"If the heavens call me a sinner, then let them tremble before sin itself."
A storm churned above the divine city of Skyfall, where lightning danced across darkened clouds like the wrath of forgotten gods. The entire realm had gathered—sect elders, clan lords, emperors in flying palaces, and commoners watching through spirit mirrors. It was not every day the heavens judged one of their own.
On the Sky Piercing Platform, bound by chains forged from divine thunder, knelt a man with blood-matted hair and torn celestial robes.
Raiyen Xian.
The former Monarch of Azure Flame.
Sovereign of the Nine Heavens.
And today, nothing more than a traitor condemned to execution.
"Let all realms bear witness!" roared Grand Elder Mo Tian, his voice echoing across the heavens. "For the crimes of heresy, soul corruption, consorting with demonic paths, and betrayal of sacred law, the sinner Raiyen Xian shall be erased from the cycle of reincarnation!"
From the crowd came cheers, gasps, and the murmurs of disbelief. Raiyen's power had once scorched armies. He'd raised sects from dust and forged peace across warring realms. And yet, here he knelt—betrayed, broken, stripped of title and cultivation, awaiting execution like a common dog.
But Raiyen did not scream. He did not plead.
His eyes, once brighter than flame, were locked on a figure among the elders—Li Serana, the most dazzling of his consorts, a woman once pledged to his side for ten thousand lifetimes. Now, she stood cloaked in white, eyes cold as moonlight, her sword pointed at his heart.
"You weep for me not," Raiyen said softly, his voice barely a whisper.
"I wept once," she replied. "When I realized you would destroy the world to save me."
"You were my world."
"Then you should have let it burn."
Raiyen chuckled, but there was no warmth in it. Only ash.
"Even now, you all fear what I became," he said, his voice gaining strength. "But it was you who made me."
Mo Tian raised his hand. A sigil of heavenly law flared in his palm, glowing gold and white.
"The sinner's words mean nothing. Begin the cleansing!"
The crowd roared. Holy flame erupted from the sigil, curling into a spear of light aimed straight at Raiyen's heart.
But before it struck, Raiyen raised his head and laughed. Not madly—but with clarity.
"Mark me, all of you. This world's balance is a lie. The heavens are crooked, the gods are cowards, and the righteous... are worse than devils."
The holy spear plunged through his chest.
A brilliant light consumed his body.
The Monarch of Azure Flame… died.
---
Darkness.
But not silence.
Not peace.
He drifted in the void, yet something clung to him—fierce and unyielding. A purpose. A hatred deeper than hell.
Then—a voice.
> [Rebirth Condition Fulfilled.]
[Sinbound System Activating…]
[Initialization: Complete.]
---
Cold.
Pain.
Air rushed into his lungs as he gasped awake, his eyes snapping open. He bolted upright, disoriented and coughing violently, lungs burning with frost and bile.
Wooden beams sagged above him, and a rank stench of mildew clung to the air. He was lying on a straw mat, thin as parchment, in a shack that looked ready to collapse with a sneeze.
His hands trembled. Small. Smooth.
No callouses from decades of swordwork.
He scrambled toward a cracked mirror leaning in the corner and froze.
Sixteen.
His own reflection—a face untouched by war, betrayal, or glory—stared back.
His breath hitched.
"This… this can't be…"
A thousand memories crashed down like a tidal wave.
This was the year he first joined Black Vein Sect.
The year he'd scrubbed latrines and fetched food for arrogant outer disciples. The year he'd nearly died from poison meant for someone else. The year he'd been nothing.
But now, he remembered everything.
The betrayals. The death. The execution. The feeling of divine flame shredding his soul.
And now—rebirth.
> [Welcome, Raiyen Xian.]
[You have been granted a second chance. The heavens rejected you. But sin remembers.]
[Sinbound System Online.]
Status: Mortal Tier 0]
Sin Points: 0
Primary Mission: Sow your first Sin. Reward: Forbidden Flame Scripture (Fragment)]
A black lotus sigil shimmered on the back of his right hand—ethereal, pulsing slowly like a second heartbeat.
He stared at it in awe.
A system. A living tool bound to his soul. But unlike the righteous systems of heroes and sages, this one… fed on sin.
"Poetic," he whispered. "Very well, then."
He rose from the mat, legs shaky but steady enough. His cultivation was gone, but the instincts of a Monarch remained. He could rebuild. No—he would ascend again.
But this time, he would not seek justice.
This time… he would become the villain the heavens feared.
---
Bang!
The shack door slammed open.
"Raiyen! You lazy worm, are you still sleeping?!" bellowed a voice like gravel being chewed.
A massive figure filled the doorway—Yun Fei, outer disciple and chronic bully. He grinned at Raiyen with rotten teeth.
"You know the rules. Servants who miss morning roll call get flogged. Maybe this time I break a few ribs."
Raiyen didn't flinch. He merely stood, brushing straw from his sleeves.
Yun Fei blinked.
"What, no stammering? No begging?"
Raiyen tilted his head. "Do you always bark before you're beaten? Or is that new?"
Silence.
Yun Fei's face turned red.
"You little—!"
A meaty hand lunged, but Raiyen twisted slightly, letting the fingers graze past his cheek. In a flash, he caught Yun Fei's wrist.
The man froze.
"Let go, servant."
Raiyen leaned close, his eyes calm—but not sane.
"Touch me again," he whispered, "and I'll feed your teeth to the pigs behind the latrine."
Yun Fei's knees nearly buckled. That voice. That presence. It didn't belong to a lowly servant. It belonged to something ancient. Something that remembered how it felt to kill gods.
He pulled away with a curse and stormed off.
> [Sin Sown: Wrath – Minor]
+10 Sin Points Acquired
Reward Unlocked: Forbidden Flame Scripture (Fragment)]
New Ability: Ember Palm (Tier 0)]
Heat flared in Raiyen's palm.
He opened his hand. A flicker of red flame danced there—tinged with black.
He smiled, and for the first time in a thousand years, it was genuine.
The Sinbound Monarch had risen.
And this time, he would not be betrayed.
He would rule with lust, wrath, and pride as his blades—and he would shatter the heavens from below.