(Opening) Dreamscape • Shattered Firmament
Darkness.
An endless void where Lin Hao felt himself falling.
Wind howled in his ears, laced with ancient whispers—like the death throes of collapsing stars. He struggled, but invisible chains held him paralyzed, dragging him deeper into the abyss.
Then—
BOOM!
A searing golden light split the darkness. His eyes flew open to a vast starscape.
Beneath him lay the ruins of a celestial palace. Seven colossal pillars lay broken, their surfaces carved with obscure astral sigils. In the distance, a giant sword—wrapped in nine chains—was plunged into a throne. Its blade, black as the void between stars, pulsed with river-like constellations.
"Nine Luminaries... Star Shackles..."
The unfamiliar words spilled from his lips, startling even himself.
The vision twisted.
A silver-haired woman stood with her back to him, robes stained crimson, cradling an infant. Her voice cut through time, equal parts tender and resolute:
"Remember... When the Seven Stars align—"
A emerald-green figure descended like a meteor. Claws pierced her chest.
Blood sprayed. Hot droplets struck the infant's face—
Lin Hao jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat.
Dawn's third bell tolled over the outer disciples' quarters, its rough vibrations shaking dust from his thatched roof.
(Reality) Struggles of the Body-Tempering Realm
"Ugh—!"
Lin Hao sat up on his stone bed, coarse robes clinging to his damp skin. The mark on his right arm writhed like a living thing—a serpentine pattern in pitch-black ink, now glowing faintly with sickly green light.
"Another episode..." He gritted his teeth.
Three years since the mysterious fire, this cursed mark had haunted him. On moonless nights, it awakened to devour his hard-earned spiritual energy. Worse, it seemed sentient—expanding when he was agitated, sabotaging his cultivation.
He focused inward. His dantian swirled with faint white mist—the hallmark of the Body-Tempering Realm's middle stage.
"Three years... Still stuck at White Aura." His laugh was bitter.
In this world, cultivation was a ladder to the heavens:
First Realm • Body-Tempering (White Aura)
Initial Tempering: Strengthen flesh and bones, sense energy flow
Refined Tempering: Expand meridians, cycle energy through minor orbits
Peak Tempering: Perfect the mortal body, project energy briefly
Second Realm • Spirit-Spark (Azure Aura)
(And beyond...)
"Lin Rat! Still lazing about?" A raspy voice tore through his meditation. The door-flap yanked open, revealing a pockmarked face. "Elder Liu says if you're short on Starbloom herbs again, he'll toss you into the tempering cauldron as fuel!"
Wang Dafu—a fellow outer disciple who used his mid-stage Body-Tempering strength solely to bully others. Lin Hao silently grabbed his herb basket, the mark under his sleeve burning hotter.
The Starbloom Revelation
Noon sunlight bathed the herb garden in gold. Starbloom leaves unfurled, their dewdrops shimmering with blue light. As Lin Hao reached to harvest—
"Ah—!"
A girl's scream.
The jade pendant hidden in his robes turned scalding. It tumbled out, its cracked surface now spiderwebbed with gold veins. Worse—every Starbloom dewdrop levitated, arranging themselves into...
A star chart.
Identical to the one from his dream.
"D-Demon!" The girl stumbled back.
Before Lin Hao could react, the mark on his arm erupted. Black tendrils lashed out, swallowing the floating starlight whole. Agony seared his meridians as foreign energy flooded his veins—
"Outer disciple Lin Hao!"
Three sword-beams descended, their pressure crushing the herbs flat. The lead enforcer's face paled.
"Soul-Devouring Demon Mark! Inform Elder Liu—!"
Lin Hao stared at his transformed arm. The once-black纹路 now pulsed with gold and obsidian. And deep within...
Something had awakened.
Far above, atop the sect's highest pagoda, a dormant star-chart disk flickered to life—its first constellation alight after a century of silence.