The quiet morning outside Elder Yun's courtyard felt deceptively peaceful.
Birdsong drifted through the air.
Bamboo leaves rustled softly.
Distant disciples carried water, swept paths, or sparred lightly.
But the peace was a thin veil—
too thin.
Too fragile.
Because Heaven had descended yesterday.
And a forbidden bloodline had awakened.
Wuya stood slowly from his futon.
The moment his foot touched the floor—
A faint vibration rippled through him.
His body felt… lighter.
Yet heavier.
Stable—
but flexible.
Grounded—
but subtly connected to something beyond sight.
He inhaled.
Air entered his lungs differently than before.
Each breath stretched in ways no mortal breath should—
pulling slightly deeper,
folding through meridians,
expanding inside an invisible space within him.
His heartbeat hummed behind his ribs—
three layers in perfect harmony.
Xueyi rushed up immediately.
"Wuya!!
Don't walk yet!!
Your body is still—"
He placed his hand gently on her head.
"…I am alright."
She pouted.
"Don't decide that yourself!"
Elder Yun approached with a faint smile.
"He is stable now, Xueyi.
Let him walk."
Xueyi inhaled sharply.
"…But what if he trips?
Or stands too fast?
Or his heartbeat explodes??"
"It will not explode," Elder Yun said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Wuya blinked.
"…Will it explode?"
"No!" both women shouted at once.
Lady Linghai stood by the doorway, arms crossed.
"Child.
Step outside.
Let your new self meet the world."
Wuya nodded and walked to the door.
Xueyi instantly latched onto his arm like a protective vine.
"…I'm not letting go."
---
WUYA STEPS OUTSIDE
Sunlight touched his skin.
A wave of warmth passed over him—
and the world changed.
He could feel the environment.
Wind brushing through leaves.
Qi flowing faintly in distant disciples.
The mountain's shifting stone veins beneath the ground.
The light bending slightly in the air.
Voices far away, filtered through distance.
And deeper—
A faint ripple beneath reality.
The void.
It pulsed once.
Wuya steadied himself.
Elder Yun noticed immediately.
"…Your sensitivity increased."
Lady Linghai narrowed her eyes.
"He is touching the world's structure without cultivating.
A sign of advanced physique evolution."
Xueyi tugged his sleeve urgently.
"Wuya—
Are you okay—?!
Are you hearing all the grass talk to you—?!
Is the wind whispering—?!
Are stones screaming—?!"
"…No."
"THANK THE GODS—!!"
"But I can sense… vibrations."
"WHY DO YOU SAY IT CALMLY LIKE THAT?!!"
Elder Yun shook her head.
"Xueyi.
He is evolving, not dying."
Xueyi didn't look convinced.
---
THE SECT MASTER WAITS
They approached the central courtyard.
Sect disciples parted instantly, bowing nervously.
"He's the one…"
"The heavens descended because of him…"
"Lady Linghai protected him personally…"
"Elder Yun will kill anyone who touches him…"
"What even is he…?"
Xueyi snarled at them.
"Talk again and I'll break your faces!"
Disciples scattered immediately.
Wuya sighed.
"…Xueyi."
"What?! They were whispering nasty things!"
"I don't mind."
"I MIND FOR YOU!!"
The Sect Master waited by the ancient stone archway.
His hands behind his back.
Eyes calm.
Aura vast but compressed.
When Wuya stopped in front of him, the Sect Master spoke quietly:
"Walk with me."
Wuya nodded.
Xueyi stuck to him.
"No."
Elder Yun sighed.
"Xueyi—
he must speak privately with the Sect Master."
"NO!!
Private talk means he learns bad secrets and then runs away into danger!!
I'm staying!"
The Sect Master blinked.
"Girl…
I am your Sect Master."
"I don't care!!"
Wuya touched her forehead lightly.
"…Wait here."
Xueyi trembled like a cat being forced to sit.
"Fine…
But if you take too long, I'm breaking the door."
Elder Yun facepalmed.
Lady Linghai looked amused.
Wuya followed the Sect Master into a stone pavilion on the cliff.
---
THE TRUTH OF THE SILENT KING
The Sect Master waited until they were alone.
Then he sat and gestured for Wuya to join.
"Do you know what the Whispering Tombs are?"
"No."
The Sect Master exhaled slowly.
"They are remnants of a world that died before history began."
Wuya blinked.
"…Before history?"
"Yes.
Before the Immortal World.
Before the Divine World.
Before the heavens had hierarchy."
Wind howled across the cliff.
The Sect Master continued:
"There were once many dimensions—
not realms—
but true dimensions, with different laws, different energies, different skies."
Wuya listened silently.
"One of those dimensions…
collapsed."
Wuya raised an eyebrow.
"What caused the collapse?"
"No one knows.
Even the heavens erased the record."
He leaned forward.
"But one being survived."
Wuya frowned.
"The Silent King."
"Yes."
The Sect Master's voice grew softer, darker.
"He was not alive.
Not dead.
Not spirit.
Not remnant.
He was something else entirely."
He met Wuya's eyes.
"Something that the heavens refused to acknowledge."
Wuya's heartbeat pulsed faintly.
"What did he do?"
"Nothing."
Silence filled the air.
"But his existence alone made the heavens react."
The Sect Master's voice lowered.
"He was…
too close to the truth."
Wuya felt a familiar chill.
"…And my next Sign-In demands I touch his tombstone."
"Yes."
The Sect Master closed his eyes.
"That is why I am afraid."
Wuya nodded.
"…I understand."
---
XUEYI'S NEW MOONVEIL ABILITY
Back near Elder Yun's courtyard—
Xueyi clutched her chest suddenly.
"Ugh—?!"
A silver glow pulsed from her Moonveil Seal.
Elder Yun rushed to her.
"Xueyi?!"
The seal extended faint silver threads outward.
Lady Linghai narrowed her eyes.
"…Another evolution?"
Xueyi trembled.
"I… I can feel Wuya's heartbeat—
closer now—
not like before—
it's like…"
She blushed violently.
"…like a part of him is inside my chest…"
Elder Yun coughed softly.
"Xueyi… phrasing…"
"I CAN'T CONTROL WHAT I FEEL!!"
Linghai frowned deeply.
"That is not normal.
Moonveil was created as a protection seal, not a soul-link."
Part of Xueyi's hair glowed faint silver.
She gasped.
"Master…
I can sense something else too…"
Elder Yun leaned closer.
"What?"
Xueyi pointed toward the mountain gates.
"…someone dangerous is approaching."
---
THE DIVINE WARNING
The sky dimmed suddenly.
A faint rumble echoed from the horizon.
Lady Linghai's eyes widened sharply.
"…This omen—"
She rose instantly.
"It belongs to a force beyond mortal or immortal."
Elder Yun's breath trembled.
"You mean—?"
"Yes."
Linghai looked toward the distant forest.
"He is here."
---
THE SILVER-HAIRED MAN
At the foot of the mountain—
The silver-haired stranger stepped out of the fog.
His red eyes glowed faintly.
Three disciples guarding the gate approached him nervously.
"H-Halt… this is the—"
The stranger touched one disciple's shoulder.
The disciple's body withered instantly—
skin cracking,
bones flaking,
life drained away silently.
The second disciple screamed.
The stranger touched him.
Silence.
Only dust remained.
The third disciple stumbled backward.
"H-help—!!
HELP!!"
The stranger whispered calmly:
"Hao Wuya…"
His voice echoed unnaturally, bending the air.
"Where are you hiding?"
He stepped forward, leaving a trail of dead grass behind him.
---
WUYA SENSES HIM FIRST
In the pavilion—
Wuya abruptly froze.
The Sect Master looked at him sharply.
"What is it?"
Wuya's heartbeat sped up.
His breath tightened.
"…Someone crossed my perception."
The Sect Master widened his eyes.
"You felt someone from this distance?"
"Yes."
"What do you sense?"
Wuya closed his eyes.
"Cold.
Empty.
A hunger not of this world."
A faint shadow touched his mind—
a whisper.
—Eternal Void…
I found you…
Wuya opened his eyes.
"He knows my name."
The Sect Master stood immediately.
"We return. Now."
---
THE SECT PREPARES FOR CLASH
Elder Yun, Linghai, and Xueyi sensed Wuya's alarm the instant he returned.
Xueyi rushed to him.
"WUYA—!!
WHAT HAPPENED—?!"
Wuya held her hand.
"…Someone is coming."
Lady Linghai stepped forward.
"Is he from the heavens?"
"No."
"Divine realm?"
"No."
The Sect Master spoke:
"He is something else.
Something we do not understand."
Elder Yun gestured urgently.
"All disciples inside the inner formations!
Prepare the Sky-Barrier Array!"
Disciples scattered to their positions.
Xueyi pressed her forehead to Wuya's chest.
"Why…
Why do scary people always look for you…?"
Wuya stroked her hair gently.
"…Because I exist."
She thumped his chest.
"STOP answering like a poet!!"
Lady Linghai held her staff tightly.
"He is nearly at the gate."
The Sect Master turned to Wuya.
"Can you move?"
"Yes."
"Can you fight?"
"…If needed."
Xueyi glared.
"You're NOT fighting!!
Not today!!
Not tomorrow!!!
NOT EVER AGAIN WITHOUT ME!!!"
Wuya didn't argue.
"…We will see."
---
THE CODEX REACTS
Inside Wuya's mind—
golden symbols flared violently.
[Warning: Unknown Entity Detected]
[Threat Level: High]
[Preparing Internal Codex Domain]
Wuya blinked.
"…Internal domain?"
The Codex whispered:
[Host may need protection from dimensional corruption.]
[Preparing a sealed mental space for retreat.]
Wuya frowned.
"…Dimensional… corruption?"
[Correct.]
His heart tightened.
"…The Silent King…
the void…
this stranger…
they are connected."
The Codex answered:
[Confirmation: 63%]
---
HAO TIANHAI FEELS IT TOO
Far away in the mortal city—
Hao Tianhai dropped the vegetables in his hand.
The world around him blurred.
His sealed cultivation cracked slightly.
"…This aura…"
His eyes widened.
"No.
No, no, no—
Not now—!!"
He stepped outside.
His mortal disguise flickered.
"This presence…
It belongs to…"
His voice almost shattered.
"…a hunter of collapsed dimensions."
He clenched his fist until it bled.
"I must go…
but I cannot reveal myself yet…"
He looked toward the distant mountain.
"Wuya…
hold on."
---
THE ENEMY ARRIVES
At the sect gate—
The silver-haired man stepped through the protective barrier as if it were smoke.
His eyes scanned the mountain.
He smiled faintly.
"…Found you."
His foot touched the first step.
The entire sect trembled.
Wuya stepped forward instinctively.
Xueyi grabbed him instantly.
"No!!
Don't!!"
He looked at her gently.
"…I must."
"No you DON'T!!"
Elder Yun touched Xueyi's shoulder.
"Let him.
He senses something we do not."
Lady Linghai tightened her grip on her staff.
The Sect Master raised his Qi.
The air grew cold.
Too cold.
The silver-haired man looked up.
His lips curved.
"Eternal Void…
at last."
Wuya exhaled.
"…He's here."
The Sect Master whispered:
"Wuya.
Be careful."
Wuya stepped forward—
And the silver-haired man smiled wider.