Chapter 15: The Seed of Defiance

The return to Earth was marked by silence, not of fear, but of profound realisation.

Within the Starflare, Rael sat cross-legged in the meditation chamber. The Void Ascension scroll hovered before him, encased in layers of spiritual energy. Even now, it pulsed with unfathomable force, revealing fragmented techniques in cryptic sequences—each stroke carved with the intent of surpassing divinity itself.

Inside Rael's mind, the scroll's knowledge had taken root. His spiritual core, once a brilliant flame, now rotated with twin halos of Void Qi and Solar Essence. Two contradictory forces merged into harmony. His body quivered under the strain, but his resolve held.

Elsewhere in the ship, Selene stared out the crystalline viewport, watching the stars stretch past in threads of light.

"The technique," she said as Kaen approached, "did he really absorb it all?"

Kaen crossed his arms. "He didn't just absorb it. It changed him. I saw it in his eyes. That technique… it's more than power. It's a path to independence. No more reliance on pills. No more cultivation chains."

Selene nodded. "Then the Council will try to stop him before the rest of the galaxy catches wind."

Kaen smiled coldly. "Let them try."

---

Two days later, Rael stood before the Global Cultivation Assembly at Mount Tianhua—an invisible stronghold carved into the very bones of Earth, cloaked with hundreds of spiritual arrays, undetectable even by satellites.

The Hall of Heavens stretched before him, its floor inlaid with a golden diagram depicting the eleven stages of cultivation: Body Foundation, Transition, Spiritual Beginner, Spiritual Warrior, Spiritual General, Spiritual King, Spiritual Emperor, Spiritual Saint, Spiritual Sage, Spiritual Demigod, and finally, God.

Each level radiated a faint light, and at the centre was a blackened space—left open for what lay beyond.

Hundreds of cultivators stood in silence, each representing a major empire, sect, or clan. Sovereigns, Matriarchs, Spirit Beasts in human form, and even reclusive hermits that hadn't stepped outside their spatial kingdoms in a thousand years.

Rael stood alone before them all.

"I bring news," Rael said, his voice steady. "The Vault of Void Ascension has been opened. Its technique is now in our hands."

Gasps spread like wildfire.

Elder Xue of the Solar Wind Sect stepped forward. "And you believe you can decipher and cultivate it alone?"

"I already have," Rael answered. "And I will teach it. To those who are ready."

Skepticism rippled across the crowd. Another voice, deeper and mocking, echoed from a corner.

"You speak as if you are already a God."

Rael turned to face High Lord Varion, a peak-level Spiritual Demigod from the Tranquil Moon Empire, his white beard trailing to the floor and his power suffocating.

"I'm not," Rael replied. "But I will be. And I will not ascend alone. We all will."

Varion sneered. "And what will you do when the Council comes? Teach children how to punch stars while our planets burn?"

Rael's eyes flared.

"No," he said. "I will lead them into battle, and we will make the stars burn for us."

His words struck like thunder. But before anyone could respond, a high-pitched alarm rang through the Hall.

A hologram activated above the central array, and the face of a Spirit Analyst appeared. "Emergency report! Incoming vessel detected above Saturn's rings. Identification… confirmed."

Everyone fell silent.

"The Council has arrived."

---

In the void above Saturn, a colossal alien warship shaped like a scythe pierced reality.

Its surface rippled like liquid metal, its spiritual arrays unlike anything human cultivators had ever seen—layered in curved geometry and laced with abyssal energy. It was flanked by smaller destroyers, their hulls inscribed with the runes of the Varn Dominion, one of the Council's oldest empires.

On the bridge of Earth's orbital defence station, Admiral Yun gritted her teeth.

"It's just one fleet. A forward scout."

Behind her, General Rika, a Level 67 Spiritual Emperor with robotic implants fused to her bone marrow, examined the formation.

"They're testing us. Measuring Earth's strength before they deploy the real force."

Yun opened communications. "Activate planetary array defense. Summon all High-Rank cultivators to orbit."

A pause.

"And alert Commander Rael."

---

Back on Earth, Rael stood as the transmission ended.

"They're here."

Selene stepped forward. "Do we engage?"

"No," Rael replied. "We demonstrate."

---

Above Earth, space ignited.

Ten beams of light tore through the atmosphere, each one carrying the aura of a peak-level cultivator. Rael led the charge, standing at the front of the formation with his crimson Spiritblade in hand.

The fleet opened fire.

Energy beams, each powerful enough to vaporise continents, tore across space. But before they could land—

"Array Break: Solar Veil!"

Rael spun his blade in a circular motion, releasing a dome of fire around the Earth fleet. The energy beams collided and melted before impact.

Kaen zipped between two beams, his dagger now enhanced with Void Qi. "Void Blink!" he whispered—and reappeared behind a destroyer.

His dagger flashed, and the destroyer's spiritual core ruptured in silence. The ship detonated in a violet blaze.

Selene streaked across the sky, her spear forming an ice bridge that spread for miles. She danced atop it, casting spears downward. "Heaven's Frost: Nine-layer Descent!"

Nine colossal ice spears plunged into another Council vessel, freezing its internal energy circuits.

Rael moved like lightning.

He appeared on the scythe-shaped mothership's hull. With one deep breath, he raised his blade high.

"Heaven-Breaking Strike: Ascendant Fang!"

His blade extended into a searing arc of flame a hundred metres long. He slashed downward—

CRRRRACKKK!

The mothership's armour split open. Fire erupted. Alien cultivators screamed as their spiritual pressure was snuffed out by the raw force of human will.

From the burning wreckage, a single alien emerged.

A pale being with seven arms, six eyes, and no mouth—wearing robes woven from living metal.

Rael narrowed his gaze.

"A Godspawn."

The being floated forward, its body exuding pressure equal to a Spiritual Demigod, but clearly not human. It spoke without words—through mental transmission.

"You broke the cycle."

Rael raised his blade again. "We didn't break the cycle. We ended it."

The Godspawn's aura expanded.

"Then die with your defiance."

Rael surged forward, flames twisting around him like a spiral storm.

"Let's see if a half-God can bleed."

Rael collided with the Godspawn in a fiery explosion that sent shockwaves across orbit. Space itself rippled as their energies clashed—Rael's solar and void-infused aura flaring violently against the Godspawn's alien spiritual force.

The creature didn't wield a weapon. Instead, its seven arms began to move in a ritualistic sequence, forming strange runes in the air. Each symbol glowed with an ancient black hue, pulsing with what felt like forbidden truth.

Rael's eyes narrowed. "Runic incantation?"

The symbols fused together and shot toward Rael.

"Divine Nullification Sigil."

The runes hit his spiritual barrier—and his fire vanished. His entire technique was forcefully erased.

Rael was thrown backward, flipping three times before he steadied himself in mid-space. His spiritual robes were scorched, and his breathing became heavy.

"That wasn't just suppression," he muttered. "It canceled the laws of my energy..."

From afar, Selene watched, her eyes wide with concern. "That creature isn't a cultivator in the traditional sense. It's channeling a different kind of spiritual code."

Kaen gritted his teeth. "It's like it's rewriting the battlefield as it fights."

Back in the centre of the battle, the Godspawn flicked its wrist. A long staff appeared—black as the void, shaped like an elongated trident. It swung once, and the space around Rael began to bend.

But Rael's eyes burned with defiance.

He gripped his blade tighter, and his aura began to surge again—slowly at first, then with overwhelming power.

"Solar Form: Third Gate—Eternal Sun."

His flames reignited, stronger than before. His Spiritual Core pulsed with the knowledge gained from the Void Ascension scroll. This time, he didn't just channel energy—he shaped it into reality.

The space around him stabilised. The bending laws corrected themselves under the sheer weight of his cultivation. His will was overriding the Godspawn's.

"I learned from your trick," Rael growled. "Now try mine."

With one clean motion, he vanished.

Void Flash.

He reappeared above the Godspawn, spinning like a comet. His blade descended, and this time, it wasn't just fire—it was a slice of conceptual flame, a strike meant to burn through the creature's very spiritual fabric.

The Godspawn raised its staff to block.

CLANG!

The sound was deafening even in space. The staff cracked slightly—something no one thought possible.

Then Rael followed up instantly.

"Ascendant Flame: Twin Suns Fall!"

He split into two mirage-like forms, both with identical blades. They swung together, one from above and the other from behind.

The Godspawn tried to phase out.

But Rael's flame wasn't ordinary. It was mixed with Void Qi—binding the creature in place, forcing it to feel the full impact.

BOOOOOOM!

The impact rippled through orbit. Satellites detonated, debris scattered, and energy surged across several planetary defense arrays.

The Godspawn's chest cracked. Black energy leaked out, and its alien expression finally contorted.

Rael panted, stabilising himself. "Still not dead?"

The Godspawn floated back, slower now. It began to chant again, this time summoning a galactic sigil behind it—representing multiple planets and constellations. A form of cosmic magic unknown to Earth.

It reached its apex—

But before it could cast the spell, a spear pierced its side.

Selene.

She soared in from above, her body cloaked in frost and lightning.

"Polar Cataclysm!"

Thousands of ice shards erupted around the Godspawn, forming a prison of elemental pressure.

From below, Kaen appeared with a vicious grin.

"Shadow Rend: Throat of the Void."

He stabbed upward with both daggers.

This time, there was no cry. Just silence.

The Godspawn's head was severed in a clean arc.

Its body froze, crumbled, and dispersed into a cloud of silver particles.

Silence fell over orbit.

Rael floated quietly, watching the dust.

Kaen sighed, wiping sweat from his brow. "Well, that wasn't easy."

Selene hovered beside Rael. "What was that thing?"

Rael turned his gaze to Earth, which shimmered below like a blue jewel.

"A message," he said. "They're no longer sending armies first. They're sending Gods."

He closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the Void Ascension scroll echo in his spirit.

"They know we've changed. And now... they're scared."

---

In the following days, news of Rael's battle spread across all human-occupied planets. The victory became a symbol—not just of resistance, but of ascension.

In temples, students now trained in simplified versions of the Void Ascension path, guided by Elders who had begun adapting the technique for mortal use. On Earth, sects aligned. Clans previously divided began sending envoys to Mount Tianhua, pledging allegiance to the Human Coalition.

The Galaxy stirred.

On the edge of the Orion Arm, a Council general named Khar'zul the Star-Breaker watched the footage of the battle.

He crushed the datapad in one hand.

"Deploy the Third Armada," he growled. "I want Earth surrounded."

Behind him, his generals bowed. "What about the new God-level cultivator?"

Khar'zul smiled, baring sharp fangs.

"I will show them the difference between ascending... and ruling."