### **Chapter 222 — The Woman in the Rain**
The battlefield was silent. Rain began to fall — slow, silver droplets, washing the blood from cracked marble.
Yang Lin stood alone beneath the gray sky, his robe torn, hair wild, aura suppressed so the world could breathe again.
And through the mist — she appeared.
Lian Yu.
Her white robes were soaked, her gaze trembling like the sky itself.
> **Lian Yu:** "You still choose war… even when peace is right here."
> **Yang Lin:** "Peace?" *He looked around — at the ruined towers, the fallen celestials.* "Peace died the moment Heaven chose fear over faith."
> **Lian Yu (quietly):** "And what about us?"
> **Yang Lin:** "Us?" *He hesitated — a rare crack in the voice that once commanded gods.* "We're what remains after everything else burns."
For a long time, she said nothing — just stepped closer, placing a trembling hand over his.
But the mark of Heaven on his arm glowed faintly — repelling warmth.
Even love had rules now.
---
### **Chapter 223 — The Wounded Sect**
Starysky Palace was rebuilding, but fear lingered.
Disciples whispered of the "Skybreaker," half in worship, half in dread.
Yang Lin walked through the halls in silence, each stone echoing the sound of guilt he'd long buried.
Ye Ruyan intercepted him at the main staircase.
> **Ye Ruyan:** "The elders are calling for withdrawal. They say the next wave will destroy us all."
> **Yang Lin:** "Then let them flee. The strong don't wait for permission."
> **Ye Ruyan (angry):** "And the weak? You'll just leave them to die?"
> **Yang Lin (cold):** "The weak have never been safe — not even under Heaven."
Before she could reply, the sky trembled again.
A ripple of light — soft, silver, divine — cascaded across the horizon.
Someone else had entered the war.
---
### **Chapter 224 — Arrival of the Starysky Fairy**
That night, from the edge of the northern cliffs, the Sect witnessed a miracle.
A figure descended in silence — hair flowing like moonlight, her steps forming crystalline ripples across the air.
**Xiao Rui**, known as the *Starysky Fairy*, walked as if born from the starlight itself.
> **Elder Feng (whispering):** "She's from the Heavenly Night Palace…"
> **Ye Ruyan:** "No — she's above them. Look at her aura."
Yang Lin narrowed his gaze. Her energy didn't belong to Heaven or the mortal realm — it was something older, calmer, dangerous.
> **Yang Lin:** "Why are you here?"
> **Xiao Rui (smiling faintly):** "To see the man who defied Heaven… and survived."
> **Yang Lin:** "Curiosity is a dangerous reason to cross the sky."
> **Xiao Rui:** "So is pride."
Lightning flickered between them, unseen but undeniable.
---
### **Chapter 225 — Echoes of the Past**
Xiao Rui remained at the palace, claiming to "observe" the mortal way.
But her eyes followed Yang Lin — during council, training, even when he meditated under the broken moon.
One night, she found him again under the old withered tree.
> **Xiao Rui:** "This place feels sad."
> **Yang Lin:** "It remembers what Heaven forgot — mercy."
> **Xiao Rui:** "You think yourself merciful after tearing open the sky?"
> **Yang Lin (quietly):** "If I didn't, you wouldn't be standing here to ask."
For the first time, she couldn't reply.
The night air shimmered faintly between them — her breath catching against the ghost of something human.
---
### **Chapter 226 — Between Two Palaces**
Rumors spread — the *Heavenly Night Palace* had issued a decree:
> *"The Skybreaker must be captured alive. His soul belongs to Heaven."*
At the same time, Starysky's disciples began to doubt their leader's intentions.
To them, Xiao Rui was an invader. To Heaven, a spy.
To Yang Lin, she was a mirror — showing him what he once was before war twisted him.
> **Lian Yu:** "You trust her too easily."
> **Yang Lin:** "I don't trust her. I understand her."
> **Lian Yu:** "And that's worse."
The wind carried the sound of drums — Heaven was gathering again.
---
### **Chapter 227 — The Duel at the Moon Court**
Xiao Rui stood in the courtyard at dawn, sword drawn, her aura radiating frost and moonlight.
The elders had challenged her, demanding proof of loyalty.
Yang Lin arrived just as she lifted her blade.
> **Elder Feng:** "She's a spy! End this farce!"
> **Xiao Rui (coldly):** "Then test your accusation with your life."
The duel began — and ended before anyone could see.
She moved once, her sword singing through the wind. Elder Feng's weapon shattered.
Before he could fall, Yang Lin's hand caught his arm — stopping the fatal blow.
> **Yang Lin:** "That's enough."
> **Xiao Rui:** "He challenged my truth."
> **Yang Lin:** "And I'm challenging your restraint."
Their eyes met — the night and the dawn within one gaze.
---
### **Chapter 228 — The Unspoken Bond**
Days passed.
Yang Lin and Xiao Rui's paths crossed more often — in silence, in brief glances, in the way neither could sleep when the other was awake.
Ye Ruyan saw it first — the pull between power and peace, destruction and grace.
> **Ye Ruyan (to Lian Yu):** "He's falling again."
> **Lian Yu:** "No… he's remembering how to be human."
That night, Xiao Rui brought him tea beneath the shattered moon.
> **Xiao Rui:** "You could've killed the heavens, but you stopped."
> **Yang Lin:** "Because if I didn't… the stars would have no one left to look at them."
> **Xiao Rui (softly):** "And what do you see when you look at me?"
> **Yang Lin:** "Something Heaven shouldn't have made."
---
### **Chapter 229 — The Betrayal at Dawn**
Before dawn, the *Heavenly Night Palace* struck.
A thousand celestial shadows descended upon the Starysky walls — led by the *Moon Envoy*, Xiao Rui's former commander.
> **Moon Envoy:** "Return, Xiao Rui. Heaven forgives only obedience."
> **Xiao Rui:** "Heaven's forgiveness is just another chain."
> **Moon Envoy:** "Then die with the heretic."
The attack was blinding — beams of light slicing through towers.
Yang Lin raised his hand, splitting reality itself to defend his people.
But Xiao Rui leapt before him, deflecting a strike meant for his heart.
> **Yang Lin (furious):** "Why did you—"
> **Xiao Rui (smiling weakly):** "Because the sky isn't worth watching without you in it."
She fell unconscious in his arms as the light faded.
---
### **Chapter 230 — The Fallen Star**
Xiao Rui lay pale in the healing chamber, surrounded by ancient sigils.
Her spirit was fading — the divine seal of Heaven rejecting her betrayal.
> **Yang Lin (gritting his teeth):** "I'll tear their laws apart if I must."
> **Healer Elder:** "You cannot save her without destroying yourself."
> **Yang Lin:** "Then I'll destroy both."
He placed his hand over her chest, channeling forbidden energy — merging mortal and divine essence.
The heavens screamed.
The stars dimmed.
But Xiao Rui's heart began to beat again.
> **Xiao Rui (whispering):** "Why?"
> **Yang Lin:** "Because I'm tired of losing everything that feels alive."
---
### **Chapter 231 — The Sky Burns Again**
When Xiao Rui awoke, Heaven trembled.
The *Celestial Court* declared Yang Lin's existence a universal crime.
An army of ten thousand divine beings gathered at the edge of eternity.
Yang Lin stood on the palace roof, his cloak snapping in the storm.
Beside him — Xiao Rui, reborn, eyes glowing with silver flame.
> **Xiao Rui:** "They'll never stop coming."
> **Yang Lin:** "Then we'll never stop standing."
> **Lian Yu (approaching):** "You're not alone anymore."
The wind howled — the three of them, once divided by duty and destiny, now stood beneath one sky.
Above, Heaven's light descended.
Below, mortal fire rose to meet it.
And between them — the man who dared to rewrite fate lifted his blade once more.
> **Yang Lin:** "Let the sky burn again."
The storm answered.