Zen's heavy eyelids opened... to a void.
There was no ceiling, no desk, no soft lamplight... only the eternal darkness of space surrounding him. His body floated freely amidst millions of shimmering, glittering stars, yet he felt no cold, no lack of air. This was the world of dreams... but a dream unlike any other.
Before him was a planet, faintly emitting a magnificent golden energy, like a lone beacon in the darkness. He felt a familiar "calling"... a wave of
Resonance
, powerful and filled with wisdom... it was pulling his consciousness in.
The world spun before appearing as a new image... he was standing on a mountaintop that pierced the heavens, shrouded in a golden mist. The air was cool and filled with a spiritual energy so dense it was tangible. Before him stood a colossal structure, like an ancient temple or a martial sect, built beautifully in harmony with the mountain. Its dark wood architecture was reinforced with lines of runes that glowed with a faint golden light along the edges and pillars.
He walked inside... Everything was silent, with only the sound of wind whistling through the windows. At the center of the largest hall, he found a familiar figure...
Xu Yianzi was sitting cross-legged in meditation on a white jade platform. His appearance had changed completely. He was now an old man, his face etched with the lines of time, but his eyes remained closed, his posture calm, yet radiating an aura of formidable power. Lines of glowing runes were now embedded deep beneath his skin.
Suddenly, Xu Yianzi's eyes slowly opened. He looked directly at the spot where Zen stood, as if he could see a presence that no one else could.
"Master..." he said, his voice deep and filled with reverence. "Is that truly you... We have not seen each other for a very, very long time."
Zen, standing from his observer's perspective, couldn't help but chuckle in his mind... "Long time? I just dreamed of you a few times."
"It has been a long time... How have you been? You've aged quite a few years, haha," Zen said, even though he knew his voice would not sound out in this world.
Xu Yianzi gave a faint smile, as if he had heard him. "Master... it has been 500 years since you disappeared. How could I not have aged?"
Those words brought all of Zen's thoughts to a screeching halt... 500 years!!!
He was stunned by the difference in the passage of time... In his world, perhaps a few months had passed. But in this world... it was half a millennium.
"This is the 'Celestial Script Sect,' which I built myself," Xu Yianzi continued. "All of this... was made possible by the knowledge you bestowed upon me that day." He bowed his head in the deepest show of respect. "I... Xu Yianzi... thank you, Master, from the bottom of my heart."
"Get up, will you!" Zen practically shouted in his mind. "This was all your own effort! You should be proud of yourself!" He tried to walk closer, but then he noticed how much Xu Yianzi's body had been altered. He remembered the last dream, where Xu Yianzi had carved into his own arm... but now... it seemed almost his entire body was like that.
"And... your body..."
The moment Zen posed the question... the memories of Xu Yianzi's entire 500 years came flooding into his consciousness with overwhelming force!
He saw the image of a young Xu Yianzi deciding to leave his clan... traveling alone to prove that "one can be strong without martial power." He felt the loneliness of a path covered in snow and the pain of old wounds that had yet to heal.
He saw the scene of a battle against a disciple from a major sect, ending in a victory won through wit and a superior use of runes... followed by being hunted by the entire humiliated sect. He tasted the fear of running for his life and hiding in the shadows.
He saw the solitary journey across valleys and beast-infested forests, surviving with his intellect and an art of runes he did not yet fully understand. And the image of him forging his first runic weapon... a short sword inscribed with the rune ᛏ (Tiwaz), filled with excitement and pride.
From a wandering warrior... he toppled a small sect that had looked down on him... The battles escalated from one-on-one duels to city-level wars. He began to gather the forsaken and the powerless, teaching them the art of runes, giving rise to a philosophy that "the powerless can walk a different path." Zen felt the warmth of camaraderie and the hope that began to form.
The image of his rise to legend... he conquered cities... overthrew major sects... and established a network of rune users across the entire continent, forcing the martial world that had once scorned him to acknowledge his existence and his art. Zen felt the heavy burden of leadership.
The image of discovering an ancient "formation gate" that led him to other stars... a clash with cultivators from alien planets that made the name of "Rune Grandmaster Xu Yianzi" spread across the heavens...
And the final image... the establishment of the "Celestial Script Sect" on an ownerless planet... a place that welcomed the powerless from every corner of the universe to begin a new path...
Every success... every failure... every pain... and the loneliness of a great grandmaster over 500 years... was now transmitted to Zen in a single instant.
Zen collapsed to his knees. He clutched his head, gasping for breath... tears streamed down his face, unbidden. He looked at Xu Yianzi again, his gaze completely changed... it was filled with understanding, respect, sorrow... and a faint trace of fear for the path this man had walked.
This was the life... of a true grandmaster of the runes.