"There are those born not for this world.And there are those——who must be born precisely because the world has no place for them."
Ash scattered.
The Grand Sepulcher of Souls had collapsed entirely, leaving behind no trace of inheritance, no shadow of memory.
Only Lâm Mạc remained—standing alone amidst a silver-gray void, surrounded by the faint shimmer of cracks rippling through the fabric of space.
No wind. No light.And yet… something within him had changed.
Upon his chest, just above his heart, a spiral-shaped mark of ash slowly emerged—quiet and unbidden.
None had taught it.None had bestowed it.
Hollow Fate—a mark that belonged to no ordained destiny.A form of existence not born of Heaven, nor destined for destruction.A life… forged by sheer will alone.
Lâm Mạc could feel his blood coursing under an entirely new law.
No longer did it rely on Spiritual Energy.No longer did it draw from essence or elixirs.He had no need for techniques, nor incantations, nor cultivation methods.
Each breath he took… birthed a Dao of its own.
Each step he walked… the heavens and earth had to bend, adjusting to his presence.
"So this… is what it means to no longer belong to the old world."
He looked skyward.
His eyes now gleamed with an ashen hue, reflecting the shadow of the Heavenly Dao that had long oppressed his fate.
There was no more fear.No more hatred.
Only one thing remained—direction.
Suddenly, a tremor split the skies.
A rift tore briefly across the heavens above—so brief it vanished in a blink.But in that fleeting instant, a surge of disturbance echoed into the realm of the Ancient Divine Temple.
Far away, in a realm beyond reach, an old man with closed eyes opened them within the stillness of the temple.From the jade purification vessel beside him, threads of smoke twisted into a spiral—
—the very shape of the Hollow Fate seal.
"At last… he is born."
"Send word to all Mind-Cleansing Divine Guards—prepare the assassins."
"A bearer of Hollow Fate… must not be allowed to endure."
Back in the fading plane of Vong Tình Vực…
The ground beneath Lâm Mạc's feet began to crack—signs of the realm's unraveling.
A gateway of ashen light opened before him, leading the way back into the Ninefold Mystical Archive.
As he stepped through that gate—
The world held its breath.
The sky no longer held its clear hue, now shrouded beneath a veil of ash-gray cloud.In the distance, strange creatures from beyond this world retreated into shadow, as though by instinct—knowing that something had returned…
…something that no longer belonged to this realm.
Lâm Mạc walked forward—step by unwavering step.
He was not yet strong.Not yet supreme.His cultivation… had not even returned to the Mortal Embryo stage.
But with every step he took, the world was forced to yield.
"From this day forth… I am no longer the survivor of an ancient blood tribulation.I am no longer the discarded son of the Lâm Clan.*I am—*Lâm Mạc.The first bearer of Hollow Fate—the one who defies the heavens."