The morning sun had not yet breached the mountain's edge when Li Yi awoke. The grove remained bathed in a silver-blue haze, thick with ambient Qi. Last night's encounter with the Watcher still echoed in his core—the Memory Seed replayed flashes of the Abyssal King, of the Divine Cage above the heavens, and of his mother's final gaze.
His companions were already stirring.
Mo Ruyan trained in silence beneath a willow tree, her blade moving in crisp, elegant arcs that carved through the morning mist. Each stroke held the quiet grace of experience and precision honed through years of hardship. She wasn't merely a bodyguard anymore—she had begun to walk her own path forward, guided by instinct and battle intuition.
Xue Lian sat by the pond, drawing spirit runes into the air with delicate fingers, watching them shimmer and dissolve, feeding knowledge into her jade talisman. Lan Qing'er, meanwhile, sat cross-legged against a tree trunk, writing furiously in her recording scroll, capturing the events of the trial and the Watcher encounter.
Li Yi stood up, stretching lightly. His Chaos Core spun with such force now that it was beginning to influence the spiritual environment around him. The celestial trees leaned subtly toward him, their luminous leaves humming.
He was no longer just a young cultivator.
He was a beacon.
A storm seed.
—
By midday, they had resumed their journey south. Their destination: Jade Soul Pavilion, a mystical oracle temple situated at the convergence of five ancient ley lines. It was known for its seers—cultivators who glimpsed the threads of fate and translated them into riddles, warnings, and prophecy. Many cultivators journeyed there hoping for answers.
Li Yi was not going to ask questions.
He was going to confirm something he already feared.
They crossed three spirit zones in silence. In each, the Qi was distorted, trembling slightly, as though the land itself had become cautious of their passing. Strange creatures skittered away through underbrush—many of them mutated, corrupted with abyssal traces. The closer they came to the Pavilion, the more obvious the signs became.
Something had changed in the world.
Even the air was heavier.
—
The Jade Soul Pavilion emerged from the mist like a forgotten palace of the gods. Carved into a mountainside, its many tiered roofs spiraled upward like waves of jade and gold, catching the sunlight in crystalline bursts. A massive tree, known as the Oracle's Root, grew through its center—its branches high enough to pierce the clouds, its roots older than kingdoms.
They passed through outer gates guarded by monk-warriors in sky-blue robes. None of them blocked the group, only bowed with hands clasped, their eyes lingering on Li Yi longer than necessary.
They knew.
Inside the Pavilion, a sense of peace washed over them. The air smelled of sandalwood and old incense. Echoes of chanting could be heard from deep within. At the center was the Hall of Flowing Stars, a vast chamber lined with floating crystal mirrors and walls etched with constellations.
Here, the Jade Oracle awaited.
She sat atop a floating lotus throne, eyes closed, her skin translucent and veined with glowing green lines. Her cultivation realm was unfathomable—beyond Immortal Ascension. Likely a remnant of the early Upper Realm settlers who had failed to return when the gates closed.
She opened her eyes as they approached.
"You have walked paths untouched since the first sky burned," she said to Li Yi. "Sit. The river of fate calls your name too loudly to ignore."
Li Yi sat.
The room darkened.
The constellation walls began to shimmer, shifting, forming symbols in the air. A massive web of starlight bloomed from the floor, surrounding them all. It twisted, reflected, and pulsed with incomprehensible truths.
The Jade Oracle spoke again, her voice deeper now, layered.
"You carry the blood of chaos… the first spark… the unformed thread of creation. The stars hide from your presence."
Li Yi did not respond.
"The God Realm watches. The seal weakens. The Abyss claws its way toward light," she whispered.
Then she raised one hand, and a mirror formed before him. Not glass—liquid, celestial essence. Within it, three futures emerged.
In the first, Li Yi stood atop a sea of corpses, alone, crowned in starlight, but hollow-eyed. The world bowed, but the sky was silent.
In the second, he was bound in chains of divine fire, surrounded by gods, punished as a destroyer. His companions dead. The realms burning.
In the third, he stood with Mo Ruyan, Lan Qing'er, and others not yet known, united beneath a broken sky, facing a horned shadow rising from a celestial gate.
The mirror shattered.
Silence.
"Three roads. One choice," the Oracle said. "The more power you grasp, the closer you walk toward oblivion. Even your bloodline cannot defy the laws of fate without consequence."
"What do I need to do?" Li Yi asked.
"Open the sealed gate beneath the Twin Eclipse Mountains," she answered. "There lies the truth of your bloodline's origin… and the trial that will define the next era."
She leaned closer. "But beware, child of chaos. You are not the only one chosen by fate. A shadow mirrors you… one born of the same war your mother still fights in."
He frowned. "A shadow?"
The Oracle exhaled. "Yes. The Void Heir."
Then the light faded.
The vision ended.
The room returned to silence.
Lan Qing'er broke the stillness with a whisper. "Void Heir… is that a person?"
"I don't know," Li Yi said. "But I'll find out."
As they prepared to leave the pavilion, one of the monk-warriors passed him a scroll. "The Oracle left this for you. A map… and a warning."
He opened it.
A path leading through the desolate regions beyond the border of the Xuan Realm. A wasteland corrupted long ago. No sects dared explore it now. At its heart was the Twin Eclipse Mountain Range, long considered dead.
Below the map were five words in ancient celestial script:
> "The cage cracks. The stars bleed."
Li Yi folded the scroll and tucked it into his robe.
He turned to his companions. "We leave at sunrise."
No one questioned it.
As they stepped out of the Pavilion, the sky had darkened again—thick with clouds that should not have formed. From high above, a faint tremor rippled across the realm, felt only by those with deep perception.
Somewhere far to the west, a slumbering beast opened a single eye beneath a ruined mountain.
And whispered a name.
> "Li Yi…"
---
End of Chapter 30