It began with silence.
Then came the scent of ash.
Then the screams.
The eastern outer wall of the Thousand Veil Sect collapsed in a burst of crimson mist. Steel bent inward. Stone melted. Qi shields failed before they activated.
Something massive was crawling through the crater.
Not a beast.
Not a man.
Something between.
Bao Zhen—the Devourer who tried to consume time.
They once called him the Unborn Maw.
Now, he had no name. No words. Only teeth.
Xu Shen and Lian Ming stood atop the central spire, watching the storm roll in.
"He doesn't have reason anymore," Lian said quietly. "Not even memory."
"He's eating because it's all he has left."
Xu's gaze narrowed.
"I know."
He leapt from the spire—gold flame igniting behind him like wings.
The battlefield
Bao Zhen's body was enormous—ten meters tall, covered in runes carved directly into flesh. His chest bore the seal of Devourer Life #711, corrupted and inverted. His mouth never closed.
Because it never stopped devouring.
He absorbed spirit beasts. Absorbed the very trees. Absorbed light and sound and time.
Xu landed before him.
Their auras collided like two gods screaming in silence.
"Bao Zhen," Xu said softly. "You were my friend."
The beast didn't react.
"You once taught me to weave time into qi. You saved my life in the Icefall Collapse."
Nothing.
"Now you don't even know your own name."
Bao Zhen opened his mouth.
And charged.
Impact.
Xu spun midair, saber drawn in a spiral—cutting into flesh that reformed even as it burned.
He's devouring my attacks. His body is part Core… part Eternal Maw.
Xu dove low.
[Devourer Path – Flame Split Technique: Life #771]
[Soul Fragment Burn: 2%]
Golden flame exploded from his palm and embedded directly into Bao Zhen's chest.
The beast reeled.
But didn't fall.
He ate the flame.
Laughed.
And came again.
Xu coughed blood.
He was burning soul at every clash.
Even the Infinite Soulwheel Forge couldn't stabilize this kind of hunger.
Bao Zhen was no longer a cultivator.
He was an open wound in the Devourer Path.
Then I can't beat him with strength.
I have to beat him with what he forgot.
Xu closed his eyes.
Let go of the blade.
And stepped forward.
"Bao Zhen," he whispered.
"This isn't who you are."
"You're not the Maw."
"You're the man who named the wind between moments. Who told me, 'If I lose myself, let me go.'"
"You gave me this path. Let me give you peace."
He reached into his chest.
Pulled free a memory fragment—gold and silver and burning.
Life #711: The Laughing Storm Technique
Invented by Bao Zhen. Taught only to Xu. Never recorded. A technique of freedom, not power.
He placed the memory on Bao Zhen's chest.
And watched it burn.
The beast paused.
Staggered.
Then… whimpered.
Not roared.
Not screamed.
Whimpered.
He fell to one knee.
And began to dissolve.
Tears, not blood, streaming from hollow eyes.
"X…Xu?"
"I'm here."
"I…I was hungry for too long."
"You can rest now."
The wind stopped.
The flames died.
Only silence remained.
Bao Zhen's body turned to gold ash.
And drifted away on the breeze.