The skies were no longer blue.
They shimmered in shades of pale silver and faint gold, reflections of the shattered heavens that bled their light into the mortal world.
All across the continent, cultivators knelt in awe and fear. Some prayed. Some wept.
And some—felt something awaken inside them.
Among them, Rui Shen walked calmly through the ruins of the Lotus Pavilion, the place that once trained him. The temple walls were cracked, its statues broken by the surge of divine qi. Yet the air hummed with a strange peace.
> "It wasn't destruction," Rui whispered, his mismatched eyes gleaming faintly. "It was rebirth."
From the shadows, Elder Mei Qian approached, her robes torn, her hair streaked with white.
> "Rui… what have you become?"
He turned to her, his voice soft, almost distant.
> "Not what I wanted. But what the world needed."
---
The Vision
That night, as he meditated beneath the broken lotus statue, Rui's consciousness slipped beyond reality.
He found himself standing in a field of silent stars.
And there—floating before him—was a small child.
The boy's eyes were pitch-black, void of emotion. In his hands, he held a single black lotus that devoured the surrounding light.
> "You… are like me," Rui said cautiously.
The boy tilted his head.
> "No. I am what you fear to become."
The child's aura rippled with familiar power—an echo of the same cosmic essence Rui had felt from the Second Eye. Yet it was colder, more focused… alive.
> "Who are you?" Rui asked.
> "I have no name. The heavens call me what they must fear."
He smiled faintly, voice chilling.
"The Void Heir."
---
The Revelation
Rui's heart tightened as the boy extended his hand. From his palm, the lotus pulsed once—and a thousand screams echoed through Rui's mind. Souls—entire lives—being erased.
> "You see?" said the boy. "Heaven took and took. You seek balance. But balance demands payment."
> "That's not balance," Rui replied. "That's extinction."
The boy's expression softened, almost curious.
> "Then prove it. When the last Eye awakens, one of us must fall. Either balance will consume creation… or void will consume balance."
He stepped closer, placing a hand on Rui's chest.
> "Until then, we are bound. You, the Thief of Balance. I, the Heir of the Void."
Then the stars shattered, and Rui awoke in the mortal world, gasping.
His chest burned—the mark now split into two halves: one white lotus, one black.
---
Morning — The Broken Sky
Rui looked up.
Across the heavens, faint cracks ran through the clouds like spiderwebs.
Through them, the faint outline of an enormous eye blinked once… then vanished.
> "The Third Eye," he murmured. "It's already stirring."
Mei Qian approached, holding a scroll covered in ancient symbols. "We've found something. In the last words Wang Lin left before his disappearance, he mentioned three seals—Balance, Void, and Soul. If the Void Heir is real—"
> "He is," Rui interrupted, eyes hardening. "And he's growing faster than anyone can imagine."
---
Far Away — Unknown Realm
In a realm made of collapsing starlight, the child—the Void Heir—sat cross-legged, surrounded by countless drifting souls. His eyes closed, his aura cold.
Each soul he touched turned into a stream of dark qi, flowing into the lotus above his head.
> "Father tried to balance it," he murmured softly. "But I was born to end it."
He opened his eyes—twin abysses without reflection.
> "Rui Shen… let's see if your balance can survive the darkness you left behind."
The void rippled, and from within, unseen watchers stirred—beings older than creation, their gazes fixed upon the mortal realm once more.
---
The heavens trembled.
The Age of Balance had begun…
but the Heir of Void had awakened.
---