The silence that followed Tianming's final words in the Heavenly Cliff echoed like thunder in his ears. As his feet touched the crystalline stone of the cliff's peak, the world beneath him rippled—not with power, but with… awareness. Something had heard him.
The Heavenly Dao?
His body trembled—not out of fear, but resonance. Qi surged around him, not from within, but from the very air itself, like the world had turned into a living organism... and it was watching him.
Suddenly, the Void shivered.
A voice—no louder than a whisper, yet it rang through every cell of his being—spoke.
"Are you ready to bleed for meaning?"
Tianming's heart pounded. This wasn't an enemy. This was a test. The threshold between the True Immortal and Heavenly Immortal realm wasn't just cultivation—it was comprehension, surrender, rebellion. A paradox.
He entered meditation, not to gather power, but to listen. Hours passed. Visions flooded his mind—galaxies unraveling, ancient beings kneeling before formless laws, and a blade... not of metal, but of will.
Suddenly, from the horizon, a crimson light split the sky. A figure emerged—cloaked in robes made of burning scripture. No aura. No killing intent. But Tianming knew: this was a Guardian of the Heavenly Will.
"Prove yourself."