Morning light spread across the vast courtyards of the Veyrion Clan like flowing gold.
Mist drifted slowly between towering jade pillars while distant waterfalls echoed through the floating mountains beyond the palace walls. Spiritual cranes glided across the sky, their wings cutting through dense waves of spiritual energy.
The Immortal Realm was alive with power.
Every breath carried Qi.
Every stone contained fragments of Dao.
For most cultivators, this realm was a destination reachable only after thousands of years of cultivation.
But for Zaiheli Veyrion…
It was home.
He stood quietly among dozens of young descendants gathered inside the central plaza of the clan.
Today was the Awakening Ceremony.
A ritual that determined the Dao path each child would walk for the rest of their life.
To the other children present, this was an exciting moment. Some were nervous. Others whispered excitedly about what Dao they might awaken.
But Zaiheli remained calm.
His mind was far older than his body.
In his previous life, he had built companies worth billions, negotiated deals across continents, and studied philosophies older than civilization itself.
Compared to those experiences…
Standing in this plaza felt almost simple.
Yet the situation was not without importance.
The Dao he awakened today would reveal something crucial.
Not just to the clan.
But to himself.
Because ever since waking in this world, he had felt something strange inside his soul.
A silent emptiness.
Not destructive.
Not chaotic.
Just… hungry.
Zaiheli's gaze shifted toward the center of the plaza.
There stood the Awakening Stone.
A massive crystal structure twice the height of a grown man.
Ancient runes covered its surface.
Each rune represented one of the countless Dao laws governing the universe.
For tens of thousands of years, this artifact had revealed the cultivation paths of the Veyrion Clan's descendants.
It had awakened countless geniuses.
Sword immortals.
Elemental masters.
Dao emperors.
Yet today…
Something about the air felt different.
Zaiheli noticed it immediately.
Spiritual energy was moving strangely around him.
Like invisible currents circling his body.
The Hollow Dao within his spiritual core remained quiet, but he could feel it watching.
Waiting.
Observing the ceremony just as carefully as he was.
A servant stepped forward and called the first name.
"Veyrion Kaltis."
A young boy stepped onto the platform.
The moment his hand touched the crystal, the Awakening Stone glowed bright orange.
Flames erupted across its surface.
An elder seated above the plaza nodded approvingly.
"Fire Dao Seed."
The boy bowed respectfully before returning to the crowd.
Another child stepped forward.
Lightning flashed across the crystal.
Then wind.
Then water.
Each awakening produced a ripple of spiritual energy across the plaza.
Some awakenings were ordinary.
Others drew murmurs of approval from the watching elders.
But none of them surprised Zaiheli.
The Dao system followed predictable patterns.
Even in his previous life, the ancient cultivation texts had described these elemental paths.
Fire.
Sword.
Wind.
Lightning.
Ice.
All manifestations of natural laws.
But the Dao inside him…
Felt nothing like those.
The Hollow Dao did not burn.
It did not strike.
It did not flow.
It simply consumed.
Quietly.
Endlessly.
The servant called another name.
Then another.
More awakenings followed.
Eventually, the servant looked down at the jade scroll in his hand and spoke again.
"Zaiheli Veyrion."
For a moment, the plaza fell quiet.
Members of the Core Lineage always drew attention.
The bloodline of the clan founder flowed strongest within them.
Great expectations followed every one of their awakenings.
Zaiheli stepped forward calmly.
Thousands of eyes followed him.
He walked slowly across the jade platform.
His movements were unhurried.
Measured.
Even the observing elders seemed to watch him more closely.
Because something about the young heir felt unusual.
Not his aura.
Not his appearance.
But the way he carried himself.
There was no childish nervousness.
No excitement.
Only quiet observation.
Zaiheli stopped in front of the Awakening Stone.
For a moment, he studied it.
The runes.
The spiritual currents flowing through it.
The ancient Dao laws are embedded in its structure.
Then he raised his hand.
And placed it against the crystal.
At first…
Nothing happened.
The stone remained still.
Several seconds passed.
Some of the watching clan members exchanged confused looks.
But then—
CRACK.
A fracture appeared across the crystal surface.
Gasps echoed through the plaza.
The Awakening Stone had never cracked before.
But the reaction had only begun.
Instead of releasing light like every previous awakening…
The crystal began pulling energy inward.
The surrounding spiritual energy twisted violently.
A dark vortex formed above Zaiheli's palm.
Not flame.
Not lightning.
Not any known elemental Dao.
Just darkness.
A silent void that seemed to consume the light around it.
One elder stood abruptly.
"What Dao is this?"
Another elder whispered in disbelief.
"There is no such Dao recorded in our archives."
Inside the swirling darkness, faint golden threads appeared.
They shimmered briefly before dissolving into the vortex.
The patriarch of the Veyrion Clan, seated high above the ceremony, narrowed his eyes.
"Those threads…"
An elder beside him finished the sentence quietly.
"Fate."
The entire plaza froze.
Fate threads represented the fundamental laws governing destiny.
They could not be touched.
They could not be altered.
Yet the vortex continued absorbing them effortlessly.
Then the Awakening Stone shattered completely.
Fragments of crystal were scattered across the platform.
The vortex vanished instantly afterward.
As if it had never existed.
But the silence that followed was heavier than any explosion.
Zaiheli lowered his hand slowly.
Inside his spiritual core, the Hollow Dao pulsed once.
Satisfied.
Then returned to stillness.
He bowed respectfully toward the observing elders.
But whispers had already begun spreading through the crowd.
"What kind of Dao was that?"
"It destroyed the Awakening Stone…"
"That shouldn't be possible…"
The ceremony ended soon after.
Not because the children were finished.
But because the elders needed answers immediately.
Deep inside the Veyrion Clan's inner halls, the patriarch examined the shattered fragments of the Awakening Stone.
Elders surrounded the chamber.
The atmosphere was tense.
One elder spoke first.
"We searched the clan archives. No Dao resembling that phenomenon exists."
Another added quietly.
"The vortex consumed fate threads. That should not be possible."
The patriarch remained silent for a long moment.
Then he said softly,
"The Dao that the child awakened does not follow the Heavenly Laws."
He opened his eyes slowly.
"It consumes them."
Silence filled the hall.
Because if that statement was true…
Then the balance of the entire cultivation system might already be changing.
Meanwhile, Zaiheli stood alone upon a balcony overlooking the endless Immortal Realm.
Floating mountains stretched across the horizon.
Cultivators flew through the sky like distant stars.
It was a world he had once believed was myth.
Yet now he lived within it.
He extended his hand slightly.
A faint ripple of darkness appeared above his palm.
The Hollow Dao.
The vortex formed briefly before fading away again.
Zaiheli frowned thoughtfully.
"Devouring fate…"
He whispered the words quietly.
In his previous life, fate had been philosophy.
An abstract concept debated by scholars.
But here…
Fate was real.
It governed the rise and fall of cultivators.
It guided opportunities and tribulations.
And somehow…
His Dao consumed it.
Zaiheli looked up toward the heavens.
A faint smile appeared.
"If my Dao devours fate…"
He closed his hand slowly.
"Then even the heavens may not control my destiny."
Far above the Immortal Realm…
Ancient celestial mechanisms stirred.
Something had changed.
The system that governed cultivation had noticed an anomaly.
But it did not yet understand what had awakened.
The Hollow Dao had only just begun.
And fate itself had gained a predator.