The night was as dark as ink, and the wind howled like a beast.
Outside the southeastern secret passage of the Startrace Sect, a group of figures swiftly moved through the forest without a sound. Leading them was Ni Linhai, his eyes sharp, his body emanating killing intent.
At his side was Liu Xinhui, heavily pregnant and physically weak, yet she did not stop. Shadowy guards, like wraiths, surrounded them in all directions—this was the final force arranged by the Star Manor to protect the last ember of the bloodline.
"Hui'er... from here on, you must go on alone..." Ni Linhai suddenly stopped, took out a piece of jade from his robe, and pressed it into Liu Xinhui's palm. "This is my family's spirit jade, containing a strand of my soul. If... we are separated by fate, this jade will prove your connection to the Startrace Sect. It is also... my final mark left for Xingchen."
As he spoke, he closed his eyes, and a swirl of spiritual essence gathered in his hand. With force, he sealed his soul trace into the jade. Instantly, his face paled, blood churned within, and his energy nearly collapsed. Liu Xinhui panicked, trying to stop him, but he gently pressed her hand.
"Don't worry... I can hold on. But from now on... I fear I may never return to my peak."
He gently touched her round belly, his eyes soft yet resolute. "Hui'er, the road ahead is perilous. I will hold the rear. Don't look back—just keep going."
Before the words faded, a thunderous roar echoed in the distance, followed by dozens of auras surging like a tide.
A scent of blood arrived with the wind. A woman in a red robe, stunning yet fierce, appeared within a hundred steps, her cold laughter cutting through the night.
"Well, well... isn't this the young master of the Ni family and the lady of the Startrace Sect? Running off without saying goodbye? That won't do."
Miao Yunxiang—Grand Elder of the Starseizing Palace. A powerful cultivator at the mid-stage of the fifth sigil, Root Sigil. Known for her deadly poisons and killing talismans.
The shadow guards immediately formed a defensive formation. The night forest erupted in battle. Cold light flashed in every direction as the guards used their lives to block the enemy, but Miao Yunxiang was like a shadow, impossible to stop. More enemies gathered, and the shadows began to fall one by one.
Ni Linhai forcefully stabilized his breath and stepped out of formation to confront her directly.
"Starseizing scum! You go too far!"
"Heh... and you think you alone can stop me?"
He clashed with her talisman blades head-on. A loud blast shattered the air.
Miao Yunxiang paused, then smirked. "Oh? I thought you had reached the Sense Sigil, but it's only the peak of the Vein Sigil? Rumors overstated your strength... Still—not enough!"
Her fingers flicked, and scarlet talismans burst forth.
She frowned inwardly. "Strange... that last blow should have shown Root Sigil power... Could he have... sealed something? Better probe him further."
"Heh... you really care that much about that child?"
A trace of cold intent in her voice.
Ni Linhai said nothing, fists tightening.
She narrowed her eyes, her smile now chilling. "Giving part of your soul to an unborn child... You really are mad."
Her expression darkened. "Let's see how many more moves you can take!"
Both sleeves flared as she unleashed four powerful forbidden talismans in succession—Heaven Devourer Sigil, Soul Piercing Needle, Crimson Underworld Chains, and Vein Sealing Curse.
Ni Linhai bit his tongue, using the pain to disperse the first three, but the Crimson Chains pierced his protective aura, coiling around his arm. Sparks exploded.
"Urgh!" He vomited blood and staggered.
His chest charred, breath ragged, spiritual energy in chaos.
He glanced toward the distance—toward Liu Xinhui, fleeing with the remaining guards.
His wife, and his unborn child.
He tried to speak but no words came. Instead, he sensed the spirit jade faintly glowing in her grasp—a flicker of unfinished hope.
Miao Yunxiang's eyes gleamed with killing intent. "Hand them over, and I'll let you die quickly."
Ni Linhai raised his head. A purple light shimmered in his eyes. His breath grew eerily calm.
"If you want to kill... then come."
He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.
She stepped forward, killing intent surging like thunder.
He visualized her again—the woman carrying their child, walking forward despite exhaustion.
—If this calamity was not stopped here, she and the child would perish.
He opened his eyes. The purple light blazed.
"Come."
Time froze.
The forest stilled. The wind halted. Light itself stopped.
Then—BOOM! A burst of violet radiance. Spiritual energy exploded. The forest trembled.
Far away, Liu Xinhui's mind shook. A sudden dread clutched her chest.
She turned back, horror in her eyes. "No... Linhai!"
"Live on, Hui'er... Xingchen... both of you... live on..."
Miao Yunxiang's face twisted. "No—!"
BOOM!!!
Ni Linhai detonated his entire cultivation base—his core and soul—triggering a self-destruction.
Violet flames devoured the land. Space tore apart. Trees shattered. Beasts fled. Everything at the blast's center disintegrated.
Miao Yunxiang barely escaped, sacrificing her blood seal to teleport a short distance. She avoided instant death, but the aftershock destroyed her core. Half her face was burned beyond recognition.
She coughed up black blood, kneeling in fury. "Ni Linhai... you truly dared to self-destruct! I swear... I'll never forgive you!"
The battlefield quieted.
The shadow guards were gone. The enemies vanished.
Liu Xinhui gritted her teeth, breath scattered, her spiritual sea churning wildly. Each step was agony, but she did not stop.
She carried more than a child—she carried the final flame of the Startrace Sect.
When the last guard fell before her, blood splattering across her face, she finally understood—waiting for rescue was death.
She sat amid wreckage, caressing her belly, silent tears falling.
"Xingchen... I couldn't save your father or our sect... But I will protect you."
She knew the Starseizing Palace used a soul-tracking technique, especially effective on pregnant cultivators.
To protect the child, she would sever her spiritual roots. She would cast away cultivation.
She sat down, forming a seal, activating the forbidden technique: "Severing Fate, Returning to Mortality."
Her spirit sea shattered. Her meridians collapsed. From a Heaven-tier cultivator—she became a mortal.
Blood trickled from her lips, yet her eyes were calm.
All her remaining spirit was sealed into the unborn child.
If the heavens were heartless—she would defy them.
She clutched her belly, forging ahead.
Days passed. Her body weakened. At last, she collapsed at the foot of a desolate mountain.
The wind howled. Her robes tattered. Blood stained the rocks.
Still, she clung to life.
A faint whisper echoed in her heart—Ni Linhai's final words: "Live on..."
She trembled. Pain surged again. A backlash from the forbidden art struck her mind. Blood seeped from her eyes, ears, mouth.
"No... not yet... I haven't... given birth yet..."
She bit her lip until it bled, pressed her palm to her stomach.
"Xingchen... everything I have... is yours... walk the path only you can walk..."
A stream of light passed from her hand into her womb.
Her body trembled as a surge of ancient starlight passed through her briefly. For a second, she saw an unborn child, glowing with divine light, peacefully asleep in the void.
Her son.
Her hope.
At that moment, an old couple came up the mountain to gather herbs.
They were the village elders, kind-hearted and respected.
They stumbled upon Liu Xinhui's near-lifeless body.
The old man hesitated. "This place has seen too much strangeness lately..."
His wife stepped forward. "She's pregnant. If we don't help, she'll die."
"But this is cultivator business—dangerous!"
"I can't leave her. You go if you want!"
Seeing her determination, the old man sighed and helped lift her.
As they carried her back, they didn't notice the faint spirit still flickering beneath her robes.
Fate's first move... had just been made.
She went into labor soon after arriving. In agony, she still clutched the jade tightly.
Before the pain consumed her, she sat up, weakly speaking:
"I... Liu Xinhui... thank you... for saving me..."
She handed over the jade. "This... my husband's jade... please keep it safe..."
Her breath fading, she whispered her last request:
"When he grows up... if he can unlock this seal... let him know... his name... and where he comes from..."
She pressed the jade into the elder's palm.
"Don't tell him more. Let him grow free... Whether he chooses revenge... or peace... let him decide..."
She smiled faintly, exhausted. "Please... let him live well..."
Then, she passed away.
——
Suddenly, the heavens shifted.
The clouds twisted. A golden-white light pierced through and descended onto the cottage.
Villagers fell to their knees, gasping, overwhelmed.
Only the old couple remained unaffected, their minds calm as they watched the divine light settle.
The elder murmured, "Could this be... that child's destiny?"
His wife whispered, "Perhaps... heaven has not abandoned him."
Inside the house, a baby's first cry rang out, echoing across the valley. The divine light merged with the cry.
Liu Xinhui lay lifeless, her lips still curled in a smile.
As if she were still saying:
"Xingchen... live on. Live well."
——
That night, the stars reversed. Divine light stirred.
In a nameless village, the child of the gods... was born.
The wheel of fate... had begun to turn.