On the other side, at the far end of the world, before the Worldgate.

Frustration pooled like cold rain in my chest. My repair pace lagged behind Xiyue’s unraveling, time slipping away like sand, and nothing to show for it.

“Sister, we can’t keep this up. The Worldgate’s repair isn’t moving at all.”

Even FrostyLily Dream had lost her playful grin. Dragging this on would never end. I hadn’t expected Xiyue to stand shoulder to shoulder with me now. She’s still a bit short if we really compare. But at the Pinnacle of Origin Realm, unless it’s a fight to the death, that sliver of difference fades like mist.

Through my Sword Intent, I felt it clearly—Xiyue had gone all in. She’d likely bring out her Origin Artifact soon. I was still taking it easy, drifting like a lazy cloud. No wonder the progress sat frozen.

Fine. I need to get serious too. I hate mending seals—dull, joyless, like stitching old cloth in a dim room. But I hold this world’s mandate. Power brings duty; the larger the tide, the heavier the oar.

“FrostyLily Dream, Xiyue has probed this seal for countless years. Even if we fix it now, she’ll crack it again. The cycle will repeat.”

I stopped the repair. I stood and brushed the dust from my skirt, then stretched like a cat in morning sun.

“So, Sister, you mean…?” FrostyLily Dream already followed my thought.

“Exactly.” I nodded, and shaped a blade in my hand from Origin Sword Qi. “Instead of nursing an old seal, we reseal the Worldgate itself.”

I drew a great swell of Primordial Source into the blade. Against Xiyue, drifting won’t do.

“Such a crushing aura it makes us gasp… as expected of Sister!”

Right, the pervert was starry-eyed again, staring at me like I was moonlight.

“FrostyLily Dream, you’re part of this seal. Don’t just stand there in a daze.”

I converted the Primordial Source bound to the blade into pure sealing essence. My preparations neared their end.

“Helping Sister is my greatest honor!” FrostyLily Dream beamed. “What do you need me to do?”

“Simple. Shift to your Sword Spirit form. Once I reseal the Worldgate, use Primordial Source to fortify it with everything you’ve got.”

“Understood!”

Her answer barely fell before she flowed back into her Sword Spirit form. Light of Primordial Source spilled off her like winter dawn, icing the ground in rippling frost.

“Then—”

I rose into the air, facing the Worldgate that seemed to pierce heaven and earth like a colossal spear. I lifted the Origin blade and moved at my fastest rhythm.

“The Sword of Sealing.”

I unleashed the third blade of the World Sword—the Sword of Sealing—and bound the Worldgate anew with the world’s Primordial Source. With each stroke, old sigils faded like worn paint, and the new seal took shape like fresh snow on black stone.

I worked it deep, weaving complexity and strength until it outclassed the old, so Xiyue wouldn’t pry it apart again.

FrostyLily Dream kept pace. As soon as the new seal appeared, she poured ice-type Primordial Source into it, locking it down like winter iron.

“Hm? Xiyue’s about to bring out her Origin Artifact. I need to speed up, or we might fail at the last step. Shattered Light isn’t in hand.”

I forged another blade of Primordial Source without hesitation and pushed the pace. Hopefully I’d finish before Xiyue armed herself. Even then, I still didn’t go all out. Boredom or something worse—I found myself matching her rhythm, tightening my focus as she tightened hers.

Maybe I’ve been invincible too long. That’s why a near-equal opponent starts to feel like the first wind in a still summer. We did share a good season, far in the past.

Too much invincibility is its own kind of emptiness. Across the world, there are only four in the Origin Realm, me included. Of them, I alone reached the Pinnacle of Origin Realm. That means no opponent worth a serious fight. Even if the other three join hands, it won’t help. Set aside realm; their grasp of Primordial Source and their technique trail me like shadows at noon.

Xiyue is different. Now she stands at the Pinnacle of Origin Realm too. I’d love a real duel. But I can’t let her set foot in this world. That would birth a war far harsher than the last age of chaos.

A war between the Origin Realm isn’t comparable to mere races vying for land. It may not break the world, but it could wipe out every living thing if the reins slip.

…

On the other side of the Worldgate.

Xiyue let the cracking work go. She sighed softly, respect glinting in her eyes. “Xinuo’s mastery of Primordial Source leaves me in the dust. I thought the Pinnacle of Origin Realm would put me at her level. Turns out there’s still daylight between us.”

She shook her head, reached into the empty air, and closed her fingers. A pitch-black longsword, steeped in calamity, formed in her grasp. Purple-black Primordial Source flared outward like storm ink, smothering the land in night.

The blade was Xiyue’s Origin Artifact—Eternal Dark Moon. Cracking it bit by bit wasn’t viable anymore. Xinuo had already resealed the Worldgate.

Power-wise, Xiyue could stand near Xinuo’s height. But her understanding of Primordial Source lagged like a slow tide after a storm.

“Fine. Before Xinuo finishes, I’ll forcefully break the Worldgate.”

Feeling the dense Primordial Source pulsing from Eternal Dark Moon, Xiyue shifted back to her Sword Spirit form. Her aura rose like a black tempest, and the Worldgate shuddered in its frame. Behind her, two or three Origin Realm beings waited like distant stars.

“Gulp… Lady Xiyue’s going all out. We need to get farther away!”

“Yeah. From her muttering, is the one named Xinuo even stronger?!”

“To push Lady Xiyue this far, it seems likely. If I recall, Lady Xiyue lost to Xinuo back then and was forced into the Inner World.”

“No wonder… Not good. Fall back—farther!”

As Xiyue’s momentum swelled, those Origin Realm onlookers retreated again, scattering thousands of miles like leaves before a gale.

Same realm doesn’t mean same height. Xinuo and Xiyue, at the Pinnacle of Origin Realm, stand as the world’s most powerful, the absolute peak. The rest can only trail in their wake.

“Everdark: Oblivion.”

She targeted the section of the Worldgate not yet resealed and swung the pitch-black blade with everything she had. In a heartbeat, the sky buckled and the earth cracked. Across the ancient, towering Worldgate, new fissures crept like spiderwebs.