The wind blew strongly on Wuyuan Mountain. The air was cold. It smelled like rain and something worse… like blood.
A boy was kneeling beside a small grave. His hands were covered in mud. His face was pale and sad.
His name was Xiao Li. He was only seventeen years old.
He had just buried the only family he had—his grandfather, the man who had raised him since he was a baby.
> "Grandfather… you said I would become strong one day," Xiao Li whispered.
"But you were wrong."
His voice was low. He was not crying anymore. He had no more tears left.
---
Three days earlier, Xiao Li had stood in front of the whole village on the testing stage. It was the day when young people would awaken their cultivation root—the power inside their body.
Some children got silver roots, some got gold. A few lucky ones got Heavenly Roots, which were very rare.
Xiao Li had dreamed of being special too. His grandfather was once a great warrior, so everyone thought Xiao Li would be strong.
But when the elder tested him, he looked shocked.
> "This boy... has no root!"
"He's a waste!"
Everyone laughed. Some people shook their heads. A few even called him shameful.
That night, Xiao Li's grandfather argued with the village elders.
The next morning, he was dead.
> "He was poisoned," someone whispered. "Slow poison… hidden well."
---
Now, Xiao Li stood up from the grave.
His body was sore. His hands were bleeding. But he didn't care anymore.
He looked up the mountain, toward a dark path. At the very top was a ruined place—an old temple that his grandfather had always told him to avoid.
> "Don't ever go up there," he once said.
But Xiao Li didn't care now.
He had nothing left.
---
The climb was hard. Rain poured down. His shoes tore. His legs hurt. But he kept going.
Finally, he reached the top. There stood a broken temple, half-covered in moss and fog. A stone tablet stood outside with strange words carved on it:
> "Here sleeps the One Who Devoured the Heavens."
Inside the temple, in the middle, was a black lotus flower. It looked dry and dead, but somehow… it gave off a warm feeling.
Xiao Li walked closer.
Suddenly, black fire shot out from the lotus!
> "AAHHHH!"
He screamed. The fire didn't burn his skin. Instead, it burned inside him. It rushed through his veins. He felt his bones breaking.
And then—something inside his chest snapped open.
In his mind, he saw a dark space full of stars. It looked like the void—the space between worlds.
In that space, a golden chain broke off from his soul.
> "You were sealed..."
"Now, you are free."
A deep voice spoke. It didn't belong to any person. It came from the void itself.
---
Xiao Li opened his eyes.
The temple was gone. Or maybe it had always been a dream.
He sat on the ground. His chest hurt. But he felt different. He felt... stronger.
He looked at his palm.
Black flames danced on it for a moment, then disappeared.
Words suddenly appeared in his mind:
> Realm: Qi Rooting – Initial Stage
Constitution: Void Devourer (Awakened)
> "What is this…?"
He didn't understand yet. But he knew one thing:
He was no longer a waste.
---
On the broken wall behind him, strange wind whispered:
> "He who walks the Void shall never bow."
"He who Devours shall become the Heavens."