The rain would not stop.
Shen Zong's body lay broken in the ravine, surrounded by corpses and rivers of blood. His chest rose and fell weakly, the cursed brand pulsing like molten fire beneath his skin.
Then—darkness.
---
He opened his eyes, but the world was not the same.
A boundless void stretched around him. No sky, no earth, only chains of shadow twisting endlessly in the air. They clamped down on his wrists, ankles, and throat, dragging him into the abyss.
"You were born cursed," a voice thundered, neither male nor female. "Your fate was sealed at birth. Struggle as you may, you will die here— nameless, forgotten."
Shen Zong's eyes narrowed. His body, even here, felt heavy, bound by countless chains. His bones cracked with every pull.
And yet… he smiled faintly.
"I have always been forgotten," he whispered. "And yet, I still live."
The void shuddered.
---
The chains constricted tighter, trying to crush him into nothingness. Phantom figures emerged in the dark—faces of those he had killed, the orphans who mocked him, the villagers who spat on him, enemies who cursed his name.
They screamed in unison:
"Demon! Monster! Cursed child! You have no right to exist!"
The weight of their hatred pressed upon him like mountains. His knees buckled, his spine cracked, and his vision dimmed.
For the first time, Shen Zong felt his will wavering.
---
But then, in the midst of despair, a single memory surfaced—
The night he buried the old beggar who gave him his first bowl of rice.
The words whispered into his ears that day:
"If the heavens deny you, then become your own heaven."
His eyes snapped open.
"…I see now."
---
With a roar, Shen Zong bit into the chain that bound his throat. Blood filled his mouth as his teeth cracked, but he refused to let go. His arms, broken and trembling, tore against the shackles until flesh split and bone tore.
One by one, the chains shattered.
The void screamed. The cursed brand upon his chest flared, and suddenly—rivers of crimson light poured out of his body, spiraling into a vortex above him.
The voice howled again:
"You dare defy fate itself?!"
Shen Zong stood tall, drenched in his own blood. His calm eyes gleamed with ruthless brilliance.
"I do not defy fate," he said slowly. "I crush it beneath my feet."
The last shackle broke.
The void collapsed.
---
His body jolted back into reality.
The rainstorm still raged. The sword still pierced his abdomen, yet his flesh burned with new power. Every droplet of blood felt alive, resonating with something eternal.
For the first time, Shen Zong felt it: the enlightenment that countless cultivators dreamed of—
The first glimpse of Immortality.