The path to the Immortal Abyss was no longer part of the mortal world.
Mountains bent. Skies folded inward. The stars above warped like a broken mirror. And beneath it all, Mo Tian and Shi Yue walked in silence, their steps echoing through a space that rejected natural law.
This was The Pathless Zone — a sealed dimension between heaven and hell, lost to time.
> "Each step we take now," Shi Yue said, "takes us closer to an origin that predates even the heavens."
Mo Tian didn't respond. His black eyes remained fixed on the staircase ahead — spiraling downward into the void, made entirely of fragmented time. He could feel echoes of the past brushing his skin. Moments that weren't his.
> A child choking on poison. A god begging for death. A beast devouring its master.
> "This staircase," Shi Yue said softly, "leads to the First Broken Dao."
---
Flashback – What the Heavens Tried to Bury
As they descended, visions began to flicker into Mo Tian's mind.
A time before sects. Before qi. Before law.
> A Primordial Devourer rose from nothingness — not born, not created, but simply existed. It didn't cultivate. It consumed the concept of cultivation itself.
That being devoured suns, stars, and systems of Dao… until the heavens themselves descended and shattered its existence, fragmenting it across infinite realms.
And yet…
> It left behind seeds.
One of those seeds had taken root.
In him.
---
The Guardian of the Abyss
They finally reached the base.
A massive gate of bones and silver flame blocked the path forward. Carved into its surface were the names of ancient emperors and gods—each one crossed out, erased from fate.
Before it stood a figure — not a cultivator, not a beast, but a puppet held together by golden strings, dancing in midair with no puppet master.
> "So…" it rasped. "The Devourer walks again."
Mo Tian stepped forward.
> "Are you the guardian?"
> "I am the last gate," it hissed. "Once, I was a divine prince. Now, I guard what I cannot understand."
> "Let me pass," Mo Tian said coldly.
> "Only if you answer a question."
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Trial of the Forgotten Truth
The puppet's strings quivered, and a vision engulfed Mo Tian.
He stood in a field of dying stars. Before him stood three versions of himself:
1. Mo Tian the Hero — kind, righteous, but powerless.
2. Mo Tian the Tyrant — strong, feared, but doomed.
3. Mo Tian the Shadow — unknown, forgotten, but eternal.
The puppet's voice echoed:
> "Choose. Only one version of you will pass through the Abyss."
Mo Tian looked at them.
He didn't hesitate.
> He devoured all three.
Their screams echoed into nothingness. Mo Tian opened his eyes, expression unchanged.
> "I reject the choices given to me. I create new ones."
The gate of bones split open.
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Within the Abyss — The Mouth of Dao
They entered a voidless chamber. In the center floated a black lotus, pulsing with chaotic energy. Around it hovered fragments of ancient cultivation manuals, Dao hearts, divine souls — all half-eaten.
> "That," Shi Yue whispered, "is the First Sin. The origin of the Devouring Dao. Even the heavens cannot destroy it."
Mo Tian stepped forward.
The lotus pulsed once.
> It recognized him.
> "Your path," it said in a voice older than time, "has not yet begun. You are merely the surface of my hunger."
Mo Tian's eyes narrowed.
> "Then let me dive deeper."
He extended his hand—and the black lotus sank into his chest.
---
Elsewhere – The Heavens React
High above in the Heavenly Throne Court, bells tolled.
> "The Devourer has reached the Abyss," a Celestial Spirit said in fear.
> "Seal the skies."
> "Activate the Fate Rewriting Tablets."
> "Summon the Heir of Karma. Only she can kill him."
But deep in their divine eyes, there was something they couldn't say out loud:
> It might already be too late.
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Please wait for Chapter 9.