The Kingdom of Yan was plunged into chaos. It was the night of the Lantern Festival, but the sky held no promise of light; it carried the metallic scent of blood and the suffocating pressure of a spiritual storm.
At the center of the Lotus Stone Bridge, a man walked alone. His name was Mo Chen, known to the world as the Lord of the Night. Beneath his heavy black silk robes, his Gravity Qi pulsed like a dark heart, crushing every raindrop before it could even touch his shoulder. Where Mo Chen stepped, the stone cracked. He was an island of destruction, condemned to eternal loneliness.
"No one can approach me without being reduced to dust," Mo Chen thought, his gray eyes like storm clouds sweeping the horizon. "This is my fate."
But from the shadows, a pair of bicolor eyes watched. Lin Xi, the last of the Time Weavers, saw the golden threads of destiny being severed.
— "Three seconds," she whispered. "In three seconds, the Blade of the Void will find his heart."
The world moved in slow motion. An assassin leaped from the shadows with a poisoned dagger. Mo Chen was too slow. Destiny was sealed. The General was about to fall.
— "Not on my watch!" Lin Xi leaped.
She floated like a petal in a hurricane. The moment the blade descended, she broke through Mo Chen's barrier and grabbed his wrist.
BOOM.
An explosion of Yin and Yang energy lit up the bridge. Where her skin touched his, the world stopped. Raindrops froze in the air like glass pearls. The assassin remained suspended, a statue of black smoke.
Mo Chen froze. He felt... warmth. For the first time in a thousand years, he felt the touch of another living being without destroying it. He found Lin Xi's face; her veil had fallen, revealing eyes of different colors and infinite determination.
— "Who... are you?" Mo Chen's voice vibrated.
— "I am the one who weaves your time," Lin Xi replied, as blood trickled from her nose from the effort. "And today, your time does not end here."
Time roared back to life. Mo Chen unsheathed his black sword and pulverized the enemy in a single strike. Before Lin Xi could retreat, he wrapped a firm arm around her waist.
— "You touched me and survived," he murmured, inches from her face. "Now, Fairy, you belong to me. I will not let you leave, even if I have to stop heaven and earth to keep you here."