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: Clash in the Moonless Forest
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The Stillness Before the Storm
The forest was silent.
Too silent.
Even the nocturnal beasts that usually prowled the Veil Forest kept their distance, their instincts screaming that something unnatural had entered their domain.
Yan Yue pressed her back against the trunk of a jade pine, breath shallow. Her saber was already unsheathed, but her hands trembled. Not from fear for herself—but for the boy standing ten feet ahead of her. The boy who now radiated a pressure no longer mortal.
Lin Fan.
He stood motionless in the middle of a clearing where moonlight should have fallen—but the heavens had denied this night even a sliver of silver. The darkness wrapped around him like a cloak. Behind him, the stolen bloodlines within his body pulsed: the Crimson Sky Dragon, the White Tiger, the Flame Roc, and now, the Shadow Veins.
But the one that truly stirred...
Was the Crimson Vault Scripture.
And for the first time since he had been branded a thief, Lin Fan felt like he wasn't just stealing to survive.
He was stealing to dominate.
> [Time until detection breach: 00:00:00]
[Divine Beacon Arrived.]
---
The Descent of Heaven
A beam of golden light erupted from the sky without warning.
It didn't come gently. It slammed into the ground with the fury of judgment. Trees disintegrated into ash. The earth cracked like thin ice under the heel of a giant. The shockwave blasted through the forest for miles, tearing apart spirit beast nests and awakening ancient predators that hadn't stirred in centuries.
Yan Yue was knocked off her feet, tumbling across dirt and shattered bark.
Lin Fan stood still. His dragon scales flickered into existence on instinct, forming a second skin.
The light faded.
And from the center of the crater, a figure rose.
He was tall—perhaps six and a half feet. Clad in robes woven from starlight and mist. His eyes were pale gold, as if the sun itself had poured into his gaze. His skin was flawless. No aura, no killing intent. Just a terrifying calm.
Around his neck hung a jade talisman—glowing faintly with celestial scripture.
> [Target Identified: Heaven Envoy – Wu Tiansheng]
– Realm: Late Core Forming
– Divine Technique: Nine Suns Scripture (Dao Grade)
– Weapon: Celestial Halberd of Judgment
– Bloodline: Heavenborn Golden Veins
– Danger Level: Lethal
– Steal Probability: 6.3%
– Death Probability: 92.8%
> Recommendation: Flee
Lin Fan smiled faintly.
"That bad, huh?" he muttered to the system. "Good."
---
The First Strike – Halberd of the Sky
Wu Tiansheng did not speak.
He raised his hand.
From the light, a weapon formed.
A halberd longer than any man, forged from celestial metal, its blade singing with divine judgment. A single rune pulsed along its edge—Heaven. It wasn't a weapon. It was an executioner's decree.
Wu Tiansheng moved.
The halberd sliced through air, and with it, the laws of reality bent. A forest ridge in the distance simply ceased to exist. Trees, stones, even the mist—all sliced through like threads of silk.
Lin Fan barely rolled to the side in time. The edge of the halberd scraped his shoulder and tore through three layers of dragon defense, leaving a searing wound.
He grunted.
So that was divine technique.
---
Stealing the Dao
> [Skill Activation: Dao Steal – Locked On]
[Target: Nine Suns Scripture – Cultivation Path Interference Begun]
The world slowed.
Lin Fan's vision blurred as his soul latched onto Wu Tiansheng's spiritual signature. It was like trying to grab a star with bare hands—too vast, too pure, too ancient. The Nine Suns Dao was a lineage passed down since the first Celestial Emperor, containing solar flames that could burn karma itself.
But Lin Fan had stolen dragon blood.
He had walked into a forbidden tomb.
And now, he reached.
Pain tore through him as his soul was nearly ripped apart. Blood poured from his nose and eyes. His shadow flickered—then vanished entirely, merging with Wu Tiansheng's golden light.
And in that moment—
He saw.
The Nine Suns rotating behind Wu Tiansheng's back.
The flow of spiritual heat.
The exact rhythm of divine circulation.
> [Dao Fragment Acquired: First Pulse of the Nine Suns – Sunlight Rend]
[Compatibility: 28%]
[Skill Acquired: Solar Edge – Incomplete]
---
Lin Fan's Counterattack
With a roar that blended man and beast, Lin Fan launched himself upward, wings exploding outward once more. His right arm surged with crimson lightning, his saber enveloped in black fire.
Wu Tiansheng turned, eyes narrowing slightly for the first time.
Clang!
Their weapons clashed midair. The pressure cracked trees and flattened an entire valley ridge.
Lin Fan spun midair, activating Solar Edge—his body gleaming with an unstable arc of sunfire stolen moments ago. The heat warped space, and Wu Tiansheng was actually forced back for a breath.
It was the first time the Heaven Envoy had been wounded.
Just a scratch.
But a scratch was enough.
---
Divine Rage
The sky darkened.
Wu Tiansheng floated higher, his golden aura expanding into a full solar disc behind him. His face was still emotionless, but the edge of his halberd now wept light.
"You defy heaven," he said quietly. "You defile Dao inheritance."
"Wrong," Lin Fan coughed, wiping blood from his lips. "I correct it."
Then Wu Tiansheng attacked with real intent to kill.
---
Cataclysm in the Forest
The next five minutes were a blur of destruction.
Lin Fan darted through trees, his wings burning with each maneuver. The halberd chased him like the will of the sky, carving divine script into the land. Yan Yue was forced to retreat miles away. Animals fled. The land broke.
But Lin Fan kept moving.
Each stolen technique was pushed to its limit.
Void Split Saber – used to parry.
Flame Roc Dash – used to dodge.
White Tiger Claw – used to wound.
And Solar Edge – used to retaliate.
And finally—
Crimson Vault Scripture – used to steal.
Again and again, he tried.
Every clash, every parry, his soul reached. Bit by bit, stealing pieces of the Dao, fracturing Wu Tiansheng's connection to his divine path.
Until—
> [Second Dao Fragment Acquired: Sun Breaker Breath]
[Sunlight Rend – Skill Level Up → Sunblade Reaping Slash]
[System Notification: Divine Technique 28% Hijacked]
Lin Fan's blade lit up.
Not with lightning.
But with sunfire.
---
The Final Exchange
Their final clash echoed like thunder across five provinces.
Wu Tiansheng, floating above the ruined forest, hurled his halberd downward—his divine aura forming a column of fire that looked as if the sun itself had descended.
Lin Fan met it with his saber raised high, now burning with the stolen technique. His body was at its limit. Bones cracked. Organs trembled.
But his soul was laughing.
As the two attacks collided, a dome of white-gold and crimson light exploded across the land, ripping apart valleys and pushing back clouds for miles.
The explosion was seen from distant cities.
The aftermath left a scar upon the land—a smoking crater a mile wide.
---
Aftermath – The Price of Power
Yan Yue crawled over the cracked ridge, eyes wide. "Lin Fan!"
She found him at the center of the crater—covered in ash, one arm broken, unconscious but breathing.
Wu Tiansheng was gone.
Retreated.
For now.
> [System Alert: Divine Beacon Severed.]
[You have survived an encounter with a Heaven Envoy.]
[New Title: Heaven's Thorn]
[Warning: Karma Pressure Intensifying. Divine Clans may invoke Ascended Judgment if threat persists.]
Lin Fan stirred.
"Did we win?" he whispered.
Yan Yue smiled bitterly.
"No. But you made heaven bleed."
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Shall I begin Chapter next? It will reveal a hidden faction that watches Lin Fan from the shadows: The Forgotten Sect of Silent Crowns, who once served the First Thief King… and who may offer Lin Fan the key to transcending even divine bloodlines.
Let me know and I'll begin writing it in full length right away.