The Veil Expanse trembled.
The ground split, rivers of black soulfire burst through the cracks, and twisted clouds churned violently overhead. Li Yi stood face-to-face with the Bonehorn Saint—an abyssal titan of ancient origin, whose very breath carried the weight of thousands of souls damned by time.
His crown of skulls shimmered with violet runes, and each bone that formed his massive, skeletal body pulsed with abyssal power. His cultivation: Abyssal Saint — Middle Stage, equivalent to the Heavenly Origin Realm among the righteous paths. Every motion of his finger could rupture a mountain.
And yet, Li Yi didn't retreat.
He floated above the battlefield, Chaos Fire spiraling from his hands. Behind him, the elite cultivators of the Qingxuan Alliance circled the perimeter, activating domain anchors and shielding arrays. Lan Qing'er stood within a barrier of spirit flowers, ready to launch a support formation at a moment's notice. Xue Lian vanished and reappeared in flashes of killing intent, watching for a critical moment to strike.
The Bonehorn Saint raised his arm, forming a great halberd from thousands of fused femurs and cursed blades. His voice cracked the dead sky.
> "You are too young, Chaos Heir. Fall beneath the weight of the damned."
Li Yi raised his sword, not in fear, but defiance. "You're old, Saint. Time to rest."
Their auras exploded.
The Bonehorn Saint's abyssal domain unfurled—a land of endless suffering, where spirits eternally wept in iron cages and trees grew from bones. The domain bent the fabric of reality, making time crawl and energy resist flow. Even peak cultivators would find their powers distorted.
But Li Yi's domain burst forth in response.
> Chaos Domain — Starbirth Crucible.
Within it, order and disorder spiraled in tandem, manifesting stars that exploded upon creation and galaxies spinning within fractal loops. His domain wasn't just power—it was potential itself. Where the Bonehorn Saint's world suppressed growth, Li Yi's forced evolution.
Every breath he took refined his understanding of the Dao.
The battlefield had become a clash between two laws: eternal stagnation and infinite progression.
And then, they moved.
The halberd slashed down like a continent falling from the sky. Li Yi dodged with a flicker of movement, his Chaos-infused sword meeting the blow midair. The collision lit up the darkness with a shockwave of light and shadow.
BOOM!
Entire floating peaks shattered. Cultivators shielding the flanks were thrown backward. Spatial barriers flickered wildly, struggling to hold.
Lan Qing'er shouted, "Support formation—Tier Four Array, Blooming Shield of the Sky!"
A great lotus of spiritual force enveloped the vanguard team, absorbing the fallout from the clash.
Li Yi didn't pause. He darted forward like a comet, weaving through bone spikes and abyssal curses hurled by the Saint. His sword struck again and again, each blow unraveling ancient spells embedded in the Saint's frame.
"HOW—" the Bonehorn Saint roared, "—does a mere child hold such force?!"
"I'm not just a child," Li Yi replied, sliding under a sweeping halberd strike and planting a Chaos seal on the giant's shinbone. "I'm the heir of something you fear."
With a snap of his fingers, the seal exploded.
The Saint staggered.
Xue Lian appeared above him in a blur. "Finish this!"
Her twin sabers formed a cross, and she plunged them into the giant's left eye. Purple ichor exploded outward, the Bonehorn Saint reeling in pain. Li Yi didn't waste the opportunity. He rose higher, both hands gripping his blade, and called upon the purest Chaos Fire he had ever summoned.
A blinding black-gold flame erupted from his body.
He roared—his voice laced with fury and resolve.
> "CHAOS ARTS: SKY-BREAKING ASCENT!"
With a scream of collapsing air, Li Yi fell like a meteor onto the Saint's chest, driving his flaming blade through the creature's core.
The Bonehorn Saint howled.
His domain began to fracture.
Cracks spidered through the Veil Expanse's sky as the Saint's power imploded. Skulls fell from his crown, wailing as they burst into mist. The halberd dissolved, and his arms collapsed inward like decaying towers.
In a last act of hatred, the Bonehorn Saint tried to consume himself to take Li Yi with him.
But the Chaos Flame had already eaten too deep.
> "Perish," Li Yi whispered.
The Saint exploded—an eruption of soul fragments and broken Dao wills. The battlefield lit up with cascading pillars of light. Even the Abyss trembled at the loss of one of its ancient protectors.
Silence reigned.
Then cheers erupted from the cultivators.
The Veil Expanse had never known such a loss. The Abyss was shaken.
Li Yi hovered, breathing heavily, his armor cracked and his blade dim. Lan Qing'er rushed to his side, supporting him. "You did it."
"No," he muttered, gazing toward the deeper darkness beyond. "This was just a gatekeeper."
---
In the Deep Abyss
Far beyond the battlefield, in a realm where even time dared not tread, a massive eye opened.
The Sleeper stirred.
Chains bound it—chains forged by ancient gods, sealed with laws that no longer had names. But with the Bonehorn Saint's death, one of those chains shattered.
A whisper slithered into the Veil Expanse.
> "Chaos…blood…"
The Abyss was awakening.
---
Aftermath — Temporary Alliance Camp
The survivors returned from the Veil Expanse, carrying both glory and wounds. Mo Ruyan, gravely injured during the backlash of sealing the breach, was being treated by three Saint-rank healers. The casualties were high—but the gain was undeniable.
With the Bonehorn Saint destroyed and the summoning rings disrupted, the Abyss's advance had been slowed. The alliance bought precious time.
Li Yi sat in silent cultivation within a soul-stone chamber. He meditated on the memory of the battle, refining every sensation, every move, every realization of Dao.
His body began to change.
The Chaos Core stabilized. The starlight veins in his limbs glowed steadily. The fire within his soul burned clearer than ever.
> Heaven Ascension Realm — Peak Stage.
He opened his eyes, feeling his strength approach yet another bottleneck. If he could pass through this trial, he would step into the Divine Foundation Realm, a level where reality itself bent to your intent.
But the breakthrough would not come easily.
Outside the chamber, the world stirred.
---
Qingxuan Sect — Great Hall
A message arrived from the Upper Realm.
Lan Qing'er brought it to the elders.
The scroll bore the Li Family's celestial mark and was sealed with a divine talisman.
The elders opened it, and their expressions changed.
> "The Celestial Path…is opening again."
The implication was staggering. The path to the Upper Realm, long sealed, had begun to loosen. A consequence, perhaps, of the Abyss's growing activity—or of the Chaos Bloodline awakening in the Lower Realms once more.
But the message contained more.
> "The God Realm has noticed."
Lan Qing'er's face paled. "That means—"
"Yes," Elder Wen said gravely. "They may come for Li Yi."
---
Closing
In the quiet of the night, Li Yi stood atop a cliff, gazing toward the heavens. The stars blinked slowly, and the horizon burned with threads of violet energy.
The war was escalating.
More would come.
Enemies from the Abyss. Enemies from the heavens.
And perhaps, even the truths of his own blood.
He clenched his fist, his Chaos Flame burning brighter than ever.
> "Let them come."
---
End of Chapter 37