Shadowbane
The air in the forest was cold and heavy with morning fog. Dew sparkled faintly on the leaves, and the air carried the crisp scent of pine and soil. Lin Xian stepped into the glade, his white robes brushing against the grass, a bundle wrapped in gray cloth resting in his hand.
A faint hum of spiritual energy led him to a half-collapsed stone altar overgrown with moss. The residual power here was dormant, but undisturbed.
"This will work".
He knelt and laid the bundle down. The cloth unfurled to reveal the broken-looking sword he'd bought the previous day. Its dull metal reflected no light, but faint runes shimmered across the surface, shifting like living shadows.
Xiao Jin poked his head out from Lin Xian's sleeve, golden eyes blinking as it sniffed the air and pressed its small paw against the cloth-wrapped blade.
Lin Xian smiled faintly. He pricked his fingertip with a small dagger; a drop of blood slid down the blade and hissed as it touched the metal. The runes flickered.
"Let's see what you're hiding," he murmured.
He pressed his palm to the flat of the sword. Spiritual light flowed from his meridians—white, cold, and razor-sharp. The symbols on the blade stirred as if awakened from a long sleep. A deep hum rolled through the glade.
Then—crack!—a faint line of light split across the hilt. The first seal broke.
At once, a surge of shadow burst outward, coiling through the air like black mist. The trees shuddered; the altar stones trembled. Xiao Jin arched its back and hissed, fur bristling into a golden halo.
Lin Xian's eyes flashed silver for an instant; he anchored his aura, stabilizing the surge. "So this is the First Seal … not bad.. not bad at all."
The shadow's fury dimmed, folding back into the sword. When the last wisp vanished, the weapon's surface had changed—its edge gleamed faintly silver, and the air around it was utterly still. Even the sound of his breath seemed to vanish within a small radius.
He raised it, testing the weight. The blade moved as though slicing through water—smooth, effortless, almost soundless.
"Silent as death," Lin Xian whispered."Just like I needed"
For a moment, he stood motionless, gaze distant. Memories rose like echoes from a past life: a battlefield between worlds, skies bleeding with starlight.
A white-haired man, calm amid the storm. His sword shone like a black sun—Eclipser, the blade that devoured night itself. With one swing, it tore the heavens open, swallowing the armies of the Voidborn. Space itself screamed under its edge.
He could still feel the pulse of that sword in his bones, still hear its voice whispering from the end of time. Xuanming… the name of the sword that had been his partner..
But that sword had gone with him. What lay in his hands now was only a shadow—a weapon trying to imitate perfection.
He exhaled slowly. "You're not Eclipser," he said softly, tracing a finger along the cold metal. "But perhaps you'll remember what it means to be a sword."
"I shall named u "Shadowbane".
Xiao Jin hopped down from a rock and padded forward to sniff the blade's edge, then sat a short distance away, tail flicking in cautious curiosity.
Lin Xian's gaze shifted to a massive boulder half-buried nearby. Flickers of silver ore caught the light within its gray stone.
"Let's see," he murmured, stepping forward.
He lifted Shadowbane and moved through a sequence of motions—calm, precise, each swing tracing the faint patterns of his Shadow Severing Sword Art. The air around his movements rippled, light bending slightly with each cut. Then, with a soft breath, he thrust forward and executed the final motion—
Silent Severing.
A flash of darkness rippled outward. For an instant, even the wind seemed frozen.
The boulder split neatly in two, halves sliding apart with flawless smoothness. The cut was so fine that the inner surface reflected his own face back at him.
Lin Xian lowered the blade slowly.
"Not bad for your first awakening," he said quietly, sheathing the weapon.
The moment Shadowbane entered its scabbard, the world seemed to breathe again—the rustle of leaves, the chirp of birds returning.
He glanced at the kitten. Xiao Jian tilted its head and gave a soft, approving meow, eyes gleaming like twin suns.
Lin Xian smiled faintly. "You approve, hm? Then we'll keep it."
"Shadowbane," he murmured. "You've slept long enough. Now walk with me into the storm."
As if in answer, a faint tremor rippled through the blade—an ancient will stirring deep within.
Far away, upper realms, seven auras flickered faintly for a moment—each belonging to a being who once followed the Heavenly King of Nirvana.
They felt a pulse of familiarity in their souls… as if their forgotten master had just drawn his sword once more.
When Lin Xian's sword cleaved the boulder in half, a ripple of unseen energy spread silently through the world — invisible to mortals, yet thunderous to those whose souls once resonated with his.
In the Upper Realm, deep within the golden spires of the Nirvana Palace, a woman cloaked in silver moonlight paused mid-meditation.
Her cold eyes snapped open — Lan Qingyao, Pride of the Seven Sins.
The illusion array around her faltered for an instant as her heartbeat quickened. "This pulse… could it be…"
She looked toward the lower heavens, her gaze trembling. "Master…?"
---
In the Blazing Steppes, where volcanoes breathed eternal fire, a broad-shouldered man thrust his spear into the sky, lightning roaring along its edge.
Han Zhentian — Wrath — froze. His spear arm trembled slightly.
That rhythm in the void… it was the same heartbeat that once led them through endless slaughter.
"Don't tell me… after all this time—"
He grinned fiercely, eyes glinting with violent joy. "He's alive."
---
At the edge of the Serpent Marsh, a woman with emerald eyes and poisonous charm — Mu Yanyue, Envy — was tending herbs in her mortal disguise.
Suddenly, every droplet of dew trembled upon the leaves. Her pupils shrank.
"Such pressure… yet wrapped in silence. This aura is so familiar and warm but why I can't remember it? " It matches "him".
---
In a bustling mortal city, a petite girl sat before a steaming bowl of noodles, happily slurping.
Ruan Ling, Gluttony, froze mid-bite as her chopsticks quivered.
Her innocent face blinked once, twice — then her eyes welled up with tears.
"…Master?" she whispered softly, the warmth in her bowl reflecting the faint golden light in her pupils.
The kitten sleeping beside Lin Xian somewhere in the forest sneezed — as though answering.
---
And high within the drifting clouds of the Celestial Nirvana Domain, a single golden lotus trembled at its heart.
Seven strands of light flickered briefly — connecting across realms, time, and reincarnation.
For a fleeting instant, all seven disciples — reborn and eternal alike — felt a fragment of the same presence:
The calm, unyielding will of the Heavenly King of Nirvana.
Their master had moved again.
The light faded, but the echo lingered — deep in their souls, like a whisper carried through eternity:
> "Prepare yourselves. The Nirvana Cycle turns once more."
And somewhere in the mortal forest below, Lin Xian sheathed his sword.
The air stilled.
He raised his gaze toward the heavens, as if hearing that same whisper.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"Soon," he murmured. "We'll meet again."
Thunder rolled across both realms.
The storm had only begun.