The golden eye in the sky had closed, but the fear it left behind lingered.
Word of the boy's wrath-fueled awakening spread like wildfire. Whispers called Lian Ren a demon. Others said he was a god in mortal skin.
But none dared approach him directly.
Not after what he'd done to the flame.
That night, he sat cross-legged atop a lantern-lit cliff above Jade Hollow, listening to the wind and silence.
The Divine Echo Interface glowed softly beside his vision.
[Current Karma: +41]
[Emotion Fragment: Wrath - Stabilized]
[System Message: You have interfered with fate. The karmic web bends around you.]
He sighed. "And yet I feel no closer to wholeness."
"You wouldn't," came a voice like falling snow.
He turned sharply.
A girl in white robes stepped from behind the shrine's incense altar. Her face was veiled, and a silver mask covered her eyes. Beads and feathers swayed as she walked, barefoot, silent.
Her presence did not disturb the wind. It embraced her.
Lian Ren's voice was low. "You followed me."
She bowed. "I was sent to guide you."
"By who?"
She touched the edges of her mask. "By those who hear karma before it sings. I am Shen Li."
She knelt opposite him, folding her hands in a precise mudra. "Your soul is fractured. I can see the glow of your burden. You are dangerous."
"I never asked for this."
"No," she whispered. "But Heaven did."
There was no fear in her voice. Only clarity. It was disarming.
Lian Ren asked, "Why the mask?"
Shen Li hesitated. "Without it… I see too much. Threads of life. Death. Lies. Divinity. I once saw a man's entire life unravel as he lied to his wife."
He looked at her closely. "You're Heaven-Touched."
"Not like you. I do not hold a fragment. But… I am connected. A vessel of warning, not war."
The two sat in silence for a while, the shrine's bells ringing gently in the wind.
Then she said, "You're cracking."
He blinked.
She gestured toward his chest. "Wrath. It is like a nail hammered into your soul. The longer you hold it alone, the more your karma burns away."
"I'll endure it."
She reached out, and with one gentle tap of her fingers to his wrist, light pulsed between them. Golden karmic lines flowed into view, as if time paused.
"You're not meant to endure it alone."
System Alert:
[Karmic Link Detected: Shen Li – Thread of Balance Formed]
[New Trait Unlocked: Meditation Flow – Karma regeneration increased during spiritual rest]
He felt warmth enter his body, steadying the fire in his chest.
Shen Li exhaled softly.
"You don't need to become a god again," she said. "You just need to remember what made you one in the first place."
Lian Ren closed his eyes.
And for the first time since awakening, he slept… without pain.
When Lian Ren awoke, the shrine was silent. Shen Li still sat across from him, head bowed, as if in prayer.
"Did you stay there all night?" he asked.
"I watched your threads while you slept," she replied calmly. "Two nearly frayed. One tried to snap."
"You saw all that?"
"I saw too much," she admitted quietly.
He noticed her hand trembling slightly, as if the act of maintaining the karmic vision had drained her.
"You're still human," he said. "Even with your sight."
Her hand reached into her robes and pulled free a strange artifact: a small jade mask carved with celestial symbols, lined with silver feathers.
"This," she said, "keeps me human."
She offered it. "Hold it. Briefly. It'll show you what I see."
Lian Ren hesitated… then took it.
The moment his fingers touched the artifact, the Divine Echo Interface flickered violently—
[Artifact Identified: Heaven's Veil – Grade: Divine]
[Warning: Incompatible Will Detected]
[Temporary Override Granted]
His vision twisted.
Suddenly, he saw Shen Li—not as a girl, but as a blazing nexus of golden threads.
He saw himself reflected in her eyes… and recoiled.
His threads were scorched, bent, and tangled. Around his heart was a ring of molten karma—red, violent, and coiling like a beast.
Above them both, hanging in the air like a sword, were stars—glowing fragments, descending from the sky like meteors. One pulsed red. Another black. Another pale white. Each filled with… hunger.
Then came a voice. Not Shen Li's.
Something far older.
"He will awaken. And when he does, either the world kneels… or burns."
The vision snapped.
He gasped, the jade mask falling from his hand. Shen Li caught it swiftly.
"You saw it too," she said softly. "The descent of the Fragments."
He nodded slowly. "They're returning."
"Some already have. One attacked a monastery in the east—three hundred monks, burned to ash. It wasn't mortal cultivation. It was divine rage."
He clenched his fists. "So it begins."
Shen Li replaced her mask. "You can still turn back. Fade into a quiet life. Let the others fight."
"No," he said simply. "If I don't rise, who will stop them?"
There was no arrogance in his voice—only grim knowing.
She bowed her head slightly. "Then allow me to help you walk the line between light and ruin."
A wind picked up, and distant thunder rumbled across the mountains.
The sky above Jade Hollow shimmered faintly—another fragment had fallen.
They both looked up.
Another Heaven-Touched had awakened.
Later that day, pilgrims began arriving at the Jade Hollow Shrine—peasants, wandering monks, and even a few disciples from small sects. Word of Lian Ren's strange presence had spread, like wildfire carried by the wind.
Some called him a demon in mortal skin. Others whispered the return of a God of Judgment.
Shen Li sat quietly beside the stone steps, blind eyes closed, mask resting in her lap. Lian Ren leaned against the archway, his hood drawn.
He watched a young child approach, her clothes torn. She offered him a crushed flower.
"My papa said you saved a village," she said. "Are you the Sky Spirit?"
He looked down at her, stunned silent. "No… I'm not."
"But you glowed," she said with a giggle, then ran off.
Shen Li murmured, "Children see truth without fear. You should listen."
A traveler nearby bowed low. "Sage, please, bless my son. He cannot speak."
"I'm not a sage," Lian Ren said firmly. "And I don't bless people."
But the man wouldn't rise. "Please. They say you touched the Heavens."
Shen Li stood and intervened, placing her hand gently on the man's shoulder. "Kneel not before echoes. Your son's thread is not broken—only tangled. Speak to him with kindness. That will unravel it faster than power."
The man wept and thanked her.
When he left, Lian Ren turned to her. "Why help them?"
She tilted her head. "Because the Fragments are watching. And if we fail to act as humans… we become what we once were."
He fell silent.
From the woods below, black-cloaked figures watched. The emblem on their robes: a broken circle.
Order of Severance.
"They're here," Shen Li whispered.
"I know."
They didn't attack. Not yet. But their presence was a message.
The world had begun to fear the Heaven-Touched.
That night, as they prepared to leave the shrine, Shen Li asked him one final question.
"If the fragments of yourself become monsters… will you kill them?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "Only if they leave me no choice."
She nodded solemnly. "Then I'll walk beside you until that choice comes."
He turned toward the mountain pass—toward the next falling light.
Behind him, the shrine bells rang softly in the wind.
The Age of Heaven-Touched had begun.
The dawn broke cold and gray over the Mistwood Sect's training grounds. Thin fog curled like ghostly fingers among ancient pines, the scent of damp earth thick in the air. Lian Ren stood at the edge of the courtyard, watching as disciples sparred and practiced their elemental Qi.
Though his cultivation base was still low compared to most sect members, his presence radiated a subtle, unshakable calm that drew attention.
From the shadows, whispers swirled. "That boy… he's different."
"Have you seen how the birds flee when he moves?"
"But also, how the plants lean toward him as if drawn by unseen hands."
The Order of Severance was not idle. Their spies moved quietly through the sect's ranks, sowing suspicion and fear.
Lian Ren knew it was only a matter of time.
A sudden, sharp clang echoed as a group of black-robed figures stormed through the sect's eastern gate, weapons gleaming like obsidian in the pale light.
"Order of Severance!" the crowd gasped.
Shen Li was at his side instantly, her blind eyes narrowing. "They come for you."
Lian Ren stepped forward, voice steady. "Stand down. This is sacred ground."
The leader, a tall man with a scar across his face, sneered. "Sacred? This ground harbors a blight—the Heaven-Touched demon who defiles our world."
"Lies," Lian Ren said coldly, "I protect this sect and its people."
The Severance attacked without warning.
Steel clashed, sparks flew. Sect disciples scrambled to defend their home, but the Order's combatants moved with deadly precision, fueled by fanatic zeal.
Lian Ren weaved through the fray, his body moving with fluid grace. With a single palm strike—Heaven's Breath Palm—a wave of energy surged forward, knocking back enemies and shattering weapons. The cost was steep, draining a sliver of his lifespan, but it was necessary.
Sect elders rushed to his side, eyes wide in shock. Some bowed, others regarded him with wary suspicion.
"You wield divine power," Elder Wei whispered. "But at what price?"
Lian Ren met their gazes evenly. "The price of protecting the innocent."
The Order withdrew, but not before casting a curse: "You will bring ruin to this sect."
Word spread fast. Fear and doubt seeped into the hearts of the sect's disciples. Whispers turned into murmurs of distrust. Some saw him as a savior, others as a harbinger of doom.
Lian Ren retreated to the inner sanctum, where Shen Li awaited.
"They fear what they do not understand," she said softly.
"And they are right to fear," he admitted. "The fragments of divinity in me are not all pure."
Shen Li placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then we must purify them—before they consume you."
Outside, the sect's banners fluttered against a brewing storm. The Age of the Heaven-Touched was no longer a secret.
It was a war.