The star above pulsed softly — a beacon not of destiny, but of possibility.
For the first time since the fall of the Tribunal, the world shifted… not by decree, not by cosmic order, but by the will of one who dared to walk where no path existed.
---
🌾 A World Reacts
Whispers spread faster than wind.
> "Did you hear? A child with no shadow… shattered the Mountain of Names."
"Impossible… only sect ancestors could touch that mountain!"
"He didn't touch it. He ignored it. That's even worse…"
In the corners of existence, forces stirred.
Old sects that once bowed to the Tribunal now struggled to define their place in this lawless world.
Rogue cultivators viewed the boy as either a threat… or a key to something greater.
Beasts, gods, and echoes of forgotten powers watched closely.
> "If one truly walks without chains… what stops the world from unraveling?"
---
⚔️ First Encounter – The Seeker of Boundaries
From the west, a figure approached.
Clad in flowing violet robes, his hair streaked with silver, the man carried a brush instead of a sword.
His eyes glowed with script — living, breathing glyphs.
He was a cultivator of the Dao of Boundaries. One who sought to understand the edges of reality, where form meets void.
> "You…" his voice was soft but sharp. "You shouldn't exist."
The boy tilted his head. "Why?"
> "Because even the Unwritten needs a border… something to define where it begins and ends."
The boy shook his head.
> "No. That's where you're wrong."
---
🖌️ The Brush Meets the Void
The Seeker drew a line in the air.
It shimmered — a boundary made manifest. Beyond the line was nothingness. Within it, existence.
> "Step across this," the Seeker said, "and be undone. Reality itself rejects those who step outside the line."
The boy looked at the line.
Looked at the Seeker.
Then stepped forward.
The line… frayed.
Tore.
Exploded into motes of meaningless light.
> "N-no…" the Seeker gasped. "How… how do you exist without reference? Without definition?!"
> "Because I say so."
The boy walked past him.
---
🌟 First Ally – The Girl Who Refused to Die
Further along his path, he came upon a battle.
A lone girl, ragged, bruised, and burning with stubborn defiance, stood against a pack of soul-hunting beasts.
She wielded no weapon — only her fists and her refusal.
> "I won't die," she hissed, teeth stained red. "You don't get to decide that!"
The beasts lunged.
The boy blinked once — and the space between the girl and the beasts… simply stopped existing.
The beasts vanished — erased from the concept of 'here.'
The girl stumbled back, wide-eyed.
> "W-what… who are you?"
The boy shrugged. "Don't know yet."
> "...Good answer," she grinned, wiping blood from her lip. "Name's Zhen Yue. You just hired yourself a partner."
---
🌀 An Unlikely Duo
As they walked, Zhen Yue peppered him with questions.
> "You really don't have a Dao?"
"Not yet. Working on it."
"No sect?"
"No."
"No family?"
"Nope."
"...Damn. You really are nobody."
She grinned.
> "Guess that means you can be anybody."
For the first time… the boy smiled.
---
🔮 But Far Away… Eyes Stirred
In the shadow of the Fractured Sky Pavilion, an elder opened his eyes.
> "Another aberration… first the Skybreaker, Lin Xuan… now this."
He tapped the table.
> "Send the Void Heralds. I want the child brought in. Dead… or rewritten."