The beam of celestial punishment tore through the sky like a spear forged from the bones of gods. Its roar drowned out the Sanctuary's echoes, shaking the ancient ruins down to their foundations. Even the air seemed to freeze, as if existence itself feared what was descending.
Xiao Wang's instincts screamed. Every hair on his body stood upright.
The silver-haired girl clung to his arm, trembling violently. "That isn't just any heavenly attack… that's Heavenly Eye Judgment. The wrath of a full Celestial Overseer!"
Xiao Wang didn't need her warning. His blood was roaring. His muscles tightened until they felt like iron chains ready to snap.
The beam struck.
It fell so quickly that even his enhanced senses struggled to trace its movement. One blink and it would have obliterated him.
But he moved.
His body blurred into motion, dragging the silver-haired girl with him as he leapt aside. The beam crashed where they had just stood.
The ground exploded.
An entire mountain of ancient stone evaporated into dust. Layers beneath the Sanctuary floor peeled away like paper. The shockwave slammed into Xiao Wang, flinging both him and the girl across the chamber. They hit the far wall so hard it cracked like shattered glass.
The girl groaned softly. Xiao Wang shielded her with his body as debris fell.
He pushed himself up, breathing hard.
"What the hell was that…?" he muttered.
His other personality sighed inside his mind. "You know, I love danger. I love chaos. I love women. But this? This is ridiculous."
Xiao Wang grit his teeth. "I didn't ask for commentary."
"Get stronger and you won't need commentary."
He ignored the voice.
Above them, the gigantic heavenly eye rolled across the torn sky. It scanned the Sanctuary as though searching for insects to crush.
A voice as old as creation echoed through the realm.
"You dare kill a General of Heaven."
The pressure intensified. The floor cracked beneath Xiao Wang's feet. The silver-haired girl could barely breathe.
"This is far beyond a Heavenly Executioner," she whispered hoarsely. "This is an Overseer… one of the beings who supervise entire realms. If he descends fully, the Immortal Sanctuary will be erased."
The eye glared directly at Xiao Wang.
"You… fragmented one. You who defied your sealing. You who escaped annihilation."
The Devouring Sword growled in Xiao Wang's hand, the blade trembling with anger. "This voice… I know it. Boy, this is the one who led the destruction of your past-self throne."
Xiao Wang's pupils contracted.
"So this is the overseer who ordered my execution?"
The sword spirit hissed. "One of them. The heavens needed seven to take you down. That one's voice… I will never forget."
The heavenly eye pulsed.
A second beam descended, thicker than the first, glowing with annihilation runes.
Xiao Wang didn't wait. He grabbed the silver-haired girl by the waist and flash-stepped across the chamber, the beam just barely grazing the back of his robe. The heat burned through fabric and seared into skin.
The girl inhaled sharply, but he kept holding her—firm, protective, unwavering.
"You okay?" he asked.
She looked up at him, stunned that he was worried about her in a moment like this. "I… yes. Just… don't stop holding me."
He rolled his eyes. "Not the time."
His other personality grinned. "Bro. It's always the time."
"Shut up."
The heavenly eye continued to charge another strike.
The Sanctuary walls trembled as cracks spread wider. Entire towers collapsed. Eternal runes flickered and dimmed. The ancient formation sustaining the realm was close to breaking.
Xiao Wang stepped forward.
The silver-haired girl grabbed his sleeve. "Are you insane? You can't fight a Heavenly Overseer! His true body isn't even here—this is just one eye through the void. His power is beyond sect masters, beyond realm emperors!"
Xiao Wang lifted the Devouring Sword.
"Then I'll cut the eye."
Her breath caught.
"Cut… the Overseer's eye? That's suicide!"
Xiao Wang smirked quietly. "If Heaven wants me dead, they'll have to work harder."
His other personality chimed in. "Heaven's been slacking."
The celestial eye glared harder.
"You insolent mortal. You carry power that should no longer exist. That sword… that presence… that soul. You are the Forbidden One."
Xiao Wang stepped slowly toward the beam of light gathering in the sky.
"Say that again," he said softly.
The eye narrowed.
"You are the Forbidden One."
Something broke inside Xiao Wang.
The silver-haired girl clapped her hands over her mouth as she felt his aura snap.
Black-gold energy surged around him in a violent spiral, twisting the air into bursts of devouring wind. His eyes flashed with three overlapping colors—gold, black, and silver. The marks of his three past lives stirred in his blood.
The Devouring Sword vibrated with anticipation.
His other personality laughed wildly. "Oh yeah. It's happening. I've been waiting for this part."
The System responded instantly.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[HOST EMOTIONAL RESONANCE AT CRITICAL THRESHOLD]
[ACTIVATING PAST-LIFE FRAGMENT INTEGRATION]
More messages poured in.
[Integration Progress: 8%]
[9%]
[10%]
The silver-haired girl stepped back as hairline cracks spread across Xiao Wang's aura. It wasn't instability. It was transformation.
"You killed my past self," Xiao Wang said quietly. "You shattered my soul. You hunted me across realms."
His grip tightened on the Devouring Sword. His aura rose again—higher, heavier.
"And now that I'm alive again, you think I'll bow?"
He raised the sword.
"No," he whispered. "You bow."
He slashed upward.
A black-gold arc of sword energy shot toward the sky, splitting the air like a divine blade. It cut through space, forming a crack that tore open the sky between realms.
The heavenly eye recoiled, blinking in shock.
"You dare attack Heaven directly?"
Xiao Wang didn't answer.
A second slash followed the first.
The silver-haired girl grabbed her chest, barely able to breathe.
"He… he's cutting the beam. He's cutting the heavens…"
The Overseer roared as the sword energy struck the lower edge of the celestial eye. A shockwave tore through the Sanctuary with deafening force.
Boom.
Dust blew outward. Ruins collapsed. Even the sky flickered.
The Overseer's voice rumbled through the collapsing realm.
"Blasphemy! You cannot sever Heaven!"
Xiao Wang smiled faintly.
"That's where you're wrong."
His other personality added smugly, "We literally have a guy inside us called the First Sword Ancestor. Cutting Heaven is his hobby."
The Overseer prepared a third attack.
This time, the celestial light gathered above the eye coalesced into a massive spear.
The silver-haired girl cried out. "That is Heavenly Impalement! That move killed three immortal emperors during the last heavenly war!"
Xiao Wang's blood boiled. "Good. I need a challenge."
The spear descended.
The pressure crushed several mountains instantly, turning the scenery into a crater.
Xiao Wang took one step forward and vanished.
He reappeared directly beneath the descending spear, the Devouring Sword raised high.
The System chimed:
[PAST-LIFE FRAGMENT: FIRST SWORD ANCESTOR ACTIVATING]
A faint phantom appeared behind him—A figure with long white hair, calm eyes, and a blade that cut fate itself.
The phantom overlapped with Xiao Wang's body.
His sword rose.
His aura sharpened.
Then—
He cut upward.
The explosion shook the entire Immortal Sanctuary. Light and darkness roared together, swallowing all sound.
When the energy dispersed…
The heavenly spear had been cut in half.
The eye trembled violently.
Xiao Wang stood below it, panting hard, his body bruised but still alive. His sword hand trembled with exhaustion, but his gaze remained unbreakable.
The Overseer's voice shook with fury.
"You… heretic… you dare sever Heaven's will?"
Xiao Wang lifted the sword again.
"I'll sever more if you don't leave."
The heavenly eye narrowed.
"You have defied Heaven enough for one day. Enjoy your insignificant victory."
The eye closed slowly.
"But know this, Forbidden One. When the heavens descend next… Even your reincarnation will not save you."
The rift sealed shut.
Silence returned.
The silver-haired girl rushed to Xiao Wang, eyes wet with emotion and fear. "You… you survived the Overseer. You fought Heaven itself."
Xiao Wang wiped blood from his lip and shrugged.
"I told you. I'm hard to kill."
His other personality snorted smugly. "Understatement of the millennium."
The Devouring Sword whispered proudly, "Your path has begun again."
The girl stared at him, trembling, her voice low.
"Xiao Wang… who exactly are you?"
He didn't answer—not because he didn't know, but because the Sanctuary suddenly trembled again.
A new presence had entered.
Soft footsteps echoed behind them.
And a woman's voice—gentle, melodic, layered with ancient mystery—spoke.
"Congratulations. You survived the first heavenly judgment."
Xiao Wang narrowed his eyes.
The silver-haired girl froze.
A figure stepped into the broken chamber.
Her beauty was breathtaking.
Her aura was older than the Sanctuary itself.
Her gaze held secrets that predated the heavens.
The silver-haired girl whispered, horrified.
"No… it can't be…"
Xiao Wang turned fully toward the newcomer.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled softly.
"I am the one who knows your true name."
The Devouring Sword trembled violently.
The System chimed:
[WARNING: UNKNOWN ENTITY — POWER BEYOND MEASUREMENT]
[IDENTITY: SEALED]
[APPROACHING HOST]
Xiao Wang's heart raced.
The woman walked closer.
"You were hunted by Heaven. But you were also loved once."
Her eyes softened.
"And I am here to finish what Heaven could not."
Xiao Wang's grip tightened.
"Are you an enemy?"
Her smile widened.
"No. I am your past."
The Sanctuary dimmed.
The girl beside Xiao Wang gasped.
The woman whispered the words that shattered the air.
"I am the woman who betrayed you in your past life."
To be continued…