Chapter 89: The Path to Rebirth

The Abyss was collapsing. Fractures of void energy rippled through the dark expanse, warping reality into an ever-consuming spiral. Li Feng stood at the precipice, gazing into the abyssal depths, his breath shallow. He felt weightless, neither bound by the mortal world nor fully consumed by the darkness. The voice of the Coiled Dragon echoed in his mind, ancient and weary.

"Your strength was never in power alone, but in the choices you make."

Li Feng clenched his fists, his entire body trembling. His connection to the Coiled Dragon was severed, leaving him weaker than he had ever been. Yet, deep inside, something still burned—something more profound than mere martial strength.

Suddenly, the shadows shifted. Wisps of darkness clung to his skin, tugging at him, whispering.

"Stay..."

"Become something beyond mortal limits..."

"The world has never deserved you..."

Temptation coiled around his mind like a serpent. If he gave in, he could become something more—transcendent, untouchable. He had seen what power unchecked had done to Shen Longwei. Would he truly be different?

"Li Feng!" Mei Lian's voice rang from beyond the void.

His head snapped upward. A rippling shimmer in the distance revealed Mei Lian and Yan Shun. They had forced open the ancient gateway, its golden light battling against the suffocating abyss. Yan Shun's face was strained, his body barely holding together from the strain of stabilizing the gateway. Mei Lian, bloodied and exhausted, extended a hand toward him.

"You have to come back!" she shouted, desperation thick in her voice. "We don't have much time!"

Li Feng turned back to the abyss. The darkness slithered around his legs, hesitant, reluctant to release him.

"You have nothing left in that world..."

"Power is yours if you take it..."

"The path ahead is suffering..."

A deep breath. He closed his eyes. Then, without hesitation, he took a step forward—toward the light.

The Abyss shrieked.

Tendrils of darkness lashed out, grasping, clawing, unwilling to relinquish him. The moment his foot left the abyssal ground, pain erupted through his body. The weight of the Abyss tried to pull him back, a crushing force of regret, temptation, and agony.

Mei Lian and Yan Shun screamed his name.

Li Feng fought against the pull, every fiber of his being resisting the Abyss's hold. The voices in his head grew louder, more desperate, more enraged. The Coiled Dragon's voice rose above them all.

"You have already chosen."

Summoning every ounce of will left in him, Li Feng threw himself toward the gateway. The light enveloped him, tearing him away from the Abyss's grasp.

A final scream echoed through the void.

Then—silence.

As Li Feng hurtles toward the light, the Abyss does not let go so easily. A final, unseen force pulls at him—one last test before his escape.