Chapter 3: The Old Star Map
Three days had passed since Zhao Yuchen drew the Starborn Edge.
It now hung on his back, bound by a spiritual thread to his qi core. No one else in the clan touched it. Even the elders, who had seen many artifacts from the ancient days, kept a respectful distance.
Yuchen didn't feel stronger yet. He felt... pulled. As if something invisible had begun drawing him toward a place he couldn't name. At night, his dreams were filled with drifting stars, broken voices, and flashes of green-blue oceans he had never seen before.
On the fourth day, Tianren summoned him again.
This time, they didn't go underground. Instead, they climbed.
The highest point of the floating clan station was a dome-shaped observatory. Its ceiling was fully transparent, showing the endless stars beyond the protective barrier. But today, it was dimmed. Only a single artifact hovered at the center of the room.
A star map.
It spun slowly in the air—spheres of light representing systems, colonies, ruins, and dead zones. Yuchen recognized some of them from his studies, but most were unfamiliar. Ancient labels blinked in languages long extinct.
"Look closely," Tianren said, gesturing.
Yuchen stepped forward. The map reacted, zooming in. A corner of the galaxy, marked with a dull red glow, came into view. Dozens of labels appeared, most marked with warnings: Quarantined. Forbidden. Seeded Sector. No Entry.
In the middle of that storm of warnings... was a faint blue dot.
No name. No coordinates. Just one word floating above it:
Earth
Yuchen's breath caught.
"So it's real," he whispered.
Tianren nodded. "More than real. It is waiting."
He walked to the map's edge and tapped a sigil. The map rippled—and suddenly, older overlays appeared. Faded star routes, now long lost. Cultivation gates. Sealed wormholes. And one broken line stretching from their current sector all the way to Earth's location.
"A hidden path," Tianren said quietly. "Known only to a few families. And now… to you."
"But why me?" Yuchen asked. "Why now?"
The old man looked at him, eyes deep with memory.
"Because the seal on your bloodline is breaking. Because the sword responded. And because Earth, in all her silence, has begun to stir again. You are not the first to feel her call… but perhaps you will be the first to reach her."
Silence settled over them.
Then, with a faint hum, the map zoomed out—returning to its still form.
Yuchen looked up at the stars.
He no longer saw just lights.
He saw a path.
A promise.
And a challenge.