The slums of Roza City sprawled like a festering scar, a tangle of broken stone and rusted iron far from the Sigeur clan's grandeur and brilliantly designed obsidian spires piercing Liyue's heart. The Sigeur clan hoarded Roza's resources, fueling their dominance while the city—Liyue's worst—rotted under their rule, its people crushed in silence.
No one dared defy the clan, loyal servants of the Eclipse Order, whose shadow loomed over the continent. Kai's gut twisted with regret for ever bearing their name. In the basement, chained for six years, he'd sworn to forsake it.
No longer Kai Sigeur, he was Kai the Forsaken, a clanless soul with a void-black wisp pulsing in his core, the All-Devouring Clock's hum echoing the defiant surge he'd felt at ten, when his Early Soul Initiate essence was revealed, and again in that strange space, taming something unknown. Now a Mid Soul Initiate, that pulse was his lifeline, a spark of defiance in a city that devoured the weak.
Kai, gaunt and thin from six years of suffering, slipped through Roza's shadowed alleys, his tattered rags no match for the sea's chill. His soul essence had undergone massive changes—unlike the golden wisps of normal cultivators, his was colorless, a void of emptiness that consumed everything. Only Kai's body, somehow resilient, remained unscathed from exposure to his essence. What was that thing he'd encountered in that strange space?
Before his detainment, he'd scoured the Sigeur library's 1st and 2nd levels, devouring every book on essence and soul mastery. Nothing mentioned a void-black wisp or an All-Devouring Clock. If only he'd reached the 3rd level, reserved for Soul Masters and above, he might've found answers.
His attempts to study the clock revealed little—its shadowy hands ticked, its wisp hungry, but its secrets eluded him.
Faint glows cut the gloom—essence lanterns, brass gadgets with crystal cores sparked by soul essence, rare in Roza's decay. Kai crouched behind a scrap heap, watching a scavenger tweak a lantern, its dim light flickering on his scarred face.
These devices, powered by soul essence, were hoarded by the Sigeur clan, symbols of their Eclipse-backed dominance. Kai's chest tightened—his soul essence had failed to spark a lantern at his ceremony, a shame that drove him to forsake their name. Could his void wisp, driven by mental strength, ignite a gadget… or destroy it?
Elyse's tear-streaked face haunted him, her sacrifice as she freed him with a soul-key, a Soul gadget that unlatched essence-sealed chains. "Run, Kai," she'd whispered, defying her status as the clan's favoured prodigy, the Sigeur's pride. Guilt clawed—Lysara's wrath, perhaps Alfred's, would crush her for aiding Kai . But the clock's hum, its shadowy hands ticking in his spiritual space, urged him forward. He'd survive, prove himself—for her, for the boy who'd endured darkness, not for a clan he'd left behind.
A sharp clank broke his focus. Three figures emerged, their soul-blades—brass grips with crystal edges—humming with soul essence . Sigeur enforcers, had been sent to hunt down Kai . Their leader was a grizzled Early stage Soul Master, his soul clock faintly visible, clutched an essence communicator pulsing with a wisp. "Find the runaway," he growled, his soul-blade casting a crimson glow. "Lysara's gadget says the clanless brat's close.
"Kai's breath caught. Lysara's communicator had tracked him, even as Kai the Forsaken. His soul essense was weak, but the All-Devouring Clock was different.
As he ducked lower escaping, Roza's brutal order flashed in his mind: the Soul Clock System, binding Liyue's cultivators. At ten years of age, a coming of age ceremony was held to measured ones soul power.there where 24 ranks.ones soul power determined the future when cultivating.those with weaker soul power had less potential than those with high soul power.only when ones soul clock made a full cycle could one breakthrough to the next level
Strength came from soul mastery, channeling essence with skill. Only with improving mastery of soul essence could one improve their cultivation strength.High ranks meant nothing without mastery-some Rank 8 cultivators even after being in advantageous positions were weak for neglecting it. Kai's essence, channeled by mental strength honed in isolation, needed no physical refinement, his resilient body withstanding its hunger. Elyse's level 12 soul essense blazed, while Kai's level 1 soul essense flickered—yet his All-Devouring Clock defied this law, a secret in his clanless core.The pulse surged, that defiant feeling from six years ago, whispering power
Kai spotted a broken essence communicator in the scrap—an low end gadget, its crystal cracked. His essence brushed it, sparking a dark shimmer before the crystal shattered, overwhelmed.
The thugs spun toward the noise, blades raised. Panic gripped Kai, but the clock's hum steadied him. The pulse hinted at a new edge. Focusing, the All-Devouring Clock's hands ticked faster. His essence coiled, a light-devouring tendril. He aimed it at the leader's soul-blade, willing it to erase. The blade's crystal dimmed, its essence unraveling. The leader cursed, dropping it, the brass hilt clanging.
"What's that wisp, you clanless runt?"Kai bolted, alleys blurring. Essence lanterns flickered wildly, their cores recoiling from his soul essence that wanted to devour everything it touched, casting chaotic shadows.
Liyue's Soul Clock System ruled ranks and gadgets, but his All-Devouring Clock defied it, a secret no one in Roza, a city without Soul Emperors, could fathom. The Void Flower's mystery, tied to his clock, was his alone.He ducked into a derelict shack, its roof half-collapsed. A rusted soul forge—a machine needing a Mid Soul Master's wisp—loomed, its brass gears still. Kai slumped against it, breathing unevenly. The pulse burned—Elyse's sacrifice, his vow to rival her level 12 soul essence as Kai the Forsaken, stoked it.
He'd forsaken the Sigeur name, but not his defiance. His void wisp could disrupt their gadgets, maybe their soul forge, a rebellion born from Roza's ashes.His fingers found its way around the hilt of the cracked soul-blade, its crystal pulsing faintly. Channeling his essence, the core sparked a dark, unstable shimmer, drinking ambient essence.
Kai's pulse quickened—he'd managed to channel his essence into the blade.now all he had to do was wait for his prey.Footsteps crunched outside, the enforcers' red glows piercing the shack's gaps.
Resentment flared—Lysara's cruelty, Mara's kicks, Alfred's silence, the Sigeur name he'd spat upon. The core pulsed, shaping a jagged, dark blade, raw and hungry.The door splintered, the Early stage Soul Master ran in charging, his soul-blade blazing with golden wisps of mastered essence. Kai swung his void-blade, but the thug parried, the crystal edge slashing Kai's arm. Pain seared, his essence faltering. The enforcers closed in, blades humming. Kai stumbled, his blade flickering, his novice mastery too raw to hold.
The Early Soul Master grinned, raising his weapon. "What a pity you are only an initiate yet you think you can escape,die."
A blur surged from the shadows. A masked figure in black suddenly appeared from the shadows, wielding twin soul-daggers—sleek gadgets glowing with golden essence of a peak stage soul master—moved like a storm. Their daggers danced, shattering the Early stage Soul Master's blade and slicing the others' crystals with precise mastery. The leader swung, but the figure spun, their dagger carving his chest, disrupting the flow of his essence. The enforcers collapsed, groaning, as the figure sheathed their blades.Kai stared, blood dripping, his void-blade gone. The figure's mask—brass, etched with essence runes—gleamed. Silver hair flowed in the wind, their only visible trait. Before Kai could speak, they leaped to the roof and vanished, no wisp or trace left. The slums fell silent, as if the void had swallowed them.
Kai's heart pounded, awe mingling with defiance. Her daggers, her soul essence, wielded with unmatched mastery, rivaled Roza's best. The pulse flared, his Mid Soul Initiate wisp burning. He was Kai the Forsaken, a clanless spark forging his path. A faint tick echoed—not his clock, but a hidden essence gadget in the scrap, stirring as if roused by his void wisp. His arm throbbed, but he'd survived, saved by a stranger's blade. Had his power sparked something beyond Roza, tied to that strange space's mystery?