Chapter 11: Storms That Whisper Names

The skies above Skydusk Plateau churned with divine thunder.

Ashen, still catching his breath after the Trial of Truth, stood at the eye of the storm yet untouched by rain or lightning. Around him, disciples of every level murmured in reverence or awe… but most in fear. Even the Elders' gazes wavered.

He had awakened a path no one dared speak of aloud.

A Star-Eater.

No records. No teachings. No inheritance. Only myth.

"Summon the High Council," one elder whispered.

At the fringes of the mountain, hidden in the shadow of a half-moon temple, a pair of golden eyes watched from the treetops. They shimmered with curiosity and memory.

"She found him," the fox spirit whispered, tail flicking.

Across the Eastern Heavens – Celestial Hall of Balance

Crystalline orbs shattered midair.

In a grand hall held aloft by floating jade beasts, an old man clad in starlight robes gasped.

"The Devourer is born… and the chains of fate tremble."

Ancient cultivators, emperors, and voidwalkers all felt it. The cosmos had blinked.

Meanwhile – Skydusk Temple Infirmary

Ashen lay silently as his soul recovered.

Yae sat at his side, her fingers clutched around the fan that had chosen him the one artifact no master in the sect could command.

She whispered, "You always find trouble… or does it find you?"

Ashen's breath hitched. His eyes fluttered open.

"I saw the stars… screaming," he murmured.

Yae leaned closer. "And what did they say?"

His voice was quiet.

"They called me by name."

Back in the Celestial Archives

A dusty page turned itself.

Lines written in divine ink rearranged, revealing a passage hidden for ten millennia:

"He who devours stars shall remake the heavens. He who walks with the fan shall command fate. Beware the one with two names, for he is both ruin and salvation."

A quiet voice echoed from the void.

"...Ashen... and?"

The page darkened.