The Demon Realm and the Celestial Radiance Realm had existed in opposition for thousands of years. One ruled by immortal light and heavenly order, the other by abyssal power and unyielding strength. Between them lay a fragile border that had been shattered more than once in history. Every time it broke, blood flowed like rivers and mountains trembled beneath the clash of immortals and demons.
Years ago, during the most devastating border war in recent history, Mo Tianye, the Demon Sovereign of Shadow Abyss Palace, stood alongside his wife Bai Yushuang to repair the fractured boundary between realms. Both possessed cultivation that shook heaven and earth. In order to prevent a full invasion from the Celestial Radiance Realm, they exhausted their cultivation sealing the crack between worlds. By the time the repair was complete, their spiritual sea had run dry. It was at that very moment that the Immortal Realm launched a decisive strike.
Mo Xuan had witnessed their final battle.
He remembered his father's blood-soaked robes and his mother's trembling hands pressing against the collapsing barrier. He remembered the moment when their aura vanished from the world. From that day forward, something inside him hardened.
Grief did not break him.
It sharpened him.
Mo Xuan inherited the throne of Shadow Abyss Palace while still young, and he ruled with an authority far beyond his years. His white hair, a mark of his awakened death lineage, flowed behind him like frost beneath moonlight. His black robes were simple yet oppressive, and his gaze alone was enough to make elders lower their heads.
Under his rule, Shadow Abyss Palace expanded its influence across the southern territories. Any immortal who dared approach the border was met with merciless retaliation. Within the palace, betrayal was punished without hesitation. Even clan members were not spared if they crossed his line.
His cultivation reached the peak of the Celestial Emperor Realm, only half a step away from the Supreme Realm known as Life-Death Sovereign. The path of cultivation in this world was divided clearly. The Mortal Realm consisted of Qi Gathering, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul. Above it stood the Immortal Realm—Spirit Transformation, Heaven Ascension, Celestial King, and Celestial Emperor. Beyond all of them stood the Supreme Realm—Life-Death Sovereign, a realm few in history had ever touched.
Mo Xuan had long awakened the power of Death. However, the Life aspect within his origin remained dormant. Still, with his current strength, he stood unmatched within the Demon Realm.
That night, he attempted his final breakthrough.
Within the deepest cultivation chamber of Shadow Abyss Palace, a massive formation array glowed beneath him. Spiritual lightning crackled across the ceiling as demonic energy poured into his body in violent torrents. His aura rose steadily, pressing against the threshold of the Supreme Realm.
Then, without warning, instability erupted within him.
His spiritual sea trembled violently. His meridians felt as though they were being torn apart from within. Blood slowly trickled down from the corner of his mouth.
Outside the chamber stood Elder Gu Cang and Elder Yan Luo. Both had served Shadow Abyss Palace for decades.
Yan Luo stepped forward and knelt respectfully. "Your Majesty," he said calmly, "your breakthrough has caused turbulence within your spiritual sea. Please take this Heaven-Calming Origin Pill to stabilize it."
Mo Xuan did not hesitate. He trusted his own strength more than any pill, yet in this unstable moment, delay could prove fatal. He accepted the pill and swallowed it.
The next moment, his body convulsed.
A violent surge tore through his dantian. His cultivation core cracked with a sound like shattering glass. His meridians ruptured one after another, and a mouthful of blood burst from his lips, splattering across the formation array beneath him.
The array changed color.
It was no longer supporting him.
It was sealing him.
Gu Cang stepped into the chamber, his expression calm. "That was not a Heaven-Calming Origin Pill," he said evenly. "It was the Heaven-Severing Soul Pill."
The effects were immediate and merciless. It destroyed cultivation cores, severed spiritual foundations, and crippled meridians beyond repair.
Mo Xuan slowly stood up despite the pain tearing through his body. His once overwhelming aura collapsed, yet the oppressive presence around him did not weaken.
"You dare?" His voice was quiet, but the entire chamber trembled.
The formation activated fully. Sealing chains of spiritual light shot upward from the ground, binding his limbs. More elders entered the chamber, surrounding him.
Mo Xuan's white hair fluttered wildly as death aura erupted from his body. Even without cultivation, the pressure he emitted was suffocating.
He extended his hand.
Space rippled, and a blade appeared.
The sword was slender and slightly curved, its surface shimmering like a crescent moon swallowed by shadow. Black and silver light flowed faintly across its edge, and an aura of life and death pulsed within it.
Its name was Heavenfall Crescent.
With a single slash, part of the formation shattered. The chamber exploded outward as Mo Xuan forced his way into the open sky.
The elders pursued him across the palace grounds and into the air beyond.
Spiritual attacks filled the night sky. Flames roared. Soul chains lashed forward. Sword lights descended like falling stars.
Mo Xuan retreated toward the border of realms, fighting as he moved. Though his cultivation was crippled, his swordsmanship remained flawless. Heavenfall Crescent carved arcs of pale light through the darkness, forcing back one elder after another.
An elder's arm was severed. Another coughed blood and fell from the sky.
But Mo Xuan paid the price.
A spear pierced his side. A blade slashed across his back. Yan Luo's hellfire burned into his shoulder, charring flesh. Blood soaked his robes, and his breathing grew heavy.
Still, he stood upright.
"You betrayed this Emperor," he said coldly. "And yet you speak of righteousness?"
Gu Cang's voice echoed across the battlefield. "You deserve to know the truth before you die."
Mo Xuan's sword paused for a fraction of a moment.
"It was we who leaked the border repair location to the Immortal Realm," Gu Cang continued calmly. "Your father and mother exhausted their cultivation sealing the crack. When they were weakest, Heaven struck."
The words struck harder than any blade.
Mo Xuan's grip tightened around Heavenfall Crescent. Memories flooded his mind—his father's steady gaze, his mother's trembling smile, the warmth of their final embrace.
Yan Luo added coldly, "Your father sought peace between realms. That weakness nearly destroyed Shadow Abyss Palace. We simply ensured the strong survived."
For the first time in years, Mo Xuan's expression cracked.
Then it hardened.
Death aura erupted violently from his body. Behind him, a towering phantom silhouette formed—his Sword Soul, incomplete yet terrifying.
"If this Emperor falls tonight," he declared, his voice shaking the heavens, "you will all fall with me."
He swung Heavenfall Crescent with everything he had left. Life and Death energy spiraled outward in a devastating arc, tearing through space itself. Several elders were thrown back, blood spraying into the air.
Then, without warning, two figures dressed entirely in black appeared behind him. Their faces were concealed by dark masks, their aura unfathomable.
Before Mo Xuan could fully turn, a blade pierced through his back and out from his chest.
Blood burst from his mouth.
The phantom behind him shattered.
He slowly turned his head, but the masked figures revealed nothing.
"So," he murmured, voice faint yet cold, "even the heavens hide behind masks."
With the last of his strength, he unleashed a shockwave that forced them backward.
But his body had reached its limit.
His strength vanished.
Mo Xuan fell backward into the Endless Void Abyss at the border of realms.
Wind howled around him as he descended into darkness. Blood drifted like crimson petals through the void.
"If I return," he whispered into the abyss, "none of you will remain."
The darkness swallowed him.
Above, the elders watched silently, believing the Demon Emperor had perished.
They were wrong.
End of Chapter 1 .....