Night fell upon the lower districts of Xin Province, a city cradled in marble towers and neon lanterns—where cultivators rode spirit cranes and mortals sold incense just to afford tomorrow. But under one rusted rooftop, Luan sat quietly, black flame in hand, staring at it like it owed him answers.
Ten days had passed since the Envoy incident.
And still, the black fire burned in perfect silence.
---
"Zero Qi… yet power of annihilation."
He thought.
"This flame isn't mine… or maybe it is—just not yet."
Mei knocked once, gently. "You okay?"
Luan didn't answer. Not because he was ignoring her, but because…
Something had just moved in his sea of consciousness.
---
Inside his mind, the landscape was no longer still. The pitch-black waters of his inner realm now pulsed like the breath of some ancient titan. Cracks along the horizon had deepened.
And floating mid-air was himself.
Not in the mirror image kind of way.
This version wore shadow-black robes, barefoot, hovering with arms crossed and a stitched blindfold covering his closed eyes. The sheer weight of his presence made Luan's body tremble—even in the safety of his own mind.
The shadow-self said nothing.
But… it watched.
Even with its eyes closed.
Luan reached out. Just before his fingers touched the phantom…
A loud boom ripped through reality.
---
He snapped awake.
Outside, Mei screamed.
From the alley beside the shop, a monstrous Moonsteel Spider — its legs the length of carriages, armor plated with lunar ore, and eyes glowing toxic green — had torn through the wall and was rampaging toward the market.
People screamed. Cultivators leapt to stop it — but its armor absorbed blades, fire, lightning. Nothing worked.
One by one, they fell.
Mei was trapped under rubble.
Luan ran.
---
He stood in front of the beast, flames swirling behind his eyes.
The Moonsteel Spider hissed, its fangs like steel sabers.
Luan took one step forward — and the spider paused.
Because the black flame had begun to spiral around Luan's body, twisting upward like a crown made of night.
He raised his hand.
And then — he didn't strike.
He called.
A strange pulse echoed from his core. It wasn't Qi. It wasn't soul force. It was something older.
The spider began to tremble.
Then…
It bowed.
The Moonsteel Spider lowered itself, its armored skull pressed to the ground like a soldier kneeling before a king.
Gasps filled the street.
Mei, bloodied and confused, looked at Luan through flickering smoke. "What… are you?"
Luan looked at his hand, then at the beast.
"...I was hoping you could tell me."
---
That night, word spread faster than fire:
A Moonsteel Beast had submitted.
Not to a cultivator.
But to a boy with zero Qi.
The clans went quiet.
The rogue sects began to stir.
And in the far east, deep within a forbidden tomb long buried in starlight and silence, an ancient statue cracked open its eyelids.
---
.