For the first ti in eons, the God of Ti felt sothing unfamiliar.
Trapped.
Nian Shi’s silver eyes flickered as he analyzed his surroundings. The frozen stars, the suspended galaxies—none of it was just stasis.
Space itself has been reforged.
He had been so focused on Yun Lintian’s temporal manipulation that he hadn’t noticed the subtler change. The very fabric of reality around them had been reshaped into an inescapable cage.
A slow smirk curled Nian Shi’s lips. "Impressive." He tilted his head, studying Yun Lintian with renewed interest. "Your mastery over space has beco much stronger than before."
Yun Lintian didn’t respond. The God Slaying Sword humd at his side, its dark edge drinking in the tension.
Nian Shi chuckled, rolling his sleeves up with deliberate slowness. "Fine, fine. If you want to play longer, I’ll indulge you." His voice dripped with amusent, but his silver eyes glead with sothing darker.
"After all..."
His form blurred—
—and reappeared behind Yun Lintian, a dagger of condensed ti aid at his spine.
"...beating you here saves the trouble later."
Unfortunately, the dagger never connected.
Yun Lintian didn’t turn. He didn’t even move.
Space itself bent, warping the trajectory of Nian Shi’s strike. The temporal blade veered off course, slicing through empty air as Yun Lintian remained untouched.
Nian Shi’s smirk didn’t falter. "Oh?"
He vanished again, reappearing at Yun Lintian’s left, then right, then above—each strike faster than the last, each movent defying logic. Blades of frozen ti, spatial ruptures, entropy waves—all techniques that had erased gods in the past.
None reached their target.
Space twisted around Yun Lintian like an impenetrable shield, bending Nian Shi’s attacks away effortlessly.
Then—
Yun Lintian moved.
A single step forward.
The ground didn’t shake. The air didn’t tremble.
But Nian Shi’s body jerked backward as if yanked by an invisible force. His ribs cracked audibly, his silver robes tearing as spatial pressure crushed inward.
Blood—divine and shimring—dripped from his lips.
He coughed, laughing through the pain. "Ah... so this is your true strength?"
Yun Lintian didn’t answer. He simply raised a hand—
—and clenched his fist.
CRUNCH!
Nian Shi’s body imploded. Bones shattered. Organs collapsed. His form crumpled like paper under the weight of a thousand collapsing stars.
Yet, his laughter continued.
Gasping, his broken body began reforming, golden light stitching flesh back together. "You—hah—you really thought that would work?"
Yun Lintian watched, unimpressed.
Nian Shi wiped blood from his lips, grinning. "I am Ti itself. You can’t kill the sa way you killed those other fools."
A pause.
Then Yun Lintian spoke, his voice colder than the void.
"I don’t need to kill you."
His golden and black eyes glead.
"I just need to erase you."
CLANG!
The God Slaying Sword pulsed.
Not with hunger—but with anticipation.
Nian Shi’s smile finally faded as he sensed it—the shift in the air, the way reality itself recoiled from Yun Lintian’s next intent.
This wasn’t just an attack.
This was uncreation.
Yun Lintian raised the sword.
Nian Shi’s silver eyes widened.
Then—
The blade fell.
A slash darker than oblivion cut through existence, severing not just flesh, not just soul—but the very concept of Nian Shi’s being.
"ARGH!" The God of Ti scread.
Not in pain.
In denial.
His form flickered—not healing, not fading, but unraveling. The threads of his existence, woven through countless tilines, began snapping one by one.
"No—! This isn’t—!"
His voice distorted, fracturing into echoes. His hands clawed at the air, desperate to grasp sothing, anything to anchor himself.
But there was nothing.
Yun Lintian watched, rciless.
Nian Shi’s silver eyes locked onto his, filled with sothing no god should ever feel—
Fear.
Nian Shi’s body was halfway erased from existence when—
Click!
A soft sound echoed through the frozen battlefield.
An hourglass materialized in Nian Shi’s outstretched hand.
The sand inside—golden, shimring with the essence of ti itself—suddenly reversed its flow, grains flying upwards against all laws of nature.
Yun Lintian’s eyes narrowed.
The mont the first grain touched the upper chamber, Nian Shi’s unraveling form stitched itself back together. Flesh rewound, divinity rekindled, his silver robes fluttering as if the attack had never happened.
Yun Lintian imdiately activated the Seed of Ti in his Divine Core, golden light surging through his ridians as he attempted to counter the reversal—
But nothing happened.
The Seed of Ti, which had always obeyed his will, now lay dormant. It pulsed weakly, as if recognizing the hourglass but refusing to interfere.
Nian Shi’s laughter rang out, bright and mocking.
"Did you really think you got ?" He twirled the hourglass between his fingers, his smirk widening as Yun Lintian’s expression darkened. "Oh, don’t look so grim. This is a good lesson, isn’t it?"
He held up the hourglass, letting the golden sand catch the frozen starlight. "Guess what this is made of."
Yun Lintian stared at the artifact.
Sothing about it tugged at his senses—a familiarity that made the Seed of Ti in his core tremble. His golden-black eyes flickered as realization dawned.
This is...
"Bingo!" Nian Shi clapped his hands together, the hourglass hovering between them.
"You’re right. A fragnt of the Seed of Ti." His grin turned razor-sharp. "Did you honestly believe I’d let the complete Seed fall into your hands without a backup plan?"
Yun Lintian didn’t answer.
His sword moved before the thought fully ford—a slash aid not at Nian Shi, but at the hourglass itself.
Nian Shi clicked his tongue, sidestepping effortlessly. "How rude. How could you interrupt when soone was speaking?"
The God Slaying Sword’s edge passed through empty air, severing a dozen frozen stars in the distance. They collapsed silently, their light snuffed out like candles.
Nian Shi examined the hourglass, unaffected. "I’ve had eons to prepare for you, Yun Lintian. Did you think I wouldn’t keep a piece of the Seed for myself?" He tilted his head. "After all... even you can’t unmake ti with ti."
Yun Lintian’s grip tightened on his sword.
Nian Shi’s smile didn’t waver. "Ah, but don’t worry. This isn’t just an insurance policy." He tapped the hourglass, and the sand swirled violently. "It’s also... a gift."
A pulse of golden light erupted from the artifact.
The frozen battlefield shuddered.
Then—
BOOM!
Space ripped open around them, not as a portal, but as a wound—a jagged tear in reality itself. Through it, Yun Lintian glimpsed other tilines, other battles, other versions of himself and Nian Shi locked in endless conflict...
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