Mark of the Ancestor

The moment the Dao Ancestor's Mark embedded into Lin Feng's chest; his body underwent an unnatural transformation.

Not in muscles or cultivation—but in presence.

"This… what is this feeling?" he whispered, gripping his sword as if it had become an extension of his thoughts.

Energy didn't flow through his meridians—it obeyed him. It didn't need to circulate; it materialized wherever he willed it.

And with that, he faced the Forbidden Seed.

The creature screeched, a twisted amalgam of former celestial might and corrupted desire. It lunged, darkness spilling from its body like ink.

Lin Feng did not flinch.

He took one step forward and—

Clang!

—met its claws with the edge of his sword.

The collision should have destroyed him.

But the Ancestor's Mark rewrote the law of impact. For a fleeting moment, the sword was mightier than the horror.

In the Sky—Dev Watched

High above, Dev stood alone before the Void Monarch.

The world beneath him trembled as laws began to loosen.

"You think your Academy is worth saving?" the Monarch sneered.

"It's not just an Academy," Dev replied, voice calm. "It's the future. The last defense before the Realms fall."

The Void Monarch unleashed a blast of spatial annihilation.

Dev waved his hand lazily. The beam stopped in midair.

"You forgot," Dev said, his hair fluttering in the void wind, "I'm not trying to win. I'm reminding reality—of its creator."

He clapped his palms again.

A massive ring of Primordial Law unfurled behind him. Twelve radiant orbs—each representing a foundational law—circled him slowly.

Back to the Academy

Lin Feng's body trembled, but his eyes blazed with will.

"If I die here, so be it. But I will not fall back."

The Forbidden Seed screeched again and rushed with terrifying speed.

Lin Feng closed his eyes and remembered something Dev once said:

"The Dao is not about power. It's about making the universe listen when you whisper."

He whispered now.

"Break."

His blade turned white-hot and struck.

The Forbidden Seed stopped.

Cracks appeared.

And then—

BOOM.

The seed exploded in a wave of void energy.

Lin Feng was thrown backward, blood trailing from his lips, but he was alive.

Ye Qingxue ran to him.

"You did it."

"I didn't," Lin Feng coughed, smiling faintly. "He did."

He looked to the sky, where Dev floated like a celestial sovereign, his presence blocking out even the sun.

Far Away…

In a sealed realm between time and causality, a pair of ancient eyes opened.

"He used the Mark…"

"So, the Dao Ancestor walks again."

A hunched figure stood up from a throne made of dragon bones and whispered:

"It's time I returned… to the Academy."