Path of the Forgotten.

The moon hung like a pale scar across the heavens.

Beneath it, Lin Feng stood before the waterfall behind his quarters — shirtless, drenched, breathing deep. Not to cultivate.

But to understand.

Water rushed down in violent streams, hammering his shoulders like fists. But his focus was elsewhere — inside, where veins once filled with flowing qi now pulsed with something colder. Quieter. Hungrier.

> "It's not qi. It's not spiritual. It's… consuming."

He pressed a palm to his chest. The mark beneath his skin — the one no one else could see — shimmered faintly, like a faint crack.

> "Why do I dream of stars I've never seen?"

Every night now, when sleep took him, he stood on a field of shattered heavens. Faceless corpses lay scattered around him. His own hands — soaked in blackened blood — trembled with something that wasn't grief. It was recognition.

He had seen it before. Felt it. But not in this life.

---

The Northern Pass – Arrival of the Guest

A golden cloud streaked across the sky, trailing silver thunder. It crashed to the earth at the outer sect gates, scattering low-tier disciples in all directions. From its core stepped a young man — robes embroidered with nine crimson talons, gaze sharp enough to silence elders.

> "That's Ji Wuyou… the Nine Shadows Tyrant."

A prodigy of the sect's second inner branch. A genius who hadn't stepped into the outer rings in years had come out today.

> "I'll accompany the outer expedition," he said smoothly. "I've taken an interest in someone."

No one needed to ask who. Even the elders dared not refuse him. His presence meant one thing: the ruins weren't just a trial anymore. They were a battlefield.

---

Within the Hidden Moon Pavilion. Lan Xueyin stood before her master's sealed lotus formation, her expression still.

> "You'll go to the ruins," the voice within instructed. "Observe. Learn. And if he is what we suspect…" Silence. Then a low whisper:

> "...cut him down before he awakens."

Lan Xueyin didn't respond immediately. Her lips parted — and then pressed shut again. She bowed instead, but the hesitation had already been seen.

---

The Night Before Departure, Lin Feng packed nothing. The sect would provide rations and supplies but he didn't need them. All he carried was the broken sword wrapped in black cloth — the one no elder could identify. No cultivator could appraise. Even, some said it was cursed.

Lin Feng didn't care.

He sat beside the blade and closed his eyes. As sleep approached, he felt it again — the subtle shift. The world bending slightly, like a bowstring pulled taut around him. And in his dream…He saw himself.

Or rather — someone wearing his face. Eyes darker. Expression hollow. Standing atop a world that bled light.

> "They'll betray you, you know," the figure said. "They always do."

Lin Feng stepped forward. "Who are you?" The figure turned, and for just a moment, the broken sword in Lin Feng's hands — gleamed whole in the figure's.

> "I'm what's left… if you don't fight." And the dream collapsed.

---

Dawn – The Journey Begins

The selected disciples gathered at the teleportation platform. Lan Xueyin stood in white beside Ji Wuyou, their presence like ice and fire — silent, imposing.

Lin Feng arrived last. Silent. Calm.

Ji Wuyou smiled, stepping forward. "You're the one, aren't you? The one who broke the flame prince?" Lin Feng didn't answer.

But the sword on his back shivered, ever so slightly. And the platform lit up.

> The ruins awaited.

---