The bone-ash clearing lay enveloped in an eerie silence beneath the pale morning light as Long Huang collapsed onto his knees, the Mysterious Silver Bow slipping from his trembling fingers. Days of relentless training—nine in total—had left his body battered yet somehow reforged, while his spirit bore the weight of Bai Feng's memories and profound sorrow. Beside him stood the Nine Element Spirit Deer, a silent sentinel, its golden eyes reflecting both exhaustion and a quiet sense of triumph, as the last remnants of the illusion dissolved like mist before the rising sun, revealing the stark, cold reality of an ancient battlefield.
Long Huang's breath came in ragged gasps, each inhalation sharp with the vividness of visions not his own—Bai Feng's final memories etched within the bow's very essence. He was swept into a world alive with festival cheer, lanterns flickering merrily along bustling streets; he could almost taste the spiced wine on his tongue and hear the laughter of revelers ringing in his ears. Yet, within this vibrant scene, shadows lurked.
Five figures moved through the crowd, their presence warping the very air around them. Clad in midnight-blue robes adorned with the sigil of a purple Phoenix encircled by nine stars—the mark of the notorious Xiao Clan from the Celestial Jade Immortal Realm—they radiated an aura of lethal refinement. Despite their Realm being supresse to the Void Venerable Realm, their true power pulsed like a hidden storm just beneath the surface.
Amid the jubilant chaos, a woman's panic-stricken gasp sliced through the air, pulling Long Huang through Bai Feng's eyes into a moment of stark clarity. He turned to see a figure in tattered white robes staggering into an alley, her pursuers closing in with unsettling grace. Even weakened, her eyes blazed with a defiant light that struck a chord deep within Bai Feng's soul—the unmistakable glow of the Heavenly Moon Spirit Bloodline flickered like a beacon, but unlike the Huang Min's this bloodline shadow had 7 moons.
"The Celestial Jade Emperor's mercy ends here," the lead hunter hissed, his voice laced with an oppressive weight that crushed the festive atmosphere.
Then the memory shifted violently, jolting Long Huang as if drawn by an unseen bowstring. Bai Feng surged forward; in a fluid motion, his bow materialized in his grip, an arrow of light hurtling through the air to pierce the first hunter's throat before the man could comprehend the threat.
"Sky Piercer Bolt: Luminous Purge."
The arrow that left his bow before the hunters could react. It was not a physical shaft, but a lance of condensed moonlight, forged from the unseen arrow technique Long Huang had just mastered. The projectile pierced the lead hunter's chest, and for a heartbeat, the man froze—then his body disintegrated, unraveling into silver embers.
The remaining four Xiao cultivators snarled, drawing curved daggers that dripped with soul-severing venom. Bai Feng moved like wind given form.
"Rooted Like the Mountain. Fluid Like the Wind."
He stood perfectly still as the second assassin lunged then vanished, reappearing behind him. A second arrow, this one humming with Soul Resonance, buried itself in the hunter's spine. The man screamed as his spirit was marked, his movements now visible to Bai Feng even when he tried to blur into shadows.
The remaining hunters spun around, their immortal senses finally catching up with reality as they sought the source of this unexpected intervention.
"You dare interfere with Xiao Clan justice?" the taller one snarled, drawing a blade that seemed to sing with a haunting melody, its edge shimmering between dimensions like a flickering flame.
" And so what if I do"
Bai Feng's response was immediate, his voice steady with conviction as another arrow was loosed. The ensuing battle unfolded with terrifying precision, arrows weaving effortlessly amidst oblivious festival-goers who remained blissfully unaware of the mortal danger looming around them. The hunters fought fiercely, employing techniques that warped reality itself, but Bai Feng was unyielding.
With a devastating shot, a Soul Resonance Arrow found its mark, exploding through the second and third hunters' meridians, leaving them gasping in agony. The last attacker's eyes widened in horror as he registered the reality of his situation. "You're not of this realm," he breathed, recognition dawning as fear seeped into his voice. "That technique... the Sky Piercer?"
Bai Feng's final arrow struck true, embedding itself deep in the hunter's heart. As the man fell, his last words echoed with a chilling warning: "They will come for you now. The Devourer always finds its prey."
Su Yan stared at Bai Feng, her chest heaving. "Who are you?"
"A dead man," he replied. "Run."
In an instant, the memory fractured, shattering like glass, and reformed into a nightmarish vision—a sky ripped asunder above Blossom City, a gaping maw of perfect darkness yawning wide in the heavens. From this abyss surged the Devourer, an entity whose form distorted between a towering humanoid and a swirling vortex of annihilation.
Bai Feng stood frozen for a heartbeat, then clenched his jaw as realization struck him: saving the woman had sealed his own fate. With fierce resolve, he willed their showdown away from the panicked streets, shifting the battleground to a desolate plain at the edge of existence—a realm devoid of life but teeming with raw, crackling energy.
The Devourer's booming voice reverberated like thunder in his bones, mocking and sinister. "You cannot run forever, little archer. Your feeble attempts to escape are as laughable as they are futile."
Bai Feng steadied his breath, drawing Void Chaser for the first time in decades—a weapon steeped in untold power and conviction. "You think you know me? I've outrun death more times than you've had meals. And trust me, I'm not done yet."
"Oh, how delightful!" the Devourer chuckled darkly, its many voices intertwining like a twisted chorus. "Let's see if you can outrun oblivion itself!"
With that, their forces collided. Bai Feng unleashed a flurry of arrows, each capable of piercing realms, only for them to be met by waves of entropic force that threatened to erase existence itself. The ground shook beneath them, cracking open as light and darkness raged in conflict.
"Is that all you've got?" the Devourer taunted, flicking a tendril of energy that sent Bai Feng sprawling. "I expected more from the legendary Void Chaser!"
Bai Feng gritted his teeth, springing back to his feet. "Oh, you'll get more, trust me! I saved the best for last." He arched an arrow, channeling his energy into the bright string. "Say hello to Heaven's Requiem!"
The Devourer roared in laughter, a cacophony of discord. "You really think you can claim victory with one trick? How adorable!"
Yet, in that moment of unwavering defiance, Bai Feng unleashed his final technique. A pure wave of light erupted from the arrow, spiraling toward the Devourer with unstoppable force. The ground quaked, and the air thickened with the weight of divine power.
As the blinding explosion engulfed them both, Bai Feng's voice sliced through the chaos. "You may think you know destruction, but darkness has never encountered my light!"
And with that, the cataclysmic explosion of light erupted, a brilliant flare that could shatter worlds, igniting a final clash that would echo through eternity.
What followed this epic battle that would have shattered continents had Bai Feng not contained it. Arrows capable of piercing dimensions clashed against waves of entropic force that erased existence itself. In the end, Bai Feng saw only one path to avert total annihilation. His final technique—Heaven's Requiem—consumed his very soul as it struck true, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion of light that engulfed them both.
Long Huang returned to consciousness with a gasp, tears streaming down his face as the weight of Bai Feng's sacrificial act pressed upon him like a physical force. The Nine Element Spirit Deer nuzzled against his hand, grounding him in the present as he fought against the overwhelming tide of grief. There would be time to unravel these revelations later: the identity of the woman with Su Yan's bloodline, the relentless pursuit by immortal realm hunters, and how it all connected to Bai Feng's tragic end. For now, he had to focus on mastering the formidable legacy that the Sky Piercer had left him.
For three more days, Long Huang trained tirelessly, his spirit fueled by a fierce resolve. Under the relentless rhythm of rain and chaos, his Eyes of the Horizon sharpened, enabling him to track individual raindrops as they fell and danced in the storm. The Soul Resonance Arrows now granted him five full breaths of remote vision, a gift he embraced with anxious anticipation. His Fluid Like the Wind footwork left no discernible trace in the bone ash that lay scattered beneath his feet, yet the limitations of his Meridian Tempering Realm loomed heavily over him—where Bai Feng's arrows had fearlessly pierced dimensions, his own could barely penetrate enchanted stone.
The Blades of Slaughter stirred against his forearms, their dark, demonic energy clashing violently with the purity of his bow. Long Huang clenched his jaw, grappling with the internal struggle as he visualized the sealed space within himself that harbored their corruption. "You are weapons," he reminded them firmly, voice steady with determination. "Not masters." His resolve solidified with each passing hour.
As dusk painted the sky in bruised hues, Long Huang turned inward, centering his mind and spirit. Sitting cross-legged in the bone ash, he activated the Ancient Chaos Battle Devil Dragon Breathing Technique. The air around him crackled with energy as the earth trembled beneath his body, responding to the method's ravenous consumption of ambient spiritual energy. With each breath, Long Huang felt the fiery essence of the world seep into his very being, igniting his meridians in a painful yet exhilarating blaze. On the first day, he felt as though molten steel coursed through him as he shattered into the 5th Stage, the power invigorating yet demanding.
By the third day, his body resonated with the surge of spiritual energy, transforming him as his meridians expanded violently, vortexes of power forming like majestic storms within. When the thunderous boom of his breakthrough to peak 7th Stage echoed across the clearing on the sixth day, the very air hummed with residual power, a testament to his indomitable spirit.
The Nine Element Spirit Deer bowed its head, sensing the magnitude of Long Huang's transformation as he rose on the seventh morning, his body thrumming with refined energy, alive and vibrant. The majestic fusion of the Void Chaser remained anchored within the monolith behind them, its silver etchings dimmed—a fleeting reminder that such power was not yet his to wield, but he vowed that one day it would be.
As they departed the clearing, Long Huang's fingers brushed carefully against the string of the Mysterious Silver Bow. The weapon had become an extension of his very essence, just as the Frostbite Serpent Sword had molded itself to his spirit. Ahead lay the Martial Competition, a treacherous trap set by the Savage Marquis, and the uncertain fate of Huang Peng. Yet he was no longer merely a swordsman bearing the weight of demonic blades—he was the heir to the Sky Piercer legacy.
Bai Feng's final whisper lingered in his mind, a haunting reminder as the spirit deer led him onward. The Devourer may have been vanquished, but shadows of darkness still loomed, particularly the lingering threat that had sent immortal realm hunters after a woman bearing Su Yan's eyes. This was merely the beginning of a chase that would demand every ounce of strength he could muster.