The Great Forest did not end. For a mortal a forest was a collection of trees but for those who knew the true scale of the Finite World it was merely a single leaf on a celestial branch. The world Xuan Ye inhabited was not a mere planet. It was a boundless ocean of land and stars a physical space so vast that even light struggled to cross from one empire to another.
Five hundred thousand countries existed within this singular plane. Each nation held its own kings its own wars and its own history but they were all ultimately small flickering candles compared to the Four Great Suns.
To the North sat the Great Northern Empire where the cold forged men into steel. To the South the Eternal Flame Dominion where the sun never truly set. To the East the Azure Sea Federation a collection of floating islands and water-born geniuses. To the West the Iron Soul Hegemony a place of machinery and brutal martial law. And at the center of it all stood the Holy Sanctuary of the White Lotus a religious monolith where the priests whispered to the dead and practiced healing arts that defied the natural order of life and decay.
Xuan Ye moved through the undergrowth his feet making no sound as he tested the first layer of his new acquisition.
[Void Step: Layer 1 — The Shadow Stitch]
Every time he stepped his body felt as though it was being pulled through a needle's eye. He was not walking on the ground. He was walking on the thin line between existence and non-existence. There were twenty four layers to this technique and even at the first layer he felt the world's laws rubbing against him like sandpaper.
He stopped near a stream that glowed with a faint bioluminescence. The water here was old. In the history of the Finite World this region had once been the battlefield of the 32 Elemental Heroes. Legends said that the Hero of Verdant Life had once grown a forest over the corpses of a million invaders in a single breath. The power of a Hero was not just cultivation. it was the manifestation of an element in its purest form. They were the ultimate enforcers of the Royal Families and the reason the four empires had remained stable for ten thousand years.
But even the Heroes feared the great Ancestors behind the great sects Xuan Ye remembered a story his father had told him about an Ancestor from the Heaven sword Sect. Two empires had gathered their armies at the border ready to drown the land in blood. The Ancestor had simply appeared in the sky sitting cross legged and drinking tea. He didn't speak. He didn't attack. He simply released a sliver of his presence. The weight of his soul had crushed the weapons of ten million soldiers into dust. The war ended before a single drop of blood was spilled.
"That is the power of a destiny"Xuan Ye thought. A world where your birth determines if you are a god or a grain of sand.
He felt a vibration in his chest. The Book of Fate was humming. It was a low deep sound that resonated with the obsidian dagger in his hand.
You want to speak? he wondered
He sat beneath a gnarled root and allowed the ink to flow. The Book manifested not as a tool this time but as a gateway. As the shadow-ink swirled he felt the presence of other books but he couldn't tell what these kind of books are
{The Book of Fate was the oldest. It was the King of Anomalies. It had the power to communicate with and eventually summon the other books as Xuan Ye's authority grew}
The Book of Fate pulsed. It showed him a vision of the western waterfall. But the vision was different now. It didn't just show the Blood-Vine. It showed a figure standing at the base of the falls.
The figure wore the white and gold robes of the Holy Sanctuary. A woman. She held a staff made of spirit bone and her aura was like a calm lake. But in the eyes of the Book she was a glowing beacon of high tier resources.
[Target Detected: Disciple of the White Lotus]
[Unique Bloodline: Eternal Life Forest (Rank 10)]
[Status: 8th Step Qi Gathering]
Xuan Ye smile was thin and sharp. The Holy Sanctuary was famous for its healing. They were the only ones who could bring back a soul from the brink of the abyss. If he could absorb a fragment of that Eternal Life bloodline his Mortal Vessel would no longer just be durable. It would be regenerative.
He closed the book and watched it dissolve into his skin.
The mystery of the Demon was already spreading through the Royal Hunt. The Princess and the prince would be looking for a monster. They wouldn't be looking for a twelve year old boy with a blank destiny
He stood up and used the Void Step once more. The space ahead of him folded. He vanished into the dark heading toward the waterfall.
The Finite World was a universe of possibilities but for those who crossed Xuan Ye's path the only possibility was subtraction. He was the only thief in history who didn't steal gold. He stole the future.
As he approached the sound of the falling water he sensed another presence. It wasn't the girl. It was something hidden in the shadows behind the waterfall. Something ancient.
An Ancestor's remnant? Xuan Ye didn't slow down. If it was a ghost he would eat the memory. If it was a god he would learn how to kill it.
"It look like the hunt has begin"xuan ye thought.