That night, the sky shattered.
Literally.
Everyone in the Ironroot Sect saw it—a blazing blue star tore across the heavens, dragging a tail of divine fire behind it. Elders gasped. Inner disciples fell to their knees.
"A star is falling," someone whispered. "A divine omen!"
Others screamed, "It's a curse!"
The sky cracked like glass as the star crashed into the far end of the Outer Mountain—the Forbidden Ridge, a cursed land where no one returned alive.
Fang Yun stood alone in the dark, watching the sky burn.
And for some reason… the star felt like it was calling to him.
---
The Forbidden Ridge
Midnight.
While everyone in the sect gathered to chant ancient prayers and consult star-readers, Fang Yun slipped through the shadows, clutching a broken dagger he had stolen months ago.
He had no plan.
Only an instinct.
He followed the scorched trail up the Forbidden Ridge, where no disciple dared go. The air was thick with death. Twisted trees whispered curses. The ground itself seemed to breathe.
And at the center of a massive crater… was a stone.
Not a treasure. Not a sword. Just a smooth, glowing, black stone—about the size of a heart. It pulsed like something alive.
He stepped closer.
And it spoke.
> "Do you hate the heavens that abandoned you?"
"Do you envy those above you?"
"Then devour them."
Fang Yun fell to his knees, clutching his head as memories, emotions, and alien thoughts flooded into him. The stone cracked open—revealing a glowing eye.
It launched into his chest.
He screamed.
Lightning struck the crater, blinding and endless.
--
: The Rootless Awakens
When Fang Yun woke, the world was silent.
The stone was gone.
But something had changed.
He looked at his hands—still bruised, still thin—but humming with something.
Not qi. Not spiritual energy.
But a void that pulled.
He looked at a dying bird nearby. Broken-winged, wheezing.
Without thinking, he reached out.
> The bird twitched.
It glowed faintly.
And then… disintegrated into smoke, which rushed into Fang Yun's chest.
[ You have devoured a Lesser Lifeform. +0.1 Root Points. ]
[ Rootless Dao Activated. ]
The voice echoed in his mind.
Fang Yun fell to his knees, laughing—and crying.
> He had no root.
But now… he could steal them all.
---
🌀 To Be Continued…