I – The Heavenly Rumor
When the morning wind left Mist Valley, it carried whispers east, then north, then across the fractured sky. By the time it reached the mountains of the Eastern Azure Sect, rumor had already taken the form of myth:
"A disciple of no name has awakened a power that bends the heavens."
"The Void Codex breathes again."
In the Hall of Thousand Reflections, Sect Master Ling Xuanyin listened in silence. Her eyes—silver as moonlight on steel—remained half-closed as her subordinates spoke. Candles flickered in the reflection pools around her; each flame bent, as though even light feared her calm.
"Sect Master, our scouts confirm it," an elder said. "Mist Valley flared with qi of unknown origin—neither yin nor yang. Elder Bai Qian himself was wounded."
Ling Xuanyin raised one slender hand. "And the boy?"
"He survived."
A pause heavy enough to crack jade filled the hall.
Ling Xuanyin stood, her robe unfurling like flowing starlight. "Summon the Nine. If the Codex has awakened, Heaven's Balance will break again."
II – The Council of Nine
Far above mortal clouds stood the Sky Ascendant Platform, a floating fortress carved from celestial stone, where once the Sects had sworn unity after the War of Ashes. For two centuries it had been silent.
Now, nine thrones shone beneath the broken sky.
Ling Xuanyin of the Azure Sect, calm and ruthless.Iron Monk Shen Ru of the Golden Temple, his prayer beads forged from demon bones.Lady Yue Caihong of the Crimson Lotus Hall, veiled in petals and poison.Master Gu Tian Luo of the Heavenly Script Sect, keeper of forbidden runes.Han Jing Feng of the Frost Edge Clan.Elder Mo Liang of the Wandering Sword Sect.The Twin Priests of the Fated Moon, speaking in mirrored tones.Bai Qian, his arm bandaged, standing in place of the Mist Valley Sect.
At the center burned a ghostly flame—the projection of Heaven's Eye, once thought dormant.
Ling Xuanyin: "The Codex reawakens through a mortal shell. We swore that if its seal ever cracked, we would act as one."
Shen Ru: "Seal? The boy shattered my brother's mountain in a single breath. This is no seal. It is a rebirth."
Yue Caihong: laughing softly "Rebirths can be strangled in the cradle."
Bai Qian's face darkened. "You would murder a child who knows not what he carries?"
Gu Tian Luo: "Not a child. A vessel. And vessels can be replaced."
The flame pulsed. Heaven's Eye spoke, its voice a thousand whispers in unison:
"The Void Codex cannot be unmade. It remembers. It chooses. The last who bore it burned the heavens."
Ling Xuanyin turned away. "Then we must decide whether to destroy the vessel—or guide it."
The hall erupted in argument, light flashing, qi clashing, old vows trembling. When it ended, the decision was as cruel as it was inevitable:
Find the Void Bearer. If he resists, end him.
III – The Training in Mist Valley
Unaware of the storm gathering above, Shen Wei trained beneath the whispering orchids.
He no longer feared the void. He listened to it. Each breath drew threads of nothingness into his meridians; each exhale reshaped them into form. The black-silver sword in his grasp pulsed with life, half real, half memory.
"When Heaven shatters, only the void remains," he murmured. "Then let the void teach me."
The valley responded. Rocks floated, streams reversed, air bent around his body. His movements wove silence into motion—The Eighth Form of Unbeing, a style that once erased armies.
But every use tore his flesh from within.
He coughed blood onto orchid petals, yet his eyes burned brighter.
From the distance, Lian Yue watched in silence. Her flute hung at her side; her expression unreadable.
"You're walking the same path again," she whispered. "Will you defy destiny once more, or complete what we began?"
Shen Wei stopped. "What we began?"
Lian Yue's lips parted as if to answer—but she vanished with the mist, leaving only a single silver petal floating before him.
He caught it, and in that instant his mind flooded with visions: nine thrones, a shattered sky, and a blade piercing through his own heart.
IV – The Assassin of Lotus Hall
Night fell. Mist Valley glowed under moonlight like a dream half-remembered.
A shadow glided through the orchids—a woman in crimson robes, moving with the grace of poison smoke. Yue Caihong had come herself, her eyes gleaming with cruel beauty.
She found Shen Wei meditating, his back turned.
"You carry the Codex," she purred. "Give it to me, and perhaps I'll let you live long enough to regret it."
"You'll die before I hand it over," Shen Wei said quietly, not opening his eyes.
Petals turned to blades. Yue Caihong's fingers danced; her poisons hissed like serpents.
Shen Wei stood. With a single swing, his void blade sliced through sound. The night froze. Every droplet of dew hung motionless in the air.
"The Fourth Law of Void," Yue Caihong gasped. "Erasure of Motion… impossible!"
"To the void, nothing is impossible."
He struck once. The crimson light shattered. When the world resumed, Yue Caihong knelt trembling, blood tracing her lips.
"Mercy?" she whispered.
Shen Wei turned away. "The void shows none."
But as she collapsed, the mark of the Codex flared on her wrist—the same rune that burned upon his arm. For the briefest heartbeat, he felt her pain echo through his soul.
Why does the void link even my enemies?
V – The Sects Prepare for War
At dawn, Yue Caihong's body was found at the border of Mist Valley—alive, barely. Her poison veins burned with void energy, and her message was carried by hawk to the Sky Platform.
"He wields the Laws of Unbeing."
Panic swept the Nine Sects. Armies began to mobilize. The Heaven's Eye flared once more, scanning the lands for the one whose qi was neither light nor dark.
But deep within the Azure Sect, Ling Xuanyin hesitated. Alone, she stared into her reflection pool. Within its surface, she saw the face of a younger woman—a disciple once slain by the Void Bearer during the War of Ashes.
"History repeats," she murmured. "And I am still too weak to stop it."
She rose, gripping her sword. "If Heaven will not guard us, I will."
VI – The Promise of Ashes
Back in Mist Valley, Bai Qian approached Shen Wei, his tone softer than before.
"You cannot stay here forever. The Nine Sects will come."
"Let them."
"You think strength alone will save you?"
"Not strength," Shen Wei said. "Understanding."
He opened his palm. The Void Codex materialized before them, pages fluttering without wind. On each page burned memories—not of words, but of lives. Armies. Worlds. Choices.
Bai Qian stepped back. "Heaven forgive us…"
Shen Wei looked skyward, where the scar of Heaven widened with every heartbeat.
"No," he said. "Heaven remembers me. It is I who must forgive it."
VII – The Heavens Tremble
Lightning split the night. From the broken heavens, nine beams of light fell—each one marking the descent of a sect envoy.
The Nine Sects were coming.
Mist Valley's spirit veins quaked; the orchids shed petals like snow. Lian Yue appeared again, flute in hand, her expression torn between dread and tenderness.
"They will not stop until you are gone."
"Then the Codex will wake fully," Shen Wei said, voice low. "If the heavens wish for battle, I shall give them oblivion."
Her eyes glistened. "And what will you become after that?"
"What I was always meant to be."
He turned toward the horizon, where the first of the sect banners pierced the dawn mist. The sky groaned; the scar widened into a wound.
"Void Codex," he whispered, "show me the truth of all things."
The valley exploded in light.
And somewhere far above, the gods shuddered.
End of Chapter 3 — The Nine Sects Stir