The moon hung low—thin, brittle, and pale—as if the heavens themselves mourned.
Lin Tian sat cross-legged in silence atop the inner sect's coldest peak. Bamboo leaves trembled under a wind that carried no warmth, no spirit, no hope.
He had not moved in six days.
And yet, the breakthrough he longed for refused to come.
Where once his dantian surged with golden tides, now there was only a fading trickle, as if even the heavens recoiled from him.
> "Why?" he whispered. "Why won't it answer me anymore?"
He pressed his hand to his chest. His meridians were sore, bruised. Even the pill—a rare Grade Spirit Condensation Pill, crafted from Deep Flame Ginseng and Nine-Turn Essence Lotus—had done nothing but accelerate his collapse.
Cracks formed where strength should have surged.
Blood stained his inner robes.
The Spirit-Gathering Formation beneath him flickered dimly, as if hesitating to acknowledge him.
---
[System Notification]
→ Cultivation Advancement Failed
Cause: Qi Sea Disharmony + Destabilized Fate Thread
Villain Interference Level: 14%
Emotional Collapse Threshold:50%
---
His heart sank.
He no longer felt the gentle pull of fate. No invisible current, no hidden luck guiding his steps.
Once, every stone he turned held opportunity. A beast's lair would yield treasure. A hidden scroll would fall into his lap.
But now?
The world was silent.
> "Even fate has abandoned me…"
His voice cracked.
Memories of his mother, once warm as spring fire, now flickered dim and far away—like sunlight through fog.
> "Do I still remember her smile…?"
He wasn't sure.
---
Ring Grandpa Stirs
The jade ring pulsed faintly.
A familiar presence stirred—a voice steeped in weariness and regret.
> "...Tian'er."
Lin Tian didn't respond at first. He couldn't trust his voice.
> "You weren't meant to carry this burden alone," the voice continued.
> "I should have told you long ago. My name… is Xuan Wutian. I was once the Sect Master of the Sky-Folding Pavilion, a medium-tier sect in the Upper Realm."
Lin Tian's eyes narrowed.
> "Why does that sound like a eulogy?"
Xuan Wutian's voice twisted bitter.
> "Because it is. My sect no longer
The elder's tale poured forth—of a forbidden realm known as the Heaven-Doomed Secret Domain, where fate itself was said to take form. Spirits of destiny, twisted and hungry, slept beneath its soil.
Xuan Wutian had chased power—had dragged his sect there, blinded by ambition.
But just before their escape, betrayal struck.
> "My Dao Companion—my wife—offered my soul in exchange for a Heavenly Origin Lotus and a half-step Immortal Scripture."
> "She gave me up to the fate spirits. My soul was bound and scattered. The Sky-Folding Pavilion died with me."
His voice wavered.
> "I wandered broken worlds. Lived in the cracks of fallen stars… until I found you."
Lin Tian swallowed hard.
> "So I was just… a tool?"
> "At first."
"But you became something more. A chance to fight fate again. To redeem what I'd destroyed."
---
Lin Tian whispered, "My father… he died protecting me."
> "No," came the low reply. "He went into the Winterbite Ravine—a collapsed gate to the Heaven-Doomed Domain—along with five others."
> "He sought power, yes. But not for himself. For your mother. For you."
> "He never came back."
Lin Tian's heart thundered.
> "The others returned and told your mother he'd died. But there was no proof. No corpse. And I felt no soul passing through the Nether River."
Lin Tian's breath caught.
> "Then he might still be…"
> "Missing," Xuan Wutian said. "Or worse—bound."
A bitter wind swept across the platform, as if echoing the uncertainty.
---
On the seventh day of failure, the great hall doors opened.
Elder Liu Yushan entered without ceremony, robes whispering over cold stone. Her eyes, dark and sharp, held no warmth.
Once the youngest Core Elder in the sect, Liu Yushan was famed not just for strength—but for her aloof discipline. She had taken Lin Tian as a disciple due to his potential.
And now, he was failing.
> "Still here?" she said, voice colder than wind.
Lin Tian bowed low. "Master…"
> "You failed the breakthrough."
It wasn't a question. It was a declaration.
> "I—I used a rare Grade-Pill, and—"
> "Without purifying your Nine Yin Nodes," she interrupted.
She turned away, gaze fixed on a distant scroll. "You rushed. Out of pride? Or fear?"
> "I… wanted to prove myself."
> "To who?" she asked sharply. "Yourself? Or someone who doesn't watch you anymore?"
The words struck deep.
She did not offer comfort. Only truth.
> "Go home," she said flatly. "Eat with your family. Smell soil. Be a mortal for a while."
> "The sword of heaven will not answer a boy chasing ghosts."
And with that, she left—leaving no warmth in her wake.
---
[System Update]
→ Hero Classification Downgraded:
→ Destiny Support Suppressed
→ Villain Dominance Rising
→ Luck Cycle: about Broken
---
He stood that night atop the outer sect pavilion, where fate once danced in his aura like starlight.
But now, only silence.
> "I need to remember."
> "I need to go back—to mother. To Xian'er."
But even as he whispered it, pain bloomed in his chest.
Far away, in Emerald Cloud City, his mother poured wine for a smiling stranger.
Her heart—long cold—had found flickers of warmth in another's eyes.
---
He took a step.
Then another.
And then, knees buckling, collapsed to the ground.
His palm cracked the stone. His spiritual veins convulsed.
He screamed—but the heavens no longer listened.
Above him, his Fate Thread flickered like a dying candle.
And somewhere in the shadows of Emerald Cloud City…
A crimson tyrant smiled.
---
[End of Chapter 7]