Chapter 8 - Chapter 8: Shadow Rebirth and the Queen Who Eats Systems

Location: Inner Sanctum of the Broken Sky SectTime: Three Days After the Tournament

Rishabh sat beneath the Starfall Tree, meditating while Ji Mei slept beside him in recovery. Her wounds were healing, her breath stable. The world was quiet.

But silence, in his life, never lasted long.

🌑 A Cold Wind – Arthis Returns

The wind changed first. Then the crows began to scream.

An obsidian portal opened—not a spatial rift, not a system gate—but something far older, woven from screams and flesh-colored mist.

From it stepped Arthis.

But he no longer looked like a man.

His eyes burned with inverted runes. His aura stank of forgotten tombs. His shadow pulsed like it had a heartbeat.

💀 System Alert:🚨 "Warning! Being: [Fragment of Nihil-Dao] detected."🧿 "Host Arthis has been corrupted beyond 92%. Detected: Forbidden Immortal Soulpiece – The Anti-Dharma Wraith."

🩸 Arthis Speaks… in Many Voices

"You refused godhood, Rishabh. You chose the weak path. Emotion. Attachment. Karma."

His voice was layered—Arthis's own, mixed with one from another reality.

"Now witness the cost."

He waved a hand—and several cultivators from the audience three days ago erupted, their qi cores stolen remotely, their bodies imploding.

Ji Mei stirred in her sleep, groaning in pain.

🔥 "System: Active Battle Mode?"❌ "Denied. Host's emotional seal engaged. Using [Empathic Qi Pulse] instead."

💓 The Power of a Bleeding God

Rishabh didn't panic.

He stepped forward slowly—and the ground cracked from the sheer pressure of emotion building inside him.

His love. His rage. His fear for Ji Mei. His fury at being denied peace.

Each emotion enhanced his cultivation, rather than disrupting it.

🌊 [Empathic Qi Pulse: Grief → Activated]🌩️ [Qi Technique Unlocked: Mourning Strike – Turns tears into lightning spears]

He wept—and lightning fell from the sky, targeting Arthis.

Arthis blocked with a thought, but his hand shattered.

"You're no longer bound by rules…" he hissed.

Rishabh responded calmly:

"No. I am the rule now."

🌌 Then She Came – The Devourer Queen

But before the battle could explode into its climax… everything froze.

The world paused.

Even Arthis looked confused.

A new voice rang out.

Feminine. Sultry. Cosmic. Terrifying.

"And yet... both of you still play under the rules of the System."

A woman descended from a crack in reality—half-digital, half-divine, her dress stitched from broken interface code and stars.

Codename: Devourer Queen❌ Class: Unbound Entity⚠️ System cannot assess threat level

🕷️ Her Offer

She walked between the frozen combatants, caressing reality like it was silk.

"You, Rishabh… You are the first in ten thousand cycles to reach this point."

"Reject the current System. Break the cycle. Let me give you my gift—The Devourer Seed.""Plant it in your core. Overwrite this flawed world. Create your own laws. No karma. No heaven. No death."

🧠 Internal System War

Suddenly Rishabh's system screamed:

"⚠️ WARNING: SYSTEM-CORE INVASION ATTEMPT DETECTED.""Defensive Countermeasure Active: Host Soul Must Decide."

A phantom version of himself appeared in his mind—a split copy holding two seeds:

One glowing with Dharma's light.

One black as void—the Devourer Seed.

💥 Cliffhanger Decision Point

Before Rishabh could choose—

Ji Mei screamed in pain behind him. A shadow tendril from Arthis's frozen form pierced her shield.

His emotions spiked.

The System cracked.

"Split Path Detected. Emergency Dual Route Unlocked."

"Accept the Devourer Seed while maintaining Emotion Core? Results: Unknown."

Rishabh clenched his fist.

Then opened his mouth.

And said...

🔮 TO BE CONTINUED…