The morning wind that swept through the Yunlan Valley carried something strange within it, an energy that didn't belong to the mortal world.
Jian Wu walked along the rocky path, his steps uneven, his body still heavy after what had happened the night before. The mark on his chest pulsed faintly, glowing beneath his torn shirt like a heartbeat. Each pulse made the world feel sharper, he could sense the rhythm of the earth, the flutter of birds, even the faint breath of hidden beasts.
He stared at his trembling hand.
"This isn't a dream…" he muttered.
Suddenly, a burst of blue light exploded across the sky above the eastern mountains. The heavens rippled, forming a swirling vortex that illuminated the horizon. The sound of thunder rolled through the valleys, shaking the trees to their roots.
"A… heavenly phenomenon?" Jian Wu whispered.
He didn't know it yet, but high above the mountains, within the grand Azure Sky Sect, several elders were already watching the same light with grim expressions.
In the Sect's main hall, a vast crystal orb floated in the air, reflecting the blue vortex like a captured storm.
"That energy… it doesn't belong to this realm," murmured an elder with long silver hair.
Another elder stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "It came from the western valley, close to the lower cities. Send scouts. No one touches that energy without my command."
At his order, several disciples bowed and vanished into streaks of light.
Meanwhile, Jian Wu continued walking, unaware that the sky itself now had its gaze fixed on him.
He stopped at a burnt field. The ground was scorched black, and in the center lay a faint glowing circle, carved into the soil as if by lightning. It looked eerily similar to the mark on his chest.
He knelt down, brushing his fingers across it.
"Is this… where that stone came from?"
The instant his skin touched the soil, blue veins of light crawled up his arm. His body shuddered as warmth and pain fused together. Then he heard it again, that voice.
"Awaken, Vessel of the Void."
Jian Wu froze.
The voice didn't echo from the air, it came from deep within his mind.
"You, the one rejected by heaven, shall now carry the silence beyond heaven itself."
He staggered back, breathing hard. "Who are you!?" he shouted.
But there was no answer. Only the whisper of the wind and the quiet pulse of the mark under his skin.
Hours passed. Jian Wu eventually reached a small abandoned village called Luanshi. The houses were old, their roofs caved in, and the fields long forgotten.
He gathered some dry wood and started a small fire beneath an ancient banyan tree. The flames flickered weakly, casting shadows on the cracked walls. For the first time in days, he almost felt… calm.
But peace never lasted long for someone like him.
From the distance came the sound of boots. Heavy. Measured. Many.
Jian Wu's eyes narrowed.
"Sect members…" he muttered.
Moments later, three figures appeared at the edge of the road. They wore light-blue robes with the swirling cloud insignia of the Azure Sky Sect. The one in front, a young man with sharp eyes and a cruel smirk, stopped a few paces away.
"You there," he said coldly. "Did you see a blue light last night?"
Jian Wu remained silent. He could tell by their posture, they weren't asking. They were hunting.
"I'm just a traveler," he replied evenly.
The young man scoffed. "A traveler? Wandering from the Yunlan mountains, carrying traces of pure spiritual residue? Don't insult my intelligence."
He stepped closer. "Show me your chest."
Jian Wu's fingers twitched. If I refuse… they'll find out anyway.
"I don't want trouble," he said softly.
"Then stop lying."
The disciple raised his hand and formed a seal. Spiritual pressure surged like a crashing wave. The ground beneath Jian Wu cracked, the air itself bending under the weight.
Instinctively, Jian Wu's body moved on its own. The mark on his chest blazed to life.
BOOM!
A flash of blue light erupted between them. Dust and smoke swallowed the entire clearing. The other two disciples drew their swords and charged forward, but Jian Wu was already standing,his eyes glowing faintly.
His body felt… different. It moved before he thought, guided by something ancient inside him.
He swung his fist.
A shockwave burst through the air.
The two disciples were thrown back several meters, slamming into the ground with blood at their lips.
The leader of the trio stared in horror. "You, what are you!? A demon?!"
Jian Wu looked at him calmly. "No. Just someone who refuses to die."
He turned and walked away, leaving the three gasping on the ground as the fire crackled behind him.
By sunset, news of the encounter had reached the highest halls of the Azure Sky Sect.
"So… a boy without a spiritual core defeated our disciples?" said Elder Qi in disbelief.
"Yes," another replied grimly. "They described a blue mark on his chest, a void pattern. His eyes glowed like the stars at night."
The grand hall fell silent.
Finally, the oldest of the elders, robed in gold, opened his eyes. "That mark… is from the Void Core. Such a thing should not exist in the mortal realm."
At that very moment, Jian Wu was sitting by a river far below the mountains. The water reflected the rising moon, shimmering softly against his tired face.
He stared at his reflection. His eyes no longer looked the same. There was something colder there now, something that didn't belong to the boy who once begged the heavens for acceptance.
He exhaled slowly.
"So this… is the price of survival."
Thunder rolled across the horizon, answering him like a living thing.
He stood, turned north, and began to walk again, toward a world that had already rejected him… but could no longer forget his name.