Lin Feng and Xia Qingwu ran for nearly a day, their speed desperate but calculated. Their near-death experience against the Origin King Commander, Luo Han, had violently accelerated their understanding of the Void-Fire Fusion. They had purchased precious time, but the Origin King would not rest until they were apprehended.
They located the Origin Spring deep within the highest, most secluded spire of the Ancient Spirit Mountain Range—a peak shrouded in perpetual lightning storms. Xia Qingwu's elemental sense led them directly to a naturally formed basin, where concentrated Origin Qi pooled like shimmering, liquid starlight.
"This is not just an Origin Spring, Feng," Xia Qingwu gasped, her eyes wide with reverence. "This is an Elemental Meridian Source. It contains the purest form of Origin energy, capable of supporting the transition into the Origin King realm directly. This must be why the Dynasty guards the area so fiercely."
The source was guarded by a powerful, natural beast—a giant Sky Thunder Condor. Its cultivation base was immense, easily matching a Peak Origin King. It perched atop a nearby crag, its feathers crackling with blue electricity, watching the two intruders with predatory calm.
"We cannot fight it," Lin Feng stated, his Qi reserves still critically low from the previous battle. "Not even with our fusion."
"Then we race it," Xia Qingwu determined, pulling a pouch of dried spiritual herbs. "I can concoct a temporary Aura Concealment Powder—low grade, but enough to mask our cultivation signatures for a few crucial moments. We dive into the Spring, absorb the energy, and break through faster than it can react."
It was a suicidal plan that relied on flawless timing.
Xia Qingwu worked with frenetic speed, crushing the herbs and mixing them with droplets of her own Phoenix Fire Qi. She dusted the powder over their robes, and immediately, the oppressive pressure from the Sky Thunder Condor seemed to lessen.
"Go!" she urged.
They sprinted toward the glistening pool. The Condor, sensing the fluctuation in their aura, let out a piercing shriek of thunderous fury and launched itself into the sky.
They dove simultaneously into the pool, plunging into the thick, warm liquid Qi.
The Origin Qi was overwhelming. It rushed into Lin Feng's core, tearing through his remaining Qi Sea barriers, demanding he evolve. The transition from Qi Sea to Origin King required the cultivator to begin forming their own stable Origin Domain—a miniature reality anchored to their soul.
Lin Feng channeled the powerful, turbulent Origin Qi into his Void Furnace. It was a violent, painful transformation. His body, already strengthened by the Void Seal, felt like it was being compressed into singularity, then rapidly expanded again. He needed immense stability to contain this breakthrough.
Above them, the Sky Thunder Condor descended, its claws ready to snatch them from the pool.
"Qingwu!" Lin Feng roared, his voice thick with agony, struggling to stabilize his nascent Origin Domain.
Xia Qingwu, already nearing her own breakthrough, reacted instantly. She did not hesitate. Driven by the depth of their shared journey and the complete trust forged in fire and spatial chaos, she pressed her body against his within the Origin Spring.
The shared moment was one of absolute vulnerability and union. Her high-grade, purified Phoenix Fire Qi flowed into his destabilized Void core, acting as the perfect counter-balance. Lin Feng's chaotic spatial energy wrapped around her fire, refining and stabilizing her own surging breakthrough.
They were two souls achieving a single, vital purpose. The external world—the roaring Condor, the deadly lightning, the pursuit of the Dynasty—vanished. All that existed was the pure, overwhelming flow of Origin energy, their intertwined Qi, and the profound emotional reality of their devotion to each other. Their bond, built on sacrifice and shared struggle, transcended the physical, merging their spiritual realities in a critical moment of life and death.
The Origin Spring pulsed around them like a living star, its liquid radiance wrapping their bodies in warmth as the thunderous sky shattered above. The Condor's screech vibrated through the mountains—but within the spring, time itself seemed to bend.
Xia Qingwu's arms slid around Lin Feng, her forehead pressing gently to his as their Qi resonated. The moment their cores aligned, the Origin Spring erupted in a halo of blinding white-gold light.
"Hold on to me," she whispered, her voice trembling—not from fear, but from the overwhelming force of the merging energies.
Lin Feng's breath hitched. Her Phoenix Fire Qi enveloped him, soft yet incomprehensibly fierce, like the embrace of a burning star. His Void energy curled around her in response, instinctive and protective, forming a cocoon of shimmering shadow and flame.
Their hearts beat in perfect synchrony.
Their domains—fire and void—interwove, spiraling, pulling tighter and tighter until their spiritual seas touched. The sensation was overwhelming, an intimacy deeper than the physical, a merging of essence that made their bodies feel weightless.
Xia Qingwu gasped softly as their Qi harmonized, her fingers tightening at his back.
Lin Feng's voice was low, hoarse.
"Qingwu… if we go any further, our domains will be bound."
"I know," she whispered, lifting her gaze to meet his.
"And I choose it."
The words unlocked something inside him. Their energies surged in response, bursting upward in a column of light that shook the peak itself. The Condor halted mid-descent, stunned by the brilliance.
Within that blinding sphere, Lin Feng and Xia Qingwu drew closer, holding each other as if the world outside no longer existed. The warmth of her presence wrapped around his soul, grounding him as his chaotic Void Origin settled into a new, powerful equilibrium.
Her Phoenix Fire answered him, dancing along his meridians in shimmering waves.
A soft, trembling exhale escaped her lips as their domains fused—two realities becoming one.
The Spring roared around them, sealing the bond.
And as the storm raged above, Lin Feng and Xia Qingwu held each other through the final surge of breakthrough, united not just by necessity, but by the unspoken truth they could no longer deny.
Hours later, the sun was setting. The Sky Thunder Condor was gone, scared off by the terrifying, destabilized energy radiating from the pool.
Lin Feng rose from the Origin Spring, his robes clinging to his body. He was utterly transformed. His eyes shone with a deep, contained violet light. The spatial geometry of the world was no longer just visible; it was malleable.
Lin Feng Breakthrough: Origin King Realm – First Level!
Xia Qingwu rose beside him, her auburn hair streaming, her body radiating a calm, controlled heat.
Xia Qingwu Breakthrough: Origin King Realm – First Level!
They had done it. They had achieved the Origin King realm together, their twin Domains perfectly synchronized—a feat unheard of in the Mortal Star Field.
"It is done," Xia Qingwu breathed, her voice low and filled with an intense, satisfied emotion. "We are Origin Kings, Feng. They will never look down on us again."
Lin Feng nodded, his expression resolute. He was no longer the Sweeper, nor the fugitive. He was a burgeoning power of the Void.
He now had two months remaining until the Blood Oath Ceremony. The gap was closed. He could now face Young Master Jian on equal ground. But facing one Origin King was nothing compared to facing the entire Dynasty.
"We have to move," Lin Feng said, his voice deep and strong, imbued with the power of his new Domain. "We need to find a way to penetrate the Dynasty's capital. And we need to prepare for the inevitable reunion."
He was speaking not just of the Dynasty's forces, but of his first love, Su Wanying. The journey to save her would be a confrontation of two powerful loves, a test not just of martial strength, but of the heart.