Two years passed since the Thousand Truths Sect was reduced to ruin. What once stood as a bastion of righteous cultivation now existed only as blackened earth and ash-choked air. Nature had not returned. No birds sang. The wind itself avoided that cursed valley.
Far east, deep in the Weeping Bone Forest, a place forgotten by maps and avoided even by the boldest rogue cultivators, a lone figure sat beneath a crooked tree. Twisted bark and silver moss cloaked the trunk, and above it bloomed a rare celestial flower—a Lotus Moon, a parasitic bloom that only grew where countless deaths had occurred.
Yi Zhen's silhouette flickered in the pale light. He no longer looked like a disciple. His once-smooth face was marked by thin cracks of black like dried lightning bolts, trailing from his eyes down to his collarbone. His robes were worn, stitched with dark thread and crude sigils in a language not spoken in this realm.
He breathed in—not Qi, but something heavier. Each breath weighed on his lungs like swallowing chains.
> "To grow… is to rot first," he whispered.
This was the first Inverse Realm—the Root of Suffering. Unlike conventional realms that began with gathering Qi, Yi Zhen's began with decomposing his soul's attachments. Each day, he recalled his burning, the betrayal, and the hatred he had buried beneath. The more he remembered, the deeper the root grew.
This was how he cultivated: through perfect remembrance of pain.
Around him, bones jutted from the ground like withered stalks. Spirits drifted between the trees—none dared touch him. They too had learned fear.
Yi Zhen opened his palm. A faint black petal floated up, unfurling like it had always been part of him. When it touched the air, the sky dimmed slightly. The Lotus Moon above him trembled.
> "You're early," he said aloud, though no one had announced themselves.
From between the trees, a tall woman emerged, robes pristine, hair adorned with jade rings. Her eyes were cold, her hand on the hilt of a thin silver blade that shimmered with Celestial Binding Script.
> "Yi Zhen. Two years you've hidden from Heaven's light. By decree of the Golden Balance Sect, your existence is condemned," she said with elegance and disgust.
He didn't stand. "Balance?" he scoffed. "They send balance with blades now?"
She narrowed her eyes. "The Lotus Root you took—do you even know what it is? It was never meant to bloom. Not in this realm."
Yi Zhen stood slowly. The ground under him cracked, and the black lines on his skin pulsed. For a moment, he looked less human than the corpse-spirits that haunted the wood.
> "What we are meant to do," he said quietly, "was decided by those who lied first."
She lunged. Her blade flashed, infused with Heavenly Qi, drawing seals in midair. The forest itself recoiled. But Yi Zhen didn't move. Her blade halted inches from his throat.
She blinked—and saw her own reflection in his eyes.
Her hands dropped the sword.
Tears formed—not from emotion, but from memories that weren't hers. Yi Zhen's pain was leaking into her, reversing her cultivation, unraveling her years of effort, turning her own Dao into a lie she could no longer bear.
She collapsed. "What… are you?"
Yi Zhen walked past her, the Lotus Moon above dimming to black.
> "I am the root you all buried. The lie you told yourselves to reach Heaven."
The trees bent slightly as he passed. Not from power—but from acknowledgment.
Yi Zhen walked deeper into the Weeping Bone Forest, where no one could follow.
But above him, in the stars, a mark appeared—a golden eye, opened silently across the heavens, watching.
And smiling.
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Author's Note – Terry
Thanks for reading Chapter 2 of my novel. This is a dark cultivation story where the traditional Dao has been twisted, and the main character walks a path fueled by betrayal and sorrow. Every chapter will explore both the horror and mystery of this world as Yi Zhen rises by becoming the very thing cultivators fear most. Stay tuned for Chapter 3!