The world trembled as the sect elders attacked.
Their combined qi pressure descended like a mountain, shaking the ground beneath them. The air crackled with raw energy, the force of their presence distorting space itself. The remaining disciples, still recovering from Lin Tian's merciless slaughter, stumbled back in terror.
Elder Wei led the charge. His robes flared as his palm strike shot forward, releasing a surge of searing golden qi. The attack roared like a celestial comet, its sheer intensity warping the air around it.
Lin Tian did not move.
He watched, his golden eyes reflecting the incoming destruction, and then—
At the very last moment—
He raised a single hand.
The impact should have shattered mountains.
But when Elder Wei's devastating strike collided with Lin Tian's outstretched palm—it stopped.
Dead silence fell over the battlefield.
The shockwave that should have obliterated everything in its path… simply vanished.
Elder Wei's eyes widened in disbelief. His attack—the culmination of decades of cultivation—was being absorbed.
Lin Tian smirked. "This is all?"
Before Elder Wei could react, his own qi turned against him.
With a sudden, violent pull, the golden energy that once surged from his palm was now rushing backward, tearing through his meridians, siphoned away into Lin Tian's dantian like water into an endless abyss.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Elder Wei staggered, feeling his strength drain at an alarming rate.
Lin Tian gripped his wrist, his fingers pressing into Elder Wei's flesh like iron chains. His smirk widened.
"Your cultivation is impressive, Elder," he murmured. "I think I'll take it."
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
A horrifying sound filled the air as Elder Wei's body withered. His powerful qi core shattered as Lin Tian devoured him from the inside out.
The once-mighty elder—one of the pillars of the Blazing Sky Sect—collapsed to his knees, his skin turning pale, his muscles losing all strength. He gasped, trembling, his once-formidable aura now a mere whisper of its former self.
Lin Tian released him with a casual flick of his wrist.
Elder Wei's frail body crumpled to the ground. He was alive—but completely crippled.
The remaining elders froze.
What they had just witnessed should not be possible.
Lin Tian had not only resisted an elder's full-strength attack—he had absorbed it, turned it into his own, and left his opponent powerless.
And worst of all—he had done it effortlessly.
Elder Liu's fingers twitched as he stared at Lin Tian, his mind racing.
"This… this boy is beyond anything we've ever seen."
He had initially thought Lin Tian was just an outlier, a cultivator who had stumbled upon a powerful technique or an ancient inheritance. But what he was witnessing now…
This was no technique. This was no inheritance.
This was something entirely different.
One of the remaining elders stepped forward, his face pale but determined. "We cannot allow this monster to live!"
He clasped his hands together, summoning a massive formation circle beneath Lin Tian's feet. The ground lit up with hundreds of golden runes, each glowing with ancient power.
A sealing array.
Lin Tian glanced down, watching as the runes spread around him like chains, their inscriptions crackling with spiritual energy. He could feel the weight pressing down on him, restricting his movements, attempting to bind his qi flow.
The elder gritted his teeth. "This array is one of the sect's greatest defenses—no matter how strong you are, you won't escape!"
The other elders quickly formed a ring around the glowing array, reinforcing it with their combined qi.
Lin Tian remained still.
For a moment, it seemed as though he had been trapped. The disciples watching from the sidelines held their breath.
And then—
Lin Tian laughed.
A deep, mocking laugh that sent chills down everyone's spines.
"You think…" His voice was soft, but it echoed across the battlefield. "You think you can contain me?"
The golden runes began to tremble.
The sealing formation—one of the sect's strongest barriers, designed to suppress even Golden Core cultivators—began to crack.
Lin Tian lifted his hand.
BOOM!
A surge of black and gold qi erupted outward, shattering the formation like brittle glass. The power sent shockwaves through the courtyard, knocking back the surrounding elders and sending the disciples tumbling to the ground.
The moment the array broke, Lin Tian moved.
And in the next heartbeat, he was behind the elder who had cast it.
The elder barely had time to turn before Lin Tian's hand closed around his throat.
The old man gasped, eyes bulging as his qi was ripped away.
"Y-you—" His words died as his life force was drained dry, his body collapsing like a lifeless puppet.
Lin Tian released him, letting his corpse fall to the ground. His golden eyes flickered with cold amusement.
The battlefield was silent.
Everyone who had come to kill him was now either crippled or dead.
The remaining elders—those who still stood—looked at Lin Tian in utter horror.
For the first time in their long lives, they had no words.
Lin Tian tilted his head. "So… who's next?"
Elder Liu exhaled slowly. His mind screamed at him to run, to retreat, to reorganize—but deep down, he knew.
It was already too late.
Lin Tian was not just a powerful cultivator.
He was something else entirely.
If he continued to grow… there would be no force in the sect capable of stopping him.
And worse—there would be no force in the world capable of stopping him.
Lin Tian watched Elder Liu carefully, almost as if reading his thoughts. Then, slowly, he turned away.
"I think I've seen enough," he mused, stretching his fingers. "This sect… is no longer worth my time."
Elder Liu stiffened. "What?"
Lin Tian smirked. "You all wanted to kill me, but instead, I destroyed your strongest warriors, crippled your elders, and walked away without a scratch." He turned his golden gaze toward the Inner Pavilion.
"This place is nothing but a cage." His voice was soft, but the weight behind it was absolute.
"I have no need for cages."
The air around him shifted.
And then—he disappeared.
By the time the remaining elders blinked, he was already gone.
Only the ruins of the battlefield remained.
And with it, a lingering fear that would never fade.
For Lin Tian had not just won.
He had announced his ascension.
From this day forward, the name Lin Tian would no longer be whispered in ridicule.
It would be spoken in terror.