Blood Moon hung suspended in the sky, red as blood, dyeing the entire Wuji Mountain Range in a sinister hue. Cold winds howled through the cracks in the cliffs, carrying the wails of ten thousand specters from the depths of the Demonic Abyss. Beneath that crimson moon, a frail figure stood precariously on the edge of the cliff, fresh blood streaking down his pale face. His eyes, bright as starlight, were as cold as ice.
Xie Wunian, seventeen years old, once a core disciple of the prestigious Heavenly Profound Sect, now nothing more than a fugitive hunted by the world.
"Traitor! You dared assassinate your master and steal the Heavenly Profound Pearl!" A cold voice rang out from behind. A man clad in white robes, hair tied high, wielding a sword that shimmered with spiritual light, stepped forth, leading a group of cultivators surrounding Xie Wunian. He was Lu Tianyang, senior brother of the sect and once considered the closest brother to Xie Wunian.
"Framed?" Xie Wunian curled his lips into a smile as cold as a blade. "Senior Brother Lu, you accuse me of murder, where is your proof? Or are you merely afraid I would surpass you, so you used this excuse to eliminate me?"
Murmurs spread among the cultivators behind Lu Tianyang. A woman in blue robes, delicate features sharpened by her piercing gaze, stepped forward. She was Su Qingyue, once a sworn companion of Xie Wunian who vowed life and death by his side. But now, her eyes held only coldness and disdain.
"Xie Wunian, you still dare to argue? The Heavenly Profound Pearl vanished the same night our master was killed. You were the only one present at the forbidden ground. What else is there to say?" Her voice trembled, though whether from rage or buried sorrow was unclear.
Xie Wunian looked at her. For a brief moment, a flicker of pain passed through his eyes, quickly swallowed by emptiness. "Qingyue, I once thought you knew me better than anyone. I was wrong." He raised his head to the blood-colored sky. "The Heavenly Dao is unjust. Human hearts are fickle. If you all want me dead, then try."
Before anyone could react, Xie Wunian suddenly leapt off the cliff into the Demonic Abyss, a place known as the graveyard of cultivators. The howling wind screamed in his ears, mingling with the cries of ten thousand wailing spirits. The cultivators on the cliff stood in stunned silence. Lu Tianyang clenched his sword and roared, "He chose death! No one survives the Demonic Abyss!"
Su Qingyue stood motionless, fingers digging into her palms until they bled. She whispered, "Xie Wunian…why did you choose this path?"
In the depths of the Abyss, there was no light, only endless darkness and the anguished wails of spectral souls. Xie Wunian's body crashed onto a massive stone, blood bursting from his mouth, staining the earth. He lay there, barely breathing, but his eyes remained wide open, as if defying death itself.
"Die? I refuse…" he whispered, clutching a broken jade pendant, the final relic of his master. "If the Heavenly Dao wants me dead, then I shall overturn it. If the world brands me a devil, then I shall become one."
Suddenly, a cold, ancient power surged within him. His blood boiled, as if something long-sealed was breaking its chains. A roar echoed from deep within his veins, like a dragon's cry, like a demon god awakening.
"You…are the chosen one…" A deep, commanding voice echoed in Xie Wunian's mind. Before him stood a massive shadow, its form indistinct, with eyes glowing red like twin flames. "The Demon God's bloodline has awakened. Do you seek survival, vengeance, the destruction of the Heavenly Dao? Take this power, but the price is your humanity."
Xie Wunian laughed, his voice reverberating through the darkness. "Humanity? It was humans who betrayed me. If the Demonic Path is the only road left, I will walk it, even if I must step over ten thousand corpses!"
The shadow nodded and vanished into the void. A terrifying surge of demonic energy poured into Xie Wunian's body. He screamed in agony as blood from his wounds transformed into glowing red threads, wrapping around him, reshaping him into something beyond human.
In that moment, an ancient scripture emerged within his consciousness: the Heavenly Blood Reincarnation Sutra. Crimson characters flowed through his mind, teaching him to manipulate blood, soul, and even the fates of others. This was the long-lost forbidden art of the Demonic Path, feared by all cultivators.
Three days later, at the edge of the Abyss, a youth stepped forth from the shadows. His robes were tattered, but the aura around him froze the very air. The light once in his eyes was gone, only cold ambition remained.
Standing atop a stone, he gazed at the blood-red sky.
"The world is a game of chess… I am the player, the pawn, and the board.
Righteous Dao, Demonic Dao, Heavenly Dao…all mere pieces in my hands."
He smiled, cruel and lonely.
"From this day forth, I seek no Dao, follow no virtue.
I walk my own path.
Whoever stands in my way, dies."