Azure Cloud City basked beneath a flawless blue sky.
Sunlight spilled over tiled rooftops and stone streets. Merchants shouted prices, children chased one another through the alleys, cultivators sparred openly in courtyards—life moved forward in its familiar, careless rhythm.
Then—
The sky trembled.
It was subtle at first, like a shudder beneath the skin of the world. The wind slowed. Sound dulled. Clouds that had drifted lazily moments before suddenly collapsed inward, spiraling violently as though some unseen hand had seized the heavens themselves.
Blue turned black.
Black turned red.
A bloody crimson sky stretched across Azure Cloud City, vast and suffocating.
The air thickened until breathing felt laborious. Even the cicadas fell silent.
The world went eerily quiet.
Across the city, people froze.
Cultivators halted mid-technique, spiritual energy scattering in panic. Disciples faltered mid-spar, nearly crashing into one another. Ordinary citizens stared upward, hearts hammering for reasons they could not explain.
Fear seeped into every corner of the city.
Then the earth began to shake.
Mountains groaned in the distance, stone grinding against stone. A low hum spread through the land—ancient, heavy, as if the world itself were resonating with something it had not felt in countless years.
And just as suddenly—
The sky blazed gold.
Radiance flooded the heavens, swallowing the crimson whole. The tremors faded. The humming ceased.
As if nothing had happened.
---
Inside the Lin Family's ancestral hall, several elders stood frozen mid-discussion.
"What… what is happening?" one elder asked, his voice tight. "Such violent changes in the heavens—could this be the end of the world? Or has a demon descended?"
Another elder's expression darkened.
"This is no mere weather anomaly. The heavens are unsettled."
The First Elder slowly exhaled, his eyes narrowing.
"I have read of this in ancient scriptures," he said gravely. "Such phenomena occur when something that does not belong to this world… appears within it."
The hall fell into dead silence.
---
Behind the Lin Clan's estate—far from prying eyes—lay a neglected backyard, half-ruined and overgrown.
A body lay sprawled on the cold ground.
Several youths surrounded it.
"What's wrong with the world?" one muttered, steadying himself after the quake. "That earthquake felt strange."
"Forget the world," another scoffed. "Let's finish what we came here to do. We can report to Tianhao later."
"Is he still breathing?" someone asked.
"He should be dead by now," another replied impatiently.
"Let me check."
A boot slammed down hard on Lin Xian's chest.
Pain exploded.
Air burst from his lungs in a hoarse gasp as his body jolted violently.
"Tch. How annoying," a voice sneered. "Didn't Tianhao already kick him half to death?"
"He was bleeding everywhere," someone said. "Should've finished it."
Lin Xian's eyes opened.
For the briefest moment, a faint golden reflection flashed within his irises.
At that exact instant—
The trembling stopped.
The heavens steadied.
The world resumed its course as though nothing had occurred.
"Huh?" one of them muttered. "It stopped?"
"Whatever," another laughed. "I'll ask the elders later—after killing this trash."
Blurred figures swam in Lin Xian's vision. Above them loomed the broken walls of the abandoned backyard.
His chest burned.
His head throbbed.
And someone was standing on him.
"…Move," he rasped.
The boot pressed down harder.
"You still know how to talk?" the youth sneered. "Impressive—for trash."
Laughter erupted. Familiar laughter.
Where… am I?
Lin Xian realized something far worse than death had occurred.
He had reincarnated—
into a body that was never his.
Then—
Memories surged.
Not his own.
Fragments of a shattered soul flooded his mind in vivid, blood-soaked flashes.
He saw jeering faces in the Lin family's training hall. Heard mocking voices echoing off cold stone walls.
Trash.
Useless.
A disgrace to the Lin name.
Lin Tianhao's sneering face loomed above it all.
"You dare call yourself a Lin?"
Fists descended like iron hammers. Ribs cracked. Boots followed—stomping his chest, his arms, his face.
Servants watched from the shadows, laughing quietly. Elders turned away, calling it "necessary discipline."
Blood filled his mouth.
His dantian—already crippled—offered no resistance.
The final kick struck his temple.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
Why me?
Why this endless torment?
Then—
A different memory surfaced.
Warm. Gentle.
"Big Brother, don't skip breakfast again!"
A childish laugh followed, light as wind chimes.
Lin Xue'er.
Twelve years old. Brave to a fault.
The only warmth left in a family that had long gone cold.
She used to sneak pastries into his hands, whispering promises far too big for her small frame.
"When I grow up, I'll protect you."
Even when the clan mocked him…
Even when they treated him like air…
She never wavered.
His chest tightened.
The old Lin Xian had died choking on blood—humiliated and alone.
But his last thoughts had been of her.
That alone had been enough.
His memories settled, revealing the truth of this body:
Lin Xian—the eldest son of Lin Yuan, once-glorious Patriarch of the Lin Clan, now fallen after a crippling injury.
He exhaled softly.
"So this…" he whispered, voice raspy yet steady, "is mortality."
"Just kill him already," someone said impatiently.
A foot rose, poised for the final blow.
Then—
Lin Xian looked up.
Silver eyes met theirs.
Not ordinary eyes.
Within them surged a killing intent so dense, so ancient, it did not belong to any mortal.
Three youths stiffened instantly.
Their throats went dry.
Their instincts screamed in terror—
Move again, and you will die.
Is… is this really Lin Xian?
Lin Xian pushed himself upright.
Pain tore through broken ribs, sharp and merciless.
He welcomed it.
Blood-stained fingers trembled—hands that had once shattered stars and silenced gods.
Now they shook like those of a dying mortal.
Even so…
"Weak," he murmured softly.
"Yes… but only temporarily."
A faint smile curved his lips.
"These hands," he continued, eyes cold,
"will kill mortals and immortals alike—soon enough."
---
Scene 2 – One Second of Eternity
A harsh shout tore through the ruined backyard.
"The trash is alive?!"
Lin Tianhao strode forward, boots crunching against broken stone.
He was handsome in a sharp, predatory way—brows straight, jaw firm—but his eyes held no warmth. Only contempt. His aura rolled outward without restraint, oppressive and arrogant.
Peak Mid-Stage Mortal Vein Realm.
At his age, it was an achievement worth boasting about—and he did. He wore it like a crown, as if the world already belonged to him.
"I ordered you to kill him," Tianhao said coldly.
"So why is he still breathing?"
The three youths snapped out of their daze and hurried over, heads lowered.
"We—we were about to finish him," one said quickly. "But then the heavens changed. The phenomenon distracted us."
Another hesitated, then leaned closer and whispered, voice trembling.
"Something strange happened during it. Lin Xian… he felt different. Like—like he was possessed. Something about him isn't right."
Tianhao's brows knit together.
For half a breath, uncertainty flickered.
Then he scoffed and waved it away.
"Possessed?" He laughed derisively. "By what? Trash attracts flies, not gods."
His gaze snapped back to Lin Xian.
"You should've stayed dead, brother," Tianhao sneered.
"Now I'll have to bury you twice."
Lin Xian calmly brushed dirt from his blood-soaked sleeve.
His movements were slow. Casual.
His voice was soft—but sharp enough to cut bone.
"Kill me?"
He smiled faintly.
"Who kills who… that remains to be seen."
Then his eyes lifted.
"But one thing is certain," he continued lightly.
"With your skill? Killing me?"
He shook his head.
"Not in your lifetime."
The backyard went still.
The three followers froze, confusion flashing across their faces.
Then—
Tianhao's expression twisted.
Rage erupted like wildfire.
"You?" he barked, killing intent bursting outward.
"Who do you think you are to speak like that?"
He spat on the ground.
"Spouting nonsense. You couldn't kill a chicken even if it begged you."
Lin Xian spread his arms slightly, blood dripping from his mouth and brow.
"Then come," he said calmly.
"I'm standing right here."
A pause.
"Or are you all bark, no bite?"
That was it.
Tianhao's face contorted with fury.
"Good! Very good, Lin Xian!"
He laughed harshly.
"Let's see what the Almighty Trash can do!"
Lin Xian didn't answer.
He only smiled.
That calm smile—unbothered, dismissive—infuriated Tianhao more than any insult.
With a snarl, Tianhao exploded forward.
Flames roared around his fist, heat warping the air.
One of the followers gasped.
"It's his signature move!"
"The Ember Blazing Punch—he's going for the kill!"
Tianhao grinned savagely as he charged.
"Die, you dog!"
The old Lin Xian would have begged.
This one simply watched the punch approach.
---
The God Eye Awakens
A golden radiance stirred beneath Lin Xian's left eyelid.
Then—
It opened.
Light burst forth like dawn ripping apart eternal night.
Within his iris, a tiny sigil appeared—
an ancient, burning red sun slowly revolving, vast and merciless.
The world dimmed.
The air trembled.
Time itself slowed to a crawl.
Tianhao's flaming punch froze mid-strike.
His sneer fractured—
splitting into countless distorted reflections.
Each one stared back at him…
terrified.
Then reality shattered.
A silent shockwave of golden force rippled outward.
The flames around Tianhao's fist twisted violently—condensing, reshaping—
Until a phoenix of fire screamed into existence.
It turned on him.
The phoenix tore into Tianhao's body, talons ripping flesh, beak striking again and again. Every inch of him burned.
His robes ignited.
He screamed—
But no sound came.
Inside his mind, hell unfolded.
He saw himself kneeling.
Bleeding.
Crawling.
Begging.
Dying—again and again.
Thousands of versions of his defeat collapsed into a single heartbeat.
In reality, Tianhao flailed wildly, punching at empty air like a madman.
One strike smashed into a follower's chest, sending him flying.
"What are you doing?!" another shouted in horror.
"Tianhao—stop!"
The illusion lasted only one second.
To Tianhao—
It was eternity.
He staggered back, gasping like a drowning man.
His companions stared at him as if he had become a monster.
"W-what…" Tianhao whispered, voice shaking.
"What did you do to me…?"
Lin Xian opened his mouth to answer—
But,
Agony exploded behind his eye.
The golden light snapped shut.
Blood poured from his nose.
"Nothing," Lin Xian rasped, wiping crimson from his lips.
"I was just standing here."
He tilted his head slightly, amused.
"You're the one acting like a lunatic."
Tianhao trembled.
Fear warred with fury—
Then his body convulsed.
He spat a mouthful of blood, eyes wide with nameless terror.
The backlash from the shattered illusion had torn through his spirit.
He turned and fled.
Like a beaten dog.
His followers scrambled after him, dragging the injured one along.
None dared look back.
---
Silence returned.
Lin Xian dropped to one knee, chest heaving.
The pain behind his eye slowly faded, leaving a dull, throbbing ache.
"One second," he muttered.
"And this body nearly shattered."
He pressed a trembling hand to his chest.
His heartbeat was uneven. His meridians were frayed beyond repair.
"A crippled dantian…" he murmured.
"No wonder this boy couldn't sense qi."
Yet his smile remained.
Sharp.
"It doesn't matter."
"The Nirvana Scripture is rebirth itself," he whispered.
"To rise from total destruction—strong enough to crush the heavens."
He leaned against the cracked wall, exhaustion weighing on him.
Memories surfaced—
star realms collapsing, empires erased, gods kneeling.
Up there, he had been unstoppable.
Here?
A single kick nearly killed him.
"A crippled vessel," he said softly.
"But the will of a god remains."
---
The backyard fell silent once more.
Lin Xian lay slumped against the cracked wall, the ruined courtyard stretching empty around him. Each breath scraped through his chest, shallow and uneven. The price of opening the God Eye still burned through his skull, gnawing at nerves that this frail body had no right to possess.
He needed rest.
He closed his eyes—
Then—
A faint ringing pulsed behind his left eye.
Then it sharpened.
Another memory surfaced
A whisper—distant, broken, yet unmistakably familiar—echoed through his soul.
"Master… run…"
Lin Xian froze.
The golden sigil in his God Eye trembled violently.
His breath hitched—not from fear, but from the weight of something far more ancient than this mortal flesh.
A forgotten scent rose in the wind—
blood, ash, thunder, shattered stars.
His heart dropped.
Not this place.
Not this weak vessel.
This was the echo of a battlefield that did not belong to this world.
His vision blurred.
Moonlight distorted.
The ruined courtyard dissolved like smoke.
The cold earth beneath him melted into molten stone.
The sky split open above him—
bleeding constellations and howling void.
A throne of broken light loomed at the center of it all—cracked, defiant, drenched in divine blood.
And then—
A single command thundered through the chaos, carrying authority that bent reality itself.
"SEVEN SINS—DEFEND THE THRONE!"
Lin Xian's eyes snapped wide as the past devoured the present—
dragging him back into the final moment of his former life.
To be continued