Sol Jin dragged the unconscious hooded genius—now unmasked—across the quiet night forest. The boy's silver eyes remained half-open even in sleep, as if they never fully closed. His aura trembled from the backlash of his forbidden corpse method.
Sol Jin sighed lazily.
"You look fragile," he muttered.
"Shame your technique wants to turn you into a monster."
The boy didn't respond, only breathed shallowly, each inhale rattling like a half-dead corpse's last struggle.
Sol Jin flicked his forehead.
"Don't die on the road. If anyone kills you, it should be me."
As he neared the sect's outer gates, a black-robed elder stepped out.
His demeanor was humble… but Sol Jin instantly felt something off.
Too quiet.
Too observant.
Too still.
Elder Ru, known for poison arts.
He bowed with a thin smile.
"Sol Jin, you've captured someone interesting."
Sol Jin casually slung the hooded genius over his shoulder.
"Just a stray corpse cultivator. Sect Master should decide his fate."
Elder Ru's eyes glinted.
"No need to burden the Sect Master… I can take him."
Sol Jin raised an eyebrow.
"No."
The elder blinked, stunned.
Sol Jin added, still casual,
"If the Sect Master wants him, he can come get him himself."
Elder Ru's smile twitched.
"…As you wish."
He stepped aside, but Sol Jin felt the killing intent he hid behind his fake humility.
"Someone wants this boy dead badly," Sol Jin murmured the moment he passed the elder.
"And that means…"
He smirked.
"I'll keep him alive."
---
Inside Sacred Cloud Sect — Sect Master's Hidden Hall
The Sect Master sat alone, golden robes flowing like molten sunlight.
A single lamp flickered beside him.
In his hand floated a projection of the hooded genius—the forbidden corpse aura swirling weakly around him.
"So he exposes a sliver of the Nine-Gap Formula…"
The Sect Master tapped the air.
"And Sol Jin brought him back alive?"
His smile sharpened.
"How troublesome."
Behind him, a massive ancient beast skull hung on chains.
It twitched.
The Sect Master whispered to it,
"Yes, yes… I know. His bones contain the taste you want."
The skull ripped against its constraints, rattling the entire hall.
The Sect Master's eyes gleamed like a predator's.
"I will kill him… but quietly. A demonized corpse cultivator cannot be allowed to grow."
---
Sol Jin's Room — Midnight
Sol Jin tossed the hooded genius onto a spare bed.
The boy groaned.
"…kill… me…" the boy whispered weakly.
Sol Jin plucked a fruit and took a bite.
"No."
The genius clenched his jaw.
"You don't understand… my master and I are wanted. Anyone who shelters me becomes a target—"
"Good," Sol Jin interrupted.
"I like targets. Makes life lively."
The boy stared, baffled.
Sol Jin leaned back, yawning.
"Name?"
The boy hesitated.
"…Yan Hei."
"Your master?"
Yan Hei swallowed.
"Ghost-Sinew Hermit."
Sol Jin froze for half a second.
That name…
Even ancient elders whispered it with fear.
A corpse grandmaster…
A master of demonization…
An enemy of the righteous world…
Sol Jin smirked.
"Your master sounds fun. Where is he now?"
Yan Hei looked down.
"I don't know. We split to avoid capture. He told me to master the Ninth Gap. Only then can I fully inherit the corpse throne."
Sol Jin clicked his tongue.
"You can't even control the third gap without vomiting blood. Slow down."
Yan Hei glared weakly.
"My talent surpasses yours."
"Oh?" Sol Jin tilted his head.
"Then how did you end up unconscious on my shoulder?"
Yan Hei: "…"
---
Multiverse POV — Cosmic Observer's Broken Realm
Fragments of the Cosmic Observer drifted through a sea of collapsing stars.
One echo whispered:
"Fate tightens around him."
Another answered:
"The boy Yan Hei… his master is tied to the ancient corpse kings. If Sol Jin walks with him, their destinies may intertwine."
A third fragment laughed softly.
"Good.
Let him struggle.
Let him bleed.
Only through calamity does a star ignite."
High above them, something huge shifted.
A cosmic beast?
A forgotten god?
Its shadow alone made even the remnants of the Observer tremble.
"If that awakens… Sol Jin will face a calamity no mortal world can contain."
---
Sacred Cloud Sect — A Few Days Later
Word spread.
Yan Hei was alive.
A corpse genius.
A taboo cultivator.
Every elder schemed.
Every prodigy watched.
And the Sect Master… sharpened his blade.