That night, the moon hung crimson above the Thousand Lotus Sect.
Han Li stood on the highest pavilion, wind tugging his robes gently as he stared southward—toward the cursed mountains where the seal was crumbling.
Boom... Boom...
The Sky-Eater's heartbeat echoed beneath the world again. Louder now. Closer.
He closed his eyes. "So... it wakes."
Behind him, Elder Mu appeared silently. "You felt it too."
Han Li nodded. "If it fully awakens, the heavens will shatter."
Mu's eyes trembled. "What will you do?"
Han Li looked down at his broom, then smiled faintly. "What I must."
"Leaving?"
"I must. The Sky-Eater doesn't just eat life—it devours cause and effect. Sword strikes won't be enough this time."
Mu frowned. "Then what do you need?"
"People," Han Li said. "Not soldiers. Learners. I'll teach those with potential to bend the laws it breaks."
"Teach?" Mu blinked. "You?"
Han Li chuckled. "Even janitors can become teachers."
Mu hesitated. "The Council won't approve."
"I won't ask," Han Li said calmly.
He turned away from the sect, stepping into the sky with a single bound. Clouds parted for him.
As he vanished over the horizon, bells rang in the distance. The celestial warning chime—the third one this millennium.
Somewhere far off, in a remote land surrounded by floating peaks and time-warped forests, a strange academy stood silent.
The Twilight Academy for Deviant Cultivators—a school built to tame, teach, or destroy anomalies.
Within its dusty registry, a new name etched itself in glowing gold:
Instructor: Han Li.