---
🌌 Heaven's Eye Descends
The night sky over Sky Ascend Sect was serene, save for the occasional pulse of spiritual energy drifting like mist across the mountainous ridges. Stars glittered like divine jewels, and the silver crescent moon cast its cool glow upon the vast sect compound. In the stillness of midnight, only the occasional hoot of a spirit owl or the chirp of a flame cricket dared to disrupt the sacred silence.
Wang Wu stood atop Void Peak, the small mountain plateau that had been granted to him after his promotion to inner disciple. His black robes fluttered in the chill wind, and his hair streamed like black ink unraveling into the sky. He breathed slowly, the Void Pulse Breathing Technique operating in perfect rhythm with his own heartbeat—calm, precise, and impossibly deep.
But the air felt… wrong tonight.
Too heavy.
Too still.
Wang Wu narrowed his eyes.
He had sensed it ever since he returned from the Forbidden Archive, where he'd unearthed the legend of the First Heaven-Defying Child. The moment he read the name scrawled in golden ink—Wen Dao, the Rootless Son of the Void—his Void Qi had surged out of control. His blood burned with ancient memory, his soul shook as if echoing an unseen call, and now, hours later, the very heavens whispered.
> "You, who tread the path of the Void… have caught Heaven's gaze."
It had spoken.
He hadn't imagined it. He was sure.
Now, the sky itself began to change.
The clouds twisted unnaturally, swirling into a cyclone above the peak. The temperature dropped. The wind died. An oppressive silence fell.
Wang Wu stepped back, body tensed.
A faint crackling echoed above. Then—
BOOM!
A bolt of black lightning crashed down from the heavens, striking the stone altar at the summit. Dust exploded outward, and the ground trembled as a divine eye opened in the clouds.
It wasn't metaphorical.
A literal, massive, golden eye, vertical like a serpent's, glowing with radiant judgment, stared down from the swirling sky. It bore no iris, no pupil—only layers upon layers of gold spinning inward, like a whirlpool of law itself.
"...Heaven's Eye," Wang Wu murmured.
---
💬 Voices Across the Sect
In distant towers and secluded pavilions, cultivators jolted awake.
"What is that?"
"Did someone try to ascend?"
"No… this pressure—it's not a tribulation. It's far worse."
Elder Qin, standing atop the Eastern Watchtower, narrowed his eyes. "That… is Heaven's Eye. Not seen in ten thousand years."
At the Inner Sanctum, a veiled elder coughed violently and looked toward the eye. "Another one has inherited the Forbidden Pulse..."
In the Phoenix Blossom Palace, Lin Yue sat bolt upright in meditation. The crimson flame floating in her palm shattered.
Her eyes widened. "...Void Qi?"
---
⚡ Wang Wu Faces Judgment
Wang Wu stood alone under the celestial eye.
His sword lay at his side.
His soul ached under the sheer pressure.
It wasn't Qi. It was something higher—the law of existence itself, pressing down to examine him. Not to kill him.
Not yet.
But to judge.
> Is he a threat to Heaven's order?
A voice echoed in his mind—not like a sound, but a will.
> "You who are Rootless. You who walk the Forgotten Path. Declare your intent."
Wang Wu clenched his jaw. He felt as if the eye could see into his soul, into every scar, every cry of pain, every moment he had doubted himself.
He exhaled slowly.
"I walk the path denied to me by the heavens," he said. "I was born rootless. Given no Qi. Marked as trash. Mocked. Beaten. Cast out."
The clouds rumbled in response.
"I took what was denied. I will keep taking. I will walk the Void until even Heaven bows."
Silence.
Then—
BOOOOOOOM!
Another bolt of lightning struck, this time directly in front of Wang Wu.
But he did not flinch.
From the smoke emerged a phantom figure—a humanoid wrapped in golden chains, its face hidden by a mask of law.
It spoke with many voices, male and female, young and old.
> "Then face Heaven's Test, Wang Wu of the Rootless Void."
The phantom raised its hand.
---
⚔️ Battle Against the Phantom of Law
The figure struck first, faster than light. Wang Wu barely dodged, his Void Step activating just in time. The earth where he had stood crumbled into cosmic ash.
The phantom raised its second hand. A Chain of Heaven lashed out, wrapping around Wang Wu's arm.
He grunted as it burned his skin—not with fire, but with judgment. His memories flickered—his father, Mei, Bai Tianlong, the bandits he'd killed.
> "You seek power built on death. Your pulse flows with stolen Qi."
"It was mine to claim!" Wang Wu roared, unleashing Void Flame Break.
The black fire surged forward, eating at the chain, corroding law itself.
The phantom tilted its head. It raised a finger.
CRACK!
A gavel formed in its hand—a gavel of Heaven's Law—and it brought it down.
> "Judgment: Rejection."
Wang Wu felt his body being torn away from reality. His soul began to unravel. Void Qi screamed within him.
---
🌀 The Second Gate of Void
Just as he began to fade, a flame flickered in his heart. A black door appeared in his soul—etched with runes and blood.
> "The Second Gate of Void…"
He reached for it.
The moment he touched it, the door shattered open.
A storm of Void Concepts surged outward—images of black oceans, dying stars, and empty heavens. The phantom was engulfed.
It screamed—not in pain, but in denial.
> "This is forbidden. That which should not exist—!"
Wang Wu's body reformed, now glowing faintly with Void Authority. His eyes bled silver.
He struck with a single finger.
> Void Pulse: Soul Chain Severance.
The golden chains shattered.
The phantom collapsed, dissolving into motes of golden dust.
---
👁️ Heaven Retreats
The Eye in the Sky trembled.
> Judgment: Postponed.
With a final flash, the clouds scattered.
The Eye vanished.
Silence fell once more.
---
🌌 Aftermath
Wang Wu collapsed to one knee, panting. His body was wrecked—internally cracked bones, strained veins—but alive. His soul burned like fire, and behind his eyes, he saw things that should not be seen.
But he smiled.
"Still alive… Heaven blinks first."
---
👀 Meanwhile...
Elder Qin watched from afar. "He touched the Second Gate. That boy... is not from this world."
Lin Yue stared into the sky. "You really are him. The boy who gave me the flame that night…"
Feiyu, hidden in the shadows, whispered to her jade talisman. "He activated the Second Gate. We must report this to the Midnight Pavilion."
In the Demon Abyss, a horned figure opened his eyes. "My successor walks the path. Soon, I will be whole again."
---
📜
Wang Wu sits in silence, meditating. In his core, the Void Pulse Scripture glows brighter than ever. His cultivation had broken past the mortal limit once again.
> [Congratulations. You have unlocked Gate Two of the Void Pulse Scripture: Soul Dominion.]
[New Technique Acquired: Void Clone – Mirror of the Rootless Self.]
Wang Wu smiled.
The road ahead was still long.
But tonight, Heaven had acknowledged him—not with grace, but with fear.
---
Next: Episodes – "A Price in Blood"
Wang Wu suffers the spiritual backlash from Heaven's Eye. While recovering, a mysterious girl arrives claiming to know his true origin…