The Eternal Sky Realm stretched without end, a tapestry of heaven-layered lands beneath a canvas of drifting constellations. Suns here burned with a blinding, divine light, and continents bore the weight of empires that had never known decline. Immortal clans carved their banners into mountain ranges, and kingdoms rose and fell beneath their shadows.
Among these dominions, none gleamed brighter than the Heaven's Reach Domain—a realm of floating archipelagos and sky-islands said to brush against the Immortal Realm itself. At its heart lay the Astralis Region, suspended high above the clouds, where constellations burned closest and qi-rivers shone like molten veins of light. Here stood the Ye Clan, an apex family whose rule had never wavered. To outsiders, Astralis was a beacon and a warning both: a holy land of cultivation, and a forbidden land where even Saints bowed their heads.
The Ye's inheritance was feared across Heaven's Reach—the Heaven's Eye bloodline, said to pierce deception, fate, and even the soul itself. Outsiders whispered it was a myth. Those who lived under its shadow knew better.
And toward this land, a small group of travelers now drew near.
The journey from the Southern Domain into Astralis was a perilous one. Between realms raged storms of void qi, beasts vast enough to crush sects, and ancient formations that had slain even Spirit Sovereigns. Countless expeditions had ended in ruin before setting foot on Heaven's Reach soil. Because of this, Su Mei had not made the journey alone.
She was joined by several elders of her struggling clan from the Southern Domain. Their patched robes bore scars of battles fought without glory, their cultivation no higher than Spirit Champions—a power great in their home region, yet fragile before the Immortal-backed forces of Heaven's Reach. Still, their eyes held an unshakable resolve. Their duty was absolute: escort Ye Liangfeng, Su Mei's five-year-old son, to Astralis and into his father's clan.
They traveled aboard a crystal-winged ark of the Jade Phoenix Transport Sect, one of the few neutral powers licensed to cross the void under Ye oversight. Glyphs shimmered across its hull, holding back crushing pressures as storms of qi split around its radiant form. At the ark's prow stood Liangfeng. His small frame was straight, his dark eyes fixed on the endless heavens. Where another child might press against the barrier in wonder, he only watched in silence, as though etching every star into his memory.
His father, Ye Tian, had once left Astralis to wander the Southern Domain. There, he met Su Mei, and their bond was forged like fire on steel. From that union, Liangfeng was born. Ye Tian had intended to return with them to Astralis, to raise their child beneath the Ye Clan's banners. But fate ended his path in an ancient ruin, leaving behind only a single jade slip bearing his last words: Take Liangfeng home.
Since then, Su Mei's grief had hardened into a single, unbreakable resolve. She gathered what little her clan possessed, burned incense for her lost husband, and prepared for the perilous ascent. She knew the Ye Clan was vast and unforgiving, but she would fulfill his final wish. Around Liangfeng's neck hung his proof—a jade pendant carved in the shape of an eye. To most, a trinket. To the Ye, it was a key.
The ark began its descent. Astralis spread across the horizon, a celestial painting unrolled from the heavens. Starfall Peaks pierced the clouds, their slopes glimmering with celestial ore. The Silvermist Seas glowed beneath moonlight, qi curling from their waves like silver flame. Bridges of light linked floating continents, and constellations seemed to burn brighter here than anywhere else.
At Astralis's heart shone Skyveil City, the radiant capital built upon the Astralis Vein—a river of pure qi that nourished the Ye's sacred formations. Its white jade palaces rose into the heavens, veiled in protective arrays shaped like constellations. To outsiders, it was the greatest city they would ever see. To the Ye, it was merely a threshold; the clan's true heart lay hidden beyond, in a pocket world sealed by the Eye of Truth Formation.
But Su Mei and her escort were not yet bound for Skyveil's Core. The ark angled instead toward the Outer City, where new arrivals and tribute-bearers first set foot. Platforms of blackstone jutted into the Silvermist Sea, docking skyships and chained void beasts. Towering jade beacons guided vessels past Astralis's layered defenses. Behind them rose tiered walls etched with constellations, and streets alive with cultivators from across Heaven's Reach. Everywhere, banners bearing the Ye crest—a vertical golden eye—rippled in the star-wind.
The elders could not hide their awe. "Even this Outer City," one whispered, "outshines the capitals of an entire regions".
The silver-haired matriarch drew her shawl tight. "This is the land Tian wished for his son. But Tian is gone. The boy must climb the mountain himself."
Liangfeng said nothing. His small hand gripped the jade pendant at his chest. The city's brilliance did not frighten him. His gaze lingered instead on the ground, where he saw faint golden threads—invisible to others—running like veins beneath the blackstone tiles.
"Mother," he whispered, "the ground hums."
Su Mei blinked. She could sense qi in the stone, but nothing more. Yet Liangfeng's tone was quiet and absolute. Later, as they passed a stall of talismans, he tugged her sleeve.
"Mother. That man's talismans are fake."
Su Mei frowned. "Fake?"
"The light doesn't match," he murmured. "They're empty inside."
Su Mei's heart skipped a beat. She bent down, her hand on his small shoulder, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Liangfeng, you must be careful with what you say here. Many ears listen, and some do not have good intentions. Don't speak of what you see unless I ask you to, do you understand?" She looked into his dark, observant eyes. He did not seem to understand the danger, only the command. He nodded his small head, and a quiet moment of perfect understanding passed between mother and son. He was a child, but he carried a secret that could get them killed before they ever reached his father's family.
One of the elders tested them with her senses. Her face paled. The boy was right. She said nothing aloud, but in her heart a realization stirred: A genius of this caliber is a gift from the heavens themselves.
The matriarch led them toward the Embassy Quarter, a district of elegant inns and grand halls where envoys and visiting sects conducted their business. They chose a modest inn named the "Cloud-Wanderer's Respite," its sign a gentle cloud carved from white jade. Inside, the innkeeper, a robust woman with a faint qi-glow around her hands, greeted them with a practiced smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Su Mei stepped forward, her robes a stark contrast to the opulence around her, and quietly requested a room for the night. The innkeeper's gaze lingered on her simple attire before sliding to the elders' worn robes and finally settling on Liangfeng, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. "A single room for the night. Payment is to be made in low-grade spirit stones," she said, her voice a flat tone of business.
By evening, they were settled in. The room was simple but clean, the air still humming with the spiritual energy that permeated every corner of Skyveil. Su Mei tucked Liangfeng into a soft bed, the jade pendant still clutched in his hand even as he drifted into a deep sleep. In the lamplight, the elders sat together, their hushed tones a quiet counterpoint to the distant clamor of the city outside.
"This city alone is greater than all we left behind," one murmured.
""And yet," another elder answered, his voice a hushed whisper, "Tian's son walks into it as if it were his by right." He said it as if stating a natural law. They, veterans of countless struggles, were a drop in this grand ocean, their awe a testament to its scale. But the boy… the boy simply was. He hadn't fought to reach this place; he had arrived. He didn't gape at the towering city walls or the endless processions of cultivators; he seemed to simply absorb it all, a quiet observer of a world that was already his. The others could only exchange glances, a fragile hope blossoming in their weary hearts. This was not the son of a fallen Spirit Champion; this was a child of the heavens, a descendant of a family that carved its name into the mountains of the Eternal Sky. The city wasn't a mountain he had to climb; it was merely the first step on his path.
The matriarch's eyes lingered on the boy. Her expression was fragile. It held hope — and a prayer.