Dust from the stranger's disintegrated body drifted across the courtyard, swirling faintly in the cold wind.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The silence pressed down like a weight.
The Sect Master stood frozen, his sleeve torn, aura still trembling from the earlier clash.
Lady Linghai stared at the slowly fading footprint the stranger left behind — a patch of earth rotted down to ash.
Elder Yun placed a protective arm in front of Xueyi and Wuya, her eyes sharp and heavy with worry.
Xueyi clung to Wuya so tightly that her fingers dug into his robe.
"Wuya…
Wuya…
Answer me…"
He did not speak.
His mind was still absorbing the final fragments of the stranger's dying voice.
—Your father…
searching for you…
across dimensions—
His father.
Searching.
Across dimensions.
Not worlds.
Not realms.
Dimensions.
Something inside Wuya's chest pulsed violently — not pain, not fear, but a desperate, ancient call.
Like the echo of someone whispering his name from infinitely far away.
He placed his hand over his heart slowly.
"…Father…"
Xueyi looked up, teary-eyed and confused.
"Wuya… you never told me about your father…"
Wuya kept staring at the rotted earth.
"…I never knew anything."
---
SECT MASTER SPEAKS FIRST
The Sect Master approached quietly.
He looked older than he had a moment ago.
"Wuya."
Wuya turned to him slowly.
"Yes?"
"You must listen very carefully."
Lady Linghai stepped beside him.
Elder Yun tightened her expression.
Xueyi hugged Wuya's arm with both hands.
The Sect Master exhaled.
"The stranger said your father fought Heaven."
Wuya nodded faintly.
"…Yes."
The Sect Master continued:
"To challenge Heaven…
one must reach a realm beyond divine."
Xueyi's eyes widened.
"Beyond… divine…?"
The Sect Master nodded slowly.
"There are realms above the Divine Realm.
Higher dimensions where only anomalies, primordial beings, and forgotten existences reside."
Wuya listened silently.
"Your father…
he may be one of them."
Wuya's pulse pounded.
"…But why would he be searching for me?"
Lady Linghai answered this time.
"Because you were hidden."
Wuya's breath caught.
"…Hidden?"
Elder Yun nodded gravely.
"Your father likely sent you to the mortal world…
to protect you."
Xueyi's grip tightened.
"But from what?!
From Heaven?!
From those rotten dimension ghosts?!"
Wuya closed his eyes.
"…From everything."
---
LADY LINGHAI'S FRAGMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE
Lady Linghai stepped forward, her golden eyes sharp.
"I have seen records in the Divine Archives…
snippets mentioning a man who walked between laws."
Wuya looked up.
"…My father?"
"Perhaps," Linghai said softly.
"Perhaps not.
But the description matches the stranger's words."
She continued:
"A man from outside the heavens.
A man whose existence was not tolerated.
A man who battled Heaven.
And disappeared."
Wuya's voice was quiet.
"Disappeared…?"
Linghai nodded.
"Yes.
Erased.
Wiped from records.
Only fragments remain."
Xueyi panicked.
"So…
so his father is… is he alive?!"
Linghai lowered her voice.
"…If the stranger's words were true—
he is searching."
Wuya's chest tightened.
"…He's alive."
No one contradicted him.
Not because they knew —
but because the certainty in Wuya's voice was absolute.
---
ELDER YUN SEES SOMETHING DANGEROUS
Elder Yun suddenly stepped closer.
Her eyes narrowed at Wuya's chest.
"Wuya.
Your bloodline is pulsing again."
Xueyi yelped.
"WHAT?!
NO!!
Not AGAIN—!!"
"I'm fine," Wuya said quietly.
"No, you're not," Elder Yun replied firmly.
She placed her fingertips lightly on his wrist.
Three pulses.
Steady.
Layered.
Then—
A fourth flickered faintly beneath them.
Elder Yun's eyes widened.
"…Another rhythm."
Lady Linghai's expression sharpened instantly.
"That can't be…
He just awakened the first fragment yesterday."
"Fragments awaken according to threat and emotion," Elder Yun said.
Xueyi clung to him harder.
"Wuya…
don't awaken anything else…
please…"
Wuya placed his hand gently on her cheek.
"I'll control it."
"No you won't!" she shouted through tears. "Your bloodline is doing whatever it wants!!"
"…She's not wrong," Lady Linghai muttered.
Wuya sighed softly.
"…I will try—"
Xueyi smacked his shoulder.
"TRY IS NOT ENOUGH!!!"
---
THE CODEX REACTS
Inside his mind—
the Codex pulsed violently.
[Bloodline Fragment: Unstable]
[Evolution Ring 2: 6%]
[Threat Level in atmosphere: Rising]
[Suggestion: Host should isolate in controlled environment]
Wuya frowned inwardly.
"…Controlled environment?"
The Codex answered:
[For evolution safety: Sign-In Location Recommended]
A golden map appeared.
The Seventh Sign-In:
[The Whispering Tombs]
[Condition: Touch the Tombstone of the First Silent King]
Wuya exhaled.
"…Of course."
Xueyi stiffened.
"You're not going to that tomb!!
It's forbidden!!
Master said it's forbidden!!
Linghai said it's forbidden!!
Even the heavens don't want to go there!!"
Wuya nodded calmly.
"I know."
"THEN DON'T GO!!"
Wuya touched her forehead softly.
"…I must."
She froze.
Her voice broke.
"Wuya…
Why must you always walk into nightmares…?"
He looked into her eyes.
"…Because nightmares come looking for me even when I stay still."
She couldn't argue.
She just hugged him harder.
---
THE SECT MASTER MAKES A DECISION
The Sect Master finally spoke again.
"Wuya.
You must leave the sect temporarily."
Xueyi froze.
"WHAT—?!
NO!!
NO!! NO!!
You want to throw him away?!"
"No," the Sect Master said firmly.
"I want to protect the sect.
And help him evolve safely."
He looked at Wuya.
"You cannot awaken a second bloodline ring inside the sect.
The entire mountain will collapse."
Xueyi's breath caught.
"Wuya…
don't leave…"
Wuya wiped her tears gently.
"…I will take you with me."
She blinked.
"…Me?"
Wuya nodded.
"I promised you would not be left behind."
She burst into tears again and hugged him.
"Wuyaaaa…
you're too nice…
it hurts…"
---
LADY LINGHAI OFFERS A PATH
Lady Linghai approached.
"I will escort you," she said.
Xueyi glared.
"I didn't ask you to come."
Linghai arched an eyebrow.
"You can barely walk in a straight line while panicking.
You will need stability."
"I AM STABLE!!"
"You are a storm."
"I AM A CALM STORM!!"
Wuya sighed.
"…You both are loud."
Both girls froze.
Then glared at each other even more intensely.
---
HAO TIANHAI — BREAKING POINT
Far away in the mortal world—
Hao Tianhai stood on a hill overlooking the distant mountains.
His body trembled.
He felt the dimensional rupture.
He felt Wuya's bloodline pulse.
He felt the stranger's decay.
He clenched his fists so tightly his nails pierced his palms.
"…Wuya…
My boy…"
His mortal disguise cracked again.
A faint aura leaked out—
vast, ancient, terrifying.
The earth beneath him cracked.
A passerby froze in horror.
"Y-you…
your aura…"
Tianhai inhaled sharply.
The aura snapped back inside him.
He coughed blood.
"…Not yet…"
His eyes turned toward the sect.
"But soon.
If they hurt him again…
I will shatter the heavens."
---
THE SEVENTH SIGN-IN LOCATION ACTIVATES
Back at the sect—
The sky darkened for a moment.
A faint whisper echoed across the mountain.
Not from Heaven.
Not from the stranger.
From the Whispering Tombs themselves.
A gust of cold wind swept through the courtyard.
Stone lanterns flickered.
Wuya's Codex lit up.
[Seventh Sign-In: Active]
[Tombstone Resonance Detected]
[Timeframe: 72 hours]
Lady Linghai's face tensed.
"Then we must move quickly."
Elder Yun placed a hand on Wuya's shoulder.
"Be careful.
Remember — you are not alone."
Xueyi leaned into Wuya's arm.
"You leave without me…
and I swear I will chase you barefoot across ten provinces."
Wuya gave a faint smile.
"…Then let's go together."
The Sect Master nodded.
"Prepare yourselves.
We travel at dawn."
---
WUYA FEELS THE ECHO AGAIN
As the group dispersed to prepare—
Wuya paused.
His heartbeat pulsed once.
Twice.
And then—
He heard it.
A whisper.
A voice he had never heard but recognized instantly.
Not from the heavens.
Not from the stranger.
"…Wuya…"
Wuya froze.
"…Father?"
The voice whispered again.
Soft.
Distant.
Desperate.
"…Do not awaken…
the second ring…
alone…"
Wuya's breath shook.
"…Father—!!
Where are you—?!"
But the voice faded.
Gone.
Silent.
Like an echo trapped between worlds.
Wuya clenched his fists.
His eyes sharpened.
"…I'm coming."