**Darkness did not swallow the world—

It burst.**

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A violent shockwave ripped the corridor open as Gou Yan's colossal axe came down like a mountain-range splitting in half—

And Shaurya stopped it with one hand.

One.

Hand.

Stone cracked under Shaurya's feet. A crater formed. Dust spiraled upward in hungry currents. The air itself warped around the collision, bending like molten glass.

The disciples froze.

Even the enemies paused.

Gou Yan's pupils trembled.

"You… caught… that…?!"

Shaurya's jet-black irises reflected the old monster with eerie calm.

"You swing like you're one breath away from arthritis."

Crack.

The axe's handle shuddered.

Gou Yan ripped the weapon back with a snarl, the veins on his arms bursting with crimson glow — the Stone Shattering Sect's ancestral berserker bloodline awakening.

He stomped forward.

"STONE DOMAIN—AWAKEN!!"

The world lurched.

The Corridor Mutates into a Battlefield

Stone crawled across the walls like living skin.

Pillars cracked open.

The floor erupted into stone spikes.

The ceiling bent downward.

A pressurized domain engulfed the hall — a miniature world under Gou Yan's control.

And from every direction—

Stone serpents lunged.

Massive, coiling constructs of rock and spiritual essence, their jaws dripping molten grit.

Shaurya didn't dodge.

He exhaled once.

Sapphire flames flared along his arms — smooth, quiet, deadly.

He stepped forward—

Flick.

One serpent exploded.

Step.

Second serpent burst into gravel.

Turn.

Third serpent shattered, its fragments burning mid-air.

Shaurya blurred—vanishing using areial steps.

FWOOOOOOSH!!

He reappeared above Gou Yan.

Right Leg covered in pink spritual energy descending like a heavenly guillotine.

"BIZZARE KICK!"

BOOOMMMMMMM!!!

Gou Yan was smashed into the floor so hard the ground folded around him like wet clay. Dust exploded through the corridor. Disciples were blown off their feet.

But the old monster did not die.

A grey aura burst from the crater like a volcanic eruption.

"YOU BRAT!!"

Gou Yan burst out of the crater—faster, heavier, more unhinged than before.

His axe cleaved through the air—

"SPLITTING SKY—STONE ANNIHILATION!"

A giant slab of condensed earth essence formed overhead, slamming down like a falling continent.

Shaurya spun, left hand blazing blue, right hand glowing gold.

"DUAL STYLE—LOTUS STAR BREAK!"

His palms collided with the falling slab.

The world flashed white.

The slab dissolved into sand.

Gou Yan roared, aura shaking the corridor:

"BRAT!! FACE ME!"

His silhouette vanished and reappeared a meter from Shaurya—

Too close.

Too fast.

Too violent.

The axe came down like Doomsday.

Shaurya leaned slightly sideways.

The blade kissed the air beside his cheek.

Wind from the strike ripped the ground behind him into a trench.

Shaurya muttered:

"Slow."

His wirst covered in golden spritual energy, he clenched his fist and thrust forward.

No flourish.

No windup.

Just a straight, clean punch.

It connected with Gou Yan's ribs.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A shockwave burst across the corridor.

Gou Yan flew through a stone wall, his massive body tumbling through rubble before smashing into a column with a thunderous crash.

Dust flooded the air.

Sanatan Flame Sect disciples roared behind Shaurya.

Stone Shattering disciples trembled.

But the Sect War Erupts Immediately

No waiting.

No standoff.

Just collision.

Wang Tian roared like a berserk god—

"COME THEN, YOU ROCK WORMS!"

He swung his supreme greatsword, the blade carving a burning crescent that severed a Golden Vein enemy in two.

Two more lunged.

He slammed a shoulder into one, spun, and decapitated both with a single savage arc. Blood misted the air.

Luo Chen glided like a dancing shadow.

Lotus Petal— white, sharp, glowing — spun from his sword and sliced through armor like paper. Each petal was a killing stroke.

Sheng Lu punched a man in the sternum.

The man's spine exited his back.

Elder Liya's petals formed a storm of pink blades, shielding disciples while cutting down groups with elegant fury.

Elder Wan slapped talismans onto walls —

"SEALING ARRAY — BIND!!"

Stone Shattering disciples froze mid-lunge as roots of golden light wrapped around their limbs.

Xiao Rui swung his sword horizontally and vertically slicing two enemy Disciples in two. A clean and precise strike.

Elder Feng Yu parried and redirected killing blows like flowing water, protecting the weaker disciples.

The corridor became a chaotic crucible of steel, screams, fire, and dust.

The fight wasn't one battle —

It was dozens.

Meanwhile — The Monster Rises Again

BOOOOOOMM!!

The rubble exploded outward as Gou Yan burst from it, stone runes crawling across his arms and face like living tattoos.

Gou Yan wiped his beard, eyes feral, teeth clenched.

"You think… you can beat me? I am NASCENT SOUL LEVEL NINE!"

Shaurya tilted his head.

"So what do I do?."

The old monster roared in rage—

His body swelled — muscles doubling.

His skin hardened into armored granite.

His aura thickened into a crushing, suffocating pressure that made disciples choke.

His voice thundered:

"STONE GOD ASCENSION!"

The entire corridor quaked.

Fragments rained.

Gate beams cracked.

Torches exploded.

Lin Shu stumbled from the pressure.

Elder Feng Yu braced his sword.

Even Wang Tian snarled, "This bastard… is on another level…"

But Shaurya?

He simply dusted off his sleeve.

Black irises narrowed slightly.

"Noisy."

Gou Yan lunged.

For a titan of stone, he moved like lightning.

His axe whistled.

His footing shattered the ground.

The strike descended—

"WORLD-CLEAVING AXE!!"

Shaurya raised his arm to block.

The impact detonated the entire hallway with a shockwave.

Walls caved inward.

Ceiling stones dropped like meteors.

The world blurred.

Shaurya skidded back several meters, boots carving trenches.

A first.

A genuine push.

Gou Yan grinned through bloodied teeth.

"NOT SO HIGH AND MIGHTY NOW, ARE YOU?!"

Shaurya's eyebrow twitched.

He vanished.

Reappeared behind Gou Yan.

"MOUNTAIN BREAKING FIST."

His fist slammed into Gou Yan's spine.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The old monster shot forward like a missile —

not through one wall,

not two,

but three—

Emerging into a vast open hall on the other side.

The ground cracked beneath him as he crashed down, coughing blood.

Shaurya stepped through the broken walls, silhouette framed by swirling dust and dying flames.

His black eyes gleamed.

"Round two."

Gou Yan wiped blood from his lips.

His aura rose—

not wildly—

but densely.

Compact.

Refined.

Lethal.

He wasn't getting weaker.

He was heating up.

"You forced my bloodline awake, boy."

Stone runes crawled across his arms and chest.

"Now I'll show you why the Empire fears my name—GOU YAN THE IRON RIDGE!"

Gou Yan roared—

An earth-shattering cry that rattled the entire castle.

His domain burst outward, filling the hall like a tidal wave of stone energy.

Boulders materialized from thin air.

Stone pillars launched like javelins.

The floor heaved upward, breaking into jagged layers.

Shaurya walked forward.

Slow.

Controlled.

Unbothered.

Sapphire flames and his golden aura swirled around him in a rising spiral.

He flicked one finger upward—

FWAAAAAASH!!

A pillar disintegrated mid-flight.

Gou Yan charged, full berserker mode.

They collided.

Fist met axe.

Kick met elbow.

Palm met throat.

Each impact was a thunderclap.

The entire ancient castle shook.

Ceiling cracked.

Columns splintered.

The ground cratered beneath each step.

Stone Shattering disciples in the corridor stumbled.

Sanatan disciples gasped.

Even Lin Shu whispered, trembling:

"…Shaurya…"

Elder Feng Yu whispered:

"This… is not a battle between cultivators…

It's a battle between natural disasters."

Wang Tian grinned savagely:

"THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR!!"

Luo Chen wiped blood from his chin( which was not his ofcourse), eyes gleaming:

"And it's only starting."

They both rushed and collides again.

Gou Yan skidded—

but pivoted his massive arm—

and backhanded Shaurya with the flat of the axe—

The blow sent Shaurya flying into a pillar.

CRAAAACK!!

Dust erupted.

Lin Shu screamed—

But Shaurya burst out of the dust cloud immediately, panting lightly yet smiling with sharp determination.

He wiped blood from his lip.

"Strong."

Gou Yan slammed a foot into the ground.

"AND GETTING STRONGER!"

Stone surged around him.

Gou Yan charged—

faster—

heavier—

more brutal.

And Shaurya met him head-on.

Their fists collided—

BOOOOOMMM!!!

A crater exploded beneath them.

Both were forced back.

Gou Yan's arms shook.

Shaurya's knuckles bled.

For a split second—

Their eyes met.

The Collision Intensifies

Gou Yan slammed his axe down—

"STONE GOD'S JUDGMENT!!"

A titanic shockwave tore the hall apart, blasting debris for hundreds of meters.

Shaurya slid back, eyes narrowing.

Then he bent his knees.

His aura surged upward like a volcanic eruption.

They lunged again.

Stone pillars shattered.

Ground cracked in spiderweb patterns.

Ceiling collapsed in fragments.

Dust spiraled like storm clouds.

Every blow was heavier than the last.

Shaurya's arm muscles trembled from absorbing axe swings.

Gou Yan's chest heaved from withstanding Shaurya's fists.

Both bled.

Both endured.

Both escalated.

The castle groaned around them as if begging them to stop.

But neither did.

Because the fight had only reached half its peak.

Shaurya ducked a lethal swing by inches—

His shoulder grazed—blood spraying across the floor.

He counterpunched—

Gou Yan roared—

Spat blood—

Raised his axe—

Their auras exploded together—

The world blurred—

And—

White

Dust spiraled in the air like smoke from a broken furnace.

Gou Yan's massive figure rose from the rubble—

breathing harder, bleeding from several wounds,

yet… smiling.

A savage, monstrous smile.

"Good… GOOD!" he growled, spitting blood onto the cracked floor.

"You pushed me this far… boy."

Shaurya wiped blood from his lip.

His chest rose and fell steadily.

His black irises sharpened with focus, not arrogance.

"Nothing much…" Shaurya murmured.

"Child's play."

Gou Yan's grin widened—deranged, proud.

"Then MATCH THIS!"

His aura exploded.

BOOOOOOOM!!!!

A shockwave burst outward as stone runes ripped from his skin like molten tattoos. His muscles ballooned. His veins glowed red-hot. His body doubled in density.

The air thickened into suffocating pressure.

Elder Wan gasped, voice shaking:

"That's… impossible…!!

Wang Tian's eyes flared.

"That old mountain has that kind of power?!"

Lin Shu took an involuntary step back as the corridor buckled under Gou Yan's presence.

The old monster roared—

a deep, shaking roar that made the entire castle vibrate.

"THIS IS MY TRUE POWER!"

Stone Domain intensified—

the floor curved upward, walls twisted, ceiling cracked.

The domain turned into a crushing gravity field.

Shaurya felt it instantly.

His boots sank an inch into the floor.

His knees bent.

His breath hitched.

He clenched his teeth.

This… was real pressure.

Gou Yan vanished.

For a monster of stone—

He moved like a shadow.

He reappeared beside Shaurya—

"DIEEEEEE!"

The axe fell.

Shaurya barely raised his forearm—

CLAAAAAAANG!!

The force numbed his entire arm.

He skidded backward—

five meters—

ten meters—

until his back crashed into a cracked pillar.

Gou Yan didn't stop.

He stomped forward—

Each step like a collapsing mountain.

He swung again.

Shaurya ducked—

Barely—

The blade sliced a chunk of hair and cut a line across his cheek.

Blood spattered.

Shaurya countered—fast—

A brutal right hook—

CRACK!!

Gou Yan's jaw snapped sideways.

But he didn't fall.

He headbutted Shaurya—

BOOOOM!!!

Shaurya's vision cracked for a heartbeat—

The world flashed white.

He staggered.

Gou Yan grabbed him by the neck—

And hurled him across the hall.

SMASH!!!

Shaurya skidded a dozen meters, crashing through debris.

Blood dripped from his forehead.

His breath trembled.

Wang Tian shouted:

"MASTER!!"

But the corridor exploded again—

Gou Yan came charging through the dust.

"YOU FOUGHT WELL—

NOW BREAK!"

His aura condensed into the axe.

The weapon turned crimson-black, humming with raw destruction.

He swung.

Shaurya raised both arms—

CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

The collision was catastrophic.

Shaurya's arms shook.

Bones cracked.

Blood sprayed.

He was lifted from the ground and launched like a ragdoll—

—smashing into a wall hard enough to crater it.

He slid to the ground, breath shallow, body shaking.

Lin Shu's scream cracked:

"SHAURUYA!!"

The corridor fell silent for a heartbeat.

Even the Stone Shattering Sect stared—

waiting to see if the young sect master stayed down.

Dust settled.

Blood dripped from Shaurya's lip onto the cracked floor.

His head hung low.

His shoulders rose and fell.

He didn't move.

Gou Yan laughed—deep, thunderous, victorious.

"IT'S OVER, BOY! YOUR BONES ARE BREAKING!"

The old monster lifted his axe for the final blow—

But froze.

Because—

Shaurya exhaled.

A low, calm exhale.

Like a storm filling its lungs.

His fingers curled against the stone floor.

And then—

A tremor.

A vibration.

A pulse.

His aura… stirred.

Lin Shu's breath caught.

Wang Tian's eyes widened.

Luo Chen whispered:

"…Could this be…"

Light began to leak from Shaurya's skin.

A faint glow at first—

barely visible—

Then stronger.

Brighter.

Hotter.

Until the cracked tiles around him began to melt.

Shaurya slowly lifted his head.

His black hair swayed in a rising wind.

His voice was low—

Soft—

But carried like a divine bell.

"I will show you My true Power…"

The air trembled.

His aura condensed suddenly—

vibrating like a drawn bowstring—

ready to snap.

Gou Yan stepped back instinctively.

"W-What—"

Shaurya's voice rose, his scream tore through—

"My furyyyyyy."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

A pillar of golden aura light erupted from his body—

Straight upward—

Shattering what remained of the ceiling.

The entire castle shook as if a god had descended.

His wounds closed.

His stance straightened.

His pressure multiplied tenfold.

His irises turned GOLD—

Liquid, molten, blazing like twin suns.

And on his forehead—

A glowing golden mark formed—

A rotating circle—

The Sudarshan Chakra.

Lin Shu's eyes overflowed.

"…The real battle starts… now …"

Wang Tian grinned like a man seeing heaven.

"HELL YES."

Gou Yan stumbled backward, fear finally cracking his monstrous face.

"What… what ARE you…?!"

Shaurya opened his eyes fully.

They burned like divine fire.

He smiled—

Calm.

Cold.

Inevitable.

"Let's end this play."

The hall shook with the force of his rising aura—

To Be Continued…

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