The sky bled crimson as Zhan Tian stood atop the Celestial Spire, his silver hair whipping in the storm of shattered qi. Ten thousand realms bowed beneath his feet, their emperors trembling at the mere whisper of his name—the Martial God of Eternity, the Blade That Severed Fate. His spear, Heaven's Fang, gleamed with the light of a dying star, its tip still dripping with the essence of a vanquished divine beast. Victory was his. The War of Ascendants was over.

Or so he thought.

"Brother Zhan," a voice called, soft as silk, sharp as a dagger. He turned, his golden eyes narrowing at the figure emerging from the swirling mists of the spire's peak. Tian Xu, his sworn brother, clad in robes of midnight blue, stepped forward with a smile that didn't reach his serpent-like gaze. Behind him trailed the Seven Sovereigns—lords of the realms Zhan Tian had fought to protect—each bearing the weight of their crowns and the glint of treachery.

"You've done it," Tian Xu said, his tone honeyed. "The heavens are ours. No god remains to challenge us." His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his blade, a subtle tremor betraying his calm.

Zhan Tian's grip tightened on Heaven's Fang. The air thickened, heavy with the stench of betrayal he'd been too blind to see. "Ours?" he asked, voice low, a rumble that shook the spire's ancient stones. "Or yours?"

Tian Xu's smile faltered, then widened into a grin of jagged malice. "Yours was the glory, Brother. Mine will be the throne." With a flick of his wrist, a jade talisman flared in his palm—a Seal of Divine Ruin, forged in the blood of fallen immortals. The Sovereigns raised their weapons in unison, arrays of golden chains erupting from the talisman, coiling toward Zhan Tian like vipers.

"You dare?" Zhan Tian roared, his qi surging like a tidal wave. Heaven's Fang slashed through the air, shattering the first wave of chains, but the talisman pulsed, and a thousand more lashed out, binding his arms, his legs, his soul. Pain tore through him—not from the chains, but from the realization. Ten centuries of brotherhood, battles fought side by side, all crumbling to ash in a single breath.

"You were too strong," Tian Xu hissed, stepping closer as the Sovereigns chanted, their voices weaving the seal tighter. "A god among gods. We couldn't rule with you towering above us. So we'll bury you instead."

Zhan Tian's laughter cut through the storm, cold and defiant. "Bury me? You think this will hold me forever?" His golden eyes blazed, even as the chains dragged him to his knees. "I'll return, Tian Xu. And when I do, your heavens will burn."

The talisman flared one final time, and the world dissolved into darkness. His divine soul screamed as it was torn from his body, flung into the void, sealed within a fragile mortal shell. The last thing he saw was Tian Xu's triumphant sneer, the Sovereigns bowing to their new master, and the crimson sky fading to black.

In a distant realm, a weak man named Lin Feng gasped awake, his body bruised, his spirit fractured. But deep within, a spark flickered—a god's wrath, waiting to ignite.