The bamboo forest shivered under the crushing aura pouring from the Shadow Executor. Leaves turned to ash before touching the ground. Even the moon seemed to dim as the creature fully emerged from the rift — a towering being clad in decayed celestial armor, its body wrapped in shadowy tendrils that writhed like hungry serpents.
Two hollow pits glowed in its skull-like mask — not eyes, but abysses that devoured light.
Yi Qing's voice trembled.
"Lin Tian… this one was forged from the souls of ten fallen immortals. It devours cultivation. Even heaven-ranked beings fear it!"
Lin Tian didn't flinch.
He stepped forward calmly, Nexus symbols faintly rotating around his arms like small galaxies.
"Good. Then it might survive a few minutes."
The Executor moved first.
With a sound like ripping metal, it vanished.
Boom—!
A crater erupted beneath Lin Tian as the creature appeared above him, its shadow-claws descending like heavenly guillotine blades. Lin Tian raised his arm, catching the blow with his bare hand. The impact detonated the air, sending shockwaves through the forest.
Yi Qing was hurled backward by the blast.
"This thing's speed… it's ridiculous!" she shouted.
But Lin Tian remained unshaken.
With a small twist of his wrist, he redirected the blow and countered with a palm strike infused with Nexus energy.
CRACK!
The Executor's armor shattered in several places — but the creature didn't react to pain. Instead, its shadows instantly reformed, expanding like a tidal wave.
It launched tendrils toward Lin Tian's throat, heart, and spine — each one dripping with corrosive spiritual poison capable of dissolving an immortal's soul.
Lin Tian's expression remained calm.
He spread his fingers.
"Nexus Art — Celestial Spiral Collapse."
A ring of silver light burst outward, twisting the tendrils into dust. The Executor staggered back, its form vibrating violently as runes cracked across its chest.
Yi Qing stared in disbelief.
"This level of Nexus mastery… in such a short time? Impossible…"
But the battle wasn't over.
Not even close.
The Executor spread its arms and released a pulse of dark essence. The ground ruptured, and a black dome enveloped the entire forest.
Yi Qing gasped.
"No! It's creating a Devouring Domain — it will consume everything inside!"
Inside the dome, the world turned pitch black.
Sound died.
Light died.
Even spiritual energy dissolved like mist.
But one thing still glowed — a silver figure standing calmly amid the growing void.
Lin Tian.
"A domain?" he murmured. "Then I'll show you one of mine."
The Nexus Core inside him pulsed.
His eyes turned silver.
His hair lifted as if gravity no longer applied.
And the darkness around him fractured like cracked glass.
"NEXUS REALM — AWAKEN."
A blinding silver domain erupted outward, clashing with the Executor's darkness. The two realms collided like titans — space ripping, ground exploding, the universe screaming.
In the strange light of conflicting realities, Lin Tian moved.
He blurred forward, fist cocked back.
When he struck—
The Executor's entire left side imploded, shadow essence detonating outward like black fireworks.
The creature howled, emitting a distorted screech that cracked the air.
But it wasn't finished.
The Executor absorbed the shattered shadows into its remaining arm, forming a gigantic spear of condensed void energy.
Yi Qing cried out:
"Lin Tian, dodge! That spear… it killed a Divine General!"
The creature thrust.
The void spear tore through dimensional layers, leaving black scars in the air.
But Lin Tian stood unmoving.
As the spear approached, he whispered:
"Too slow."
He raised the jade Yi Qing had given him earlier — the Star-Vein Life Jade — and flicked it lightly.
A beam of violet energy shot out, smashing into the spear and destabilizing it. Cracks spread across the shadow weapon like lightning.
Lin Tian stepped forward, palm glowing with rotating Nexus runes.
"This ends now."
The Executor lunged—
Lin Tian vanished.
He reappeared behind the creature, two fingers extended.
"Nexus Art — Eternal Zero Point."
BOOM!
A silent explosion erupted from within the Executor's core. The creature froze, its form unraveling into collapsing streams of shadow.
Yi Qing shielded her eyes as the darkness dissolved.
When the light faded—
The Executor was gone.
Only drifting ash remained.
Lin Tian lowered his hand.
Yi Qing ran toward him, relief flooding her face—until she saw the faint cracks glowing along Lin Tian's arm.
"You're injured!"
He shook his head.
"Not injured. Just… adjusting. The Nexus power isn't something this mortal world can fully contain."
Yi Qing bit her lip in worry.
But before either could speak further—
The sky split open.
A golden scroll descended from the heavens, wrapped in divine flames.
Yi Qing's face paled.
"A Decree of the Heavenly Tribunal…"
Lin Tian caught it casually.
The scroll unfurled.
A voice echoed across the world:
"Lin Tian. Your First Celestial Trial begins in two days.
Prepare… or perish."
Lin Tian crushed the scroll in his hand.
His eyes were calm.
Cold.
Determined.
"Let Heaven come. I will show them who they tried to erase."