Chapter 141: The Weight Of Unseen Chains -Welcome My Leige

A stunned hush gripped every soul present, their breaths stolen by the spectacle unfolding in the heavens. Two figures stood poised in the sky, their auras clashing against the senses like a storm against a fragile shore. Elder Bia radiated the unmistakable pressure of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, his presence a mountain weathered by time and evil presence. But the younger man—barely more than a youth in appearance—exuded the ethereal might of the Nascent Soul realm, this was the Lord Varelith.

Nascent Soul cultivators were legends whispered in the low realms, beings who had begun to unshackle themselves from mortality's nine bindings. They tread a path toward transcendence, their spirits, and flesh entwined yet distinct, a nascent soul blooming within—a mirror of their essence, amplifying their dominion over the world and drawing them ever closer to the enigmatic laws of the heavens. In these sparse lands, where spiritual energy waned thin, the Nascent Soul realm marked the pinnacle, a boundary few dared dream of crossing.

Eyes widened in unison as thunder growled overhead. The heavenly giant loomed, its chest rent open by a gaping wound, cracks spiderwebbing across its luminous form. The Aetherion Dragon pressed its assault, undeterred. One of its jagged horns flared with a sinister brilliance, black fire coiling around its massive frame as its wings beat the air with a sound like rolling drums. Its jaws parted, and a sphere of obsidian flame erupted forth, sundering the sky with a wail of tortured wind. The fireball struck the giant's fractured body, and with a soundless shatter, the titan dissolved into a cascade of lightning that painted the heavens in fleeting silver arcs.

"Kid, brace yourself," the Aetherion Dragon's voice rumbled through Jiang Feng's mind, deep and resonant as a cavern's echo. "I'll devour this lightning. Such concentrated energy will fuel the dragon ritual."

The Eternal Flame Codex, ever silent within him, offered no counsel—its pages remained still as if it had already poured forth all it deemed necessary. The codex's whisper had urged Jiang Feng to strike at Lord Varelith, a directive Jiang Feng had followed without question or pause, his hate and rage fueling his resolve to kill.

"Die you bastards!"

The Celestial Dagger had answered his will, locking the space around Varelith and Elder Bia in a grip of unyielding force. Though their power crowned them kings among men, the dagger's might—bolstered by Jiang Feng's five golden cores and the oppressive weight of heavenly tribulation—promised a steep toll should Varelith dare to interfere or counterattack.

"How dare you!" Varelith's roar cut through the chaos, a thunderclap of outrage. Never had he imagined that Jiang Feng—a fledgling Golden Core cultivator still weathering his tribulation—would turn his gaze upon a Nascent Soul titan like himself, never before had he been looked down upon such as this, not even lords of their super clans, dare to belittle him. His eyes blazed with fury as the dagger descended, trailed by the wrathful shadow of heavenly judgment.

The air crackled, and Elder Bia staggered, a cough tearing from his throat. Blood stained his lips—not from the dagger's pressure but from the heavens' impartial decree. They had been pulled into heavenly judgment. All who meddled in tribulation or got pulled in would face its reckoning, a punishment carved by celestial will.

The Celestial Dagger struck downward, a streak of molten light against the dark, and around the dagger exploded under its might. Seeing the falling dagger, Varelith's anger surged, and with a sweep of his hand, he unleashed a wave of Qi that crashed into the blade. The sky shuddered under the collision, a deep rumble echoing through the bones of the earth. The dagger spun away, its trajectory broken, but the heavens answered with a deluge of lightning. Bolts rained upon Varelith and Bia, their interference deemed an affront to the cosmic order.

"Ugh, let's get out of here," Varelith growled, his teeth clenched as he endured the searing strikes. He feared not Jiang Feng's strength, but the karma woven into the tribulation's descent was a burden his half-formed, half-recovered soul could scarcely withstand.

"Yes, my lord," Elder Bia rasped, his glare piercing Jiang Feng with venom. As they turned to flee, the sky shifted—a vast, illusory realm shimmered into being above them and the rest of the Obsidian Woodlands, casting the entire land in shadows. The world seemed to bolt out of the sky, but no matter how large it was, it could not cross that thine line which was the veil of severance, the barrier which separated the immortal world from the mortal plane.

"What! That's... The Dark Realm—but how?!"

Varelith's voice cracked, his eyes bulging as if they might leap from his skull. Since descending to the mortal plane, no sight had rattled him so. The heavens' judgment—its crimson rain and roiling fury nor the mourning of the heavens—had piqued his curiosity a hundred and fifty percent, but this... this was a terror that lodged in his throat. From the Gate of Darkness, a beam of light pierced the illusion, seeing this, Varelith seized Elder Bia's arm, his qi flaring into a shroud of dark fog. They vanished like smoke scattered by the wind, moving as fast as he possibly could.

The illusory world rippled, a lake disturbed by a stone's fall. Moments later, a black crystal palace emerged, its spires jagged and gleaming like obsidian fangs. Only a corner breached the veil before the crystal walls shook, yet its presence flattened the land a thousand miles away. Mountains crumbled to dust, rivers evaporated into mist, and all life—beast, demon, or bird—dissolved into ash beneath its shadow.

"I'll kill you!" Varelith's voice bellowed from the distance, raw with untamed rage. Had one seen him then, they'd have glimpsed Elder Bia almost being reduced to a pulp, all of his bones were broken and his life force almost slipped away. His form shattered by the palace's aura, which caused him to faint, his future life or death unknown. Varelith himself bled freely, his robes tattered as he clutched what remained of Elder Bia and tore through space once more, fleeing the encroaching doom.

Jiang Feng's vision wavered, strength bleeding from his limbs like water from a cracked jar, due to his injuries and the loss of spiritual energy, he was unable to continuously support himself and those who depended on his power. The Aetherion Dragon roared, its form yanked back into his body as if tethered by invisible chains. Above, the Gate of Darkness trembled, resisting its retreat, the more it shook, the more pain would rock Jiang Feng's mind, but it too faded into the ether.

"Did I pass my tri..." His words slurred, and darkness claimed him, that last bout of strength given to him by his earth Meridian was borrowed strength and once it was over, Jiang Feng had nothing to rely on. The Celestial Dagger streaked to his side, merging into his flesh as he plummeted, unconscious, through the air.

ROOOAAARR!!!

Though drawn within, the Aetherion Dragon gorged itself on the scattered lightning, its hunger insatiable as it activated Jiang Feng's devouring diagram. Ji Tianyu watched Jiang Feng's fall, his instincts screaming to act, yet the palace's looming edge and terrifying presence held him fast to the spot, no matter how hard he circulated his fifth-level golden core, he could not so much as budge. "I can't move," he thought, his pulse hammering in his ears.

His eyes wandered around himself and noticed that everyone was in the same position as he was, which brought him some sense of relief. If anyone wanted to take his life at this moment, it would be all too easy for them to kill him.

The palace quivered, sending tendrils of dark energy surging toward Jiang Feng. They coiled around the crown atop his head—a circlet of sovereignty forged in tribulation's fire and was being baptized in darkness. As the energy sank into it, the crown solidified, its form pitch-black and intricate. Spikes curved upward like the claws of a dragon, each tip glinting with a faint, otherworldly sheen. At its center, a single gem pulsed, dark as a starless night, yet alive with a subtle, swirling depth that seemed to draw the gaze inward endlessly. Runes traced its edges, their glow was muted but restless, whispering of ancient pacts and unbound potential.

The moment it fully formed, Jiang Feng's descent halted, his body suspended in midair. A sudden stillness blanketed the world below, drowning it in silence. Then, atop the palace's retreating corner, two figures materialized—a man and a woman, their features obscured by the rippling effect between the two boundaries. From the youngest disciple to the eldest elder, minds blanked and bodies quaked, overwhelmed by an aura that smothered the Obsidian Woodlands like a tide. No one could discern their faces, yet the weight of their presence pressed into every soul.

From the enigmatic Golden Steppe General Jin Kael to the reeling Gao Yundian, from Ji Tianyu to Elder Yunshen and Qiao Ping, down to the ranks of Northern Moon and beyond—hearts raced, wild and unmoored. Jiang Feng drifted, oblivious, as the blood-red clouds parted and the crimson rain ceased, his tribulation had ended. He had endured his third tribulation, every ounce of his being spent in the crucible of defiance against the heavenly giant.

Within him, his heart thundered, a clap of storm-born might. His five golden cores start to spin with ferocious speed, drinking deeply of the lingering lightning's Essence and converting into dark Essence, Infernal, and solar source while boosting his draconic and eternal bloodlines. Each core gleamed black as the void, their surfaces smooth yet fathomless as they rotated in place. To stare too long was to feel them stare back, not with malice, but with a quiet, enigmatic allure—darkness woven with charm, free of evil's taint.

The man and woman, their faces shrouded in a haze of indistinction, gazed upon Jiang Feng's suspended form for a long, unbroken moment. Their heads turned toward one another, a silent exchange passing between them—words lost to the wind, yet heavy with intent. No one below could decipher their meaning, but the aura they exuded was a palpable force, sinking dread into every heart like ink bleeding into water. This was no power of the lower realms; it was a might that could splinter the frail world they knew, rewriting its annals with a single sweep of their will.

Eyes stretched wide in awe and terror as the pair moved in unison, dropping to one knee before Jiang Feng. Their heads bowed low, a gesture of reverence that rippled through the stillness. Then, as if summoned by the act, two more figures shimmered into being beside them—illusory yet impossibly real, their presence a deeper, more suffocating weight, that pressured everyone present even more. These newcomers mirrored the first pair, kneeling with heads lowered, their forms radiating a loyalty so profound it seemed carved into their very essence. To gaze upon them was to feel the unshakable bond they bore, a devotion that transcended the mortal coil.

Just as the black crystal palace teetered on the edge of retreat, its spires grazing the void, their voices erupted—a chorus of thunder that cleaved the heavens. The sky quaked, clouds scattering like frightened birds.

"Eminent Blade Warden welcomes you, my liege!" The first voice rolled forth, sharp and resolute, a blade's edge-given sound.

"Eminent Phoenix Regent welcomes you, my liege!" The second rose, warm and fierce, like embers flaring into a phoenix's cry.

"Vanguard Lord welcomes you, my king!" The third struck, steady and unyielding, a shield against the tides of fate.

"Talon Commander welcomes his sovereign majesty!" The fourth soared, swift and piercing, a raptor's call echoing across the firmament.

The declarations surged outward, a tempest of sound that cleared the sky for millions of miles. From the ravaged expanse of the Obsidian Woodlands, a radiant skyline unfurled, its brilliance washing over the land. In the Golden Steppe, warriors lifted their gazes skyward, squinting against the sudden light. At Mirage Delta, scholars and wanderers paused, peering ahead as if answers might emerge from the shimmer. Even the distant Azure Peaks caught the glow, their snow-draped summits gleaming like polished jade. Yet none could grasp the truth of what transpired—only that the world had shifted beneath their feet.

The palace trembled once more, its obsidian form retracting into the void. The illusory realm folded inward, a scroll sealed by unseen hands, and with it, Jiang Feng's body vanished. No trace remained—no flicker of qi, no echo of his fall. He was gone, spirited away as if the darkness themselves had claimed him.

Below, the silence stretched taut, a thread pulled to breaking. Ji Tianyu's breath hitched, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword as he stared at the empty air where Jiang Feng had been. "What... what just happened?" he murmured, his voice a fragile thread in the stillness, dread, and profound terror.

Not too far away from him, Jin Kael's broad shoulders tensed, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the horizon. "Those titles," he said, his tone low and measured, "they're not of this realm. Nor are those beings, just who is this kid?." His hand rested on Lieutenant Mira's shoulder, steadying her as she swayed, her face pale but her gaze sharp, none of the two realized that their faces were filled with cold sweat and the hair on the back of their heads was standing from the chill they both felt just now.

"They knelt to him," Mira whispered, her words laced with disbelief. "To Jiang Feng—a junior who just survived what seems to be a breakthrough of some kind. Who... what is he to them?"

No answer came. The sky, now a pristine vault of blue, offered no clues. The cultivators of the lower realms stood rooted, hearts pounding with a mix of fear and wonder, as the weight of unseen chains—of destinies yet unwritten—settled over them all.