Chapter 11: The Battle of Inversions

The shattered sky dimmed.

The islands of the Heavenfall Domain trembled.

A second decree rang out—not in sound, but in certainty.

"Trial Two: Inversion Domain Initialized."

"Time. Space. Cause. Emotion. All shall flow opposite. The weak shall become strong. The known shall become wrong. Survive… if you can."

 Collapse of Natural Law

Lin Xuan stood at the edge of a floating staircase, watching in silence as the world twisted.

Clouds fell upward.

Wounds healed before they were struck.

Some cultivators bled before drawing their swords.

Others forgot their enemies but still struck with killing intent.

A nearby rogue cultivator laughed madly before turning into a child, then into dust, in reverse.

Nie Qing appeared beside Lin Xuan, gliding on the back of a skeletal moth that beat its wings before the wind came.

"So," she said lightly. "Heaven's version of a riddle."

"Yes," Lin Xuan replied. "A riddle with one answer: unbeing."

 Inverted Combat Begins

The first wave struck.

A beast formed from backwards sound lunged forward—its scream ripping the future apart before its body followed. Cultivators cried out, disoriented, cut before they moved.

But Lin Xuan stood still.

He collapsed his pulse in reverse, forcing his void essence to flow before intention.

Void Technique: Reverse Spiral Bloom

The Spiral Thread emerged backward—from chest to shoulder to palm—and unraveled the creature before it struck.

It vanished in a twist of absence.

"I do not need cause," Lin Xuan thought. "Only consequence."

 New Void Ability Unlocked: Causal Rejection Field

‣ A passive void field that disconnects cause and effect within a short radius.‣ Enemies who attempt to strike first receive the backlash before acting.‣ Only cultivators with stabilized Dao Hearts can resist the disorientation.

Lin Xuan walked calmly through the twisted battlefields.

Others clawed at their faces, seeing visions of themselves from other fates—some as mortals, some already dead, some triumphant.

Ji Yunlan attacked Lin Xuan from above, flames roaring after his palm descended.

Lin Xuan didn't move.

The flame struck—and turned into ice.

Time reversed.

Ji Yunlan froze midair.

Lin Xuan whispered:

"You are still fighting with laws. I've already discarded them."

Then he struck Ji Yunlan's shadow, and the real body convulsed, coughing blood before falling backward, before Lin Xuan moved.

Meanwhile: The Trial Judges Observe

From the clouds above, faceless entities watched.

Celestial Decrees fluttered from their sleeves.

"Subject continues to rewrite consequences.""Void Path evolving too rapidly.""Recommend escalation: awaken Residual Will of Null Origin."

One voice asked:

"Will the anomaly break through Trial Two?"

Another answered:

"He does not pass the trial. He undoes it."

 Trial Two — Ended Prematurely

As Lin Xuan reached the central platform, the floating realm quaked.

"Anomaly detected.""Trial has failed to invert subject.""Terminating Domain."

The entire realm twisted once more—

—and then reset.

All survivors found themselves on a new continent: flat, obsidian, etched with seven rings.

Lin Xuan knelt quietly at the center, surrounded by a ripple of stillness.

Nie Qing arrived moments later.

"You really don't obey the sky," she said, sitting beside him.

He didn't respond immediately.

Then:

"I don't obey because I am not part of it."

"I'm not its enemy either."

"I am the other side."