The return of the Iron-Tusk beasts was a sight that would haunt the memories of the borderlands for decades. Fifty beasts marched back to the Iron-Tusk fortress, their saddles empty of riders, but their packs overflowing with the severed heads of the elite guard. At the very front, the head of Messenger Gong was pinned to his own beast's horn with a note written in his own blood:
"The Void claims its due. Fifty percent, or fifty thousand graves."
Inside the Iron-Tusk Citadel, Sect Master Iron-Hoof, a man whose body was as wide as a mountain and whose cultivation sat at the Early Soul Transformation stage, let out a roar that cracked the sky.
"A miner?! A single miner did this?!" Iron-Hoof slammed his fist onto his stone table, shattering it. "Mobilize the War-Tusk Legion! I don't want his head—I want his soul trapped in a jar of burning acid for eternity!"
The Stronghold of the Eternal Void
While the Iron-Tusk Sect mobilized, Shen Yuan was deep within the mountain's core. He wasn't preparing for a siege; he was preparing for an evolution.
"Master," Ye Lin's image flickered in the [Void-Communication Mirror] he had established with the lower world. "The Obelisk is stable. We have unified the Southern Province. But the air here... it feels thin. Like the world itself is mourning your absence."
"The world is not mourning, Lin. It is waiting," Shen Yuan said, his eyes fixed on a pulsating vein of Dragon-Marrow in the wall. "Do not rush your ascent. The laws of the Upper Realm are cruel to the weak. Wait for my signal."
He cut the connection. He had no time for sentiment.
"Tian Yu," Shen Yuan whispered. "The Iron-Hoof is coming. He is a Soul Transformation expert. My current body can handle his physical strikes, but my soul is still vulnerable to a direct Soul-Crush."
"Then we must reclaim the [Aegis of the Fallen Star]," Tian Yu's voice resonated. "It is hidden in the Valley of Whispers, just three hundred miles north. But Master... that valley is now a 'Forbidden Zone' guarded by the Silver Moon Pavilion."
"The Silver Moon Pavilion..." Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed. "They were the ones who provided the poison Ling Xian used on me. It's fitting they should be the first to lose their treasures."
The Valley of Whispers – Two Days Later
The valley was a place of eternal twilight, filled with a mist that ate away at one's cultivation. At the center of the valley sat a massive, black-iron vault, half-buried in the earth.
A detachment of the Silver Moon Pavilion—twelve high-level Core Formation elders—guarded the entrance. They were bored, thinking no one would dare enter a Forbidden Zone.
Suddenly, the mist began to swirl. A figure walked out of the grey haze, dressed in tattered black robes, carrying a heavy iron pickaxe over his shoulder.
"Stop!" the lead Elder shouted, drawing a jade flute. "This is a restricted area of the Silver Moon! State your sect and purpose, or be turned to ash!"
Shen Yuan didn't stop. He didn't even look at them. He was looking at the vault.
"My purpose?" Shen Yuan said, his voice echoing through the mist. "I've come to collect a debt. Ten thousand years of interest is a heavy burden."
"Kill him!" the Elder commanded.
Twelve jade flutes played a discordant melody, sending blades of sonic Qi toward Shen Yuan. These blades were sharp enough to slice through mountains.
Shen Yuan swung the pickaxe.
It wasn't a sophisticated move. It was a simple, horizontal sweep. But as he swung, the Black Hole Core in his chest flared. The sonic blades weren't deflected—they were sucked into the pickaxe, turning the mundane tool into a weapon of concentrated energy.
"[Fourth Gate: The Void-Breaker's Strike]"
A wave of black force erupted from the pickaxe. The twelve elders didn't even have time to scream. Their bodies, their flutes, and their very shadows were shredded into molecules.
Shen Yuan stood before the vault door. There were no keyholes, only a palm print carved into the cold iron.
He placed his hand on the print.
"Welcome back, Sovereign," a mechanical voice whispered from the metal.
The vault doors groaned and swung open, revealing a suit of armor that looked like it was forged from the heart of a collapsed star. Beside it sat a woman, chained to the wall with glowing golden shackles. She looked up, her eyes a brilliant, piercing silver.
"You're late," she said, her voice like cracking ice.
Shen Yuan looked at her, a rare flicker of recognition in his eyes. "Hecate. I thought they executed you after the Fall."
"They tried," the woman sneered, her silver eyes glowing with a dark, vengeful light. "But like you, I'm too stubborn to stay in the grave. Now, are you going to stand there and admire the scenery, or are you going to break these chains and help me kill some Gods?"