---
The forest was silent.
Only the faint hum of unseen whispers filled the void.
Aaryan walked barefoot over dead leaves, each step sending ripples through the darkness that coiled around him. The Sha Essence stirred within his veins—alive, restless, hungry.
Every heartbeat throbbed with foreign thoughts, fragments of voices that weren't his.
He closed his eyes, forcing the chaos into order. Slowly, his consciousness sank inward.
He found himself standing before the Sea of Nothingness—the core of his being.
Where once vibrant spiritual light had flowed, there now yawned a bottomless abyss.
At its center floated the Eighth Sun, dim and cracked, bleeding threads of black flame.
> "You are the last carrier of our memory," a voice echoed. "Do not resist us… complete us."
He clenched his fists.
"Complete you? No… I'll master you."
The sea trembled.
Black flames surged, tempting him with visions—of slaughter, of kneeling cultivators, of gods burning beneath a dying sky. He could seize it all… if only he surrendered.
Aaryan opened his eyes sharply.
He wouldn't kneel to power.
He would use it.
---
A faint pain prickled across his arm.
Runes etched themselves beneath his skin—living marks shaped like coiling serpents.
When he focused, they sank deeper, hidden beneath the flesh.
> "So this is Sha Essence's gift…" he murmured.
"Corruption that listens."
He took a deep breath and turned his gaze northward. Beyond the mist lay the Shadowmist Sect—the place that had once branded him a slave disciple. His lips curved slightly.
> "You chained me to menial labor and called it fate. Let's see how you call it when chains melt in fire."
---
Inside Shadowmist Sect's council hall, tension crackled in the air.
Elder Suwan stood before the Grand Elder, eyes lowered.
> "The disturbance has not faded, Master. The northern barrier still resonates with dark energy."
Grand Elder Han's brows furrowed.
> "That forest was barren of spiritual life. How could it now thrum with such force?"
Another elder whispered, voice trembling.
> "Could it be… the Sha Path?"
A heavy silence followed. Even the air recoiled at the words.
Grand Elder Han finally spoke.
> "That heretical path was erased when the Eighth Sun fell. Whoever awakened it now… is either a calamity or a key."
---
Far below the mountain, Aaryan sat cross-legged beside a stream.
The water reflected his face—half shadow, half human.
He reached out; the reflection twisted, becoming that of a boy in chains.
Memories surfaced— the stink of blood and iron, the sneers of higher disciples, the endless humiliation of servitude.
He remembered kneeling in the mud while others cultivated above him.
He remembered being told he'd never awaken a spirit root.
And he remembered the one elder who had whispered,
> "Power is not given, boy. It's taken."
Now, those words burned like truth carved into his bones.
---
A bird screeched overhead.
Aaryan looked up. Dawn was near.
He rose, dusting himself off, and whispered to the wind,
> "You took everything from me. Now, I'll take everything from you."
The Sha Essence stirred, purring in delight at his hatred.
He turned his back on the stream and vanished into the mist, heading toward the outer regions where rogue disciples hunted spirit beasts.
There, he would test this new power—away from prying eyes.
The forest trembled as he walked.
Each step left faint black patterns on the ground, as if the world itself feared to remember his presence.
---
Author's Note:
Wanderers of the Dark Path—
If Aaryan's cold resolve shook your soul, your support is his weapon.
Add The Eighth Sun Chronicles to your Library, and the Sha Essence shall never sleep.
Vote with Power Stones to strengthen his path against the heavens.
The Eighth Sun watches… and remembers those who believe.
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