The battlefield Tian Wuchen summoned was unlike anything Lin Shuan had ever imagined.
It was not illusion.
It was memory.
Ancient combat intent condensed into a living world.
The moment the spectral battlefield formed, the miniature cosmos vanished from sight. The drifting planets, frozen ruins, and silver void dissolved into endless ash-colored land beneath a dark heaven where broken stars hung motionless.
A cold wind moved across the wasteland.
Then—
shadows stirred.
Thousands.
Ancient warriors.
Phantom soldiers carrying broken halberds.
Dragon spirits made of lightning.
Spectral emperors whose presence bent space.
Lin Shuan stood in the middle of it, heart pounding.
"…Master…"
His voice was careful now.
"…Am I meant to fight all of this?"
Tian Wuchen stood beside him, arms folded.
His answer came calmly.
"No."
A pause.
Then—
"You are meant to survive it."
Before Lin Shuan could ask what that meant—
BOOM.
A spear of black spiritual force tore toward his throat.
Pure instinct made him dodge.
Too slow.
It sliced his shoulder.
Blood scattered.
Lin Shuan staggered.
His eyes widened.
A phantom warrior stood where empty air had been.
Silver armor.
Headless.
Still holding a war spear.
Its killing intent was real.
Lin Shuan understood instantly—
these enemies were not decorative tests.
They could kill him.
And yet—
his forehead seal remained silent.
No reaction.
Because this was not true murderous pursuit aimed by a living enemy to erase him.
This was training.
Not fate.
Tian Wuchen's voice echoed behind him.
"Fight."
The headless warrior attacked again.
Lin Shuan moved.
Sky Dragon Smash erupted.
White dragon soul roared.
The phantom shattered—
only for three more to appear.
Lin Shuan cursed inwardly.
So this was "battle comprehension."
He fought.
Again.
And again.
The battlefield devoured days.
He learned quickly brute force was useless.
Every opponent taught something.
One punished hesitation.
One punished reckless offense.
One countered repeated patterns.
Every victory cost pain.
Every mistake drew blood.
Once a phantom emperor nearly split his chest.
Another time dragon specters surrounded him until he exhausted himself collapsing into frost-covered earth.
And each time—
Tian Wuchen only watched.
Sometimes correcting.
Mostly silent.
Weeks later—
Lin Shuan stood bruised and breathing hard after defeating seven spectral warriors in succession.
Tian Wuchen approached.
"What have you learned?"
Lin Shuan wiped blood from his mouth.
"That power alone doesn't win."
Tian Wuchen nodded.
"And?"
Lin Shuan thought.
"…Intent."
"Timing."
"Reading killing paths."
A faint smile.
"Good."
Then Tian Wuchen raised one hand.
The battlefield vanished.
Silence returned.
They stood again in the miniature cosmos.
Floating stars.
Frozen planets.
The familiar training ground.
But Tian Wuchen's gaze had changed.
He seemed… thoughtful.
As though deciding something.
Then he spoke.
"There is another inheritance."
Lin Shuan blinked.
Another?
Tian Wuchen extended his palm.
Lightning appeared.
Not ordinary lightning—
gold-violet immortal thunder.
It coiled like living dragons.
Lin Shuan felt his bloodline react.
Tian Wuchen said quietly—
"This was entrusted to me…"
"…by Lin Xin Jian."
Lin Shuan froze.
His ancestor.
Again.
"It was meant for the day…"
"…you were ready."
Lightning condensed into an ancient jade scripture.
Covered in thunder runes.
Its aura was savage.
Ancient.
Violent.
Yet transcendent.
Tian Wuchen spoke its name—
"Lightning Immortal Path Technique."
Even the words seemed to carry thunder.
Lin Shuan whispered,
"…Immortal Path…"
Tian Wuchen nodded.
"It has three stages."
He raised one finger.
"First—Lightning Immortal Path."
Second finger.
"Void Lightning Step."
Third.
"Thunder Body."
Each word shook Lin Shuan's spirit.
Tian Wuchen continued.
"Each stage must be mastered."
"Without mastery…"
"the next will not reveal itself."
Lin Shuan asked softly—
"And I can learn…"
"Only the first."
Tian Wuchen nodded.
"You lack the strength for more."
His eyes narrowed.
"For now."
Lin Shuan's blood stirred.
"What does it do?"
Tian Wuchen answered—
"It teaches speed beyond reaction."
"Movement beyond ordinary laws."
"Lightning woven into body and battle."
Then—
he added,
"It kills before thought."
Lin Shuan stared.
A technique left by Lin Xin Jian…
saved for this moment.
His hands trembled slightly as he took the scripture.
It felt alive.
As though waiting.
Tian Wuchen said only—
"Enter."
Lin Shuan sat.
Cross-legged.
Consciousness entered.
And reality disappeared.
He stood in endless storm.
Black heavens.
Infinite thunder.
Lightning dragons tore across sky.
A voice boomed from nowhere.
Ancient.
Majestic.
Lightning Immortal Path— First Gate.
Run.
Instantly thunder struck him.
Agony.
Lin Shuan screamed.
Then another.
And another.
He realized—
this was not study.
This was tempering.
To learn lightning—
one endured lightning.
He ran through storms.
Fell.
Rose.
Was struck again.
Sometimes thousands of bolts at once.
His meridians burned.
Bones felt molten.
But gradually—
he sensed patterns.
Lightning was not chaos.
It had pathways.
Rhythms.
Like Frost Divine Heart.
Like void silence.
Another law.
Months passed in cultivation trance.
Outside—
Tian Wuchen waited.
Inside—
Lin Shuan transformed.
Then—
one day—
the runes moved.
Mystical thunder characters flew into him.
His consciousness shook.
He understood.
Lightning Immortal Path.
First movement—
Flash Crossing.
Second—
Thunder Flow.
Third—
Immortal Bolt Step.
His eyes snapped open.
Lightning flickered in his pupils.
Aura surged.
Body Refiner—
Nine-Star.
Peak breakthrough.
The miniature cosmos trembled.
Lin Shuan stood slowly.
Power coursed through him.
Different.
Sharper.
Faster.
Tian Wuchen looked satisfied.
"You advanced."
Lin Shuan breathed out.
"Nine stars…"
He could scarcely believe it.
Tian Wuchen folded arms.
"Show me."
Lin Shuan nodded.
He circulated Frost Divine Heart.
Dragon blood.
Then—
lightning.
CRACK.
He vanished.
A thunder burst where he stood.
Reappeared hundreds of feet away.
Lin Shuan himself looked stunned.
"So fast…"
Tian Wuchen said—
"Again."
Lin Shuan moved.
Flash after flash.
Thunder steps across void.
Each step left lightning traces.
But on seventh movement—
energy misaligned.
Backlash erupted.
BOOM.
He crashed into frozen stone.
Coughing blood.
Tian Wuchen laughed.
"Good."
Lin Shuan groaned.
"That was good?"
"Means it has teeth."
Training resumed.
Now battle comprehension became harsher.
Phantom battlefield returned—
but this time—
with lightning movement.
Tian Wuchen imposed conditions.
Fight without standing still.
Use frost while moving.
Use dragon force mid-step.
Lin Shuan failed constantly.
Sometimes he moved too fast and shattered his own rhythm.
Sometimes lightning clashed with frost circulation.
Sometimes he mis-stepped into spatial fractures and got torn apart by phantom attacks.
But slowly—
combat changed.
One day a spectral warrior attacked.
Lin Shuan did not counter directly.
Thunder cracked.
He vanished.
Appeared behind it.
Sky Dragon Smash—
combined with Lightning Immortal Path.
The phantom exploded.
Tian Wuchen nodded.
Another day—
three dragon spirits attacked.
Lin Shuan stepped through lightning arcs.
Frost gathered in motion.
Absolute White Frost erupted while moving.
Frozen thunder trails crossed battlefield.
He was learning.
Not techniques separately—
but together.
One evening, after exhausting combat, Lin Shuan sat beside Tian Wuchen.
Stars drifted overhead.
He asked—
"Master…"
"Why did Ancestor leave this for me?"
Tian Wuchen looked into the void.
"Because he knew…"
"One day…"
"…you would need speed to survive what power alone cannot."
Silence.
Then—
"Your enemies ahead…"
"…will not fight fairly."
Lin Shuan felt those words settle deep.
Enemies.
Future enemies.
Real ones.
The kind that might trigger his forehead seal.
But not yet.
Tian Wuchen suddenly asked—
"What do you think battle is?"
Lin Shuan answered,
"To defeat the opponent."
Tian Wuchen shook his head.
"No."
"Battle…"
"…is imposing your law before theirs can exist."
Lin Shuan frowned.
Tian Wuchen continued.
"Frost."
"Dragon."
"Lightning."
"Three laws."
"Unify them."
That became next training.
A nightmare.
He had to move with lightning,
strike with dragon force,
freeze with Frost Divine Heart—
simultaneously.
At first impossible.
Then—
possible.
Then terrifying.
One day—
Tian Wuchen summoned ten spectral warriors.
Normally fatal.
He said—
"Win."
Lin Shuan inhaled.
Eyes calm.
Lightning cracked.
He vanished.
Flash.
Flash.
Flash.
Void thunder steps.
Enemies struck emptiness.
He moved among them like storm incarnate.
Sky Dragon Smash.
Golden Dragon Smash.
Absolute White Frost.
Everything merged.
A white-gold lightning dragon phantom erupted.
It had not existed before.
Lin Shuan himself had created it.
BOOM—
All ten phantoms shattered.
Silence.
He landed breathing hard.
Tian Wuchen's eyes narrowed.
Again surprise.
"You create too many things unintentionally."
Lin Shuan laughed weakly.
"Is that bad?"
Tian Wuchen almost smiled.
"For your enemies?"
"Yes."
For the first time—
teacher and disciple both laughed.
A rare moment.
Then—
months later—
Lin Shuan meditated alone.
Nine-Star Body Refiner peak.
Frost stable.
Dragon force obedient.
Lightning flowing.
And he understood—
he had become someone utterly different from the boy who entered this cave.
Not complete.
But transformed.
Then Tian Wuchen appeared.
Expression serious.
"Training changes."
Lin Shuan sighed dramatically.
"Whenever you say that, pain follows."
Tian Wuchen actually chuckled.
"Correct."
He raised a hand.
Space distorted.
A colossal circular arena formed in the void.
Ancient runes rotating.
Pressure suffocating.
Lin Shuan stared.
"What now?"
Tian Wuchen said—
"Now…"
"…real combat begins."
Lin Shuan blinked.
"What was all this then?"
"Preparation."
Naturally.
Of course.
Tian Wuchen continued—
"You have techniques."
"You have movement."
"You have battle sense."
"But no warrior survives…"
"…until tested against overwhelming force."
He pointed toward arena center.
There—
an enormous armored war phantom emerged.
Twice mountain-sized.
Holding an emperor halberd.
Its pressure alone made Lin Shuan's blood stir.
Even his Frost Divine Heart beat heavier.
Still—
no forehead seal activation.
Because though terrifying—
this was still trial.
Not genuine assassination intent.
Tian Wuchen spoke calmly—
"Defeat it."
Lin Shuan nearly choked.
"That?"
"Yes."
"If you survive…"
"I teach you the threshold of Void Lightning Step."
Lin Shuan's eyes widened.
Second stage glimpse?
Even incomplete—
that was priceless.
He looked at giant war phantom.
Then grinned.
A reckless grin.
"Fine."
Lightning began dancing across his body.
Frost mist gathered.
Golden dragon aura rose.
Three powers circling.
The war phantom roared.
Battle erupted.
And somewhere—
deep inside—
his ancestor's inheritance,
dragon blood,
and divine heart
all seemed to stir together.
As though recognizing—
the path of a future legend…
was truly being forged.