The sky above Azure Cloud Sect was clear, vast, and endlessly blue.
Yet Lin Yuan felt as if it were pressing down on him.
He stood at the center of the Spirit Assessment Hall, surrounded by carved stone pillars and glowing formation runes. Hundreds of disciples watched in silence, their gazes sharp with expectation—or thinly veiled contempt.
Before him rested the Qi Measuring Stone.
Cold. Ancient. Unforgiving.
Lin Yuan placed his palm against its surface.
He closed his eyes and guided the faint spiritual energy within his body, urging it to circulate as he had done countless times before. His meridians trembled as Qi struggled to move, like water trying to flow through a cracked channel.
Seconds passed.
Then more.
The stone remained dull.
No light. No reaction.
A murmur spread through the hall.
"Still nothing?""Three years, and he can't even enter Qi Refining.""He really is useless."
Lin Yuan opened his eyes.
He slowly withdrew his hand.
At the front of the hall, Elder Zhao—one of the sect's senior figures—looked down at him with an expression devoid of warmth.
"Qi circulation: stagnant," Elder Zhao said calmly."Meridians: damaged.""Dantian: unstable."
Each word was delivered with clinical precision.
"Qi Refining Stage—failed."
The verdict echoed.
Lin Yuan bowed his head slightly. He did not argue. There was nothing left to say.
Three years ago, when he had entered Azure Cloud Sect, he had believed his life was finally changing. Back then, his talent had been deemed average—not impressive, but acceptable.
Then came reality.
No matter how hard he trained, his cultivation refused to progress. His Qi scattered before it could condense. His dantian felt like a broken vessel, incapable of holding strength.
It was as if Heaven itself had rejected him.
"This disciple has already wasted enough resources," an elder said with a frown."There's no need to keep him."
"Azure Cloud Sect does not raise trash."
The words cut deep, yet Lin Yuan remained silent. He had learned long ago that showing pain only invited further humiliation.
Elder Zhao spoke again, his tone final.
"Lin Yuan, from today onward, your status as an outer disciple is revoked."
Revoked.
Expelled.
The word carried weight.
Without sect protection, a cultivator who had not even entered Qi Refining was no different from a mortal—perhaps worse.
Lin Yuan clasped his fists and bowed.
"I accept the sect's decision."
His calm response drew a few surprised glances. They had expected pleading. Despair.
Instead, they saw quiet acceptance.
Just as the matter seemed concluded, another voice cut through the hall.
"Wait."
The atmosphere shifted.
An elder dressed in dark robes rose from his seat. His presence alone caused the surrounding disciples to instinctively lower their heads.
Elder Mu.
"Expulsion is too merciful," Elder Mu said coldly, his gaze fixed on Lin Yuan. "A disciple who fails repeatedly yet continues to exist within the sect damages its karma."
A ripple of unease passed through the hall.
"I propose," Elder Mu continued, "that Lin Yuan be sent to the Forbidden Domain."
Silence.
Even the elders stiffened.
The Forbidden Domain.
A sealed land where spiritual energy was chaotic, Dao laws distorted, and survival itself uncertain. No disciple sent there had ever returned.
Elder Zhao frowned. "That place is—"
"A test of Heaven's will," Elder Mu interrupted. "If he survives, it is fate. If he dies, the sect loses nothing."
The words were merciless.
Lin Yuan listened quietly.
Fear did not rise within him.
Only clarity.
So this was how his story ended.
Or perhaps—
This was where it truly began.
After a brief discussion that was little more than formality, the decision was made.
"Lin Yuan," Elder Zhao said, his voice heavy, "you will be escorted to the Forbidden Domain at dawn."
Lin Yuan raised his head.
"For the first time," he said calmly, "I understand."
No one asked what he meant.
The next morning, Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the sect.
Beyond the boundary markers lay a valley shrouded in gray mist. Ancient warning runes pulsed faintly along the stone path.
FORBIDDEN DOMAIN.
The guards accompanying him stopped at the edge.
"This is as far as we go," one said indifferently. "Walk forward. Whether you live or die is no longer our concern."
They turned and left.
Lin Yuan took a step forward.
The moment he crossed the boundary, pain exploded in his chest. His meridians convulsed as chaotic energy surged through his body.
He staggered, coughing blood.
"So even here," he muttered, wiping his lips, "Heaven still tries to erase me."
The mist swallowed him.
Time lost meaning.
Lin Yuan wandered until exhaustion claimed him. His body collapsed beside an enormous stone slab, its surface covered in ancient, weathered symbols.
His vision blurred.
Death felt close.
As consciousness slipped away, a faint laugh escaped his lips.
"So this is my end…"
At that moment—
The stone slab trembled.
A voice echoed, not through the air, but directly within his soul.
Page unlocked.
Lin Yuan's eyes snapped open.
Within his consciousness, a vast book appeared—endless, boundless, its pages filled with shifting Dao runes beyond mortal comprehension.
On its cover were four ancient words:
BOOK OF UNIVERSE
The book slowly opened.
A single page turned.
And Heaven fell silent.
End of Chapter 1