The world had ended twenty years ago.
Not with fire. Not with silence.
With a crack.
The sky split open, and the heavens bled gold.
Most people died in the first wave. The rest survived by learning to inhale the poison. They called it spiritual energy. They built powers out of it. Cities out of it. Hierarchies out of it.
They built steel spires over the corpse of the old world and called it progress.
In the Lu household, however, the world still felt small and warm.
"Eat more, Lu Chen. Tomorrow is a big day" his father said, sliding a heavy portion of synthetic protein onto his plate.
His father Lu Jian, was a Tier 2 Awakener, a blacksmith with basic Super Strength. It wasn't enough to make him an elite, but it was enough to keep them in a Tier 2 district, safe from the monsters in the ruins. Across the table, his mother, a Tier 2 Healer, smiled softly as she glowed with a faint, rhythmic green light, soothing the aches in her husband's shoulders.
Then there was Lu Xiao. At twelve years old, she was already the pride of the block. Her talent had been measured at a staggering Tier 7 high level healing ability like her mom but stronger. In a world where most lucky people peaked at Tier 4, a Tier 7 was a ticket to the Inner City.
"Don't worry, big brother," Xiao said, her eyes bright. "Even if you're a late bloomer, I'll take care of you once I enter the Academy."
Lu Chen nodded slowly, his movements sluggish. Since birth, his skin had been a strange, matte pale grey, looking more like unpolished stone than flesh. While others his age were already Warrior level cultivators, Lu Chen couldn't feel a single spark of Qi. Even the late bloomers could usually sense their element frost, fire, or wind waiting to be triggered.
But Lu Chen felt... hollow.
His father sighed, the sound heavy with a hidden dread. His father's chopsticks paused midair.
"The Awakening Association stopped by the workshop" Lu Jian said quietly. "Tomorrow is your eighteenth birthday. The final evaluation."
Silence settled over the table. If he failed again, he would be labeled a null.
Nulls were sent beyond the outer walls. Officially, they worked labor shifts in the ruins, mining unstable crystals and scavenging alien remnants.
Unofficially, they didn't come back.
Lu Chen kept eating.
The hollow inside his chest shifted faintly, It had always been there.
But tonight, it felt… restless.
...
The walk to the academy the next morning was a blur of neon lights and steel. Most of his classmates had already been taken by the elite training programs weeks ago. Only the "remnants" the ones whose powers hadn't fully manifested remained for the final ceremony.
"Look at that. The grey ghost is still haunting the halls."
The voice belonged to Zhao Feng. He was a branch family member of the Hidden Zhao Clan, an elite lineage that dominated the city's energy trade. Zhao Feng wasn't a genius, but his tier 4 Flame Burst made him a king among the leftovers.
Lu Chen didn't look up. He kept walking, his mind focused on the strange gnawing vacuum in his chest. The gnawing vacuum in his chest has always been there but intensify as he woke up today.
"I'm talking to you, null!" Zhao Feng snapped. Angered by the silence, he stepped forward and slammed a hand onto Lu Chen's shoulder. He didn't punch, instead he sent a surge of hot, aggressive Qi directly into Lu Chen's body, a "lesson" intended to burn his meridians.
But the scream didn't come as he expected.
Lu Chen felt the heat enter him. For the first time in eighteen years, the hollow vacuum in his chest reacted. It didn't burn. It didn't hurt. It opened its mouth.
The Qi vanished.
Zhao Feng stumbled back, his face turning pale. He tried to pull his hand away, but it felt like he was glued to a starving beast. His energy was being sucked out of him, disappearing into Lu Chen as if it never existed.
"What... what are you doing?!" Zhao Feng roared, his face twisting in a mix of fear and embarrassment. He raised his other fist, wreathed in actual flames, ready to strike.
"Enough!"
The academy proctor stepped between them, his Lord level aura crashing down like a physical weight, forcing them apart. "Save it for the ceremony. Everyone to the Awakening Stone. Now"
Lu Chen walked toward the pedestal. He didn't feel nervous anymore. He just felt a terrifying, deep seated hunger.