Morning mist curled around the stone pillars of Stormwind Sect like ghostly fingers. Disciples bustled through the outer halls, gossiping, laughing, training—completely unaware that something had changed overnight.
Deep within the forested edge of the sect's boundary, Tianzhan stood shirtless beneath a waterfall, the freezing cascade pounding his back like steel rods. His eyes were closed. His breathing, steady.
The spiritual seal on his body had cracked, but it hadn't shattered. His cultivation was still far below what he once wielded—but the immortal soul within him didn't need years to relearn what took others lifetimes.
Beneath the waterfall, he meditated.
Then the memories came—visions of forgotten realms, bloodstained battlefields, and divine techniques etched into the void of time itself.
He clenched his fist.
"The Void-Eater Meridian Art… long forbidden. So potent, it was erased from the Heavenly Archives. Yet it was mine."
He slammed his palm into the water's surface.
Boom!
A pillar of water exploded upward, ripping the flow in half for an instant. Birds scattered from the treetops. The rocks beneath his feet cracked.
"Still rusty. But it'll do."
Hours later, he returned to the outer sect training hall—his presence barely noticed, his name still a joke.
"Hey, isn't that the trash that fainted yesterday?" one disciple whispered.
"He's still alive? Didn't Bai Wei say he was done for?"
Tianzhan didn't look at them. He walked straight to the sparring grounds, where groups of disciples were lined up in formation. Bai Wei stood at the front, surrounded by followers. His smirk widened when he saw him.
"Well, well. Like a cockroach crawling back from the grave."
Tianzhan stepped forward, eyes calm.
"I want to spar."
The laughter was instant.
"Are you serious?" Bai Wei chuckled. "You've never even opened your first meridian. You think you can stand against—"
"You poisoned me."
Bai Wei blinked. "What did you just say?"
Tianzhan's gaze turned cold.
"You think I wouldn't notice the toxin laced in my food? Crude. Weak. You should've used something designed for immortals."
A flicker of unease passed through Bai Wei's eyes.
But he waved it off.
"Fine. You want to spar? I'll give you one move. That's all you'll need before you're on your knees again."
They entered the ring.
The disciples cheered—expecting another beatdown.
Bai Wei charged first, his fist blazing with low-tier flame energy.
Tianzhan stood still.
"Void-Eater Meridian Art: First Breath."
The air around him twisted.
The moment Bai Wei's punch landed—Tianzhan caught it with one hand.
Then, like draining a river, Bai Wei's spiritual energy flowed out of him, spiraling into Tianzhan's palm like black smoke
Bai Wei screamed. He tried to pull away—failed.
Tianzhan stepped forward, eyes glowing with golden light.
Boom!
With a single palm strike to the chest, Bai Wei was launched out of the ring—crashing through three stone pillars before skidding to a halt, unconscious and twitching.
Silence.
Dead silence
Dozens of disciples stared, mouths open. No one moved.
Tianzhan exhaled softly. The golden light faded.
"Trash?" He looked up, his voice steady and sharp.
"Then what does that make you?"