The breakthrough came like a storm.
Jian stood in the center of his courtyard, spiritual energy surging violently around him. The ground trembled. The air warped. Space itself seemed to ripple like disturbed water.
His meridians burned with pressure beyond human tolerance. His Nascent Soul trembled violently, barely maintaining coherence as it drew in the essence of the void.
The system chimed repeatedly—
[Void Density Calculated.]
[Fragmentation Threshold Reached.]
[Stabilizing Channels…]
Jian felt the world fade.
For a moment, he became lighter than air.
Then heavier than stone.
Then neither.
He reached out with his spiritual sense—
—and touched the void.
CRACK.
A surge of spatial force detonated outward. The courtyard walls shook, and the surrounding trees bent back from the shockwave.
Golden and silver energy spiraled around Jian as the void accepted his presence.
Moments later, everything stilled.
The world quieted.
Jian opened his eyes.
A faint shimmer of fractured space flickered behind him like transparent wings.
10th Realm: Void Fragmentation.
He had done it.
At eleven years old.
And yet—
He exhaled slowly.
The path still stretched infinitely upward.
He wasn't done.
Not even close.