The night sky was falling apart.
Crimson cracks split through the heavens as if the world itself was bleeding.
On the battlefield of the Azure Spirit Sect, countless corpses lay scattered — disciples, elders, even beasts.
And among them, one young man crawled through the mud, his robe torn, his body broken.
> "So... this is how it ends," he whispered, blood dripping from his lips.
"Betrayed... by the very sect I served."
His name was Rian Voidwalker — once a promising cultivator of the Spirit Path, now branded a traitor.
His dantian shattered, his spiritual veins burned away by the Sect Master's forbidden flame.
The night wind carried whispers of chaos. From the broken sky above, fragments of an unknown metal rained down — glowing, humming, alive. One shard pierced Rian's chest.
> [Nano Integration detected... Host compatibility: 0.03%... Error...]
[Rebuilding Host Structure... Commencing Evolution Protocol...]
Pain. Blinding, soul-tearing pain flooded through every vein, but he could not scream. His vision blurred — yet within the agony, he saw light.
A tiny silver wisp spiraled before him, like a spirit born of both machine and soul.
> "Do not die, mortal. You are... chosen."
The voice echoed inside his consciousness — mechanical yet divine. His shattered meridians began to reconnect, threads of energy weaving with liquid metal.
> "Who... are you?" he gasped.
"I am the Nano Spirit. Together, we shall ascend beyond gods and mortals alike."
As the light consumed him, the battlefield trembled. The corpses disintegrated, the sky repaired itself, and silence followed.
When dawn came, only a single figure stood upon the mountain — his eyes silver, his aura terrifying.
> "I was betrayed once," Rian murmured. "But now... I will make the heavens themelves bow."
And thus began the legend —The Rise of the Eternal Cultivator
.