The sky above Azure City was a bruised canvas, streaked with crimson and gray, as if the heavens themselves mourned the world below. It was 2050 by the old calendar, but no one used that anymore—not since the Great Cataclysm tore the Earth apart. Thirty years ago, rifts had cracked open across the globe, spewing cosmic beasts that devoured cities and turned continents into wastelands. Humanity survived in fortified bastions, their walls etched with spirit arrays that hummed with faint, protective light. Beyond those walls lay the Wilds, a lawless expanse where only the desperate or the mad ventured.
Kai Chen was both.
At seventeen, Kai was a scavenger, one of the countless orphans scraping a living from the ruins. His lean frame, hardened by years of hunger, moved swiftly through the rubble of an abandoned outpost just beyond Azure City's outer perimeter. His dark eyes scanned the debris—cracked concrete, twisted metal, the skeletal remains of a world long dead. His patched cloak fluttered in the biting wind, and his boots, worn to threads, crunched on gravel.
"Come on, something's gotta be here," he muttered, kicking aside a rusted beam. His stomach growled, a sharp reminder that he hadn't eaten since yesterday's meager ration of dried spirit grain. Scavenging was a gamble: find an essence core from a mutant beast, and you could trade it for a week's worth of food. Find nothing, and you starved.
He knelt beside the corpse of a Shadow Wolf, its fur matted with dried ichor. Rank 1, weak but valuable if its core was intact. Kai's knife flashed, carving through sinew to reveal… nothing. The core was gone, likely taken by another scavenger or dissolved by the Wilds' corrosive air.
"Damn it!" he spat, slamming his fist into the dirt. Another wasted trip. The city gates would close at dusk, and he was running out of time. He stood, brushing dust from his hands, when a low rumble shook the ground. His heart skipped. Thunder? No, this was deeper, like the earth itself was groaning.
High above, the sky darkened unnaturally. Clouds swirled into a vortex, blotting out the sun. Kai's breath caught. "An Eclipse Storm," he whispered, dread coiling in his gut. These rare phenomena tore open rifts to other realms, unleashing beasts far beyond what a non-cultivator like him could handle. He'd seen the aftermath once—a village reduced to ash, bodies torn apart by claws that could shred steel.
He bolted toward the city, his legs pumping despite the ache in his muscles. The gates were a kilometer away, a faint shimmer of spirit arrays in the distance. But the storm moved faster. A crack like shattering glass split the air, and a rift tore open mere meters ahead—a swirling maw of black and violet energy, pulsing with menace.
From it emerged a nightmare: a Star Devourer Beast, its body a writhing mass of shadows, eyes glowing like twin embers. Rank 3, at least. Its presence crushed the air, making Kai's knees buckle. He dove behind a boulder, heart pounding. "No way I can outrun that," he thought, gripping his knife. It was a pathetic weapon against a beast that could kill cultivators in a single swipe.
The creature roared, a sound that rattled his bones, and lunged. Kai rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a claw that pulverized the boulder into dust. His mind raced. Fight? Impossible. Flee? Suicide. Then he saw it—a glint in the dirt, half-buried where the rift had opened. A crystal, no larger than a pebble, pulsing with faint starlight. An essence core? No, it was different, radiating a warmth that tingled his skin.
Desperation overrode caution. Kai scrambled forward, dodging another swipe, and snatched the crystal. It was smooth, almost liquid, and hummed with power. "If this is a core, maybe I can absorb it for a boost," he thought, remembering tales of cultivators gaining temporary strength from raw essences. He crushed it in his palm.
Pain exploded through him, like fire and ice warring in his veins. He screamed, collapsing as visions flooded his mind: endless stars swallowed by a void, ancient warriors wielding blades of light, shattering mountains with a glance. The energy surged into his dantian—the energy center all cultivators sought to awaken—igniting something dormant within him.
The Star Devourer paused, its ember-eyes narrowing. Kai's vision cleared, his body trembling but alive. His muscles felt denser, his senses sharper. His eyes glowed faintly, reflecting the starlight. "What… is this?" he gasped, standing. Strength coursed through him, alien yet exhilarating.
The beast lunged again, but Kai moved faster than ever before. He leaped over its claw, landing a punch on its flank. His fist, empowered by the unknown energy, cracked the creature's shadowy armor. It howled, retaliating with a blast of dark energy that grazed his side, tearing his cloak and drawing blood.
"I'm not dying here!" Kai roared. The star energy surged, guided by instinct. He focused it into his palm, forming a crude blade of shimmering light. He slashed, severing a writhing tentacle. Black ichor sprayed, sizzling on the ground. The beast staggered, its aura weakening.
But the energy in Kai was fading, his body unaccustomed to channeling such power. He had one chance. Dodging another swipe, he dove under the creature's massive frame, aiming for its chest where a faint glow pulsed—its essence core. With a primal yell, he drove his energy blade into the glow, shattering the core.
The Star Devourer dissolved into wisps of shadow, leaving behind a fist-sized orb radiating dark light. Kai collapsed, panting, blood trickling from his wound. The storm above began to dissipate, the rift sealing shut. He stared at his hands, still tingling. "I… awakened?" he whispered. The crystal's energy had settled in his dantian, forming a faint star seed—a mark of cultivation. He was no longer just a scavenger.
He grabbed the beast's core, its value enough to change his life. Limping toward the city, he felt the weight of what had happened. That crystal wasn't a normal core—it was something ancient, tied to legends of warriors who devoured stars to defy the heavens. The Eternal Star Legacy, whispered in old tales, was said to grant limitless power… but at a cost.
As he neared the gates, a chill ran down his spine. In the distance, hidden in the fading storm's shadows, a figure watched—a cloaked man with eyes like voids, his aura cold and predatory. "The legacy has awakened," he murmured, vanishing into the dusk.
Kai didn't see him, but the star seed in his dantian pulsed, as if warning him. He tightened his grip on the core, determination hardening his gaze. Whatever this power was, it had saved him today. But it had also marked him. The Wilds, the sects, the rifts—something far greater was coming for him.
And he would be ready.
End of chapter 1