Part 1 – A Step Toward the Abyss of Darkness
The morning sky remained gray as Ye Tian stepped onto cracked stone, marking his entrance into the forbidden territory—Black Bone Valley, a place spoken of only in whispers by wandering cultivators who survived its nightmares.
There was no life here. No birds, no wind. Only a choking silence and the sharp scent of metal that hung heavy in the air.
Yet to Ye Tian, silence was the most honest companion.
He walked slowly along the rocky path, where ancient bones of primordial beasts jutted from the ground like fossilized regrets. Each bone seemed to echo with screams from the past. And beneath his feet, the earth pulsed… as if the heart of the world held secrets it refused to bury.
"The blood curse… this place knows you."
A voice—not from the outside, but from within his mind—echoed like the distant beat of war drums.
Ye Tian stopped.
The cursed mark on his hand glowed dark red, brighter than usual. A mysterious pull drew his body toward a narrow crevice behind a large boulder. Without hesitation, he entered—his steps leading him into an underground cave unrecorded on any map.
The cave walls were coated in jet-black crystal, and the air within was filled with a thin red mist.
As he ventured deeper, the voice returned—clearer now, more... alive.
"You… who inherited the cursed blood… come forth… unite the fragments of your fate…"
Suddenly, in the center of the chamber, a floating stone altar appeared, covered in carvings of ancient symbols. Hovering above it was a fragment of blood, golden-black in hue, radiating spiritual pressure so dense the very air grew heavier.
Ye Tian's eyes widened.
"A fragment… of ancestral blood?" he whispered.
But before he could approach, the cave walls rumbled. From the shadows above, a monstrous being descended—a Bone Shadow Beast, its body a grotesque blend of liquid darkness and hardened bone. Its eyes glowed with piercing blue light, and each step shattered the crystal floor.
Ye Tian raised his hand. The cursed seal fully activated.
"If this is your trial, ancient blood," he said, eyes locked on the altar, "...then let me prove I am worthy of inheritance."
With a single breath, his body became shrouded in dense blood-colored aura. The shadow on his back expanded, forming the silhouette of a winged demon—the nascent form of the Eternal Shadow legacy.
And so the battle began.
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Part 2 – He Who Challenges the Heavens
The beast lunged, its shadow spreading like liquid darkness that devoured light. Its roar echoed through the cave, piercing both stone and soul. The Bone Shadow Beast—guardian of the valley, only appearing when ancestral blood is summoned—opened jaws forged from bone and eternal shadow.
Ye Tian stood firm.
With a powerful stomp, he launched into the air, sending shockwaves cracking across the cave floor. His right hand formed a shadow seal, and from his back, a blood claw emerged—woven from black Qi and celestial blood essence that coiled like a dragon.
CLANG!!
Their first clash ignited the air. Shadow and blood collided, tearing at each other like wild beasts. The Bone Shadow Beast hissed, then split itself into three clones, each spitting black venom from their gaping maws.
Ye Tian narrowed his eyes. The world slowed in his vision.
Threefold Emptiness Sight—a subconscious ability born from the cursed legacy—rendered all attacks as if moving through water. He read the patterns, predicted the angles, and danced between the deadly strikes with unthinkable precision.
With a spinning motion, he kicked off the cave wall, diving like a meteor straight toward the beast's true body. His Skycurse Claw struck the vulnerable point.
BOOOOMM!!!
A spiritual explosion shattered the cave. Mist and debris scattered. From the smoke, the Bone Shadow Beast cracked—its body fracturing like glass—then dispersed into fading shadows.
But before Ye Tian could catch his breath, the beast's blood was absorbed by the altar. A golden-black light erupted, forming a magical circle that enveloped Ye Tian in a warmth… and a pain that carved through his soul.
His body trembled violently. His blood felt as if it was being rewritten.
A vision assaulted his mind.
He saw a silver-haired man standing atop a mountain of corpses, gazing at the heavens with eyes full of hatred. Behind him, thousands of winged shadow creatures knelt—and before him, the sky split in two, revealing a colossal golden eye.
"Heir of my blood… if you accept this burden… then be ready to face the heavens, the earth, and time itself…"
The voice vanished.
Ye Tian collapsed to his knees. Cold sweat soaked him, yet his eyes now glowed more fiercely. On the back of his hand, the cursed seal morphed—three intertwined blood rings emerged, marking his ascension into the first stage of the Ancestral Blood Legacy.
The surrounding aura shifted. The air grew heavier. Even the stones beneath him cracked from the pressure.
Before he could rise, a faint light flickered beyond the cave—and from the darkness, a woman appeared.
Her white hair flowed freely, face calm and cold. Her robes bore the sigil of the Eternal Snow Palace, and though her sword remained sheathed, it was still drawn.
Bai Ningxue.
"So it's true—you are here," she whispered. "You… have awakened that blood."
Ye Tian met her gaze in silence.
"If you've come to stop me," Ye Tian said, "then you're already too late."
Bai Ningxue didn't reply. She looked at the altar, then back at him—with a gaze filled with worry, shock… and something else, faint and unnamed.
"I didn't come to fight you, Ye Tian. I came to warn you. The heavens… have started to move."
And in the cave's stillness, two fates collided in silence.
Outside, the darkened skies began to tremble.
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Part 3 – The Mark That Divides Fate
The atmosphere within the cave shifted. The once-quiet spiritual aura now grew oppressive. Pebbles lifted from the ground, floating slowly as if gravity had ceased to obey mortal law. In silence, Ye Tian stood facing Bai Ningxue, her sword still undrawn.
The altar's light had faded, yet traces of ancestral blood lingered in the air—woven into the cave walls, seeping into Ye Tian's very pores.
"The heavens have started to move, you say?" Ye Tian finally spoke, his voice cold and calm—yet thunderous, like a storm restrained.
Bai Ningxue nodded slowly. "The great sects, especially the Heavenly Temple, have received a divine revelation. An ancient curse… has awakened. They call it the Return of the Eternal Shadow."
She locked eyes with him. "And they know… it's you."
Ye Tian showed no surprise. He merely closed his eyes, breathing deep. Each breath now carried Qi so dense it felt like it belonged to another realm. This power was no longer just his—it was the legacy of a forgotten, condemned ancestor.
"Let them come," he finally said. "If the heavens want to destroy one man for inheriting a bloodline they fear… then I shall raise my sword against the heavens themselves."
Bai Ningxue stared deep into his soul, then slowly lowered her blade.
"I should report you. Bring your head to the great hall and erase your name from the mortal realm," she murmured.
"But?"
"But… I can't." Her voice trembled, barely. "You're still Ye Tian—the one I knew. Though your eyes now hold a darkness that even the heavens fear to behold."
Ye Tian turned his back to her. Before leaving the cave, he spoke in a quiet yet resolute tone:
"If one day, we must face each other as enemies… then don't hesitate. Cut me down."
Bai Ningxue said nothing. But as Ye Tian walked away, she gripped her sword tighter. In her eyes, tears began to well.
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Meanwhile, far from Black Bone Valley, atop the highest peak of Heaven's Summit, ten figures in white robes sat around a jade scrying plate—reflecting the image of Ye Tian and the blood altar behind him.
"He has risen… the heir of the cursed blood," whispered one elder.
"A curse even the heavens failed to erase… now breathes again."
The oldest among them—a frail man with a beard that touched the floor—opened his eyes. His voice was weak, yet colder than winter winds:
"Unseal the Final Seal. The world shall once more be divided—between the blood of the heavens… and the shadow that never dies."
And far above… the clouds began to change color.
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