggressive timeline, but Lin Feng knew it was necessary. Every day he remained at Level 1 was another day his enemies could prepare, could close in, could strike while he was still vulnerable.
The Inverse Void Dao is designed for rapid advancement—at least, that's what the inherited memories suggest. But 'rapid' for the Void Emperor meant decades between levels. I need to compress that into weeks.
He sat in meditation as the sun rose, reviewing what he understood about Divine Domain cultivation. Each level represented a deeper understanding and manifestation of one's personal domain—the space where a cultivator's will overwrote natural law.
Divine Domain Level 1: Basic domain manifestation. The cultivator could create their personal reality space but couldn't yet impose complex rules within it.
Divine Domain Level 2: Domain refinement. The cultivator could establish laws within their domain—gravity manipulation, elemental suppression, conceptual alterations.
Divine Domain Level 3: Domain expansion. The cultivator could extend their domain's influence beyond their immediate surroundings, affecting larger areas.
And so on, up through Divine Domain Level 9, where the cultivator's domain became so powerful it could exist independently of the cultivator's physical presence.
To reach Level 2, I need to refine the Eternal Void. Establish laws within that space. But what laws exist in nothingness?
The question was paradoxical, which was fitting for void cultivation. The Void Emperor's memories provided answers, but they were his answers, born from his understanding. Lin Feng needed to forge his own comprehension.
A knock at his door interrupted his meditation. Yun Qingxue's spiritual signature—she'd come early, before most disciples were awake.
He opened the door to find her dressed in training robes rather than formal attire, her hair tied in a practical bun. Through the Dao Thread, he sensed her determination mixed with concern.
"We need to talk about your advancement," she said without preamble. "May I come in?"
Lin Feng gestured her inside, activating privacy formations. "I was just contemplating the same thing."
"Good. Because I've been researching, and I have thoughts." She settled onto his meditation cushion with unconscious grace. "Divine Domain Level 2 requires establishing laws within your domain. For most cultivators, this takes months or years of experimentation. But you have advantages they don't."
"The Void Emperor's memories."
"Yes, but also me." Her eyes held his. "As Sacred Disciple, I reached Divine Domain Level 4 through intensive training and family resources. I understand how domain refinement works at a level most Level 1 cultivators don't. We can work together—you provide the void techniques, I provide the refinement methodology."
"That would require training together. Extensively. People would notice."
"Let them notice." Her voice was firm. "After yesterday's inquiry, our connection is already suspected. We might as well use it productively. Besides, cultivating together should be faster for both of us—Dao Companions have natural synergy."
She's right. The Dao Thread allows energy exchange and understanding sharing. Training together could accelerate both our advancement.
"What do you propose?"
"We petition the Patriarch for permission to conduct joint training. Frame it as you learning refinement techniques from a more advanced cultivator, which is true. The Patriarch will approve—he wants you advancing quickly anyway."
"And it gives us legitimate reasons to spend time together."
"Exactly." A slight smile touched her lips. "Though I suspect we'd find reasons regardless."
Through the Dao Thread, Lin Feng felt warmth that had nothing to do with cultivation. Their connection had deepened over the past weeks—beyond political alliance, beyond fated destiny, into something that felt like genuine affection.
"There's something else," Yun Qingxue continued, her expression growing serious. "Li Xian sent a message yesterday evening. He's returning to the sect in three days, ostensibly to 'check on his fiancée' after hearing about the inquiry. But his actual purpose..."
"Is to assess me directly. See what I really am."
"Yes. And he's bringing reinforcements—his father implied there would be 'specialists' accompanying him. People skilled at determining a cultivator's true nature."
"Void specialists?"
"Possibly. Or formation masters who can analyze spiritual signatures. Or even soul searchers, though that would be extreme." Yun Qingxue's hands clenched. "Lin Feng, if they bring a soul searcher and the Patriarch allows them to examine you, they'll discover everything. The Void Emperor's memories, the true extent of your inheritance, all of it."
Soul searching was an invasive technique where a powerful cultivator forcibly examined another's consciousness. It was considered deeply taboo—reserved for suspected demon cultivators or traitors. But technically legal if sanctioned by proper authority.
"Would the Patriarch allow it?"
"He shouldn't. You're his direct disciple, under his protection. But the Azure Sky Family has significant political leverage. If they phrase it as 'concern for sect safety' rather than investigation of you specifically..." She shook her head. "I don't know. Politics gets complicated at that level."
Lin Feng absorbed this information. "Then we have three days to prepare. If I can reach Divine Domain Level 2 before Li Xian arrives, I'm stronger and more stable. If I can establish my domain's laws, I might even be able to resist soul searching—the void is notoriously difficult to penetrate."
"That's ambitious. Most cultivators take months to advance from Level 1 to Level 2."
"Most cultivators don't have my motivation." Lin Feng's voice hardened. "And most cultivators didn't inherit a hundred thousand years of void mastery. I'll succeed or die trying."
"Don't joke about dying."
"I'm not joking." He met her eyes seriously. "If I fail to advance quickly enough, if Li Xian's specialists discover what I am, if word reaches the three traitors before I'm ready... death is the likely outcome. So I'll push myself as hard as necessary."
Yun Qingxue stood and moved closer, close enough that he could feel the cold aura that always surrounded her—though it felt less cold now, tempered by the warmth of their connection.
"Then we push together. Because I refuse to lose you to stubborn determination." Her hand found his, their fingers intertwining. "The Dao Thread connects us. That means your advancement helps mine, and mine helps yours. We're partners in this."
The word hung between them—"partners." Not allies. Not political associates. Partners.
"Thank you," Lin Feng said quietly.
"Don't thank me. Just succeed." She squeezed his hand once, then released it. "I'll speak to the Patriarch this morning about joint training. You prepare yourself mentally. Tonight, we begin."
She left as the sun fully cleared the horizon, leaving Lin Feng alone with his thoughts and the daunting task ahead.
Divine Domain Level 2 in three days. Impossible by any standard. But I've been doing impossible things since the moment I touched that jade tablet.
The question is how much of myself I'm willing to sacrifice to achieve it.
Patriarch Cloud approved the joint training immediately, as Yun Qingxue had predicted. By late afternoon, Lin Feng and Yun Qingxue stood together in the Patriarch's personal cultivation chamber—the pocket dimension where reality bent to ancient formations.
"Dao Companions cultivating together is not unusual," the Patriarch said, his ancient eyes knowing. "Though typically such arrangements are formalized through marriage or official partnership. You two are... premature in that regard."
"We're merely training partners, Patriarch," Yun Qingxue said formally, though her tone suggested she knew he wasn't fooled.
"Of course. Training partners." The hint of amusement in his voice was unmistakable. "Well, these 'training partners' should understand that joint cultivation through the Dao Thread can accelerate advancement significantly. It can also create dependencies—emotional and spiritual bonds that become difficult to sever."
"We understand, Patriarch," Lin Feng said.
"Do you?" The ancient cultivator looked at both of them seriously. "Once your cultivations become truly synchronized, separating would damage both of you. It's not like simply ending a friendship. The Dao Thread will resist being broken, and forcing it could cripple your foundations."
"Are you suggesting we shouldn't cultivate together?" Yun Qingxue asked.
"I'm suggesting you understand what you're committing to. This isn't a casual decision—it's a binding that will affect the rest of your lives." Patriarch Cloud's expression softened slightly. "But I also recognize that destiny has its own momentum. If you're determined to walk this path together, at least walk it with open eyes."
"We are, Patriarch," Lin Feng and Yun Qingxue said simultaneously, then looked at each other in surprise.
The Patriarch laughed. "You're already synchronizing without conscious effort. Very well. I'll leave you to your training. The chamber's formations will support your cultivation and protect you from deviation. Push yourselves, but not past the point of breaking."
He departed, leaving them alone in the vast chamber with its swirling cosmos walls and obsidian floor.
"So," Yun Qingxue said, a nervous edge to her voice. "How do we begin?"
"Honestly? I'm not entirely sure." Lin Feng consulted the Void Emperor's memories. "The memories show Dao Companion cultivation, but it was between two people at similar cultivation levels. You're Level 4, I'm Level 1. That creates imbalance."
"Then we start by balancing." She moved to sit across from him, their knees almost touching. "In Dao Companion cultivation, the higher-level partner shares their understanding with the lower-level partner. Not power itself, but comprehension. I'll show you how my domain works—the Ice Phoenix Domain—and you show me yours. Through understanding each other's cultivation, we can help refine both."
"That means revealing everything about our techniques."
"Yes." Her ice-blue eyes held his. "Complete trust. No secrets between us. That's what makes Dao Companion cultivation work."
Lin Feng took a breath. Revealing the Inverse Void Dao's full nature to anyone, even Yun Qingxue, felt like standing naked. But if they were truly partners...
"Alright. No secrets."
They settled into meditation posture, knees touching, hands extended palm-to-palm. The moment their skin made contact, the Dao Thread flared to life—golden light visible in the spiritual realm, pulsing between their hearts.
"Focus on the connection," Yun Qingxue instructed. "Let your consciousness follow the thread to me, and I'll do the same to you. We'll meet in the space between."
Lin Feng did as she directed, his awareness flowing along the Dao Thread. The sensation was disorienting—like being stretched across an infinite distance while simultaneously being compressed into a single point.
Then he was... elsewhere.
They stood in a space that was neither the Eternal Void nor the Ice Phoenix Domain, but something new—a gray expanse where darkness and light met in perfect equilibrium. Yun Qingxue stood before him, but not her physical body. This was her spiritual form, her true self stripped of all pretense.
And she was beautiful.
Not the cold perfection of the Ice Goddess, but something warmer. Vulnerable. Real.
"This is the Dao Space," her voice echoed. "The place where bonded souls can meet directly. Here, we can share everything—thoughts, feelings, understanding. But we're also exposed. No masks, no lies. Only truth."
"I understand." Lin Feng looked at his own spiritual form—silver-black like void starlight, less defined than Yun Qingxue's clear presence. "What do we do here?"
"We share our domains. Watch."
Yun Qingxue's form blazed with cold light, and suddenly the gray space transformed. Lin Feng stood in her Ice Phoenix Domain—a realm of eternal winter, beautiful and deadly. Snow fell upward, each flake a crystalline perfection that could cut like a blade. The temperature was absolute zero, yet somehow it felt warm—her domain was her home, welcoming to her and only her.
"This is my truth," Yun Qingxue's voice surrounded him. "Ice that preserves, cold that protects. My domain doesn't destroy—it freezes time, holds things in stasis, prevents change. That's the law I've established: permanence through cold."
Lin Feng understood immediately. Her domain wasn't about attacking, but defending—creating a space where nothing could be altered against her will. It was elegant, powerful, and deeply reflective of who she was.
"Now you," she said. "Show me the Eternal Void."
Lin Feng released his domain.
The ice world vanished, replaced by infinite darkness and distant silver stars. The gray equilibrium space became true void—not the absence of things, but the canvas upon which things existed. The temperature wasn't cold or hot, but undefined. Sound didn't die so much as become uncertain. Reality itself grew negotiable.
"This is my truth," Lin Feng's voice resonated through the emptiness. "The void that underlies everything. My domain doesn't impose will on reality—it removes reality's certainty. Here, natural laws become suggestions rather than requirements."
Yun Qingxue's spiritual form appeared beside him, her ice phoenix nature adapting to exist in the void. "This is... extraordinary. I've never experienced anything like this. It's not hostile, but it's not welcoming either. It simply... is."
"That's the nature of void. Pure potential, waiting to be defined."
"And to advance to Level 2, you need to establish laws within this potential?" She moved through the space, examining it with a cultivator's trained perception. "But what laws can exist in nothingness?"
"That's been my problem." Lin Feng manifested beside her. "The Void Emperor established laws of consumption—the void devours everything. But that's his truth, not mine. I need to find my own."
"Then let's explore." Yun Qingxue's spiritual presence extended, touching the fabric of the Eternal Void. "Tell me—what do you feel when you're in your domain? What emotion, what concept defines it for you?"
Lin Feng considered. The Void Emperor's memories showed his emotional state—loneliness, isolation, the desperate need to consume others' power because he couldn't trust them to share willingly.
But Lin Feng's void felt different.
"Freedom," he said slowly. "When I'm in the void, I feel free. Free from expectations, from limitations, from the definitions others impose. The void is where I can be anything, become anything."
"Freedom." Yun Qingxue's eyes lit up with understanding. "That's your law. Not consumption like the Void Emperor's, but liberation. The void that frees things from constraints rather than destroying them."
The moment she said it, Lin Feng felt the truth resonate through his entire being. Yes. That was his relationship with the void—not a weapon for devouring others, but a space for breaking free of chains.
"How do I establish that as law?"
"By proving it. By testing it." Yun Qingxue's spiritual form began to glow with cold light. "I'll attack you with my domain, trying to freeze you in place. You counter by using your void to break free. Through repeated cycles of constraint and liberation, your domain will learn its own nature."
"That could be dangerous. If you actually freeze my spiritual form—"
"Then I'll trust you to break free. That's what Dao Companions do." She smiled. "Trust and push each other past their limits."
Before Lin Feng could respond, her Ice Phoenix Domain surged outward, cold light blazing. The infinite void began to freeze—even nothingness itself being locked into stasis.
Lin Feng felt his spiritual form being constrained, movement becoming impossible, thoughts slowing to crystalline clarity. This was the power of Divine Domain Level 4—overwhelming force that could trap anything within reach.
No. I won't be trapped. I won't be frozen. I am the void that breaks all chains!
He pushed back not with force, but with concept. The void didn't fight the ice—it questioned whether ice could exist in nothingness. Could freezing occur where temperature didn't exist? Could stasis be imposed on absence itself?
The constraints cracked. Just slightly, but enough.
Yun Qingxue pressed harder, her domain intensifying. "Good! You're understanding! But don't just resist—liberate yourself completely!"
Lin Feng dug deeper into the concept of freedom. Liberation wasn't just absence of constraints—it was active rejection of limitation. The void freed things not by being empty, but by refusing to accept that anything had to be defined.
His spiritual form exploded outward in a pulse of void energy. The ice shattered, not melting but simply ceasing to apply to him.
"Yes!" Yun Qingxue's domain reformed and attacked again, this time from a different angle. "Again! Until it becomes instinctive!"
They cycled through the exercise hundreds of times. She froze, he freed himself. She adapted, he adapted. The Dao Space became a battleground of concepts—permanence versus liberation, ice versus void, her truth against his.
And through it all, the Dao Thread pulsed between them, carrying understanding back and forth. Lin Feng learned the elegance of her ice techniques, the precise control required to freeze without destroying. Yun Qingxue learned the paradoxical nature of void cultivation, how emptiness could be more powerful than presence.
Hours passed in the external world, but in the Dao Space, time was negotiable. They trained for what felt like days, pushing each other relentlessly.
Finally, exhausted, they stopped.
"I think..." Lin Feng's spiritual form pulsed with new understanding. "I think I've found it. The law for my domain."
"Show me."
Lin Feng manifested the Eternal Void fully, but now it was different. The darkness remained, the silver stars remained, but there was something new—a quality, a sensation, a truth that permeated the entire space.
Within the Eternal Void, nothing was permanent. Nothing was fixed. Everything could be changed, questioned, redefined. It was freedom made manifest—the absolute liberation from all limitations.
"The Law of Liberation," Lin Feng said, the name feeling right. "Within my domain, all constraints become negotiable. Physical laws, spiritual restrictions, even fate itself can be challenged. Not broken automatically, but made vulnerable to change."
Yun Qingxue examined his domain with her refined perception. "That's... that's Divine Domain Level 2. You've actually done it."
"Have I?"
"Feel your cultivation. Look at your core."
Lin Feng turned his spiritual perception inward and gasped. His Heart of the Void had changed. Where before it was a simple sphere of compressed emptiness, now it contained structure—patterns of energy that represented his established law. The sphere pulsed with new power, drawing in void energy more efficiently, manifesting his domain more completely.
Divine Domain Level 2.
They opened their eyes simultaneously, returning to the Patriarch's cultivation chamber. Dawn light filtered through the formations—they'd trained through the entire night.
"How do you feel?" Yun Qingxue asked, swaying slightly with exhaustion.
"Powerful. Different. Like I've finally understood what I am rather than just what I inherited." Lin Feng stood on shaky legs. "And you?"
"Enlightened, actually." She smiled tiredly. "Experiencing your void domain helped me understand my own ice techniques better. I think I'm close to advancing to Level 5."
"From one night of training?"
"From understanding a completely different approach to cultivation. Sometimes insight matters more than time." She stood as well, and they both stumbled toward each other for support—neither quite steady after such intense spiritual work.
"We should rest before anyone sees us like this," Lin Feng said.
"Agreed. I look like I've been through a war."
"You look beautiful."
The words slipped out before Lin Feng could stop them. Yun Qingxue's eyes widened, a slight flush touching her normally pale cheeks—the first time he'd ever seen the Ice Goddess truly blush.
"I... you..." She collected herself. "Thank you. And you look like you're about to collapse. Let's get food and actual sleep before we continue."
They left the cultivation chamber supporting each other, too exhausted to care who saw them. Disciples' eyes widened at the sight of the Sacred Disciple and the mysterious outer disciple emerging together at dawn, clearly having trained all night.
Let them speculate. Let rumors spread. Lin Feng had achieved in one night what should have taken months.
Divine Domain Level 2. The Law of Liberation established. And a bond with Yun Qingxue that had deepened beyond mere political alliance into true partnership.
Two more days until Li Xian arrives, Lin Feng thought. Two more days to consolidate this advancement and prepare for whatever he brings.
But now I have a chance. Real power, real understanding, and someone standing beside me who knows all my secrets and chooses to stay anyway.
The Void Emperor had reached great heights alone.
Lin Feng was climbing higher with a partner.
And somehow, that felt like the real victory.
END OF CHAPTER 15
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 16: THE RETURN OF THE AZURE SKY