Centuries passed like falling petals.
The world Wang Lin rebuilt flourished. Mountains once soaked in blood now bloomed with spiritual forests. The sky hummed softly with the breath of countless cultivators—young, old, human, beast—each walking their own path without chains.
The Era of Devourer Sovereign faded into myth. The name Wang Lin became a whisper told by storytellers beside temple fires, a tale parents shared with their children on quiet nights.
> "He was the one who stole from heaven to free us," they would say.
"The thief who gave everything back."
No one knew where he went.
---
A Thousand Years Later
In the city of Jinzhou, a place built atop the ruins of ancient sects, stood a grand academy known as the Lotus Pavilion. It was said to have been founded on a fragment of the white lotus Wang Lin left behind.
Inside its central courtyard, a group of disciples gathered around a statue carved from translucent stone. It depicted a calm young man in simple robes, hand extended toward the sky—eyes neither defiant nor humble, but peaceful.
At the base of the statue, words were etched in glowing runes:
> "To steal from heaven is to free the heart from fear."
One of the disciples, a boy no older than sixteen, lingered behind after class. His name was Rui Shen—sharp eyes, quiet nature, and a strange mark hidden on his chest that pulsed black and white whenever he meditated.
That day, he knelt before the statue and whispered,
> "They say you vanished, Heaven's Thief. But sometimes… when I cultivate, I hear a voice telling me to balance, not to devour. Is that you?"
A faint breeze brushed his hair. For a heartbeat, he thought he saw the statue smile.
Then—
the mark on his chest glowed. A single lotus petal materialized in the air before him, drifting lazily downward. When it touched his palm, knowledge surged into his mind—a technique older than the heavens themselves.
> Abduction Path — Sixth Revelation: Soul of Balance.
Rui Shen gasped.
The power was faint, dormant—like a memory waiting to be reborn. But in that instant, he knew: the legacy hadn't ended.
Somewhere, deep within the endless void, a gentle voice echoed:
> "If balance fades again… another thief will rise."
Rui Shen looked up at the statue, determination burning in his eyes.
> "Then let me be that thief."
The wind answered with silence—but the petals that swirled around him gleamed faintly, as though blessing the beginning of a new era.
---
Far beyond mortal sight, in a place between realms, Wang Lin sat beneath a vast white lotus. His eyes were closed, his form half spirit, half starlight. A faint smile curved his lips.
> "So it begins again," he murmured. "Good."
The lotus shone brighter, scattering its petals across the worlds below.
The legend of Heaven's Thief had ended— but the Legacy of Balance had just begun.
---