Morning came in shades of gray.
The sky above Azure Heaven Sect still cracked open like a wound refusing to heal.
The storm hadn't left.
The air smelled of ozone and blood.
No one had slept.
Every whisper carried the same name,
The boy without a core, who defied Heaven.
Yue Shan stood on the high balcony, eyes swollen from sleeplessness.
Below her, the courtyard was nothing but ruin, burned stone, shattered pillars, and scorched earth still smoking.
"Wu…" she muttered softly. "You're insane."
Footsteps echoed behind her.
The Grand Elder walked up slowly, his wrinkled hand gripping an old wooden staff.
"The sky's different today," he said. "Look."
Yue Shan lifted her gaze.
The clouds were swirling again, but in the center of the storm, a thin red line stretched across the heavens.
She frowned. "That's… blood?"
The Elder nodded. "Heaven's blood. A sign of wrath… or fear."
In the Grand Hall, projections of the Five Great Sects shimmered in the air.
Five massive silhouettes loomed, each marked by their sect's divine emblem.
Sword Heaven Sect.
Eastern Radiance Sect.
Thousand Souls Sect.
Shadow Tide Sect.
And Azure Heaven Sect.
The room buzzed with tension.
"So you're telling us," said the Sword Heaven Master coldly,
"a mortal boy made Heaven bleed?"
The Azure Elder didn't flinch. "I'm not telling you to believe me. I'm telling you what happened."
The leader of Thousand Souls chuckled darkly.
"If it's true, then that boy carries more than flesh and blood inside him."
"He carries calamity," snapped the Eastern Radiance Master.
Yue Shan stepped forward, voice firm.
"Calamity for who? For Heaven? Or for those who've been kneeling beneath it for too long?"
The hall fell silent.
Even the projections flickered for a moment.
The Grand Elder sighed. "We can't hide Jian Wu forever.
Heaven will come again, and next time, it won't send an envoy."
Atop the Stone Tower, Jian Wu sat cross-legged.
His body was covered in wounds, but his eyes were calm.
The glowing symbol on his chest pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to him.
Then came the voice again, deep, echoing inside his mind.
> Heaven has bled. The door is open.
Now, you must choose your path.
Jian Wu sighed. "I never asked for this."
> No one asks to become Heaven's enemy.
But few survive long enough to be chosen by it.
He opened his eyes, calm but cold.
"Then tell me… why does this world fear those without a core?"
Because you are not bound by the laws of Heaven.
You are not its creation, you are its mistake.
Jian Wu chuckled under his breath. "A mistake, huh?"
He clenched his fist.
"Then maybe I'll become the mistake they can't erase."
The sect bells rang suddenly, three sharp clangs that tore through the morning.
TANG! TANG! TANG!
Yue Shan burst out of the council chamber. "What's happening!?"
A disciple ran up, pale-faced. "New envoys! Three of them!"
Lightning struck the valley.
Three white spears of light pierced through the clouds and took form in the sky.
Three figures appeared, robes white as bone, eyes glowing with cold judgment.
Each carried a divine weapon: a sword of thunder, a staff of light, and a halo of rings.
The Grand Elder's expression darkened.
"Heaven sent three… That means it's afraid."
Yue Shan looked down at Jian Wu.
He wasn't running.
He wasn't hiding.
He was smiling.
"They still haven't learned," he whispered.
The first envoy moved, lightning flashing across the valley.
Jian Wu leapt forward.
"HAAAH!"
His fist met the lightning spear and the world exploded.
BOOOOM!
The first envoy was thrown back, smashing through the mountain wall.
The second swung its staff, turning it into chains of pure light that wrapped around Jian Wu's body.
The chains burned his skin, sizzling against his wounds.
But he didn't yield. His veins glowed blue.
"Didn't I tell you.."
He grabbed the burning chain with his bare hands. Blood ran down his arms.
"I WON'T BOW!"
With a roar, he ripped the chains apart.
The backlash sent waves of lightning bursting outward.
The third envoy dove from above, sword spinning in a blur of silver.
But before the blade could fall, Jian Wu vanished.
Then came the sound, a thunderclap too close, too human.
Wu appeared behind the envoy, his glowing fist already swinging upward.
"Break!"
The punch hit like a meteor.
The sky shattered, and the envoy was thrown into the storm clouds above.
A crimson rain fell from the heavens.
Yue Shan froze. "That's… blood. Heaven's blood."
The rain thickened, red against the gray sky.
And then the voice returned, stronger than before.
You have drawn Heaven's blood.
Now, there is no turning back.
Jian Wu's breathing slowed. "I never planned to."
Then listen well, bearer of the Void.
From this moment onward… you walk the Heaven-Breaker Path.
The ground trembled.
Blue light erupted from his body, rippling through the valley.
The disciples fell to their knees, crushed by the sheer pressure.
Yue Shan stood at the base of the tower, trembling.
"Wu… what are you turning yourself into?"
He looked down at her, eyes glowing like lightning itself.
A faint smile tugged a
t his lips.
"Something Heaven doesn't have a name for."
The clouds above roared again, not in anger this time, but in fear.
For the first time in a thousand years…
Heaven bled.