C24:The Price of Dominance

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The victory over Supreme Elder Sun Zhuo came at a steep cost. Lin Xiao’s body was a battlefield of wounds — deep burns from solar flames covered his torso and arms, several ribs were cracked, and the soul strain from the forced plunder left him with splitting headaches and temporary law instability. The System’s backlash reduced his cultivation speed by 30% for the next thirty days, a nagging reminder that even his greatest cheat had limits.

He spent three full days in secluded recovery inside the Eternal Sun Palace, relying heavily on dual cultivation with his seven women to stabilize his condition. The sessions were intense and necessary, merging their energies to repair damaged meridians and purge lingering purifying light from his soul. Even then, he did not emerge unscathed. A permanent faint scar of golden solar fire now marked his left shoulder — a visible reminder of the battle.

By the end of the third day, Lin Xiao’s cultivation had only partially recovered to the peak of late Divine Ascension. The easy conquest phase was clearly over.

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News of the Empire’s fall spread rapidly. The **Eternal Divine Alliance**, a coalition of the three remaining supreme powers in the region, could no longer ignore him. They assembled a joint punitive expedition far stronger than anything Lin Xiao had faced before.

On the morning of the fourth day, the skies above the palace darkened as three massive alliance fleets arrived. Leading them were three peak Divine Ascension experts and one half-step Divine Sovereign — Alliance Elder Voidheart, an ancient being who had lived for over eight thousand years.

Voidheart descended in front of the palace gates, his form shrouded in swirling void energy that swallowed light itself. His voice echoed like thunder from the abyss.

“Lin Xiao. Your slaughter has gone unchecked long enough. The Eternal Divine Alliance offers you one final chance: surrender your conquered territories, disband your sect, and submit as a prisoner for judgment. Refuse, and we will erase you and everyone who follows you from the Divine Realm.”

Lin Xiao walked out of the palace gates alone at first, his high ponytail swaying, body still aching from unhealed wounds. His seven women followed closely behind, their expressions grim. They knew this fight would be different.

“No surrender,” Lin Xiao replied, voice steady but strained. “Come and take it if you can.”

The battle began without mercy.

The three peak Divine Ascension elders attacked in coordination. One wielded storm laws that summoned endless lightning and hurricanes. Another commanded earth and mountain laws, raising giant divine golems from the ground. The third used bloodline poison techniques that could corrode divine bodies.

At the same time, Elder Voidheart unleashed his Void Devouring Domain — a terrifying black expanse that swallowed divine energy and weakened all laws within it.

Lin Xiao charged into the fray despite his injuries. The fight immediately turned brutal.

He clashed with the storm elder first. Lightning met lightning, but the elder’s techniques were older and more refined. A direct hit from a hurricane blade cut deep across Lin Xiao’s chest, reopening old wounds and drawing fresh blood. He countered with a chaos dragon strike but took a follow-up storm bolt to the back that seared his spine.

The earth elder raised massive golems that pounded the battlefield. One fist slammed into Lin Xiao’s side, cracking more ribs and sending him crashing into a palace wall. Pain exploded through his body. He barely rolled away before a second strike could finish him.

His women fought desperately to provide support, but Voidheart’s domain suppressed their powers significantly. Princess Yan Zi’s phoenix flames were dimmed, Xuan Yue’s eclipse laws were partially devoured. They sustained injuries while trying to distract the elders.

Lin Xiao was forced to fight through pure endurance. Blood flowed freely from multiple wounds. His movements slowed due to the accumulated damage and the System backlash. Every step sent jolts of pain through his cracked ribs and burned shoulder.

Elder Voidheart finally engaged him directly. The half-step Divine Sovereign’s void attacks were on another level. Black tendrils of nothingness lashed out, erasing parts of Lin Xiao’s protective lightning with every hit. One tendril pierced his left thigh, causing severe corrosive damage that resisted healing.

For the first time in a long while, Lin Xiao tasted the possibility of defeat. He was scathed badly — bleeding from the mouth, vision blurring from soul strain, and his divine energy reserves dangerously low.

But he refused to fall.

Gritting his teeth through the agony, he pushed the Chaos Emperor Scripture to its absolute limit, ignoring the warnings flashing in his unstable System interface. He sacrificed even more blood essence than before, channeling everything into one final desperate counter.

Chaos Emperor Scripture — Bleeding Edge Form: Sovereign Void Breaker!

A massive, unstable tri-colored lightning dragon mixed with solar fire and eclipse shadows erupted from his body. It tore through Voidheart’s domain with raw, painful power. The elder’s eyes widened in shock as the attack struck him directly, cracking his void armor and forcing him back.

Lin Xiao followed through with pure willpower. He closed the distance despite his mangled leg and drove his hand into Voidheart’s chest, triggering an unstable Divine Plunder.

The plunder was only partial due to the glitch remnants, but it was enough. He stole critical void laws and enough energy to turn the tide.

The other three elders tried to save their leader, but Lin Xiao’s women, despite their own injuries, bought him the crucial seconds needed. The combined assault finally overwhelmed the alliance forces.

Elder Voidheart retreated in heavy defeat, severely wounded. The three peak elders were killed or captured after brutal fighting. The alliance fleets were forced to withdraw, leaving behind mountains of resources and broken ships.

Lin Xiao collapsed to one knee after the battle ended, coughing blood heavily. Deep gashes, broken bones, void corrosion on his thigh, and soul damage left him in terrible condition. His women rushed to him, carrying him back to the palace for emergency recovery.

The victory was won, but it was far from easy. For the first time, Lin Xiao had been truly pushed to his limits and came out badly scathed.

He would need weeks to recover properly.

The Divine Realm had finally shown its teeth.

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