Myth Beyond Heaven

Yun Lintian took the Mirror of Forgotten Eternity from Xia Nongyue, his fingers brushing against the cold surface. The artifact pulsed faintly in his grip, as if responding to the divine energy within him.

Yun Lintian turned to Xia Nongyue. "I'll need to prepare before entering the Abyss."

She nodded, though a flicker of concern passed through her eyes. "Be careful."

Yun Lintian nodded. He summoned the Gate of Beyond Heaven, this time calling for Yue Yun. The portal rippled, and Yue Yun stepped through, her hair swaying as she glanced around curiously.

"You called for me?" she asked.

Yun Lintian nodded. "I need you to stay with her while I'm gone."

Yue Yun's expression turned serious. "Where are you going?"

"The Abyss of Eternal Silence," Yun Lintian replied.

Yue Yun's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't question him further. She simply nodded. "I'll keep her company."

With that settled, Yun Lintian turned his attention back to the mirror. He took a deep breath and channeled his divine energy into it. The mirror's surface rippled violently, and a dark, swirling vortex began to form in the air before him—a gateway to the Abyss.

The moment the gateway opened, an unimaginable coldness flooded out, freezing the very air around them. Frost spread across the ground, creeping toward their feet. The temperature dropped so sharply that even Yue Yun, with her high cultivation, shivered.

Yun Lintian raised his hand, golden light erupting from his palm as he contained the coldness within a barrier. The frost stopped spreading, but the chill remained, lingering like a warning.

Xia Nongyue stepped forward, her eyes fixed on the swirling darkness. "We don't know what's inside," she said quietly.

Yun Lintian met her gaze. "No. But I'll find out."

Yue Yun crossed her arms. "Don't take too long. If you're not back in three days, I'm coming after you."

A faint smirk tugged at Yun Lintian's lips. "Don't worry. It won't be that long."

With that, he turned and stepped into the gateway.

The darkness swallowed him whole.

The first thing Yun Lintian felt was the cold.

Not the biting chill of winter, but a deep, hollow coldness that seeped into his bones, as if time itself had frozen here. The second thing he noticed was the silence—absolute, oppressive, as though sound had been erased from existence.

He stood in a vast, endless void, where the very concept of space seemed distorted. Fragments of broken palaces, frozen rivers, and shattered statues floated in the darkness, remnants of the Ancient Xia Dynasty preserved in this timeless prison.

And at the center of it all—a massive skeletal leg, wreathed in chains of dark energy.

The God of Death's left leg.

Yun Lintian's eyes narrowed as he approached it. The moment he took a step forward, the silence shattered.

A whisper echoed through the void.

"Finally… someone has come."

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once. Yun Lintian's instincts flared, and he spun around—only to see nothing.

Yun Lintian stood motionless in the frozen void, his golden eyes scanning the darkness. The voice that had spoken carried an ancient weight—something far older than the ruins of the Xia Dynasty floating around him.

"Who's there?" he asked calmly, his voice cutting through the silence.

A low chuckle echoed through the Abyss. Then, from the shadows, a figure emerged.

It was humanoid in shape, but its form constantly shifted—one moment a towering warrior clad in shattered armor, the next a writhing mass of shadows with glowing crimson eyes. Its very presence warped the space around it, as if reality itself struggled to contain its existence.

"You don't know me?" the creature mused, its voice a chorus of whispers. "How amusing. The inheritor of the Gods walks into my prison without even knowing what lurks within."

Yun Lintian's expression didn't change. "Should I know you?"

The creature's form solidified slightly, revealing a face that might have once been noble—now twisted with madness and time. "In the early days of the Primordial Era, they called me the Fallen God. The one who dared challenge the Primordial Gods."

Yun Lintian raised his brow slightly. He had never heard such a thing before.

"You were sealed here," Yun Lintian stated.

The Fallen God's smile widened, revealing teeth like shards of broken stars. "By Xia Tianxuan and that coward Si Wang. They thought locking me in this frozen hell would be the end." Its form flickered, drifting closer. "But now you've come. And you carry the keys to my freedom."

Yun Lintian glanced at the God of Death's skeletal leg, then back at the creature. "The leg. It's part of your seal."

"Clever boy," the Fallen God crooned. "Remove it, and the Abyss crumbles. I walk free. Refuse... and you'll join the other fools frozen here for eternity."

The temperature plunged further. The floating ruins around them trembled as ghostly figures emerged—countless cultivators and warriors who had ventured into the Abyss over the eons, now nothing more than ice-bound statues of despair.

Yun Lintian remained still, his breathing even. "If you could break free yourself, you would have done it already."

The Fallen God's grin vanished.

"You test my patience, insect."

A wave of crushing pressure slammed into Yun Lintian, enough to flatten mountains. The frozen ground beneath him cracked, and the air itself screamed in protest.

Yet Yun Lintian didn't buckle. Golden light erupted from his body as the authorities of the Sun God and the God of Darkness intertwined around him. His feet never left the ground.

The Fallen God's eyes narrowed. "You're no ordinary inheritor."

Yun Lintian raised his hand, and the Heaven Sunderer greatsword appeared. Its aura instantly filled the entire space, dispelling the coldness and replacing it with a blood stench.

The moment the Heaven Sunderer materialized in Yun Lintian's hand, the Fallen God's shifting form froze completely. Its crimson eyes locked onto the greatsword, widening with sudden recognition—then bursting into manic delight.

"Hahahaha!" The Fallen God's laughter shook the frozen void, sending cracks through the floating ruins. "This sword! This magnificent weapon! To think I'd see such a powerful sword after all these eons!"

Yun Lintian's grip tightened on the hilt. The sword thrummed in response, its bloodlust surging.

The Fallen God's grin stretched unnaturally wide. "Boy, do you even know what you hold?" Its form flickered, coiling like a predator ready to strike. "And now... I finally see a worthy vessel."

Yun Lintian's eyes narrowed. "Vessel?"

"Your body," the Fallen God hissed. "Strong enough to wield that sword, tempered by a divine authority... Perfect."