Heavenly Wheel Ascension

Zhi Xuan stood tall, the tattered remains of the robe on his left shoulder fluttering in the wind. Despite losing a limb, the balance of his aura did not waver in the slightest; it was as if the weight of the giant scythe in his right hand had become an anchor, uniting his soul with the core of the earth.

"You speak as if the physical body is everything to a Weaver," Zhi Xuan said, his voice clear above the roar of the recent explosions. "You are but fertilizer unaware of the vastness of the heavens. To stand before a Weaver Transformation expert wielding a True Domain while you are merely at the peak of Soul Transformation is the height of folly."

"Hey, hey... don't forget about me," a hoarse, slightly shrill voice emerged from behind Zhi Xuan. "Though I hold no direct grudge against these two sects, the kindness of the Heavenly Path Pavilion has always stayed with me. Now, you've come here and made it easy for me to reclaim what you stole from the Pavilion."

Duan Niu stepped forward until he stood side-by-side with Zhi Xuan. His once-ridiculous face was now buried beneath a layer of cold killing intent. The wooden bowl in his hand vibrated, emitting a thick brownish-yellow glow that represented the weight of ancient mountains. He glanced at Zhi Xuan’s severed shoulder and gave a short snort.

"Daoist Zhang, give me some of that fragrant wine," Duan Niu requested, holding his palm out toward Zhi Xuan.

Zhi Xuan did not look back, but his fingers moved. A jar of fragrant wine drifted from the folds of his robe, gliding into Duan Niu’s chubby hand. Without a word, Duan Niu caught it, downed the contents in a single breath, and crushed the jar under his foot with a heavy thud.

"Good wine!" Duan Niu smirked, his narrow eyes flashing like sharpened jade. "Du Tianzong, you’ve always bragged about this Bamboo Forest as your private garden. Today, let me be the woodcutter who levels every inch of your hypocrisy!"

Du Tianzong laughed mockingly, his voice like the roar of wind through a cliffside. "A mere mid-stage Weaver hiding behind rolls of fat, and a crippled Devil who has already lost an arm? You dare speak of leveling my sect—"

His voice caught as he saw Zhi Xuan pull out a long, gray banner. Below, Zhi Xuan slammed the Vile Heavenly Banner into the ground before him. Now, two instruments of the Thirteen Banners of Calamity had met once more. The Gods Slaughter Crescent vibrated faintly, responding to its familiar companion. As the Vile Heavenly Banner pierced the blackened earth, the sky above the Thousand-Blade Bamboo Forest seemed to split with a silent scream.

"You talk too much for someone who is about to die," Zhi Xuan hissed coldly. He flicked his fingers, and from the fluttering gray cloth, dozens of Nirvana Puppets emerged. "Northern Yama, lead your army. Erase their souls; offer their bodies to me."

Northern Yama appeared from the swirling gray mist spewed by the Vile Heavenly Banner. The puppet king stood clad in sturdy armor. Behind him, dozens of Nirvana Puppets crawled out of the ground like a row of living corpses rising from an ancient burial ground, each carrying an aura of death capable of freezing the spiritual essence of the Soul Transformation practitioners.

"Puppets... equivalent to Soul Transformation?" Du Tianzong gasped, his eyes widening. "How is it possible? Those bodies... they are the bodies of Soul Transformation experts!"

"He uses the bodies of practitioners to create puppets," Envoy Yao hissed, becoming fully alert. "Such cruelty—even the heavens will not allow him to grow. Gu Fengyan, you dare to reveal this so openly?!"

Zhi Xuan did not respond to Envoy Yao’s condemnation with words; he answered with his will. With a snap of his fingers, the Nirvana Puppets shot forward like dark shadows slicing through the night. Each puppet possessed no soul, only a will seemingly moved by the threads of their weaver.

One of the Soul Transformation experts twisted his hands to form a golden circle. From within, a bright light emerged, manifesting razor-sharp bamboo blades aimed at the puppets. The blades pierced the puppets, causing them to freeze in mid-air and stagger stiffly.

"Nothing but soulless junk!" the Soul Transformation expert shouted in triumph. "Gu Fengyan, your puppets are nothing but a bluff!"

However, the smile on his face instantly froze as the puppets, one by one, pulled the bamboo blades from their bodies. The blades fell to the ground with a deafening clatter. The bodies of the Nirvana Puppets regenerated instantly, powered by the Night Petal Root Flowers that Zhi Xuan had forged into them long ago.

"A true puppet relies on its physical frame to defy magic," Zhi Xuan stated coldly. He pointed forward. "A bluff? Then do not blink as you are harvested by a puppet. Advance."

The Nirvana Puppets lunged again, but this time their movements were no longer stiff; they were as fluid as a stream of flowing poison. Northern Yama let out a silent roar, and instantly, the puppets formed a circular formation, trapping the line of Soul Transformation practitioners from the Black Bamboo Sect.

"NO! Get away from me!" the expert screamed. He released another storm of bamboo blades, but this time the puppets did not dodge. They allowed the blades to impale their frames while their cold hands closed around the practitioner's throat.

SRAKK!

With a single pull, the practitioner’s body was torn apart, but a strange phenomenon occurred: no blood splattered on the ground. Instead of spilling, his entire life essence and Divine Spirit fell to the earth like river water, channeled through the soil toward the trigram formation beneath the pavilion.

"Their essence... it’s being funneled underground!" Envoy Yao realized the horror. "Du Tianzong! Somehow, this devil is using a sacrificial formation that turns every drop of spilled blood into essence for that sword-trash down there! Stop them now!"

Du Tianzong roared, his face turning from flushed red to silver-white as he realized the horror too late. He slammed his dragon spear into the ground, creating a shockwave that blew back two Nirvana Puppets near him.

"You dare use my disciples as sacrifices?!" Du Tianzong’s voice thundered, though a tremor of fear was laced within. "Destroy the ground! Break the formation ties!"

However, before Du Tianzong could swing his spear again, an extraordinary weight fell from the sky, as if an invisible mountain had suddenly pressed upon his shoulders. Duan Niu stood there, his wooden bowl floating above his head, expanding until it blotted out the moon.

"Du Tianzong, your opponent is me!" Duan Niu shouted. "Mountain Collapse Step!"

Every time Duan Niu stomped his foot, the ground around Du Tianzong surged upward, forming giant stone fangs that tried to crush the Sect Leader. Du Tianzong was forced to spin his spear in a storm-like motion to destroy the obstacles, but this cost him the chance to interfere with Zhi Xuan.

On the other side, Envoy Yao narrowed his eyes, his silver lotus spinning faster until it sparked light capable of shredding the soul. "Zhi Xuan... you are truly cunning. But do not forget, I am an envoy from the Lotus Valley who understands the laws of growth and decay."

Envoy Yao threw his silver lotus into the air. The flower bloomed with a thousand petals, each transforming into sharp, white silk threads. "Devil-Binding Lotus Silk!"

Stolen story; please report.

The white silk threads intertwined, forming a magnificent blooming lotus in the sky. Every small petal that fell carried a law nearly identical to the Law of Spring and the Law of Autumn within the Law of the Four Seasons. Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, which actually sparkled as he stared at the two flows resembling the Four Seasons.

Zhi Xuan did not withdraw immediately; instead, he allowed the lotus petals to fall around him. His sharp Divine Sense caught the essence of the technique—an attempt to manipulate the cycle of life, accelerating the decay of the body and the weathering of the soul. To him, who had internalized the bitterness of Reincarnation, this technique felt like a splash of water before a vast ocean.

Zhi Xuan withdrew the Gods Slaughter Crescent and extended his right hand as if accepting the attack. In the sky, Envoy Yao frowned for a moment, seeing the scythe vanish back into Zhi Xuan’s body while Zhi Xuan himself appeared to surrender.

The lotus silk petals touched Zhi Xuan’s frame, coiling around his neck, chest, and his severed shoulder with a lethal tenderness. Instantly, his brown robe began to yellow and turn brittle; his pale skin wrinkled as if time were being forced through thousands of years in a single breath.

"Fool!" Envoy Yao sneered, his eyes flashing with cruel triumph. "Under the Law of my Lotus Decay, even the body of a Weaver will return to dust. You were so arrogant to think your Reincarnation could withstand the natural cycle I have forced upon you!"

However, a cold, low laugh suddenly cut through the night. Zhi Xuan raised his face, revealing eyes that showed no fear, but rather a profound hunger.

"The natural cycle?" Zhi Xuan whispered, his voice clear amidst the roar of the choking silk threads. "You were likely still crawling on your hands when I was already shaking the plains. The Law of the Four Seasons will always turn, and behind the Law of Autumn, the Law of Spring is hidden."

Suddenly, Envoy Yao felt the giant lotus petal in the sky being manipulated, as if glowing in a motion sucked by something. He looked back at Zhi Xuan below, his eyes widening as the essence of the Devil-Binding Lotus Silk technique actually became restorative nourishment for Zhi Xuan.

Not only did the decay stop, but Zhi Xuan’s brittle frame began to radiate a pure, emerald-green glow. His severed left shoulder emitted a horrific sound of growth—the sound of bones reconnecting and flesh forcibly knitting itself together.

Aided by the vitality of the Devil Tree of Life and the Heavenly Samsara Wheel devouring the growth laws from Envoy Yao’s lotus, Zhi Xuan’s left arm regrew in a matter of breaths, wrapped in transparent skin that solidified and then radiated divine light.

"You... you stole my law?!" Envoy Yao shrieked, his voice shrill with utter horror. "That’s impossible! The Law of Decay cannot be reversed!"

"For those trapped in a well, the sky is only as wide as a small hole," Zhi Xuan said, moving his new left arm and feeling a power far denser than before. "But for those who stand above the clouds, destruction is the beginning of creation. Thank you for the fertilizer."

Zhi Xuan raised both arms to his sides. In one hand, the Gods Slaughter Crescent reappeared in his right grip, while the newly restored left hand held the Vile Heavenly Banner. The two instruments of calamity now merged in a perfect harmony of death.

"You speak as if you hold the laws of nature," Zhi Xuan said coldly. "Unaware that the Law of the Four Seasons was born alongside my Divine Wheel."

Zhi Xuan slammed both instruments into the earth simultaneously. Instantly, a ripple of transparent, reddish-gray energy swept across the entire battlefield. The sky, once filled with Envoy Yao’s silver lotus petals, suddenly turned orange, exactly like a sunset that brings death.

"Law of the Four Seasons: Heavenly Samsara." Zhi Xuan gritted his teeth, and behind him, the grand disc of the Law of the Four Seasons appeared.

Instantly, nature within the bamboo forest seemed to bow. The biting aura of the four seasons shifted like a year in rapid motion; the law fluctuations roared as Zhi Xuan drifted into the air, a black-and-white mudra glowing beneath his feet as he stepped.

"By mere existence, everything is frozen without movement," Zhi Xuan murmured. The cracked earth quickly turned to ice. "Heavenly Samsara: Endless Winter."

A wave of cold beyond mortal logic exploded from the center of Zhi Xuan’s being. It wasn't just the air turning cold; it was a conceptual law stating that all movement of essence must stop. The dew freezing in the air turned into crystal ice blades containing sword intent, while the roar of battle was suddenly muffled by a haunting silence.

The Soul Transformation practitioners of the Black Bamboo Sect fighting the Nirvana Puppets found their bodies stiff. The flow of essence within their meridians froze like river water forced into jade in the middle of the harshest winter. Even the fire of anger in Du Tianzong’s eyes seemed to dim, coated by a thin layer of transparent ice creeping from his feet to his heart.

"The Law... the Perfect Law of Seasons?" Envoy Yao muttered, his teeth chattering violently. "How! How can you master the Law of the Four Seasons?!"

Zhi Xuan did not answer directly. He moved his hand through the frigid air. He flicked his finger, sending a spark of Extreme Ice that froze the very air it passed toward Envoy Yao. The young man froze; the spark of Extreme Ice touched his robe and encased his body in ice within half a breath.

Envoy Yao, once so arrogant, was now trapped in a crystal ice cocoon radiating a reddish-blue glow. His bulging eyes still held the remnants of horror, frozen at the exact second he realized that the opponent he faced was not just a fugitive, but a master of laws who had transcended his understanding.

Zhi Xuan turned his gaze from the ice statue of Envoy Yao to Du Tianzong, who was still struggling against the pressure of the Endless Winter. Every breath the Sect Leader took now turned into sharp shards of ice, wounding his throat from the within.

"Du Tianzong," Zhi Xuan’s voice was flat, but to Du Tianzong’s ears, it was like a death knell rung in an ancient temple. "Your sect has harvested suffering for thousands of years. Tonight, I will ensure your harvest ends in eternal silence."

Du Tianzong tried to lift his dragon spear, but his body and weapon had merged with the frozen law. "Gu... Gu Fengyan... The heavens will not... forgive you..."

"The heavens?" Zhi Xuan curled a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "The heaven you worship is the same sky I am standing on. If the Heavens wish to stop me, let them descend themselves. But for you, your Heaven has collapsed."

Zhi Xuan clenched his newly restored left hand. Instantly, the ice freezing the battlefield vibrated violently. Small cracks began to appear across the crystal ice surface—not from melting, but because the essence within was being forcibly drawn toward a single point beneath the earth.

BUMMM!

Suddenly, the center of the pavilion ruins exploded. It wasn't an explosion of fire, but an explosion of sword intent so pure it split the clouds in the sky. From the dark hole, a beam of gray light shot out, hitting the sky with a speed that could bend moonlight.

Zhi Xuan released his ice pressure, and at the same moment, the figure of Jian Dao drifted up from the depths of the earth. The chains that had previously bound him were now shattered into pieces, but the most striking part was the Law Nail in his chest. The rusted sword blade was no longer still; it vibrated violently as it was being chewed by the shadow of a small golden dragon and swarmed by lethal shards of moth-light.

Ao Sheng and Xiao Die had successfully loosened the seal by devouring the Upper Realm essence attached to it. Combined with the flow of essence from the dozens of practitioners recently sacrificed by Zhi Xuan, Jian Dao’s frame now radiated a Divine Transformation aura that was restoring toward its peak.

"Hahahaha!" Jian Dao laughed, a voice that now carried the weight of thunder. He looked at his own palms, which had regained their flesh. "After a thousand years... I can finally feel the wind again!"

Jian Dao turned toward Du Tianzong, who was still frozen in fear. The man’s gaze was as sharp as thousands of sword blades sharpened for centuries. "Du Tianzong, the little disciple who stole my treasures while I was down... do you still recognize this sword?"

Jian Dao extended his hand into the empty air. Miraculously, thousands of black bamboo stalks that had been crushed to dust were suddenly sucked back, merging in his grip to form a long sword, pitch-black and radiating a sword aura capable of shredding the soul.

"Daoist Zhang," Jian Dao glanced at Zhi Xuan with deep respect. "Thank you for this blood banquet. Now, let me clear out this trash for you."

Zhi Xuan merely nodded vaguely, folding his arms across his chest while holding the Vile Heavenly Banner. "Please, Senior Jian. I wish to see how a Sword God harvests an old debt."

Jian Dao wasted no time. With one step, he vanished from mortal sight. The next second, the sound of subtle metal clinking echoed throughout the flattened forest.

SRAK! SRAK! SRAK!

One by one, the remaining Soul Transformation practitioners of the Black Bamboo Sect were split in two before they could even make a sound. No sword movement was visible; there were only thin black lines slicing through the space where they stood. Their bodies did not fall to the ground but were immediately sucked into the black bamboo sword blade in Jian Dao's hand, strengthening his increasingly terrifying aura.

Du Tianzong roared in despair, trying to burn his blood essence to escape the remnants of Zhi Xuan’s freezing. "I will not lose here! Bamboo Ancestor Formation, Awaken!"

But his call was in vain. The heart of the formation—Jian Dao’s suffering—had been removed. Without Jian Dao as its energy furnace, the Black Bamboo Sect was merely an ordinary bamboo structure with no teeth.

Jian Dao appeared directly in front of Du Tianzong, the tip of his black sword pressing against the Sect Leader’s throat. "Your ancestor has long been dead, Du Tianzong. And today, you shall join him!"