2: A Name Buried in Dust
Word Count: 695
The passage above the collapsed mine had gone silent. Not even the overseers dared to investigate. The Forbidden Dust Region was known to eat the living and silence their cries forever.
But deep below, Jin Yuchen clawed through the rubble—not with hands, but with will.
The void inside him didn't scream. It whispered.
Stone decayed at his touch. Not cracked. Not crushed. Erased. Even the air avoided him. With each step, the pressure around him bent unnaturally, space growing unstable.
He emerged into a forgotten cavern.
Ancient murals lined the walls. A ring of statues stood watch—some broken, others intact. They wore crowns, armor, robes of forgotten ages. All of them shared one thing:
Their faces had been removed.
Erased.
Jin Yuchen stood before a stone dais. On it sat a jade tablet, pulsing faintly. He reached for it—and it crumbled into dust as his fingertips neared.
> "Your path is not written…" whispered a voice inside his mind, again.
He closed his eyes.
A flood of visions poured into him.
Men and women bowing before a black throne.
Gods waging war against something that didn't bleed.
A world resetting itself over and over.
A boy, face covered in soot, refusing to kneel.
He gasped and fell to one knee.
And in that moment, memories long buried clawed their way out.
---
A Past Long Forgotten
His name hadn't always been Jin Yuchen.
He had been born as Jin Zhenyu, first son of the Jin Clan of Eternal Night, guardians of the Seal of Nihility—a celestial artifact that held back reality-erasing forces from an unknown realm.
When the Jin Clan refused to offer the seal to the Heavenly Law Sect, they were wiped out in a single night. Entire valleys burned black, rivers turned to ash. Only the youngest heir survived.
He was thrown into the mines with no name.
Until now.
> "My name," he whispered, standing slowly, "is Jin Yuchen, born of the void, heir of the forgotten, and I will unbury my truth."
---
Outside the Dust Region
High above the scorched mountains, in the Mortal Realm's northern provinces, powerful sects gathered in silence.
Celestial Qin Clan. Beast Cult Alliance. Three Saints Palace. Even the infamous Heavenly Law Sect had sent spies.
They had all sensed it.
A ripple. No, a scar—cut across the fabric of fate.
> "He's awakened," said a cold voice.
A tall figure stood atop a black cloud. Clad in silver bone armor, his crimson eyes flickered. His name: Qin Wushen, first genius of the Celestial Qin Clan.
> "The last remnant of the Void lineage still lives…"
---
A Storm Begins
Jin Yuchen emerged from the ruined mine at dawn.
He looked nothing like the boy who had entered.
Eyes as dark as eternal night. A body emitting no qi signature. Even beasts avoided him. He wore no robes, held no sword, and yet the mountain mist refused to touch his skin.
He looked down at the slavers' camp far below.
Those who'd beaten him. Spat on him. Starved him.
For a moment, his fingers twitched.
But he did not act. Not yet.
> "My revenge must outlive their blood," he muttered. "Let them rot in fear."
He turned away.
And for the first time in his life, he stepped freely into the world—not as a slave, but as a cultivator walking toward war.
---
✅ Chapter Summary:
Jin Yuchen rediscovers his true name and lineage: heir of the Jin Clan, guardians of the Void Seal.
He unlocks sealed memories in an ancient ruin beneath the mine.
Multiple major sects, including Celestial Qin Clan and Heavenly Law Sect, sense his awakening.
Qin Wushen, a top genius of the Upper Realm, is introduced as a future enemy.
Jin Yuchen leaves the mines silently, beginning his journey of cultivation and revenge.