The rain fell in relentless sheets as if the heavens themselves wept for the ruined state of the Ye Clan's once-great legacy. A thick fog rolled in over the ancient, dilapidated estate, blurring the once-proud silhouette of the clan's towering palace.
Ye Bai, crouched at the foot of the Ye Clan's main courtyard, soaked to the bone, looked up at the familiar gates and faces round about him, he just woke up. His body ached, his bones cracked, but worse than that, his heart bled.
At twenty, he had already been labeled a failure—a disgrace in a family that once ruled over a vast region with an iron fist. His talent for cultivation, which had once been promising, had been crippled in a brutal act of betrayal by his father and stepbrothers. His dantian shattered, his future stolen away. Now, he was nothing but a shadow in the eyes of those who once loved him.
From behind, he heard the laughter. Mocking, cruel, and venomous words of his life.
"Look at this sorry excuse for a man," one of his cousins sneered, barely able to contain their amusement. "The so-called 'young master' of the Ye Clan reduced to this." He said.
Another voice rang out, high-pitched and filled with disdain. "Do you see, Ruo? This is the man you once promised to marry. The so-called future of the clan. Now what? His soul is as broken as his body."
Qin Ruo, his fiancée, stepped forward, her figure graceful and yet cold as ice. Her once-soft gaze had hardened. A young beautiful woman, the envy of all the other young women in the clan, slender, with hair that flowed like silk and eyes that sparkled with ambition—everything Ye Bai had once admired. But now, those eyes burned with contempt as she looked down at him, her lips curling into a smile of false sympathy.
"Ye Bai…" Her voice dripped with condescension. "You've become such a disappointment. I thought maybe you could rise, but the truth is... you were always nothing more than a cripple a disgrace to me and my entire family, so you see I don't think I can do this anymore."
Ye Bai's fists clenched at his sides. The words cut through him, but he dared not retort. His body may have been shattered, but his pride had not yet broken.
"Ruo…" Ye Bai whispered, his voice strained. "Why are you doing this?" He asked.
Her eyes flashed with impatience, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you not understand? I, Qin Ruo, am destined for greatness. The Ye Clan has no future with you. My marriage to you in the first place was a mistake. And so…" She paused her lips together as She stepped back, making a sweeping gesture toward the crowd of onlookers that had gathered to witness his humiliation. "I hereby announce the dissolution of our engagement ya Bai, do you understand me?" She asked.
The words rang in Ye Bai's ears like a death sentence. The dissolution of his engagement.
His heart trembled, but there was nothing left inside him but emptiness. His love, his hope, and his future—all vanished in an instant.
"You will never be anything more than a cripple," Qin Ruo added, her words colder than the rain that now drenched them both. "Your father has cast you aside, the clan has abandoned you, and I have no reason to stay by your side." She said with her head raised high.
The crowd erupted into laughter, but Ye Bai stood motionless, the world around him blurring into a vortex of pain and sorrow. He could hear their mocking voices, their cruel words, but they felt distant, as though they belonged to another life.
He was a broken man, who stood alone in the rain, with nothing left to lose.
Then, the sky cracked violently.
A burst of energy, a violent tremor through the air, and press down onto Ye Bai's forehead. His soul screamed in pain. His vision blurred, his head swam, and suddenly, a presence—dark, ancient, powerful—pressed against him. His breath caught in his throat. It was as if the heavens themselves had touched him.
His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, his hands gripping the wet earth. The world spun around him. Was it a vision? A nightmare? He couldn't tell.
"Ye Bai…" A voice rang through his mind, low and resonant, like the tolling of an ancient bell. "Do not despair. The heavens have not forsaken you." The voice said.
"Who... Who are you?" Ye Bai managed to whisper, barely able to breathe through the pressure in his chest.
"I am neither friend nor foe. But all I say is that I am the answer to your suffering. So Rise, Shadow Immortal." The voice said.
His body shook uncontrollably, as though something deep within him had been awakened. His soul burned. His vision flashed with images of celestial realms, divine beings locked in a battle that spanned eternity. His senses were overloaded as a series of dark, chaotic marks appeared across his skin, glowing with an eerie, unearthly energy.
His hands shot to his chest, his fingers feeling a peculiar sensation—a black mark, as if it were embedded deep within his soul, pulsating with power.
"Impossible…" Ye Bai gasped. "What is this?!" He asked in surprise.
The mark burned into his skin, searing his very soul with ancient, forgotten power. It felt like the touch of a god, something both terrifying and exhilarating at once. He could sense the vast power that lingered within, waiting to be unlocked. But the cost was… unknown.
In that instant, a burst of energy exploded from Ye Bai's body. His clothes shredded, and a storm of dark energy erupted from him, scattering the onlookers and knocking them off their feet. His eyes snapped open, now glowing with an ominous black light.
He could hear the gasps of the crowd, the frightened cries of Qin Ruo and the others. But it was too late for them to understand.
Then Ye Bai rose slowly to his feet, his body radiating an energy he had never known before. His crippled legs no longer hindered him. He felt unstoppable. The black mark on his soul had merged with his essence, changing him forever. He could feel it—a power, ancient and forbidden, coursing through his veins.
But he was still lost, still struggling to understand what had just happened.
"Ye Bai!" Qin Ruo's voice broke through the haze of power and confusion. She took a step toward him, her face filled with disbelief. "What are you doing? What is happening to you?!"
Ye Bai's eyes narrowed. He looked at her from head to toe and then fixed his gaze on her, he saw right through her. For some reason, the world seemed to slow as he focused on her. He could see the fear behind her eyes, the calculation in her heart. She had betrayed him. She had always looked down on him right from the start.
"Do you truly think I am still that cripple?" His voice, once weak, now boomed with authority and power like never before.
He took some steps forward, his foot crashing into the ground, sending a shockwave through the air. The earth trembled beneath his feet. The power was intoxicating. The black mark on his soul was his now. He could feel its insatiable hunger, its call for destruction and rebirth.
He couldn't believe it either.
But as he reached out toward Qin Ruo, something deep within him shifted. He paused, realizing the path he was on. The mark had given him power—unmatched power—but at what cost? Was he becoming something else, something dark?
But before he could think further, a dark voice echoed in his mind once more.
"Do not hesitate. The world will bow to you, or they will fall. You are destined for more than this. Rise, Shadow Immortal, and claim your place in the heavens, Rise."
The cold words were an invitation to madness, to war, to the destruction of all those who had wronged him. But Ye Bai…
He wasn't sure of it, as he hesitated.
But for the first time in many years, he felt alive, well, and kicking even though it was terrifying.