Chapter 88: The Ghost of Shen Longwei

Li Feng drifted through the void, the oppressive silence of the Abyss pressing down on him. He had thought the battle was over. He had struck the final blow against Shen Longwei, severed the abyssal power from the mortal realm, yet here he was—lost. No strength, no direction, only the whispers of the Abyss surrounding him like a cold embrace.

A figure emerged from the shifting darkness. It did not walk, nor float, but simply was—there, standing before him as if it had always been. Shen Longwei. But not the warlord Li Feng had fought. This was something else. A shadow of the man, stripped of all ambition, all hatred, all flesh.

"So this is where we end up," Shen Longwei mused, his voice no longer laced with arrogance, but something far more unsettling—understanding. "You fought so hard, Li Feng. But did you ever stop to wonder what happens after the fight? What happens when you win?"

Li Feng clenched his fists, but there was no power left in them. "You should be gone. I ended you."

Shen Longwei chuckled, a dry, hollow sound. "You ended nothing. The Abyss does not take lives, Li Feng. It collects them. It waits, it watches, and when the time is right—it reclaims." He gestured around them, the swirling darkness shifting to reveal countless figures, their faces half-formed, their eyes empty. Warriors, scholars, rulers—each one devoured by the Abyss, their legacies dissolved into nothingness.

Li Feng felt the weight of it all settle onto his shoulders. "Then I will fight it. I will not become one of them."

"Fight?" Shen Longwei shook his head. "That is the nature of the Abyss. You struggle, and it tightens its grip. You resist, and it twists your will against you. But perhaps you are different. Perhaps you can break the cycle."

The words sent a ripple through Li Feng's thoughts. The cycle. The Abyss did not merely consume—it fed, grew, and repeated. If it was never stopped, then no victory would ever be permanent. The world would always fall back into darkness.

Far above, in the real world, Mei Lian and Yan Shun pressed forward through the shattered remains of the battlefield. The gateway they had uncovered thrummed with power, pulsing in tandem with the celestial alignment's final moments. Mei Lian's heart pounded as she traced the inscriptions carved into its ancient stone. "This is it. This is the key. If we open this, we might be able to reach him."

Yan Shun hesitated. "And if it only pulls us in? If it's just another trap?"

Mei Lian's gaze was steady. "Then we find a way to bring him back. No matter what."

The gateway pulsed one final time, and with a shudder, the energy within it exploded outward. The Abyss trembled.

Li Feng felt the shift instantly. A crack of light pierced through the darkness, reaching him, pulling at him. But the Abyss was not ready to release him. Tendrils of shadow coiled around him, the faces of lost souls wailing in protest.

Shen Longwei sighed. "Your friends. They would defy fate for you."

Li Feng met his gaze. "Yes."

For the first time, Shen Longwei smiled—not a smirk, not a sneer, but a quiet, solemn smile. "Then go, Li Feng. Prove that the Abyss is not forever."

As the crack of light widened, Li Feng reached for it. The Abyss shrieked in defiance, trying to pull him back. But this time, Li Feng was not just fighting to survive. He was fighting to escape. To break the cycle.

With a final surge of will, he lunged toward the light, and the world shattered around him.

The Abyss begins to collapse—if Li Feng does not escape now, he will be trapped forever.