Chapter 1 — Betray the Heavens
The sky was collapsing.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Cracks of golden light tore across the firmament as if some colossal hand was ripping open reality itself.
At the center of the storm stood one man.
Mo Tian.
Supreme Demon Emperor.
His black robes whipped violently in the wind. Blood ran down his chin, but his posture remained straight, dominant, unyielding.
Around him, twelve figures hovered in a circle—each radiating blinding celestial light.
The Grand Elders of the Heavenly Dao Sect.
Above them, an ancient formation rotated—vast golden runes locking space itself.
The Heaven-Slaying Array.
Created specifically for him.
Mo Tian laughed.
"So this is what it takes?" His voice thundered across the mountains. "Twelve Emperor Realm cultivators and a Heaven-grade formation?"
One elder sneered. "Demon Emperor, your tyranny ends tonight."
"Tyranny?" Mo Tian tilted his head. "I call it efficient management."
Even now, humor.
Because if he didn't laugh—
He would remember.
And remembering hurt more than the wounds carving through his chest.
His demonic aura surged.
It wasn't simple energy.
It was suffocation given form.
Black qi coiled around him like living serpents, edged with crimson lightning. The pressure alone shattered distant peaks. Clouds vaporized. Space distorted.
His cultivation had reached the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation.
One step away from transcendence.
And yet—
He was losing.
The formation tightened.
Golden chains lashed downward.
They burned.
His flesh hissed where celestial qi touched demonic essence.
Pain.
Sharp.
Blinding.
He inhaled it.
Converted it.
The Heaven-Devouring Scripture activated instinctively. Dark vortexes spun inside his meridians, grinding foreign energy into nourishment.
Still…
They had prepared too well.
"Activate the final seal!" someone shouted.
The sky went silent.
Then—
She descended.
White robes.
Silver hair ribbon fluttering.
Eyes like frozen starlight.
Yue Ling.
Saintess of the Heavenly Dao Sect.
And the only woman he had ever allowed within arm's reach.
Her aura was different from the elders.
Pure.
Dense.
Her celestial qi shimmered like crystallized moonlight, each breath releasing frost patterns in the air. The spiritual pressure around her was calm, controlled—deadly.
Their eyes met.
Something twisted in his chest.
Ah.
So this was the real killing blow.
"You too?" he asked quietly.
Her grip tightened on her sword.
"I warned you," she said. "You chose slaughter."
"I chose survival."
Their auras collided invisibly.
Black and white.
Demonic and celestial.
The air screamed.
"You destroyed three sacred clans," she continued.
"They were plotting rebellion."
"You wiped out an entire city."
"They hid assassins."
Silence.
Thunder rolled.
He studied her expression.
No hatred.
Just sorrow.
That was worse.
"So this is justice?" he asked.
"This is balance."
He laughed again, softer.
"Balance is what the winners call dominance."
The Heaven-Slaying Array activated fully.
Twelve pillars of light crashed down.
His knees buckled.
For the first time in centuries—
He felt suppression.
Internal monologue flickered through his mind.
So this is how it ends.
Betrayed by heaven.
Outplayed by love.
Pathetic.
He straightened anyway.
Demonic qi exploded outward in a violent spiral. Mountains disintegrated into dust. The nearest elder vomited blood from the shockwave.
Mo Tian vanished.
Void Step.
He reappeared behind an elder and drove his fist through the man's back. Bone shattered. Nascent soul imploded.
"One," he muttered.
A sword slashed toward his neck.
He tilted just enough.
Too slow.
He grabbed the blade mid-swing. Demonic energy corroded the spiritual steel.
"You're trembling," he said calmly.
The elder's eyes widened.
Crack.
Dead.
"Two."
But each movement cost him.
The formation tightened further.
Golden chains pierced his shoulders.
Another through his thigh.
His demonic aura flickered.
Yue Ling moved.
Fast.
Her sword flashed like falling starlight.
It pierced his chest.
Directly through his heart.
Time slowed.
He looked down.
Then up.
She was close.
Very close.
Her breath brushed his face.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He coughed blood.
"You always did hesitate."
She pushed the blade deeper.
Lightning descended from the heavens.
Karmic punishment.
His body began to disintegrate under celestial law.
He should have hated her.
He didn't.
Instead—
He reached up.
Grabbed her wrist.
Pulled her against him.
Gasps erupted from the elders.
"What are you—"
He kissed her.
Hard.
Fierce.
Desperate.
Her eyes widened.
Her aura flared instinctively, but his demonic qi wrapped around her like chains of shadow.
"You taste the same," he murmured against her lips.
"You're insane," she breathed.
"Obviously."
He activated his final technique.
Forbidden Art: Demon Sovereign Reversal.
Every rune on his body ignited.
Lifespan burned like oil.
Cultivation shattered past its limit.
Reality cracked.
The formation trembled violently.
"Stop him!" an elder screamed.
Too late.
He leaned into her ear.
"If heaven betrays me… I'll rewrite heaven."
The world exploded into white.
—
Darkness.
Then—
Pain.
Sharp.
Dull.
Human.
Mo Tian gasped and shot upright.
Wooden ceiling.
Leaking rain.
Rotten smell.
Not the heavens.
A hut.
He looked at his hands.
Smaller.
Younger.
No demonic scars.
He checked his dantian.
Silence.
A thin thread of weak spiritual energy rotated sluggishly.
Low-tier.
Embarrassing.
He laughed softly.
"So… rebirth."
Memories flooded in.
This body.
Outer disciple.
Name: Lin Mo.
Trash spirit root.
Frequently beaten.
Frequently humiliated.
He stood slowly.
His ribs ached.
Ah.
Recent beating.
Charming.
Footsteps approached.
A female voice echoed outside.
"Lin Mo. If you're pretending to be unconscious again, I'm kicking the door down."
His heartbeat skipped.
That voice.
He opened the door.
Rain poured over the stone courtyard of the Azure Cloud Sect.
And there she stood.
Yue Ling.
Younger.
Alive.
Her cultivation aura shimmered in soft layers—Foundation Establishment peak. Celestial qi flowed smoothly along her meridians, forming faint silver halos with each breath.
Even weakened, he could see the flaw in her circulation pattern.
Left meridian slightly strained.
Overtraining.
Still reckless.
Their eyes met.
No recognition.
Only cold indifference.
"You missed the Spirit Root Evaluation," she said sharply. "Are you planning to embarrass our branch again?"
He stared.
He felt something unexpected.
Relief.
Anger.
Desire.
Annoyance.
All tangled together.
He stepped closer.
Despite his weak body, something in his gaze changed.
Predatory.
Confident.
Dominant.
She stiffened slightly.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she demanded.
He smirked.
"Because," he said calmly, "you look better alive."
Her cheeks flushed faintly.
Anger?
Confusion?
"Have you finally lost your mind?"
"Probably."
He leaned closer.
Lowered his voice.
"You should ease the strain on your left meridian. Circulate slower through the Jade Pivot point."
Her pupils contracted.
"How do you know that?"
Ah.
Right.
Too early.
He straightened casually.
"Lucky guess."
She studied him.
Suspicion flickered.
Then—
The ground trembled.
Both of them froze.
A pulse.
Deep beneath the sect.
Dark.
Ancient.
Familiar.
Mo Tian's expression changed instantly.
That aura…
Impossible.
It felt like—
His.
No.
Not his.
Stronger.
Older.
Something buried beneath the Azure Cloud Sect was awakening.
Yue Ling grabbed her sword instinctively.
"What is that?"
Mo Tian closed his eyes.
He felt it clearly now.
A second demonic heartbeat.
Echoing his own.
And then—
A voice whispered inside his mind.
"You finally returned… Sovereign."
His eyes snapped open.
Yue Ling was staring at him.
Because—
Black demonic qi was leaking from his body.
Uncontrollably.
And the entire courtyard was beginning to crack beneath his feet.
He smiled slowly.
"Well," he muttered, "this is going to complicate enrollment."
The ground split open.
And something enormous began rising from below.