Darkness had weight.
It pressed against Long Tian's consciousness like an endless ocean crushing a broken shell.
He could not breathe.
He could not move.
He could not even feel pain anymore.
Was this death?
For a moment, he welcomed it.
Sixteen years of ridicule.
Sixteen years of being called "trash."
Sixteen years of watching others cultivate while he stood outside the gates like a stray dog.
If this was the end, then perhaps it was mercy.
But the darkness did not remain silent.
It moved.
Slowly.
Like something ancient turning in its sleep.
A sound echoed—not through ears, but through existence itself.
"Why do you accept it?"
The voice was neither male nor female. It was vast. Hollow. Boundless.
Long Tian tried to respond, but he had no mouth.
"Why do you accept weakness?"
The darkness rippled.
Fragments of memory flickered around him.
Long Wei's sneer.
The elders' cold eyes.
His father's silent disappointment.
"I… had no choice…"
"Lies."
The word shattered like thunder.
"Every existence has a choice."
The darkness split open.
Before him appeared something impossible.
An eye.
Not an eye of flesh.
It was a swirling galaxy collapsing inward, devouring its own light.
Stars twisted and fell into a center that had no bottom.
Long Tian felt himself being pulled toward it.
"What are you?"
"I am what remains when the Dao forgets."
The Dao.
The Heavenly Law.
The foundation of all cultivation.
"You were born without spiritual roots," the voice continued. "Because something devoured them before you were born."
Long Tian's consciousness trembled.
"What do you mean?"
"You were not born empty."
The galaxy-eye rotated slowly.
"You were born incomplete."
Images flashed—
A woman screaming in a storm.
Golden chains descending from the sky.
A newborn child crying beneath a blackened eclipse.
Long Tian's thoughts shattered.
"What is this?!"
"Your origin."
The darkness deepened.
"You were sealed."
"Sealed…?"
"The heavens fear what they cannot control."
The eye moved closer.
And for the first time—
Long Tian felt fear.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you are dying."
Silence followed.
"And because I am also dying."
The vortex within the eye flickered.
"For countless eras, I have been hunted."
"Hunted?"
"By the Dao."
Long Tian's mind struggled to comprehend.
"You are… an existence opposed to heaven?"
"I am the Void."
The word carried infinite weight.
"I do not cultivate."
"I do not borrow power."
"I devour."
The darkness trembled violently.
"You were chosen not by chance."
"You were chosen because your body can contain me."
Long Tian's consciousness shook violently.
"I don't understand!"
"You do not need to."
The galaxy-eye began collapsing inward.
"I offer you one thing."
"Choice."
The fragments of his broken dantian appeared around him.
Shattered.
Cracked.
Empty.
"You can die here."
"Or you can devour."
The word echoed endlessly.
"Devour… what?"
"Everything."
The darkness suddenly rushed toward him.
Long Tian screamed—
And felt something pierce his chest.
Not pain.
Not warmth.
Absorption.
The shattered fragments of his dantian were swallowed.
His broken meridians twisted.
Reformed.
Not into spiritual channels—
But into hollow black pathways.
A vortex formed in his lower abdomen.
Smooth.
Silent.
Hungry.
"This is the Eternal Void Seed."
The voice faded slightly.
"It does not generate spiritual qi."
"It consumes it."
Long Tian felt overwhelming hunger.
Not physical hunger.
Something deeper.
Instinctual.
The desire to swallow.
"To live… you must devour."
The darkness shrank.
"Devour beasts."
"Devour techniques."
"Devour destiny."
The galaxy-eye dimmed.
"And one day…"
"You may devour the heavens."
The eye closed.
And silence returned.
---
Cold air struck his face.
Long Tian's eyes snapped open.
He was lying in the forest beyond the clan grounds.
The night sky above him was calm.
Too calm.
He slowly sat up.
His body felt lighter.
But inside—
Something spun gently.
He placed a hand over his lower abdomen.
There was no pain.
Only emptiness.
No—
Not emptiness.
Depth.
He tried to circulate qi instinctively.
Nothing happened.
Panic rose in his chest.
"Was it a dream…?"
Then—
A rustling sound came from nearby bushes.
A small Spirit Fang Rabbit emerged.
First-tier beast.
Weak.
Normally, he would avoid it.
But tonight—
The moment it approached within three meters—
The vortex inside him reacted.
It spun.
Without his control.
The rabbit froze.
Its body trembled violently.
Long Tian's eyes widened.
A faint stream of spiritual essence flowed from the beast's body—
Invisible to ordinary sight—
And was pulled toward him.
"No… wait…"
He stepped back.
But the pull intensified.
Within seconds—
The rabbit collapsed.
Lifeless.
Its body dried slightly, like something essential had been removed.
Long Tian stood frozen.
Inside him—
The vortex slowed.
A faint warmth spread through his limbs.
His senses sharpened.
He could hear insects more clearly.
He could feel the wind more distinctly.
His strength—
Had increased.
Only slightly.
But undeniably.
He staggered backward.
"I killed it…"
Not with a weapon.
Not with a technique.
He devoured it.
Fear crept into his heart.
Was this demonic?
Was he becoming a monster?
He clenched his fists.
"If the world already sees me as trash…"
His eyes darkened.
"Then let them fear me instead."
He walked deeper into the forest.
This time—
He did not avoid beasts.
He searched for them.
Another spirit creature lunged toward him.
Instinctively, he raised his hand.
The vortex spun.
The beast's attack weakened mid-air.
Its spiritual energy was stripped away.
Long Tian struck with a simple punch.
The beast fell.
Again—
Warmth.
Circulation.
Growth.
He checked his body.
He could now sense faint energy flowing through his meridians.
Not golden like other cultivators.
Not pure white.
Black.
Silent.
Calm.
He had reached—
First Stage Qi Refinement.
Without spiritual roots.
Without absorbing heaven and earth qi.
He laughed softly.
The sound echoed strangely in the forest.
"So this is my path…"
Above him—
The moon shifted slightly behind drifting clouds.
For a brief second—
Its light dimmed unnaturally.
Far above mortal sight—
A thin crack formed in the sky.
In a realm hidden beyond the Nine Heavens—
An ancient bell rang once.
A robed figure opened its eyes.
"Anomaly detected."
Another voice responded.
"Location?"
"Nine Heavens Continent."
Silence.
Then—
"Observe."
Back in the forest—
Long Tian stood still.
He felt something.
Like eyes watching him.
He lifted his head.
"The heavens…"
The vortex pulsed softly.
As if amused.
He lowered his gaze.
"For sixteen years, I begged you."
"For sixteen years, I prayed."
"No more."
His expression hardened.
"If you try to suppress me—"
"I will devour you."
The wind howled suddenly.
Trees swayed violently.
But Long Tian did not move.
The boy who had crawled in humiliation yesterday—
Was gone.
In his place stood something else.
Not a hero.
Not yet a demon.
But a seed.
A seed of void.
And it had begun to grow.