Myth Beyond Heaven

Southern Expanse – Divine Realm Border.

The battlefield was a sea of blood and corpses.

Yang Chen's sword arm trembled as he blocked a Chaos Knight's strike, his handsome face streaked with dirt and blood. Behind him, Hua Wanru coughed violently, her spiritual energy nearly depleted.

"Hold the line!" Yang Chen roared, slicing through three Shadow Demons in one swing.

But the horde kept coming.

Hundreds of Chaos Knights led the charge, their corrupted blades cutting down cultivators like wheat. The Netherworld Army's ghostly soldiers fought desperately, but their formations were crumbling.

"Brother!" Yang Mengli screamed as a Void Creature's claw tore through her shoulder.

Hua Litong barely managed to drag her back, her own robes soaked crimson. "We can't hold much longer!"

Nearby, Ye Xialong's elegant robes were in tatters. The young master of the Ye Clan fought with desperate grace, but his movements were slowing. "Damn it... Where are the reinforcements?"

Lan Shuying's flute shattered as she blocked a killing blow.

Chu Mi, the youngest of them all, cradled her brother Chu Heng's lifeless body, her tear-streaked face blank with shock.

Bai Yun's massive axe cleaved through enemies, but even his stamina was waning.

Bai Qingyi's delicate fan blades whirled through the air, slicing throats with precision. "We're being overrun!"

Qin Yiran's sword flashed like lightning, her younger sister Qin Yuyan fighting beside her with twin blades wreathed in fire. "If we die, we die standing!"

Fei Mao, the sturdy blacksmith, roared as his hammer crushed a Chaos Knight's skull. "Hahaha! Kill as many of them as we can, everyone!"

At this moment, a towering General-Class Shadow Demon loomed over them, its hollow eyes gleaming with malice. Behind it, hundreds more Chaos creatures surged forward—an unstoppable tide of death.

Yang Chen's grip tightened on his sword. He turned to Hua Wanru, his voice soft.

"I'm sorry... I couldn't protect you."

Hua Wanru smiled through bloody lips. "Idiot... I chose this path with you."

Yang Mengli let out a weak laugh. "Little brother... still trying to act cool even now..."

Ye Xialong coughed up blood but managed a smirk. "At least... we die as heroes..."

Chu Mi hugged Chu Heng's body tightly, not wanting to be separated from her brother even in death.

Qin Yuyan's fiery temper hadn't dimmed even in death's shadow. "If I'm dying, I'm taking a few more of these bastards with me!"

Fei Mao let out a hoarse laugh. "That's the spirit!"

The General-Class Shadow Demon raised its clawed hand—

And the world seemed to slow.

Yang Chen closed his eyes, Hua Wanru's hand finding his.

This was it.

BOOM!

All of a sudden, a sound like the shattering of the heavens themselves.

The Shadow Demon's arm froze mid-swing.

Then—

CRACK!

Space itself split open, and a figure stepped forth.

Snow-white hair. Mismatched eyes burning with primordial fury.

Yun Lintian had arrived.

For one heartbeat, the battlefield was utterly silent.

Then—

"BROTHER YUN!" Fei Mao's voice cracked with raw emotion, tears streaming down his battle-worn face.

Yang Chen's sword slipped from numb fingers. "You... you're..."

Hua Wanru choked back a sob.

Yun Lintian's gaze swept over the devastation—over his dying friends, over the sea of corpses that had once been proud cultivators of the Azure World.

Something in his chest shattered.

Then—

RAGE.

The God Slaying Sword materialized in his grip, its blade humming with the power to erase existence itself.

The General-Class Shadow Demon barely had time to turn before—

RIP!

A single stroke.

The creature disintegrated, its form unraveling into nothingness.

Yun Lintian didn't stop.

He moved.

"ARGHHH!!"

Every step shattered the earth. Every swing of his sword erased an entire wave of enemies. Chaos Knights screamed as their bodies turned to ash mid-charge. Shadow Demons burst like rotten fruit.

It wasn't a battle.

It was annihilation.

Silence.

Then—

Fei Mao collapsed onto his back, laughing hysterically. "HAHAHA! I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU'D COME, YOU BASTARD!"

Yang Chen sank to his knees, Hua Wanru clinging to him. Tears streamed down his face—relief, grief, everything at once.

Yun Lintian turned to them, his expression unreadable.

Then, softly—

"I'm late."

Yang Mengli, despite her missing arm, managed a weak smile. "Took you... long enough..."

Yun Lintian knelt beside her, his hands glowing with healing energy. "Rest. I'm here now."

Chu Mi looked up at him with hollow eyes. "Big brother... he's gone..."

Yun Lintian placed a hand on Chu Heng's lifeless chest. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then—

A pulse of emerald light.

Chu Heng's eyes flew open as he gasped for air.

Chu Mi screamed, throwing herself at him. "BIG BROTHER!"

Yun Lintian turned to the others, his mismatched eyes burning with resolve.

"No one else dies today."

And with that, he waved his hand and the emerald light enveloped the entire space, reviving the near-dead, his power bending the very laws of life and death.

The battlefield fell silent as Yun Lintian's healing light faded. The wounded stood on unsteady feet, their bodies whole but their spirits still raw from the brink of death.

Fei Mao watched, tears in his eyes. "Damn... you really did become a god, huh?"

Yun Lintian chuckled and looked at each of them—Yang Chen, Hua Wanru, Fei Mao, all the warriors who had held the line against impossible odds. His mismatched eyes softened.

"Thank you," he said, voice low but carrying across the bloodied field. "For protecting the Divine Realm."

Yang Chen wiped his sword clean, his handsome face weary but resolute. "No need for thanks. This is our home too."

Hua Wanru nodded, her delicate fingers still trembling slightly. "We would never abandon it."

Fei Mao grinned, slinging his hammer over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. Save the sentimental stuff for later, Brother Yun. We've still got work to do."

Yun Lintian's lips quirked, but his expression quickly sobered. "The enemy will come again. Stronger. Soon."

A ripple of tension passed through the group.

Ye Xialong, his elegant robes still torn, straightened. "Then we'll be ready."

Qin Yuyan twirled her twin blades, the fiery temper in her eyes undimmed. "Let them try."

Yun Lintian studied them—these friends who had followed him from the Azure World, who had grown from naive youths into warriors capable of standing against the tides of Chaos. Pride flickered in his chest.

But time was short.

"I must go," he said.

Fei Mao's grin faltered. "Where?"

Yun Lintian turned toward the horizon, where the crimson-stained sky marked the ruins of the Primal Chaos Wall. His white hair stirred in the wind.

"To end this war."

Before anyone could respond, space folded around him—

And he was gone…