Swallowed Star: Heavenbreaker

The city burned in streaks of orange and blue as alien craft swept overhead, their weapons reducing entire city blocks to rubble. From the roof of the parking structure, Lin Xuan watched with cold detachment, silver-lit eyes tracing the patterns of the invaders' search grids.

The vanguard has escalated, he thought. A hunter-class war machine… they've deployed one already.

Far in the distance, a titanic silhouette moved between shattered towers — a quadrupedal engine of war, its armor bristling with plasma lances. Each step cracked the ground, scattering rubble like leaves before a storm. Through the Codex's heightened senses, Lin Xuan felt the thrumming core at its heart, a power source humming with compressed stellar energy.

His disciples gathered behind him, their newly tempered Qi still unsteady. Zhang Wei clenched his fists, eyes wide at the devastation.

"How do we fight that?"

Lin Xuan did not look back. "You don't. Not yet."

Mei Yan swallowed hard. "Then… what do we do?"

"You will defend this refuge," Lin Xuan said, turning to face them. "The hunter comes for me."

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I. Preparing the Vessel

Lin Xuan descended to the lowest level of the structure, where the convergence of ley-lines fed a steady stream of Primordial Qi into the earth. He seated himself cross-legged at the nexus, hands resting lightly on his knees, and let the Codex's patterns unfold in his mind.

For weeks he had tempered his mortal vessel, compressing the wild essence of this world into a denser and purer form. Now the barrier between the Foundation and Core Stages of the Heavenbreaker Path trembled, ready to shatter.

The hunter's core is potent, he thought, feeling the tremors of the war machine's approach through the ground. I will break through — and then I will claim it.

He exhaled, sinking into meditation. Silver light spilled from his skin, each breath drawing torrents of Primordial Qi into his dantian. The energy roared like a storm, compressing tighter, denser, until his vessel strained to contain it.

Then the barrier shattered.

Pain exploded through his body as compressed Qi flooded his meridians, expanding and reforging them in an instant. Muscles tore and rewove themselves, bones rang like tempered steel, and Lin Xuan's consciousness blazed with clarity.

Silver light erupted from his form, searing a spiral into the concrete beneath him.

Core Ascension — Heavenbreaker Path, First Stage.

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II. The Hunter Arrives

Above, the hunter-class war machine reached the structure, its titanic frame blotting out the fractured moon. Its four legs dug furrows into the concrete as it leveled its plasma lances, blue fire gathering at their tips.

The disciples stood their ground. Zhang Wei raised his rifle, Primordial Qi flickering along its barrel, while Mei Yan and Luo Jin spread out, forming a loose perimeter around the survivors. Fear gnawed at them, but training and the tempering of the Primordial Vein held them steady.

The hunter fired.

A wall of blue plasma roared toward them, engulfing the top level in an explosion of light and molten steel. When the smoke cleared, a figure stood in its path, silver aura blazing like a miniature sun.

Lin Xuan.

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III. Clash of Titans

He rose into the air, the force of his leap cratering the concrete beneath him. The hunter swiveled, plasma lances tracking him with inhuman precision, but Lin Xuan was already moving, his body a blur of silver light.

Heaven-Sundering Palm.

The strike landed with the force of a falling star, caving in a section of the hunter's armor and sending the massive machine staggering. Lin Xuan landed lightly atop its back, fingers plunging into the crack he had made. Primordial Qi flared, tearing the armored plating aside to expose the pulsing core within.

The hunter bucked violently, trying to shake him off, but Lin Xuan held fast, his aura blazing brighter. He drew in a deep breath, cycling the Codex at full capacity, and unleashed a second Heaven-Sundering Palm directly into the core.

The explosion lit the city like a false dawn.

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IV. The Whisper Speaks

Lin Xuan stood amidst the smoking ruin of the hunter, its shattered core spilling energy that coiled around him like mist. He extended his senses, drawing the stellar essence into his dantian, refining it with the Heavenbreaker Path's brutal efficiency.

As the last of the core's energy was consumed, the heartbeat beneath the earth surged, the whisper that had haunted him since his arrival now clear and resonant.

"Heavenbreaker… free me…"

Lin Xuan's eyes narrowed. So you can speak.

"…I am bound… beneath the deepest vein… my heart is yours if my chains are broken…"

Why should I free you? Lin Xuan asked in the silence of his own mind.

"…Because your Path leads to the same end. Break the heavens… and break my chains…"

For a moment, Lin Xuan was silent, silver light flickering in his gaze. Then a thin smile curved his lips. Very well. I will come for you — when I am ready.

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V. Aftermath

The disciples stared in stunned silence as Lin Xuan descended from the ruined hunter, silver aura fading. Zhang Wei stepped forward, awe and relief warring in his expression.

"You… you destroyed it…"

Lin Xuan regarded him impassively. "It was strong — but strength borrowed is still weakness. Remember that."

He turned, gaze sweeping the burning city. "More will come. This was only their first true strike. We move at dawn."

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That night, as the survivors slept, Lin Xuan stood alone atop the structure, his senses spread wide. The whisper still thrummed in his bones, a steady call guiding him toward the heart of the Primordial Vein.

And beneath it, he felt something else — a ripple in the vast darkness above. The Eternal Shadows were watching.

Lin Xuan's silver-lit eyes narrowed. Watch closely. Soon, I will shatter your chains as well.

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End of Chapter 8.