Chapter 4: The Shadow of Heaven Hunts the Ye Sect
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Section 1: The Assassin Descends
Night fell like a silk shroud over the broken Ye Sect ruins, and yet, even in darkness, the air was unnaturally still.
Ye Tian meditated atop the shattered Peak of Crimson Flame, his body trembling under the pressure of a breakthrough. His meridians burned—in a good way.
> [System Alert: Glitched Cultivation Activated.]
[You have absorbed 1,000x the Qi of a standard cultivator in one breath.]
[Warning: Your realm cannot contain the anomaly. Ascension imminent.]
"This speed… I can't stop now."
He grit his teeth. Bones cracked, muscles coiled like divine chains, and a demonic aura flickered behind him—shifting like a mirage. But just as he touched the edge of the next realm...
SILENCE shattered.
A black figure fell from the sky.
A whisper followed.
"You must not live, Ye Tian."
A blade gleamed in the moonlight. It was not Qi—it was something purer. Celestial steel. Formless. Untraceable.
The blade didn't cut through space—it erased it.
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Section 2: Long Yuyan Bleeds
"ASSASSIN!"
A voice roared like thunder as Long Yuyan emerged from the shadows, divine spear glowing.
"YOU DARE STRIKE HIM ON YE SECT GROUND?!"
She clashed blades with the assassin. Sparks of divine and shadow Qi burst out, tearing the earth.
Ye Tian stood up, eyes narrowing.
> [Host Condition: Interrupted Breakthrough. Cultivation locked at Peak Soul Foundation.]
"Who sent you?" he growled.
The assassin was clad in a robe of heavenly black silk—marked with the sigil of a broken crown.
> [System Warning: Entity identified—Celestial Executioner Rank: Heaven's Fang.]
[Threat Level: Overlord. Victory chance: 0.1%]
[Recommendation: Kiss goodbye.]
He couldn't even joke. The system was serious.
Long Yuyan struggled—her left arm gashed, her divine Qi unstable.
Ye Tian saw the blood drip from her spear-hand.
"Yuyan—!"
"I swore an oath!" she snapped. "No one touches you, Ye Tian! Not even Heaven!"
But the assassin whispered one sentence that shook even her resolve:
> "You are not protecting him… you are awakening him."
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Section 3: The Forbidden Flame Breaks Its Chains
The moment those words left the assassin's lips, Ye Tian's body erupted with heat.
But this wasn't Qi.
It was something else. Something older. Something sealed.
> [System Emergency Triggered.]
[Fragment of Glitched Law detected: Heaven-Breaking Flame (Suppressed).]
[Seal weakening: 2%... 5%... 8%...]
"Not now," Ye Tian growled, voice cracking under the pressure. "I can't lose control again…"
He flashed back to that day—the day the old Ye Sect fell. The day flames consumed everything. A memory suppressed. A truth forgotten.
The assassin's blade pierced the air. Long Yuyan blocked—but her spear cracked.
The air around Ye Tian twisted.
> [Warning: Host's bloodline adapting to the flame. Resonance detected.]
The assassin faltered.
"Impossible… That power was erased from reality…"
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Section 4: The Cursed Elder Speaks
A deep laugh echoed through the ruins.
From the shadows of a collapsed hall, an old figure stepped out—his robes torn, eyes clouded with curses that slithered across his skin.
Elder Ghostclaw.
"Ah, the puppet of Heaven shows up, and the Flame returns," he croaked. "How poetic."
Ye Tian blinked. "You… You're alive?"
"Alive? No. Bound to this ruin by hatred. But I watched you grow, boy."
Ghostclaw raised his hand and a burning glyph appeared—the same that once marked the Ye Sect's forbidden hall.
"You seek truth?" he hissed. "Then listen: your power isn't glitched. It's illegal. Even the gods fear it."
> [System Alert: Hidden History Unlocked.]
[The Ye Bloodline once ruled the Forbidden Heaven.]
[Celestial Courts destroyed your clan to erase the Law you carry.]
Ye Tian staggered.
"What am I?"
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Section 5: He Who Defies Heaven
Long Yuyan held her stance, despite her bleeding arm. Her spear now pulsed with her soul. "Run," she said.
But Ye Tian didn't move.
"No."
He stepped forward.
"I don't care who's hunting me. If the heavens want me dead, they can come themselves."
He pointed a single finger toward the assassin.
A small flame danced on it.
It was not divine. Nor demonic.
It was pure defiance.
> [New Skill Unlocked: Heaven-Denying Ember (Lv. 0)]
[Effect: Burns the divine rules of the realm temporarily.]
[Cooldown: ???]
The assassin paused. For the first time… they retreated.
"I see," the assassin murmured. "Then this world… is doomed."
They vanished into mist.
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Section 6: Broken Bonds, Hidden Love
Ye Tian turned to Long Yuyan, who collapsed into his arms.
"Why…" she whispered, "why does your presence make my soul burn?"
He didn't answer. The system did.
> [Bond Resonance: 68%. Long Yuyan suppressing Lustbound Sync. Potential awakening: High.]
But Ye Tian was silent.
He looked at the ruined sky, clenched his fists, and muttered:
"They destroyed my clan for this power. They fear it. But I'll make them kneel."
Behind him, Ghostclaw cackled.
"The sect has been reborn."
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To be continued...