Inside the damp cavern beneath the waterfall, Luo Yun sat cross-legged, holding an old, fractured jade shard in both hands. This was the item Daoist Liu had given him—a lost piece of the legacy left behind by the Fallen Star.
From the moment his fingers touched the shard, Luo Yun felt something stirring. It wasn't pressure or power like a magic artifact. It felt more like a faint voice… waiting to be heard.
Daoist Liu sat nearby, watching silently.
"This memory was once sealed beneath the Grand Hall of Starcloud Pavilion," he said.
"Before the sect fell, the Fallen Star erased this fragment from the official archive."
"Perhaps… because it held something he didn't want anyone to know."
Luo Yun nodded and pressed a stream of spiritual energy into the shard.
A ring of light rose from the shard, slowly expanding to fill the cave.
The memory began.
A vast chamber with a high ceiling, runes flickering dimly across the walls. The smell of blood lingered in the air. At the center knelt the Fallen Star, injured, bleeding—but his eyes were sharp, unbroken.
Across from him stood a man dressed in black. His presence warped the space around him. Cold. Overwhelming. Deadly.
"You would stand against the heavens for the sake of those worthless disciples?" the man asked.
The Fallen Star chuckled softly.
"I don't protect them out of pity."
"I protect them because I was once like them—trampled, mocked, called trash."
"If you want to kill me, then remember this: you lit this fire."
The memory shattered.
Luo Yun opened his eyes. Sweat soaked his back.
"Who was that man?" he asked.
Daoist Liu didn't answer right away. He stared into the fire, his voice low when he spoke.
"One of the Four Heaven Envoys—men who helped shape the current cultivation system."
"His name is Tian Yie."
"He was the one who led the destruction of Starcloud Pavilion."
"If he learns you're alive—and that you hold the Fallen Star's legacy…"
"…he will come to erase you."
Far to the north, inside a celestial palace floating among the clouds, a shadowed figure stood before a spirit mirror.
He wore a long ash-gray robe. His presence was like frozen steel—silent and absolute.
Within the mirror, a faint glow flickered—an unstable spiritual thread.
But familiar.
"The Fallen Star…?" he muttered.
"No. He died."
"Then who is this boy?"
He clenched his fist.
"If that legacy still breathes,
I will finish what I started."
Meanwhile, Luo Yun was deep in training under Daoist Liu's guidance. He sat within a spiritual formation carved into the cave floor, learning to activate the forbidden technique Embers of Will.
"This technique doesn't rely on strength alone," Daoist Liu said.
"It draws from your memory, your emotions—your will."
"If there's a single crack in your heart…"
"The flame will consume you."
Luo Yun didn't respond.
He closed his eyes.
He remembered the village that hated him. The cold stares. The screams inside Falling Star Cave. The silent defiance in the Fallen Star's eyes during the memory.
All of it became fuel.
A soft, golden light flared around his body.
Daoist Liu raised an eyebrow.
"…You've started to burn."