The sky has been fractured.
Not by chance.
Not by accident.
Not by the passing of time or the erosion of fate.
It was fractured because something moved that should never have moved.
Because a boundary was crossed that had been sealed since the dawn of the Daotian Cosmos.
The seals have trembled.
The laws have wavered.
And what was meant to remain buried deep within the deepest strata of existence has begun to rise—slowly, inevitably—drawn forth by an existence that should never have been permitted to appear.
Until now, Wang Lin has survived.
Not through strength.
Not through talent.
Not through destiny or favor.
He survived because he was removed.
Pulled away from the natural current of the world.
Stripped from the flow of cause and effect.
Hidden from the gaze of the heavens themselves.
He was protected by a will that chose to stand against the sky,
by a presence that accepted sin, consequence, and erasure so that another might continue to exist.
But no protection is eternal.
And no debt, once incurred, is ever truly forgotten.
Sooner or later, it is collected.
Chapter 10 will conclude Volume I.
It marks the end of a fragile shelter built on sacrifice.
The end of a silence imposed by force.
The end of an ignorance preserved at immeasurable cost.
What comes to an end here is not merely a struggle for survival.
It is not simply the closing of a chapter.
It is the final page of innocence.
From this point onward, Wang Lin will no longer walk in the shadows cast by others.
He will no longer be something hidden, displaced, or quietly preserved beyond the reach of calamity.
There will be no one left to move him out of harm's way.
He will have to advance on his own.
To step onto the path of cultivation not as a means of ascension,
not as a pursuit of glory or transcendence—
but as an act of understanding.
To understand what the heavens condemn him for.
To understand what he has become.
To understand why he was removed from the natural order of existence.
To understand why his mere presence is enough to disturb ancient laws that have endured since before memory.
On this path, there will be no mercy.
There will be no forgiveness.
There will be no benevolent hands guiding his steps.
Every step forward will be a confrontation.
Every breakthrough will be an act of defiance.
Every truth uncovered will become another weight pressed upon his soul.
And those who dare to stand in his way—
whether they are men or cultivators, sects or empires,
whether they bear mortal flesh or the will of the heavens themselves—
will be crushed.
Not out of hatred.
Not out of cruelty.
Not out of desire.
But because the Daotian Cosmos does not tolerate hesitation.
And because survival, from this moment onward, will demand far more than resolve.
Prepare yourselves.
The protection comes to an end.
The lie begins to fracture.
And the true march of Wang Lin finally begins.