Lord of the void realm

A cold wind cut through the trees as Raizen stepped beyond the broken sect.

He didn't rush.

He moved like the forest itself bent around him. The ground stayed quiet. Branches didn't snap. Even the beasts that hunted everything in these woods… stayed hidden.

He didn't look back.

He didn't need to.

The old sect was sealed—gone from the world. It wasn't time yet. That place would sleep until he returned stronger. Until his energy alone was enough to rebuild what others failed to control.

Right now, he needed space.

Distance.

Growth.

---

A few hours later, on a high ridge far above the forest, five black-robed figures appeared.

Each one carried a different energy.

Fire. Wind. Gravity. Bone. And one so twisted it couldn't be named.

None of them spoke Raizen's name.

None of them even said why they were there.

But their presence was clear: hunt, remove, erase.

The wind user knelt and pressed her hand to the dirt.

"He was here," she said.

The fire cultivator narrowed his eyes. "Then where is he now?"

The oldest among them looked toward the horizon.

"We don't know. And that's the problem."

He paused.

"The last one died before she could speak. Whatever she saw… it didn't make it back."

They didn't understand what Raizen was doing.

Not really.

They could guess he was preparing something. They could feel that his power wasn't normal. That it wasn't limited by realm or stage.

But the truth?

Still far outside their understanding.

They only knew one thing: if they waited too long, it might be too late.

---

Meanwhile, Raizen crossed a wide river using folded space instead of a bridge.

He paused in the middle of the empty air, just above the rushing water.

In that quiet moment, the void stirred inside him.

Still bottomless. Still growing.

But not ready.

Not yet.

He opened a simple spatial tear and stepped into another part of the forest, disappearing from sight completely.

---

Far behind, one of the five hunters stopped walking.

She frowned. "Something just shifted."

The others looked at her.

"I don't know what it was," she said slowly, "but it felt like something… locked itself."

The bone user cracked his knuckles. "He's hiding his presence again."

"No," she whispered. "Not just hiding. Burying. Like it was never there at all."

They said nothing more.

But one thought echoed in all their minds:

What kind of monster hides like that?

---

Raizen reappeared at the edge of a dark valley, quiet and alone. He looked out over jagged rocks and fallen statues.

Ahead was a region untouched by any sect, ruled by ancient beasts and cur

sed land.

Perfect.

He stepped forward.

Let them keep searching.

They were already five steps behind.