Chapter 4: The Whispering Void

Night fell on the Azure Lotus Sect, but Li Yan did not sleep. His mind lingered with the voice he had heard during meditation. It was distant, like an echo from the depths of a vast chasm, yet it stirred something within him—a long-forgotten memory or a hidden truth waiting to be uncovered.

Deciding to find out what it meant, he sat in a lotus position and stilled his breath. The golden energy inside him throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and as he let go into its flow, the world around him dissolved.

He was suspended in an infinite emptiness, a place that was inviolate to shadow or light. Yet in the emptiness, he felt something watching him. And then once more the whisper.

*"Remember…"

The term slid through his brain, and a shiver ran down his spine. Visions appeared in front of him—broken visions of giant palaces, wars in the sky, and a figure at the center of it all. A figure draped in golden light…

And then, the void collapsed. Li Yan gasped as he was yanked back to reality, cold sweat dripping from his brow. His breath came in ragged gulps, and his limbs trembled with lingering power.

What. was that? he whispered.

He was not able to think anymore, for someone knocked at his door. He geared himself up and opened the door to see Luo Qing, whose eyes sparkled. "Master Shen summons you to the Inner Sanctum."

Li Yan nodded, trailing behind her along the quiet corridor of the sect. The Inner Sanctum was a location where merely senior disciples and elders could enter. The fact that he was being summoned so hurriedly only worked to add to the sense of mystery.

The sanctum was a grand hall adorned with celestial murals, the air heavy with the fragrance of incense smoke. Master Shen and Elder Jian were standing before a graceful altar, their faces inscrutable.

"You did feel something when you meditated, didn't you?" Elder Jian's voice was quiet but piercing.

Li Yan paused, then nodded. "A voice. And visions. They felt. ancient."

Master Shen exchanged a glance with Elder Jian. "Your strength doesn't belong in this world," he stated. "It's something else—something beyond normal cultivation.".

Elder Jian moved forward. "The sect has a forbidden archive. Few are allowed access. We suspect the key to your power lies within."

Li Yan's eyes widened in surprise. "You would let me in?"

Master Shen's eyes pierced through him. "If you agree, you have to be ready for the truth, whatever it may tell.

Li Yan clenched his fists, determination surging in his heart. "I accept.".

Elder Jian nodded. "Then your way is perilous. The truth most usually comes with a high price.".

As the doors of the sanctum shut behind him, Li Yan was aware that his quest had just started—and that the mysteries of the past were hardly interred.

---

Luo Qing took Li Yan further into the sanctum, beyond halls lined with yellowing scrolls and tarnished portraits of warriors long dead. There was a sense of history weighing on him, as if the walls themselves retained the residual wills of those who preceded them.

You do not know yet what you have gotten yourself into," Luo Qing murmured. "The forbidden archive is not just an information archive. It's a test.".

A test?" Li Yan echoed.

She nodded. "Many who enter seeking answers never return the same."

Li Yan's resolve did not falter. "Then it is a trial I must endure."

They arrived at a heavy iron door with ancient runes inscribed on it. Master Shen raised his hand, and the runes glowed with a soft blue light. The door creaked open, revealing a huge chamber with long rows of tall shelves, each of which was lined with scrolls that possessed a gentle magical aura about them.

In the middle of the room was a single pedestal and on it rested a jade tablet. It glowed with an eerie light, such as Li Yan had never seen.

This is the Tablet of Lost Origins," said Elder Jian. "It is said to hold remnants of knowledge from the ancient time of immortals.".

Li Yan moved forward. As soon as his fingertips touched the jade surface, he was overwhelmed by a surge of energy that pulled his consciousness into yet another vision.

He stood on a battlefield beneath a sky rent asunder by heavenly fire. Soldiers in golden armor clashed with monstrous beings that seemed to have an aura of pure devastation surrounding them. Over them all towered a giant covered in black fire, its eyes burning with hatred.

Amidst the tumult, a figure towered, holding a shining spear. The presence of the figure was crushing, as if the universe itself deferred to him. When the warrior turned, Li Yan's breath stopped in his throat.

It was he. Not some individual who looked like him—*him*. A wave of pain returned him to his body, and he gasped as he fell onto the floor of the archive. Master Shen and Elder Jian observed him with interest. "What did you see?" Master Shen asked. Li Yan's hands shook. "A war… a fight beyond imagination. And a man… who was myself." There was a silence in the air until Elder Jian finally spoke. "Then the past is calling to you. And you must be ready to answer." Li Yan's journey had gone another way.

The truth of his past life remained just beyond his grasp, and with it, the path he was supposed to walk.