The wind howled atop the jagged cliffs of Thorn Peak, whispering secrets only the dead could understand. Lin Feng—now living as Yun Tian—sat alone in meditation, his legs folded, his eyes open yet vacant. The distant horizon blurred into an ocean of grey clouds, but he wasn't looking outward.
He was staring inward.
Visions plagued him nightly, ever since he had unlocked a new resonance within the Eye of the Void. Not dreams—no, these were memories. Shards of a past life. Echoes of betrayal.
Laughter. Toasts. Poison. Chains. Fire. And death.
He saw them—his seven disciples—celebrating in the Grand Hall after his assassination. Xuan Mo, the strategist, had sealed his fate with the Chains of Karma. Zhi Lan, his trusted healer, had laced his soul elixir with a slow-killing poison. Each face burned into his mind like scars made of fire.
"They live," he whispered bitterly, "parading as saviors. While I... was erased."
A twig snapped behind him. Bai Chen, the eccentric hermit, appeared soundlessly, leaning on his wooden staff.
"Brooding suits no emperor, even a fallen one," the old man mused, his one eye gleaming.
Lin Feng turned, fists clenched, the shadows beneath his eyes dark as the void he carried within.
"How do you remain so calm?" he growled. "They destroyed me. Perverted my teachings. And now they rule, praised as gods!"
Bai Chen struck the ground with his staff. A faint ripple spread through the air.
"Because I see farther than rage, my boy. They built their temples atop your grave, true—but you still breathe. You have the Eye. You have time. And more importantly… you have memory."
Lin Feng stood, the weight of his fury pressing down like gravity.
"Then show me," he commanded. "I want to see them all. Their faces. Their crimes. Their lies."
The hermit's expression turned solemn. He traced a sigil mid-air. The Eye of the Void pulsed, and shadows coiled from Lin Feng's chest like smoke.
Illusions came alive—memories projected in the space before them.
Xuan Mo, the "God of Law," spoke before an audience of kneeling cultivators, passing divine judgments in Lin Feng's name.
Zhi Lan, the "Goddess of Compassion," healed the sick in front of adoring crowds, but her tearful face from that day—when she ended his life—was burned into Lin Feng's soul.
One by one, they emerged.
Ji Feng, now Commander of the Celestial Battlefields, raining destruction with his meteor blades.
Yue Shan, Lord of Time, walking through memories not his own.
Meng Yu, the so-called Prophet, speaking of divine revelations stolen from Lin Feng's vault.
Bai Yue, Keeper of the Cosmic Gates, erasing Lin Feng from the records.
Shen Lie, Savior of Ten Realms, adored and worshipped… the traitor who once swore eternal loyalty.
When the images faded, Lin Feng was quiet. But a different fire smoldered in his gaze—controlled, methodical, lethal.
"They live in lies," he said. "But I am the truth they tried to bury. It's time to exhume it."
Bai Chen chuckled.
"Then walk the shadows, my heir. The world must not yet know your face."
Lin Feng nodded. "They don't need to see me. They only need to feel the cold breath of justice."
Weeks passed. Lin Feng pursued a trail—rumors of a wandering oracle, spreading the words of a "Celestial Prophet." That name made Lin Feng's blood boil.
Meng Yu.
His former disciple. The one who had stolen the Celestial Scriptures, claiming divine revelation.
The trail led him to a valley cloaked in fog. There, the oracle chanted beneath a carved moonstone, surrounded by disciples in trances.
But the moment Lin Feng stepped forward, the oracle's face drained of color. For a fleeting second, he recognized the presence—the ancient might hidden behind the humble face.
"You… who are you?" the man asked.
"I am your reckoning," Lin Feng replied.
He raised his hand. The Eye of the Void pulsed. Black flames erupted and latched onto the man's mind.
"Give me Meng Yu's truth. Or I will peel it from your soul."
The man screamed, thrashing. His memories burned into the open air.
Lin Feng saw it all: Meng Yu's fortress—the Tower of Prophecy. At its heart, a Primordial Relic: a stone tablet revealing the approximate location of the Gates of the Forbidden Heavens.
Meng Yu claimed that Lin Feng had become a cosmic tyrant, and that his resurrection would plunge the realms into chaos. He had declared himself the new "Voice of Order," twisting prophecies to cast himself as the savior.
A bitter laugh escaped Lin Feng's lips.
"They made me a myth… a villain in their tales... so their rise would appear divine."
He stood over the collapsed oracle. "You've served your purpose."
Then he vanished into the mist.
Back at Yun Clan, Lan Xue waited for him in the clearing where they trained. When he arrived, she immediately noticed the change in his aura—colder, heavier.
"You've seen something," she said quietly.
Lin Feng nodded. "Everything. I remember everything now. Who they were… what they did."
Her eyes searched his. "So what will you do?"
"What I must. Reclaim what was stolen. Restore what was shattered. And burn their golden lies to ash."
She touched his arm. "Don't lose yourself, Tian. You are more than your vengeance. You are… hope, too."
His gaze softened.
"You keep me grounded, Xue. But I must become the shadow they fear before I can be the light the world needs."
Days later, he retreated into the depths of a hidden cavern beneath the Clan's mountain. There, the last fragments of his celestial essence rested—sealed away before his death.
Using the Eye, he formed a Memory Seal, an orb that stored the moment of his betrayal, unaltered and eternal. He would one day project this truth before the world.
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the chamber—deep, ancient, layered.
"Forgotten Heir… why did you fall?"
The walls trembled. Lin Feng clutched his chest as the Eye of the Void surged with gold and shadow.
"Who speaks?" he demanded.
"We are the Voices of the Void. Once your allies. We gave you the key to transcendence. But you hesitated. You trusted. You loved. And you died."
The air turned cold. Lin Feng's vision blurred with divine symbols.
"Will you abandon all ties… to finish what you began?"
Lan Xue's image appeared in his mind. Bai Chen. The children of the Yun Clan. The warmth he'd felt since his return.
But he clenched his fists.
"I seek justice, not annihilation. I will destroy to rebuild. I will bring truth—not oblivion."
"Then receive this… and prepare. They already sense your awakening."
A flash of energy struck him. Lin Feng collapsed, his body trembling.
When he awoke, a new celestial technique burned within his bones:
Reversal of Hidden Truths — a forbidden art allowing him to reflect a person's hidden sins before the eyes of all, stripping away illusion and self-deception alike.
He grinned.
"So let them speak of light. I will show them their own darkness."
At dawn, Lan Xue found a message carved into stone in their usual training field. It was not in Lin Feng's hand.
Her breath caught in her throat as she read:
"The one you killed is returning—not to reign, but to judge."
Her hands trembled.
War had begun.
But this was not a war of swords alone.
It was a war for the soul of the heavens.
End of Chapter 6
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