Jason Wu stood beneath the dead sky of the Broken Core Realm, the fractured clouds drifting like torn parchment around him. Cold wind swept through the wasteland, carrying dust, faint echoes, and traces of a history soaked in the blood of his clan.
The place where the Wu once stood tall.
Where they were erased.
Now, Jason found himself standing exactly where his ancestors had taken their last stand—facing a training ground that should never exist, and practicing a technique that should never be revived.
Longwu hummed low in his sheath, an uneasy vibration.
["Boy… this is stupid. Even for you."]
Jason exhaled deeply. "Everything we're doing lately falls into that category."
["No, this is stupid-stupid. The kind that gets a whole lineage deleted twice."]
Jason felt his jaw clench. The memory of Wu Yun—the survivor who shouldn't exist—flashed in his mind.
The tremor in the elder's hands.
The broken voice.
The way he whispered the forbidden art's name like it was a sin.
**—The Severed Origin Path.**
A cultivation method not meant to elevate a person…
…but to make them untraceable by Fate.
Jason whispered at the empty wasteland, "If Fate keeps hunting the Wu, then I need something Fate can't follow."
Longwu groaned.
["And so he chooses the forbidden path. Congratulations, you are now officially a protagonist who makes terrible life decisions."]
Jason ignored him and planted both feet on the cracked earth.
The ground trembled.
A formation lit beneath the dust—a broken version of what once trained the Wu Clan's fiercest warriors. Nine circles. Each represented a step toward cutting ties with predetermined life threads.
But now?
They were unstable. Flickering. Warped.
Lan Yuren approached from behind, cloak flapping violently.
"Jason, I still think this is insane."
Wei Qing followed, arms crossed tightly. "There's forbidden… and then there's *this*."
Jason forced a smile. "Relax. If things go wrong, Longwu will pull me out."
Longwu barked,
["No I won't. You're on your own, boy."]
Jason stepped into the first circle.
Wind roared.
---
### **THE FIRST CIRCLE — BREAKING THE MEMORY THREAD**
A column of white light surged upward, swallowing him whole.
Jason's ears rang. Images flashed—his childhood in Star Sword Sect, Leon's ridiculous panic attacks, Lily's calm smile, Lan Yuren getting mad for the 400th time, Wei Qing's quiet support.
Then the light turned red.
A voice whispered:
**"To defy Fate… you must first sever who you were."**
Jason grit his teeth. "Hell no. I like who I am."
The thread snapped.
Jason stumbled forward as the circle cracked, unable to erase his identity.
Longwu whistled.
["Rejected by Fate-breaking technique. You're off to a great start."]
Wei Qing called from outside the formation, "Jason! Status?"
"Still sexy," he replied. "Next circle."
---
### **THE SECOND CIRCLE — BREAKING THE BLOOD THREAD**
A harsh hum filled the air.
Jason's vision darkened.
A phantom version of himself stepped out of his body—a twisted reflection of who he was *supposed* to become.
This version had no humor.
No warmth.
No friends.
Only power—pure, cold, and destined.
The phantom lifted a hand.
A chain made of bloodline essence wrapped around Jason's chest.
Longwu hissed,
["That thing is who 'Fate' wants you to be. Punch him."]
Jason didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward and slammed his fist into the phantom's face.
The shockwave shattered the chain, scattering the phantom like glass.
Jason panted. "I'm not becoming some robotic Fate puppet. Not happening."
The circle cracked.
---
### **THE THIRD CIRCLE — BREAKING THE FUTURE THREAD**
The moment Jason entered it, space twisted.
He saw futures.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Some glorious.
Some catastrophic.
Some where he ruled realms.
Some where he died as a nobody.
Some where the Wu Clan was revived.
Some where it was wiped out again.
And then—
He saw it.
A future in which he stood alone in the cosmic void, holding Longwu while bodies of friends and lovers floated around him.
Jason's breath hitched.
"No," he whispered. "Not that."
A figure approached him from inside the future—a tall man with a familiar smirk and familiar eyes.
Jason froze.
It was… him.
Older.
Colder.
Standing in the void as if it belonged to him.
"Turn back," the future Jason said. "The path you're choosing leads here."
Jason raised Longwu.
"I'm choosing my own future."
Older Jason shook his head. "No one chooses. The Wu bloodline was born to—"
Jason didn't let him finish.
He cut the vision in half.
The future shattered.
Light exploded outward, hurling Jason back into the real world.
He collapsed on all fours, gasping.
Lan Yuren ran toward him. "Jason!"
But the formation flared brutally—throwing Lan aside.
Jason forced himself up. "I'm fine. Let me continue."
Wei Qing gritted her teeth. "You're pushing too hard."
Jason looked at her with a tired smile. "And Fate is pushing harder."
Longwu muttered,
["He says terrible lines now. This training already ruined him."]
Jason stepped into the next circle—
And everything stopped.
Time froze.
Wind stopped.
Dust hung unmoving in the air.
A voice whispered directly beside Jason's ear:
**"You shouldn't be here."**
Jason's blood ran cold.
He turned slowly.
A figure stood where no figure should be.
Tall.
Wrapped in anomalies.
Wearing no face.
Carrying no presence—
Yet Jason *recognized* it.
The one who had briefly intervened in the Fracture of the Fallen.
The one the Butcher feared.
The one who should not watch him this closely.
**The Interferer.**
Jason swallowed hard. "Why are you here?"
The faceless being tilted its head.
**"To warn you."**
Longwu bristled.
["Great. When cosmic horrors start giving warnings, that's NEVER a good sign."]
Jason clenched his fists. "Warn me about what?"
The being lifted one finger—
And pointed directly at Jason's heart.
**"You are about to awaken something that shouldn't exist anymore."**
A chill ran down Jason's spine.
"Awaken… what?"
The Interferer whispered a phrase that broke the stillness:
**"The First Defier."**
Before Jason could speak—
The being vanished.
Time snapped back into motion.
Wind roared again.
Jason staggered, dizzy.
Lan Yuren called out, "Jason! What happened?!"
Jason wiped sweat from his brow.
"Nothing," he lied. "Let's finish this."
Longwu whispered dangerously,
["Boy… We're in deep trouble."]
Jason stepped into the next circle—
Determined, terrified, furious—
Because forbidden training had only just begun.
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