022 : The world kneel.

The moment Lin Tian stepped back into the mortal world, the heavens trembled in protest. The once-clear skies, which had reformed after his tribulation, now cracked like fragile glass, revealing glimpses of the infinite void beyond. The very air around him distorted, bending unnaturally as if reality itself was struggling to comprehend what he had become. His presence alone sent waves of uncontrolled energy cascading outward, warping the natural order of the world. Every blade of grass, every rock, every ancient ruin that had stood for countless ages shuddered beneath his feet.

He did not need to circulate his qi anymore. It simply obeyed. The world itself fed him, pouring its spiritual essence into his body without resistance. The once-insatiable hunger that had driven his cultivation had changed. It was no longer a desperate need to devour. Now, the universe willingly surrendered its power to him. He had become something beyond the limits of mortal and immortal understanding.

Far across the land, in sacred temples, hidden sects, and celestial palaces where the most powerful cultivators resided, their meditations were violently interrupted. The most ancient of grandmasters, beings who had not been disturbed in thousands of years, suddenly coughed up blood as their connection to the world's spiritual energy was momentarily severed.

A single name burned into their minds—

Lin Tian.

He had not only returned. He had ascended beyond their comprehension.

Within the towering halls of the Celestial Dao Palace, the highest-ranking elders stood gathered before their supreme leader, a figure draped in robes woven from celestial light. The Sect Master of the Celestial Dao Palace had lived for over ten thousand years, his power extending beyond the Divine Transformation Realm into the fabled realm of Half-Immortal Sovereignty. His mere presence could command the elements, and yet, in this moment, he remained deathly silent, his expression unreadable.

Before him, the surviving envoys who had battled Lin Tian knelt, their heads lowered in shame. They had come bearing news that should have been impossible. They had fought Lin Tian at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, expecting to erase him as nothing more than an anomaly. Instead, they had barely escaped with their lives.

But it was not the battle itself that disturbed the Sect Master. It was what happened after.

One of his strongest envoys—a Divine Transformation cultivator—had been devoured. Not just killed. Not just destroyed. Erased. His existence no longer left a trace in the cycle of reincarnation. His Dao, his energy, his very being—had become part of Lin Tian.

And now, Lin Tian had returned. Stronger. Beyond anything they had prepared for.

The elder with silver moon-like eyes, the leader of the envoys, finally dared to lift his head. "Sect Master," he whispered, his voice hoarse, "we must act immediately. If Lin Tian is allowed to roam freely, he will overturn the very foundation of the cultivation world."

For the first time in a thousand years, the Sect Master of the Celestial Dao Palace frowned.

"Then let the heavens witness," his voice echoed through the chamber, cold and absolute, "we will not wait for Lin Tian to come to us."

He turned toward the other sects, the mighty factions that had stood at the pinnacle of power for countless generations. The Storm Valley Sect. The Nine Heavens Pavilion. The Eternal Flame Clan.

"Summon all forces," he commanded. "The Great Sect Alliance will march upon Lin Tian."

The decision was made.

They would not allow a being beyond their control to exist.

But what they did not realize—

Was that Lin Tian was already waiting for them.

Days passed, and the world braced itself for war. The Great Sect Alliance, a force unlike any seen in centuries, descended upon the Forbidden Lands. Thousands of elite cultivators, each honed through centuries of rigorous training, marched under banners of ancient power. Their auras burned like celestial fire, their qi refined to levels beyond mortal comprehension. Their mere presence warped the land beneath them, suppressing all weaker beings in their path.

Grand formations were erected in the sky, powerful arrays designed to seal and suppress, ensuring that Lin Tian would have nowhere to run. Some of the greatest cultivators in history stood among them, wielding divine weapons said to have been blessed by the Heavens themselves.

And yet—

The land remained eerily silent.

Lin Tian did not appear.

No resistance met them. No armies stood in their path.

It was as if the world itself was waiting.

And then—

A voice rang out.

A voice that pierced through the heavens, resonating across the battlefield like a decree from something far above them.

"You finally came."

The sky shattered.

Lin Tian descended from the heavens, his form wreathed in an aura so vast that space itself rippled around him. The cultivators of the Great Sect Alliance, warriors who had never once known fear, found themselves instinctively stepping back.

It was not because of Lin Tian's appearance.

It was not even because of his power.

It was because they could not sense his cultivation.

To them, he was not Nascent Soul.

He was not Divine Transformation.

He was not bound by any realm they understood.

He simply existed beyond them.

The Sect Master of the Celestial Dao Palace took a single step forward, his aura surging. He was not a man who allowed fear to cloud his judgment. "Lin Tian," he said, his voice steady, "surrender now, and you will be granted a swift death. Resist, and you will be erased from existence."

Lin Tian tilted his head slightly, as if considering the words. Then, his lips curled into a smirk.

"You misunderstand something," he said casually. "I'm not trapped here with you."

His golden-black eyes gleamed.

"You are trapped here with me."

And then—

The battle for the fate of the world began.

Lin Tian moved first.

To the Great Sect Alliance, it looked as though he had merely taken a step. But in reality, entire miles of space vanished. One moment, he was standing before them. The next—he was among them.

And then, the first death occurred.

A Divine Transformation elder, one of the strongest cultivators present, had no time to react.

A single tap from Lin Tian's fingers—

And his body collapsed into dust.

There was no scream. No resistance.

Just instant annihilation.

The battlefield froze.

The Sect Master's eyes narrowed.

"Formation!" he bellowed. "Do not let him break our ranks!"

Thousands of cultivators activated their divine techniques, unleashing a storm of celestial power greater than anything the world had ever seen.

Yet Lin Tian stood in the center of it all, untouched.

He raised his hand.

And then—

He devoured everything.

The sky darkened. The earth trembled.

And in that moment, as the strongest cultivators in the world fought against something they could not comprehend—

They finally realized the truth.

This was no longer a battle.

It was an execution.

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