The sky had never been this silent.
No wind. No stars. No warmth. Only a stillness that pressed down on the entire Lower Realm like the final breath before a storm — but no storm came.
Instead, something else arrived.
A single point of distortion tore open above a desolate mountain valley, high in the forgotten skies. From it, **a figure fell** — slow, weightless, like time itself was unsure what to do with him.
He hit the earth without resistance.
The ground didn't shake. The skies didn't react. But for a brief, imperceptible moment, **all Dao trembled**.
The boy lay motionless.
His skin was pale, his clothes were plain, torn from a long-forgotten battle.
No spiritual energy flowed in him. No cultivation aura. Nothing.
By all appearances, he was merely a mortal… perhaps even dead.
But sealed deep within his chest — hidden beneath bone and soul — was **a mark**.
A silent golden sigil.
Not a treasure. Not a formation. Something far older, something beyond logic. A seal… so absolute, it **even sealed the memory of what had been sealed.**
---
Far beyond mortal comprehension, in the boundless cosmic layers above, **they noticed.**
**The Heavenly Dao stirred.**
An ancient voice, without tone or emotion, spoke inside the vast sky:
> "He has arrived."
**The Eternal Lord opened his eye.**
Across the eternal expanse of celestial mirrors and time threads, a blurred vision formed — a boy falling, nameless, empty.
> "That presence… again?" he whispered. "No. This must be ended."
**The God of Destruction grinned.**
From his throne in the Ashen Sea, he lifted his weapon — forged not of matter, but of annihilation itself.
> "He's back? Then it ends before it begins."
And so — without alert, without sound — they descended.
No mortal saw them.
No one sensed their presence.
Even the world itself didn't dare react.
They appeared in the sky above the valley where the boy lay. **Silent. Unseen. Deadly.**
One second passed.
Another.
Then the boy's eyelids **moved**.
His eyes opened — dull, lost, confused.
He sat up slowly, brushing dirt from his arm like a man waking from centuries of sleep.
The three supreme entities **froze**.
He didn't say anything.
He didn't even look at them.
But just the flicker of his gaze across the sky made them feel it.
**That thing… that presence… it was still there. Sleeping. But not gone.**
> *"Retreat."*
> The Eternal Lord's voice echoed.
> Without argument, **they vanished.**
Like shadows fearing a sun that had not yet risen.
---
The boy blinked again. Looked at his own hands.
He frowned.
> "Where… am I?"
His voice was quiet, dry — like someone who hadn't spoken in years.
He touched his chest, feeling the strange warmth pulsing beneath his ribs, but found no wound.
No answers.
> "What… was I doing before this?"
Nothing. No memory. Not even his name.
Just silence.
---
Nearby, hidden beneath fog and stone, a small sect village flickered into view — a forgotten outer region sect with barely any real foundation.
And yet, it was here his journey would begin.
Unaware of who he was.
Unaware of what had just tried to destroy him.
Unaware… that **his very breath had terrified the cosmos.**
---