The morning was slowly advancing, and the sunlight was pouring over the mountains.
At the top of the Lonely Cloud Peak, Jun Tian still remained seated.
The wind blew gently, carrying the fresh scent of the forest, while the spiritual dew evaporated under the first rays of light.
His body was light.
The Qi flowed freely, obeying his will with a naturalness that surprised him.
Each breath was a silent song, and his heart seemed to pulse in harmony with the world.
But despite the serenity, Jun Tian knew — there was something more.
From the moment he awakened the Lotus in the void, a silent presence had been accompanying him.
An ancient consciousness, dormant... until now.
He closed his eyes and focused.
Within his spiritual sea, the Nine-Colored Lotus slowly spun, emanating a serene light.
The petals trembled, and a gentle voice echoed in her mind — clear, feminine, and at the same time distant, like an echo from the infinite.
"Finally... you took the first step."
Jun Tian took a deep breath, feeling his heart race.
Even having sensed her presence before, this was the first time he heard the Lotus speak directly.
— Can you... communicate with me? — he asked, hesitantly.
"From the moment you touched my essence, our souls intertwined." But until now, you didn't have enough strength to endure my voice.
"Your advancement opened the first portal — the link between your soul and the Dao."
Jun Tian fell silent for a moment.
Her voice was soft, but it carried an ancient weight.
Each word seemed to traverse time and space, touching something deep within him.
— So... are you a spiritual Lotus? Or a divine weapon? — he asked, trying to understand.
There was a pause.
The Lotus slowly turned, releasing a glow of nine colors that spread across the entire spiritual sea.
Within that light, Jun Tian saw images — distant, almost unreal.
A vast emptiness, filled with fragments of shattered stars…
A golden river cutting thru space…
And a shadowy figure, impossible to describe, extending its hand toward him.
"I am not just a Lotus, Jun Tian."
"I am a fragment of the Dao... an echo left behind by something that existed before creation."
Her voice sounded sad, like an old melody played in the wind.
Jun Tian felt his body shudder.
Just her presence was already something beyond comprehension.
A being that spoke in such vast tones could not be something this world understood.
— So why... are you with me? — he asked sincerely.
"Because you set me free."
Those words made him hold his breath.
Freed?
He remembered the moment in the void — that infinite space where nothing existed, just the Lotus floating, solitary, slowly spinning between fragments of light and darkness.
"I was hunted..." — she said, her voice now softer. — "By someone... or something... that doesn't belong to this cycle of the cosmos." What was hunting me was not a common being. It was... the reflection of a principle."
Jun Tian felt a shiver down his spine.
Even without understanding, he instinctively felt the weight of those words.
And, as if understanding her fear, the Lotus continued:
"Don't seek to know more, for now."
"The causality that involves that being is beyond what your destiny can bear." Only the thot of him can attract his attention.
Silence.
Jun Tian remained still.
Only the sound of the wind filled the void within his mind.
— So... he can find me because of you? — he asked, in a low voice.
"No," replied Lotus firmly. "As long as I remain sealed within you, and you do not try to understand what you cannot yet comprehend, your existence will remain hidden."
"No gaze from this inferior cosmos will be able to perceive you." No law will dare to probe your soul.
Jun Tian let out a breath, relieved.
But, at the same time, a doubt consumed him.
— And you? Are you trapped inside me?
"Prey?" — Lotus laughed lightly, a sweet and melancholic sound. — "I am where I need to be."
"My fragments were scattered when I fled." Part of me is lost, wandering between the folds of time and space.
"But with time, when you are strong enough, we will find them."
Jun Tian lowered her head.
Even without fully understanding, he felt the weight and loneliness in her voice.
That ancient entity, so powerful, was now divided, fragmented — and he was its only remaining connection.
"Jun Tian," she called softly. "You are still weak." But within your soul, there is something unusual.
"Your existence was not born solely from this world." There is a seed in you that even I do not fully understand.
— A seed...? — he murmured.
"Yes." She vibrates in tune with something... beyond the Dao of this universe.
Jun Tian felt her heart race.
But before he could ask more, the Lotus continued:
"For now, cultivate." Grow in silence. I will guide you, but I will never interfere in your path.
"The true Dao is not given... it is earned."
The light of the Lotus began to weaken, returning to the center of its spiritual sea.
Before disappearing completely, she murmured, in an almost inaudible voice:
"And remember, Jun Tian... when the void calls you again, look to the center of the darkness." There... you will find the next fragment.
Jun Tian opened his eyes.
The sky was already blue, and the clouds were slowly moving above his head.
The sound of spiritual birds echoed in the distance.
He stood there for a moment, motionless, feeling the wind touch his face.
The Lotus had spoken to him.
And her words... seemed to echo not only within his mind but within his soul.
"Fragments of the Dao... pursuits beyond the cosmos..."
He looked at the horizon, his eyes shining with a deep light.
Even without understanding everything, he knew that meeting had sealed his fate.
From now on, your life would no longer belong solely to this world.
A faint smile formed on her lips.
"So this is it... my true beginning."
The wind blew again, and the spiritual Qi around responded, dancing lightly in the air.
The Lotus remained silent, resting within it — like a dormant star waiting for the right moment to shine again.