Morning came, but the storm clouds lingered over the mountain.
Word spread quickly—Li Xuanqing, the markless boy, had awakened a mark in the middle of the night. Some said it was fake. Some said it was cursed. The elders said nothing.
They summoned me to the Hall of Judgment.
The hall was built into the side of the mountain, its pillars carved from black stone. At the far end, the Head Elder sat on a raised seat, his Sky Mark—a silver phoenix—glowing faintly on his brow.
I stood before them, my back still aching from last night.
"Turn around," the Head Elder said.
I obeyed. The fabric of my shirt stuck to my skin, and I heard the small gasps of the gathered elders as the mark was revealed.
It was the same as I had seen in the shadow's reflection—a broken circle, with three sharp blades pointing outward like a sun with missing rays. It glowed faintly, the light pulsing like a heartbeat.
The Head Elder's voice was calm, but his eyes… were not. "Where did this come from?"
I hesitated. "It… appeared last night. During the storm."
"Do not lie."
"I'm not."
Another elder, his voice colder, leaned forward. "That is not a Sky Mark I have ever seen. It does not belong to the Seventy-Two Paths. It should not exist."
His words made the air feel heavy.
The Head Elder raised his hand, silencing the murmurs. "Leave him to me. The rest of you—go."
One by one, the elders filed out until only we remained.
He stepped down from his seat, walking slowly toward me.
"Li Xuanqing," he said softly, "marks are gifts from the sky. They are part of its will. But some… are mistakes."
My fists tightened. "Are you saying I'm a mistake?"
His gaze sharpened. "I am saying… I have seen that mark once before. And the man who bore it destroyed an entire sect."
My heart skipped. "What happened to him?"
"He vanished. Or perhaps… the sky erased him, as it did you."
I remembered the shadow's voice from last night. They feared you.
The Head Elder studied me for a long time before speaking again. "I will not harm you. But I will watch you. If you ever lose control of that mark…"His voice lowered, almost a whisper."…I will end you."
The rest of the day, whispers followed me wherever I went.
The younger disciples looked at me with a mix of fear and excitement. The older ones glared as if I had stolen something from them.
Only the boy I had helped yesterday—his name was Jian Ming—dared to approach me.
"Is it true?" he asked quietly. "About your mark?"
I nodded.
He grinned. "Then maybe you're not hopeless after all."
That night, the voice returned.
"The circle is broken because they tried to seal it. But it cannot be sealed forever."
I sat on my bed, staring at the faint blue glow on my hand. "Who are you?"
"I told you. I am you. Or what you should be."
"And what should I be?"
The voice was silent for a moment, then replied, "A sky-breaker."
The words made no sense. "And what does that mean?"
"It means your fate is not written by the heavens. You will write it yourself. But first… you must survive."
A sudden chill passed through me. "Survive what?"
The shadow's voice darkened. "They will come for you. Not just your sect. Not just your world. The sky itself will send its hounds."
Before I could speak, a sharp sound echoed outside—like glass shattering in the air.
I stepped to the door and froze.
In the courtyard below, a tear had opened in the night sky. From it, something was emerging—long, thin, and covered in silver chains that rattled as it moved. Its head was like a mask of bone, and where its eyes should be, there was only endless darkness.
The shadow spoke in my mind.
"The first hound has arrived."
The creature's head turned toward me, though we were far apart. It let out a sound—not a roar, but a deep, hollow note that made the air itself tremble.
Disciples poured out from their huts, shouting in confusion. Some drew their weapons, but before they could act, the hound moved.
It crossed the courtyard in a blink, its chains lashing out like whips. One disciple was caught in mid-strike, his body flung into the stone wall with a sickening crack.
I stumbled backward. My mark burned.
"Call it," the shadow urged. "Call the part of you they tried to erase."
"I don't know how!"
"You do. You were born knowing."
The hound leapt toward me. Instinct took over.
My hand shot out, and blue light burst from my palm. The mark on my back flared, and for an instant, I felt something ancient awaken inside me—a weightless, endless power.
A wall of blue energy erupted between me and the hound. It struck the barrier, chains screaming against the light. The force shook my bones, but the barrier held.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the tear in the sky pulled the hound back. The chains snapped into the darkness, and the night went silent again.
I collapsed to my knees, gasping.
Jian Ming ran to me, his face pale.
"What… was that?"
I stared at the sky. The clouds had cleared, and the moon shone as if nothing had happened.
"I think," I said slowly, "it was looking for me."
High above, where no mortal could see, a figure cloaked in stormlight stood watching.
"So… the mark awakens again," it whispered. Its eyes burned like twin suns. "This time, we will not forget."