The gorge still smelled faintly of scorched qi and vanishing lives.
Xiao Lin stood motionless, black-violet eyes scanning the cliff tops where the watcher had been moments earlier. The presence was gone now—slipped away like smoke through fingers—but the thread lingered. Faint. Distant. Another destined mark pulsing somewhere far beyond the forest's edge.
Yue Ning felt it too.
She stepped closer to him, her small fingers brushing his sleeve.
"Another one?" she asked quietly.
Xiao Lin nodded once.
"Watching. Not attacking. Yet."
He turned his gaze downward, toward the silver ashes scattered across the black stone—the last remnants of the Core Formation elder and his enforcers.
He extended his hand.
The ashes swirled upward in a gentle spiral, drawn into his palm. Not devoured this time—analyzed.
Fragments of memory, cultivation technique names, sect secrets flowed into his mind like cold water.
Silver Moon Sect's inner hierarchy.
Their hidden vault beneath the main peak.
The name of the elder who had ordered Yue Ning's cauldron conversion: Moon Sovereign Ling Xue.
And one more detail—recent orders from higher up.
"Shadow Pavilion," Xiao Lin said aloud.
Yue Ning's expression darkened.
"I've heard whispers. They're not a sect. They're… collectors. They buy and sell rare physiques, bloodlines, inheritances. Even living people if the price is right. The Silver Moon Sect sold information about me to them months ago."
Xiao Lin crushed the last wisp of ash between his fingers.
"Then they'll come for both of us."
He looked toward the northern horizon—where the forest thinned and the first foothills of the Azure Cloud Mountains began.
"We go there," he decided. "Deeper. Higher. Where stronger beasts live. Where stronger people hide."
Yue Ning didn't question it.
She simply nodded.
Space folded once more.
They stepped through.
This time the distance was greater—nearly a hundred li in a single blink.
They emerged on a rocky ledge overlooking a vast misty valley. Below, spirit beasts roared in the distance. Above, the blood moon had begun to fade, giving way to the pale gray of pre-dawn.
Xiao Lin sat on the edge of the ledge, legs dangling over the drop.
Yue Ning sat beside him—close enough that their shoulders touched.
For a while neither spoke.
Then she asked, very softly:
"When you devoured them… did you feel anything?"
Xiao Lin looked down at the valley.
"Nothing," he said. "No joy. No guilt. Only… more room inside. More strength."
Yue Ning leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I thought I would be afraid of you," she admitted. "When I first saw what you could do. But I'm not."
She lifted her hand—the one with the void rune tattoo—and traced a small circle in the air.
Space rippled gently, forming a tiny mirror-like disc that reflected both their faces.
"Look," she whispered.
In the reflection, Xiao Lin's eyes held violet stars.
Yue Ning's eyes held black voids.
They were already changing each other.
"You're becoming like me," he said.
"And you're becoming like me," she replied. "A little warmer. A little less empty."
Xiao Lin didn't deny it.
He simply reached over and covered her hand with his own.
The mirror disc shattered into motes of light that drifted upward like fireflies.
Dawn broke slowly over the mountains.
In the valley below, a massive spirit beast—a peak Foundation Establishment Azure Cloud Tiger—lifted its head and sniffed the air.
It sensed something ancient.
Something hungry.
It roared once—challenging.
Xiao Lin stood.
The roar echoed back at him, deeper, colder.
He didn't roar in return.
He simply stepped off the ledge.
Space folded beneath his feet.
He descended in perfect silence.
Yue Ning followed—violet light trailing behind her like comet tails.
The tiger saw them coming.
It charged—four tons of striped muscle and razor claws, qi blazing around its body like blue flame.
It leaped.
Xiao Lin met it mid-air.
One small palm pressed against the beast's forehead.
The tiger's roar became a choked gurgle.
Its massive body folded inward—fur, bone, blood, core crystal, everything—devoured in a single, merciless pull.
The valley went quiet.
A fist-sized azure crystal floated where the beast had been.
Xiao Lin caught it.
Turned.
Held it out to Yue Ning.
"For you," he said.
She accepted it.
The crystal melted into her palm.
Her aura sharpened again—spatial laws deepening.
She smiled at him—small, fierce, possessive.
"Thank you… husband."
The word hung in the air between them.
Xiao Lin didn't flinch.
He simply nodded.
"Wife."
Far to the north, in a black pavilion hidden among storm clouds, a veiled woman opened her eyes.
A blood-red jade before her cracked.
She spoke to the shadows.
"The boy has reached late Qi Condensation in days. Spatial Devouring is confirmed. The first key is bound."
A voice answered from the darkness—low, amused, ancient.
"Then send the Shadow Reapers. Bring me the child… and his little spatial bride. Alive, if possible. Dead, if necessary."
The woman bowed.
"As you command, Pavilion Lord."
Outside, thunder rolled.
But in the valley, under the rising sun, a six-year-old boy and his nine-year-old wife stood side by side.
Hand in hand.
Unbreakable.
Unstoppable.
The Ruthless Void Sovereign's path had only grown darker—and brighter.
**End of Chapter 7**