Heart-Dao Sovereign

The sky above the Golden Azure Sect trembled.

It wasn't wind, nor storm, nor thunder.

It was the pulse of something ancient, echoing across reality like a long-forgotten drumbeat. At the northern cliff’s edge, where once the mountains slept in silence, a massive rift now spun in the air—a swirling gate of pale indigo light, wrapped in countless shifting runes and silver flames.

The Realm Gate had opened.

It was not a place of pilgrimage, but of danger. Not a reward—but a challenge. A dimensional fracture between worlds, left behind from the Age of Cataclysm, where Sovereigns once tread and perished without record.

Feng Zhen stood before it, silent.

Beside him, Shen Yue and Ye Ruo waited.

Both had said nothing for the past hour.

Not out of fear.

But out of reverence.

“Are you ready?” Feng Zhen asked, without looking back.

“I left everything behind,” Shen Yue replied.

Ye Ruo smirked. “I’d rather walk into a Realm Gate with you than live under their roof another day.”

The system flared softly.

[Entering Forbidden Trial World: Realm Gate Descent]
→ Heart-Dao Synchronization Threshold Maintained
→ Party Status: Trio Accepted
→ Host Path: Sovereign Ascension Route Activated
→ Danger Level: Critical
→ Return Gate: Unstable – Departure must be earned

Feng Zhen extended his hand.

Space folded.

Together, they stepped in.

—

They emerged into darkness.

But it was not the darkness of absence.

It was rich. Weighty. Like the sky had turned to velvet and wrapped itself around the land. Stars drifted across the horizon, slow and dreamlike, each one a floating ruin of ancient debris and spiraling light.

They stood atop a floating island—jagged, cracked, and pulsing with dormant formations.

A ruined palace sprawled in the distance, covered in hanging moss and crushed jade tiles.

Shen Yue’s breath caught.

“This place…”

Ye Ruo’s eyes narrowed.

“There are bones. Everywhere.”

She was right.

Scattered across the land were the skeletal remains of long-dead cultivators—some still clutching shattered weapons, others fused into the stone itself.

A storm brewed slowly overhead, not of wind or water—but of Qi. Elemental streams of space, time, flame, shadow, and spirit flowed across the sky like drifting rivers.

The system pulsed again.

[Welcome to the Realm Gate Trial World – The First Floor: Forgotten Sovereign’s Domain]
→ Objective: Reach the Temple Core
→ Obstacles: Rogue Trial Inheritors, Dao-Beast Guardians, Wild Cultivator Factions
→ Subtask: Locate Forbidden Skill Tree Fragment – 1 of 5

Feng Zhen scanned the ruins ahead.

“We move carefully. This place isn’t just dangerous… it’s intelligent.”

Ye Ruo summoned her twin daggers. Shen Yue drew her spirit-threaded sword.

They advanced into the ruins.

It didn’t take long.

The first encounter came within minutes.

A roar tore through the shadows.

From the trees rose a beast like none they had ever seen—a Void-Fused Dire Serpent, its body wrapped in cracked black scales, glowing with runes that shimmered like stars. Its mouth opened not with fangs, but with distortions—miniature black holes that consumed air, sound, and light.

Shen Yue acted first.

Flame erupted along her blade. She darted forward in a blur, slicing cleanly through the serpent’s midsection.

The cut closed instantly.

“It’s not bound to time,” Feng Zhen called. “We need to break its anchor!”

Ye Ruo vanished into shadow. Her form reappeared above the beast, twin blades descending—only for the serpent to vanish beneath her, teleporting instantly across the battlefield.

Feng Zhen’s eyes gleamed.

“Mine, then.”

He raised a hand.

The air bent.

[Skill Activated: Chrono Spiral – Compression Mode]
→ Local Time Density Increased by 1,000%

The serpent slowed, its coils collapsing inward.

[Skill Chain Initiated: Voidstep → Spatial Displace → Sovereign Anchor]

Feng Zhen appeared beneath the serpent.

His palm met its underbelly.

“Bind.”

A silver-gold lotus mark appeared beneath the beast.

Time snapped into sync.

And Shen Yue’s blade found purchase.

With one clean strike, the serpent screamed—and died.

Its body didn’t collapse.

It turned to dust. Starlight. And memory.

The system flared.

[Trial Obstacle Cleared – 1 of 12]
→ Experience Boost: 12,000
→ Soul Flame Acquired: Void Essence Core
→ Forbidden Skill Tree Fragment Detected – Nearby

Feng Zhen turned.

The fragment hovered in the air where the serpent had fallen—a jagged piece of ancient crystal, inscribed with runes that shimmered between reality and illusion.

He stepped forward.

Touched it.

[Forbidden Skill Tree – Node I: Sovereign’s Will – Acquired]
→ Passive Ability Unlocked: Aura of Rejection
→ Effect: Weakens all external control-type techniques used against Host or bonded partners by 70%
→ Bonus Effect: Nullifies tracking seals, spiritual contracts, and curse formations under Sovereign tier

Ye Ruo whistled. “Now that’s unfair.”

“It’s not unfair,” Feng Zhen replied. “It’s earned.”

Shen Yue stared at the fragment.

Her voice was quiet.

“You were meant for this place.”

“No,” Feng Zhen said. “This place was meant for me.”

—

Night fell.

If it could be called night.

They set camp beneath a floating tree that bloomed with starlight, its petals slow-falling and warm to the touch.

Feng Zhen sat with his back to the fire, eyes closed.

But he wasn’t meditating.

He was listening.

To them.

Ye Ruo was humming softly, sharpening her daggers.

Shen Yue was writing.

She always wrote when unsettled.

But when Feng Zhen turned, she wasn’t writing in her journal.

She was sketching him.

Their eyes met.

She froze.

Then sighed. “I can’t help it.”

Feng Zhen walked to her slowly.

Took the charcoal from her fingers.

Then, without warning, traced her cheek with one calloused thumb.

“You don’t need to draw me to remember,” he said.

“I’m afraid I’ll forget,” she whispered.

“You won’t.”

He leaned in.

Their lips met—soft at first.

But the bond beneath it flared.

[Heart-Dao Connection Strengthened]
→ Emotional Sync: 94%
→ Dream Link Extension Unlocked
→ Unique Ability Unlocked: Lotus Field Amplification (Partner Proximity-Based Aura Boost)

Ye Ruo chuckled from the fire.

“Took you long enough.”

Shen Yue didn’t answer.

But she didn’t pull away either.

And neither did he.

—

The next day, the ground trembled.

Far ahead, at the center of the floating ruins, a temple began to rise from beneath the earth—shaped like a blooming lotus, but covered in screaming stone faces.

The system chimed.

[Temple Core Located]
→ Final Trial Approaching

Feng Zhen stepped forward.

His cloak rippled with space. His eyes shone with time.

His bond burned with violet flame and shadowed loyalty.

And his path?

Unstoppable.