Ascension of The Unholy Immortal-Chapter 434: A legend (2)

Each of Zhuo’s blows left a mark on the very boundary that separated this world from the higher realms.

The domain barrier cracked with every strike.

Primordial winds howled like wounded beasts. The stars above flickered, blinking in and out as the void itself bent beneath his fists.

His bones broke, healed, and broke again. His life force spilled out with each breath, as if a calligrapher had knocked over a bottle of ink onto an untouched scroll—bold, irreversible.

The sky wept light.

And then, it tore open.

Not a tear in the clouds, but a jagged wound in the world’s very shell. From it poured a light that no mortal eyes could fully comprehend.

Golden-violet strands of energy drifted down like divine blood.

"A hand has risen where none dared reach.

A mortal of dust has struck the gate of dominion. Who dares such judgment?"

"Zhuo, son of no clan.

Born beneath broken roofs.

You who broke the sky with flesh—

Be known."

A pillar of golden flame descended from the rift like scripture written in fire. It touched no one else, yet all who looked could see it.

Across the realm, cultivators dropped to their knees—not in worship, but because their bodies simply couldn’t remain standing in the face of that presence.

The flame twisted tighter, spiraling into a single flickering wisp. It was no larger than a candle’s flame—but heavier than a mountain, older than stars.

Heaven Essence.

It hovered before Zhuo, silent and waiting.

He reached out.

The wisp threaded into his soul like a needle through cloth.

For a single heartbeat, the world seemed to blink.

Zhuo simply looked up at the still-closing rift,

"I do not ask for Heaven’s favor, only that it not stand in my way."

The heavens gave no reply.

And Zhuo vanished, never to be seen again.

***

Kai, now far removed from that legend, stood before the second gate.

His body still tingled with the remnants of his newly forged Martial Intent.

Before him loomed the Gate of Thunder.

It was forged from a dark, stone-like metal veined with lightning. Each pulse of power across its surface made the earth beneath tremble.

As he approached, thunder rolled through the sky above, and words burned themselves into the air:

"Strike thyself.

Shatter thyself.

Overcome thyself.

Only then shall thy Intent be tempered by thunder."

Kai didn’t hesitate, he stepped through.

A low rumble echoed through the void, followed by silence.

And then—

CRACK.

A bolt of thunder crashed down from the sky.

Kai now stood on a floating stone disc, suspended in a storm-filled sky.

Thunderclouds swirled around him. Lightning coiled through the air like living dragons. The disc beneath his feet pulsed with each beat of his heart.

Then, they appeared.

Three figures stepped from the lightning.

Each bore his face, but none were him.

The first stood upright, calm as still water, but behind him loomed a dreadful altar inscribed with ancient runes of gold and silver. Within it stood a skeletal devil, wreathed in obsidian flame and bound by soul chains—his aura cold, unyielding, and filled with malicious wisdom. This was the Soul Devil, born of the Origin Return Technique and refined through the Unholy Soul Ascension Method.

The second crashed down like a falling star, his six armored limbs shattering the earth beneath him. His body was monstrous—three heads, six arms, and a form honed through endless blood tempering. Around him surged a dark-golden devil qi, thick and suffocating. He was a True Devil, perfected by the Unholy Devil Body Refining Sutra.

The third floated in silence, cloaked in a crimson mist that reeked of slaughter. Two curved horns crowned his brow, and tattered wings stretched behind him like remnants of a fallen abyssal lord. His eyes burned gold with karmic fire, and in his hand he held a scythe dripping with blood. This was a Sin Devil, the pure embodiment of his bloodline, awakened by the Sin Devil True Art.

Kai narrowed his eyes, facing the three manifestations of his devil paths—reflections of his own cultivation journey twisted into challengers. They stood unmoving, yet the pressure they exuded pushed against him like tidal waves crashing against a lone rock.

CRACK.

Another bolt of thunder lashed down, illuminating the sky in a web of light. Kai stepped forward, and the battle began.

The Soul Devil moved first. With a flick of its skeletal fingers, chains of obsidian flame erupted from the void, aiming to bind Kai’s limbs and soul alike. Runes flashed across the altar behind it, summoning soul-wracking agony. Kai evaded with a burst of footwork, but without his usual qi, every motion demanded more precision than ever before.

The True Devil followed, leaping through the air like a thunderclap incarnate. Its six arms blurred, punching the air and creating shockwaves. One strike caught Kai in the ribs, sending him flying across the disc. Blood sprayed from his lips as he rolled, barely avoiding the next crushing blow.

Before he could rise, the Sin Devil was upon him—gliding silently, its scythe slicing through the storm like a blade of fate. The crimson mist surged around Kai, numbing his senses, distorting his mind with echoes of all the sins he had committed, resisted, or buried.

He roared, summoning all that remained—his Martial Intent.

From his forehead, a gleaming sword erupted, forged of pure will—the Life Severing Intent, a blade of ivory laced with dark streaks, humming with the desire to cleave through fate and mortality alike.

With a surge of clarity, he parried the scythe, the ring of steel and intent rippling through the storm. He turned, cleaving through the obsidian chains, ducked beneath a punch, spun, and drove the sword toward the altar—only to be thrown back by the combined assault of the three.

He staggered backward as the three closed in.

The altar’s chants grew louder. The fists of the devil’s body shone with destructive devil qi.

His sword trembled in his grip, he felt the shadow of death.

And then—

A warmth rose behind him.

A fourth figure appeared—quiet, radiant, unshaking.

This one bore no weapon, no monstrous features. Dressed in flowing robes of black and white silk, his cultivation was calm, absolute. A representation of the Heaven Severing Mortal Unity Scripture—the balance of Yin and Yang in its purest form.

The figure stepped forward and dissolved into particles of black and white, coalescing behind Kai into a single revolving Yin-Yang Wheel.

The wheel turned. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Once.

Twice.

The three devil manifestations froze, their eyes wide with the first flickers of fear.

The wheel spun faster.

One by one, the devils shattered into motes of light, drawn into the wheel’s turning center.

With a final pulse, the Yin-Yang Wheel shrank into a single mote of light and quietly sank back into the space between Kai’s brows.

Inside his sea of consciousness, silence reigned.

All was still.

Floating in that endless void were two things—neither material, yet both real beyond doubt.

One was a sword—long and narrow, forged of pure will. Its edge shimmered with faint ivory light, but its presence was cold, merciless. This was the Life Severing Sword, born from his Martial Intent, capable of cleaving through karma, destiny, and self.

Opposite it hovered the Yin-Yang Wheel, revolving slowly. One half black as the deepest void, the other white as untouched jade. Its motion was steady, neither hurried nor sluggish, carrying a rhythm that resonated with the balance of all things.

The two artifacts faced each other—like wary enemies.

Or old companions.

Kai stood between them, unmoving.

He neither reached out nor invoked any spell. He merely observed them silantly.

A faint ripple stirred in the stillness.

The sword pulsed, its blade trembling faintly as if resisting some unseen pull, the wheel responded, its rotation quickening.

Between them, a thread of light stretched outward.

From sword to wheel.

From wheel to sword.

Their auras began to merge.

At first, it was tentative—like two rivers meeting at their mouths, uncertain whether to mix or recoil. But soon, their energies intertwined, flowing with increasing momentum.

Then—

A crack split the surface of the sword.

The wheel spun once.

Then again.

Its outline blurred and collapsed,folding around the sword, embedding itself into its core.

From that union, a new blade emerged.

Its body gleamed with silver brilliance, but within its edge danced motes of black and white light. At the base of the hilt, the image of the Yin-Yang Wheel remained, now engraved into the metal, turning ever so faintly.

The sword no longer exuded rejection or wrath.

It simply was—complete, balanced, sharp beyond reason, yet calm beyond comprehension.

Kai stepped forward and reached out to grasp the sword.

The moment his fingers closed around the hilt, a quiet resonance rippled through the void.

There was no burst of power, only the feeling of something finally falling into place, as if this blade had waited for him for lifetimes.