The night after the Awakening Ceremony was unusually quiet across the Veyrion Clan.
Floating lanterns drifted slowly above the palace courtyards, illuminating the jade pathways with soft golden light.
High above the mountains, streams of spiritual energy flowed like rivers across the sky, occasionally flashing with
distant streaks of lightning from powerful cultivators practicing their Dao.
Yet beneath the calm beauty of the Immortal Realm, tension spread silently through the clan.
The Awakening Stone had been destroyed.
For an artifact that had stood for tens of thousands of years, this was not a small matter.
Within the deepest halls of the Veyrion Clan, elders gathered around a circular chamber carved into a mountain of
immortal jade. Ancient formation arrays glowed faintly beneath their feet while fragments of the shattered
Awakening Stone floated quietly in the center of the room.
Patriarch Veyrion Kael sat upon a raised throne of dark crystal.
His expression remained calm, but every elder present understood the gravity of the situation.
"This has never happened before," one elder said slowly.
Another elder nodded grimly.
"The Awakening Stone resonated with the Heavenly Laws themselves. It should have been impossible for a Dao Seed to
destroy it."
A third elder glanced toward the fragments hovering in the air.
"And yet it happened."
Silence followed.
Finally, the patriarch spoke.
"The issue is not the stone."
His deep voice echoed softly through the chamber.
"The issue is the Dao."
The elders exchanged uneasy glances.
Because they had all witnessed the phenomenon earlier that day.
The vortex.
The devouring darkness.
And the golden threads dissolving within it.
"Fate threads," one elder murmured.
"That child's Dao consumed them."
Another elder frowned deeply.
"That violates the laws of destiny itself. Even Immortal Emperors cannot manipulate fate threads directly."
The patriarch's gaze sharpened.
"Which is exactly why this matter must remain contained."
He leaned slightly forward.
"No rumors are to leave this chamber. The clan will investigate the boy quietly."
The elders nodded in agreement.
For a clan as ancient as Veyrion, secrecy was as important as strength.
But even as they spoke…
None of them realized that the subject of their discussion was already beginning to understand his own power.
---
Zaiheli stood alone on the balcony of his residence.
The palace complex stretched endlessly beneath him, its towers and bridges connecting across floating islands
like an immortal city in the sky.
From this height, he could see countless cultivators flying through the night air.
Some practiced sword techniques among the clouds.
Others meditated on distant peaks surrounded by glowing arrays of Dao energy.
It was a world of power beyond imagination.
Yet Zaiheli remained focused on something much smaller.
The space above his palm.
A faint ripple of darkness appeared.
The Hollow Dao.
It manifested as a small sphere of silent gravity, pulling faint wisps of spiritual energy toward it before
absorbing them completely.
Zaiheli studied the phenomenon carefully.
The vortex did not behave like traditional cultivation energy.
It had no elemental properties.
No visible structure.
It simply consumed me.
And each time it devoured even the smallest fragment of spiritual energy, Zaiheli felt a subtle change within
his spiritual core.
Not stronger.
But deeper.
More stable.
He frowned slightly.
"That means this Dao grows by devouring…"
The idea was both fascinating and dangerous.
If his power truly increased through consumption, then ordinary cultivation techniques might not apply to him
at all.
He extended his senses inward.
Within his spiritual core, the Hollow Dao rotated slowly like a miniature black star.
Around it floated faint fragments of energy—remnants of what it had already consumed.
Zaiheli observed the phenomenon quietly.
His analytical mind, sharpened by decades of studying philosophy and systems in his previous life, immediately
recognized a pattern.
This Dao was not just consuming energy.
It was reorganizing it.
Refining it.
Almost as if it were rewriting the rules of spiritual power itself.
That thought sent a faint chill through him.
Because if that theory were correct…
Then the Hollow Dao might be something far more dangerous than anyone realized.
---
Across the Immortal Realm, a massive celestial formation flickered quietly above the clouds.
The Heavenly Observation Array.
An ancient mechanism used to monitor disturbances within the balance of fate.
For countless eras, it had remained silent.
But tonight…
A single rune began to glow.
Deep within the Heavenly Tribunal's distant citadel, a celestial official opened his eyes.
"Strange…"
He raised a hand, summoning a floating mirror of light.
Inside the mirror, countless streams of golden threads appeared.
Fate threads.
But one region within the Immortal Realm showed an unusual distortion.
Several threads ended abruptly.
As if something had consumed them.
The official frowned.
"An anomaly in fate…"
He hesitated.
Then dismissed the mirror.
The distortion was small.
Too small to warrant immediate intervention.
Yet somewhere in the vast network of Heavenly Laws, a record had already been made.
---
Back within the Veyrion Clan, Zaiheli lowered his hand slowly.
The vortex faded away.
His thoughts remained calm.
If the elders suspected anything unusual about his Dao, they would eventually investigate him.
That much was obvious.
But Zaiheli was not worried.
He had learned long ago that knowledge was power.
And at the moment…
He knew far more about his Dao than anyone else did.
A faint smile appeared.
"Then the next step is simple."
He looked toward the distant mountains beyond the palace.
"I need to see what this Dao can really do."
The Hollow Dao pulsed once within his spiritual core.
As if responding to his thoughts.
Zaiheli turned and walked back into the palace hall.
Behind him, the night sky stretched endlessly across the Immortal Realm.
And somewhere within that endless universe…
The quiet balance of fate had begun to fracture.
Because the Dao that devoured destiny had finally awakened.