The Azure Cloud Lin Clan, nestled amidst verdant peaks in the Mortal World, was a beacon of ancient heritage. Though not among the world's supreme powers, their lineage was respected, their cultivation methods refined, and their spiritual gardens renowned. Their true pride, however, lay not in their lands, but in a secret whispered only among the elders: the rare, almost mythical Celestial Top Rank Root possessed by their youngest scion, Lin Xuan. It was a root of unparalleled purity, humming with a nascent cosmic resonance, a promise of a future that could shake the very heavens. It was a gift from the universe, a destiny waiting to unfold.
The tranquility was shattered without warning. No declarations, no siege, just a sudden, chilling descent of shadow. The sky above the Lin Clan estate twisted, not with storm clouds, but with swirling motes of pure, inky blackness that seemed to absorb all light and sound. The air grew heavy, thick with a nauseating spiritual pressure that choked the very Qi in the atmosphere. The attackers were not conventional cultivators. Their forms were human, yet their movements were unnaturally fluid, almost liquid, their eyes devoid of warmth, replaced by pinpricks of cold, dark light. Their Qi was a sickening, corrupted imitation of true spiritual energy, leaving behind a chilling, non-existent aura that seemed to devour the vitality of the land. These were the Void-Echoed Harbinger Mastermind's forces, and their arrival was a brutal, overwhelming execution.
Defensive formations, painstakingly erected over centuries, crumbled like dry leaves before an unseen gale. Elders, their faces contorted in horror, unleashed desperate techniques, but their spiritual energy seemed to dissipate upon contact with the invaders' corrupted arts. Disciples fell, their life force visibly draining, their bodies withering as if touched by an unseen blight. This was no mere territorial dispute; it was a targeted purge, a cosmic desecration.
Amidst the chaos, the focus of the assault narrowed. A figure, cloaked in shadows, moved with an impossible grace, bypassing all resistance, their eyes fixed solely on Lin Xuan. This was a high-ranking enforcer, a powerful Void-Marked Cultivator whose very presence seemed to warp the air around him. With a chilling, almost surgical precision, he unleashed a unique Ancient Technique – the Void-Severing Grasp. It wasn't a physical strike, but a terrifying spiritual vacuum, a twisting of space that targeted the very essence of Lin Xuan's being. A scream tore from Lin Xuan's throat, not of physical pain, but of cosmic violation as his Celestial Top Rank Root, vibrant and full of promise moments before, was violently wrenched from his spiritual core. It was a sensation of being torn from the very fabric of existence, leaving behind a profound, aching void.
His vision swam, the world dissolving into a maelstrom of agony. His life force, now unchecked, drained rapidly, his Blood Essence pouring from the spiritual wound. He collapsed amidst the burning ruins of his clan, his body a broken husk, his spirit a shattered echo. The Void-Marked forces, their objective achieved, vanished as swiftly as they had appeared, leaving behind only devastation and a seemingly lifeless Lin Xuan, a solitary figure in a world that had just ended.