Chapter 10 – The Echo of the Void
The cavern was pitch black, as if swallowed by an abyss.
Sitting cross-legged on a stone slab, Shen Mu had become as still as stone himself.
No heartbeat. No breath.
Only… presence.
All around him, his Inner World had changed.
The sky had opened into a ring of darkness.
And at the center of that darkness… a single black star shone.
It was the Seed.
Beating slowly, with each pulse of his will.
Shen Mu closed his eyes.
[Connecting to karmic core]
Memory fragment: accessible
Warning: identity unknown. Mental resistance required.
He hesitated.
Then accepted.
A vision exploded in his mind.
A field of ruins.
Broken planets drifting in a red sky.
The corpses of Immortals.
And at the center—himself.
But… not him.
This man wore black robes veined with gold,
and his gaze alone could erase stars.
He reached toward an entire world.
And that world… vanished.
Not destroyed.
Forgotten.
_"That's not me.
_I can't be… that."
But a voice whispered, from within his own heart:
_"You were."
_"You will be again."
_"But only if you choose to be."
Shen Mu opened his eyes.
He saw his reflection in the black water of the cavern.
Calm.
Ruthless.
But deep in his pupils, something remained.
Something even the Void hadn't erased: a spark of humanity.
He clenched his fist.
_"I don't want to rule."
_"I don't want to be saved."
_"I want… to understand."
A black aura rose from his back, like a cloak of shadow.
The system pulsed.
[Latent function unlocked: Sealed Memory (Level 1)]
You are the heir to a forsaken throne.
Only your ascension can awaken its origin.
He emerged from his meditation.
A messenger waited at the entrance of the cavern.
The disciple knelt, trembling, without knowing why.
_"M-Master, the sect has received a mission… extermination of a bandit lair.
_They've been slaughtering families in the mountains.
_The elder said: Send the one who fears nothing."
Shen Mu stood.
His steps made no sound.
Even the light hesitated to follow.
_"Very well.
_I will teach them the price of sound."