Clouds of divine flame roared across a shattered realm suspended in the void. Ruined jade palaces floated above an ocean of broken stars. Corpses of gods and beasts littered the skies.
At the heart of the storm, a man stood alone—his armor cracked, his robes scorched, his eyes burning with defiance.
Xu Tianheng, the traitor. The Heaven-Breaker.
Before him floated the Celestial Emperor, clad in robes of golden light, flanked by silent immortals wielding Heaven-forged weapons.
"You defied the Mandate. You severed fate. You dared to climb the Ninth Heaven unbidden," the Emperor thundered.
Xu Tianheng laughed, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth.
"And what has Heaven done but chain the world in fear?"
He raised his blade — chipped and smoking — and pointed it at the heavens.
"Kill me. My soul will return. I will break your sky again."
The blade fell. So did he.
As his spirit scattered, a single spark of golden light drifted beyond the Celestial Realm, falling like a meteor through the Void, down… down into the Mortal World.
Present Day — Cloudveil Mountains, Mortal World
Seventeen-year-old Lin Xun crouched in a bamboo grove, sweat dripping from his brow.
His wooden sword trembled in his grasp. He had been training since dawn, practicing the same three sword forms his father taught him before he vanished — before the sect found Lin alone in the forest and took him in.
Birds chirped in the morning mist. The mountains whispered with wind and fog.
A crunch of boots behind him.
"Still swinging that stick like a farmer?"
Shen Jinghai, inner sect prodigy, strolled up with a smirk. His robes were crisp. His spirit aura burned with arrogant confidence.
Lin Xun didn't answer.
Jinghai circled him, voice sharp as a blade.
"Five years. Still stuck in Qi Condensation. The elders only keep you around to scrub latrines."
Lin Xun remained silent. His grip on the sword tightened.
"Do you ever wonder," Jinghai said, stepping closer, "why trash like you weren't left to starve in the forest?"
This time, Lin Xun looked up. His dark eyes, calm and unreadable, locked onto Jinghai's.
"Because Heaven hasn't given up on me yet."
Jinghai sneered, then turned and left.
Lin Xun waited until his footsteps faded before sighing and lowering his sword.
The truth was, he had given up—until last night.
That Night — A Falling Star
He remembered it vividly.
He had climbed to Silent Peak, the highest summit near the sect, hoping to meditate in solitude.
But instead of peace, the sky had cracked open.
A crimson comet, trailing light like a bleeding sword, roared across the heavens and crashed into the eastern valley, splitting trees and stone.
He had raced down, heart pounding.
In the smoking crater, half-buried in scorched earth, was a jade pendant — glowing faintly, pulsing with strange energy.
As his fingers brushed it, the world blurred.
A Vision — The Voice of the Past
Fire. Screams. Jade palaces collapsing.
And then… a voice.
"You… are me… and I… am not yet you."
A shadow in golden armor stepped forward. His eyes were the color of molten stars. His voice echoed in Lin Xun's mind.
"If you awaken, Heaven will hunt you. If you sleep, the world will burn. Choose."
Lin Xun staggered back. The pendant dimmed, sealing its power once more.
But something had changed inside him.
He could feel… a door—no, a gate—somewhere in his spirit, long closed, now creaking open.
Back to the Bamboo Grove — Morning
Lin Xun exhaled and sat cross-legged on the ground.
He gripped the jade pendant, now tied around his neck with a thread of spirit silk.
"Who are you?" he whispered.
No answer.
But he could feel spirit energy now—not just around him, but within him. Moving. Shifting.
He focused his breath. The first layer of Qi Condensation, which had resisted him for years, trembled—then cracked.
BOOM.
A small pulse of power rippled from his core. Birds scattered from the trees.
Lin Xun opened his eyes.
He had broken through.
"So it begins," he whispered.
END OF CHAPTER 1