The night fell like a velvet curtain over the continent, but for cultivators, true darkness came not from the sky—but from what awakened beneath it.
In the heart of a forgotten mountain range, hidden beneath millennia of stone and silence, a single drop of black flame ignited.
From within a sealed obsidian coffin, Mo Xie—the Eternal Reclaimer—opened his eyes.
Cracks rippled along the coffin walls like veins of dying stars. Around him, countless chained corpses began to twitch. They had once been Emperors, Saints, even Ancient Beasts. Now they were silent witnesses to the one who once devoured them all.
A soft voice echoed from the depths of the cave:
> "The Echo has found its bearer."
Mo Xie's lips curled into a smile colder than death. "So… he has awakened. The boy with the hunger of the First Thief."
He raised one finger, and the entire cavern quaked. Spectral chains shattered. A flood of corrupted qi rushed through the stone walls like a tidal wave, poisoning the ley lines and turning trees into ash.
In the distance, far above, cultivators screamed as the skies turned a sickly violet.
Back in the Wuheng Mountains, Wang Lin jolted upright from meditation, the Echo inside him vibrating like a warning bell. His body surged with chaotic energy, symbols of the Abduction Path spiraling along his arms.
> "He knows I'm alive…"
The voice of the First Thief echoed in his mind.
> "Mo Xie was my shadow, my creation. I stole too much… and what I could not control, became him."
> "You must not face him yet. You must master me first."
Wang Lin's breathing slowed. He stood up, eyes sharper, heavier. He could feel it now—the shift in the world's spiritual flow. A great war was no longer a possibility. It had become inevitable.
---
Elsewhere — The Temple's Council Hall
High above the mortal lands, in a realm of floating monoliths and golden rivers, the Temple of Returning Silence convened.
Nine cloaked figures sat in a circle, bound by ancient oaths. One figure, draped in violet flames, broke the silence.
> "The Reclaimer awakens. The Echo of the Thief has chosen a new bearer. The Abduction Path rises again."
Another whispered, "Then all prophecies are null. Fate has been stolen."
A third voice hissed, "Wang Lin must be erased. Not killed—unwritten."
---
Back in Wuheng Mountains
Wang Lin, unaware of the growing conspiracy, gazed at the moon.
He clenched his fist. The air rippled.
He had inherited a piece of the First Thief.
But the world would soon learn—Wang Lin was not just a thief.
He was becoming something more.
Something the heavens feared.
And for the first time in a thousand years, even Mo Xie felt… uncertain.