The clash should have shattered the air.
But it didn't.
When Ren Zhe's fist struck Xue Han's chest, the world… blinked.
And the Graveborn found himself flying backward, crashing into a column that cracked and collapsed on impact.
Meimei screamed.
Jin didn't move.
Xue Han stood exactly where he had been. Not a wrinkle disturbed his robes. Not a hair fell out of place.
Ren Zhe rose from the rubble, coughing dust. Blood traced his lips, black as ink.
"You're slower than I imagined," Xue Han said, descending from the broken arch with the grace of a falling feather.
"You're stronger than I remember," Ren Zhe growled.
That made the traitor pause. "Remember?"
Ren Zhe wiped his mouth. "The dead don't forget."
Xue Han's eyes narrowed.
"You… saw it. The Emperor's death."
"I saw you run a blade through his back while he tried to seal the Demon Gate."
Silence fell across the ruined capital.
Xue Han's smile faded.
"So the Grave truly holds echoes of history," he murmured. "Then you must know what he did. What he became."
"I know he was betrayed."
Xue Han's expression tightened. "You speak of betrayal. Do you know what he did to his own son?"
His gaze shifted to Jin.
Meimei stepped between them instinctively, arms out.
Xue Han raised a hand—Meimei's body froze in mid-step.
"Do not speak for a throne you never bled for," he said coldly.
He turned back to Ren Zhe.
"The Emperor's son was meant to inherit the Five Heaven Sigils. The divine line of cultivation—immortal inheritance. But the Emperor... sealed them in himself."
"Because you were unworthy," Ren Zhe snapped.
"Because he feared me," Xue Han hissed, voice echoing like a bell. "And because Jin's mother—my sister—tried to save the realm by breaking prophecy."
He stepped closer to the crystal tomb suspended above the void.
"The child was cursed from birth. Marked by Heaven's Error. That mark is what you're following."
Jin, still silent, lowered his gaze.
Ren Zhe stepped forward. "That child's still alive. Still fighting. So long as he stands, your betrayal means nothing."
Xue Han looked back at him, eyes flickering. "You wish to challenge me again?"
"I intend to bury you," Ren Zhe said, and his aura erupted.
The Shard howled.
This time, it wasn't just cultivation. It was devouring force. The power he'd forged in the darkness beneath the world—refined through madness, isolation, and the memory of a thousand screams.
He activated the technique he had never dared to use.
Graveborn Second Awakening: Bone Eclipse Form.
Cracks split across his skin like black lightning. His eyes turned to pale silver, and the shadow behind him took the shape of an ancient skeletal dragon—its spine wound in chains, its mouth locked shut by seals of blood.
Meimei gasped. "That's…"
"The Pit's Wrath," Jin whispered. "He's letting it out."
Xue Han's expression shifted—for the first time, a flicker of caution passed through his gaze.
"Ah," he said softly. "So that's why the Heavens rejected you."
Ren Zhe didn't reply.
He moved.
And the world split.
This time, the blow landed.
Xue Han's body reeled. His feet slid ten meters across the stone. His robes tore. A faint cut bloomed across his cheek.
He reached up, touched it, and stared at the blood on his fingers.
Then he smiled.
"Good," he said. "Now we're speaking the same language."
He unleashed his domain.
Voidbirth Domain: The Hollow Court.
Suddenly, they weren't in ruins anymore.
They stood inside a twisted palace of obsidian and silence, where no light reached the floor. Marble pillars stretched infinitely. Portraits of eyeless kings lined the walls. A throne of ash waited at the end, empty.
Every breath Ren Zhe took echoed. Every step pulled at his memories.
He realized something terrible.
This wasn't just a domain—it was a memory.
Xue Han had not created it.
He had lived it.
"You've killed thousands," Ren Zhe said.
Xue Han walked past a portrait of a headless queen. "Millions. All of them necessary."
He raised a hand.
Twelve black spears materialized in the air and hurtled toward Ren Zhe.
The Graveborn didn't dodge.
He welcomed them.
The Bone Eclipse Form absorbed the first five on impact, shattering them into dust. The next three he caught with his bare hands—crushing the steel to powder.
The last four?
He threw back.
They impaled the pillars behind Xue Han, causing the entire domain to tremble.
"Your throne's built on bones," Ren Zhe said.
"And yours?" Xue Han asked.
"I have no throne," Ren Zhe said, stepping forward. "Only a shovel."
He drove both palms into the ground.
The Bone Eclipse shadow rose behind him and let out a silent roar.
Chains of black light erupted from the floor and wrapped around Xue Han's legs, arms, and throat.
Burial Rite: Thousand-Weight Coffin.
Xue Han gasped—not in pain, but surprise.
"Who taught you that?" he demanded.
"No one," Ren Zhe said. "I invented it… after I died."
And he pulled.
The Hollow Court shattered.
Reality returned.
The crystal tomb above them cracked—not from the battle, but in response to it.
Inside, the shape of the Emperor stirred.
Jin fell to his knees, clutching his head.
Meimei ran to his side.
"What's happening?" she asked, voice desperate.
Jin's eyes rolled back.
"He's waking up."
Ren Zhe glanced up.
A second crack zigzagged across the crystal shell.
Xue Han, kneeling in the rubble, stared at it with a mix of awe and rage.
"You've broken the seal," he muttered.
Ren Zhe stood over him, panting. His body was wrecked. Bones splintered. Skin burning.
"Wasn't me," he said. "The world just stopped forgetting."
Xue Han's voice was low. "You don't understand what you've done."
"I don't care," Ren Zhe said. "Now run. Or I'll bury you like the rest."
Xue Han stood slowly, brushing dust from his shoulders.
"I'll return," he said. "And next time, I'll bring the ones who never died."
He vanished into mist.
The tomb cracked again.
And a whisper echoed from within.
"…Zheng'er…"
Jin looked up, confused.
Ren Zhe's heart stopped.
That voice wasn't calling for him.
It was calling for Xue Han.