Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Gathering Storm

The sky above Falling Cloud City had turned a pale gray, but beneath that calm veil, destiny writhed like a coiled beast.

Lin Sheng had taken only a few steps on his journey, yet the ripples of his existence had begun to awaken powers that had long slumbered.

And some… were already on the move.

---

The Mountain Sect Summit

The Mountain Sect, one of the Eight Great Trial Sects of the Mortal Realm, called an emergency summit. Its ancient dome, nestled among thunder-etched peaks, echoed with tension.

Elder Wei Tianlan, his beard like falling ash, addressed the gathered figures.

> "The Celestial Qin Clan has begun sealing the city's outer formations. This is no longer a simple cultivation matter—it is war."

A younger elder frowned.

> "Over a single child? A slave from Falling Cloud?"

Wei Tianlan crushed his jade token against the stone floor.

> "He is no child. He is Lin Sheng—and the heavens have already bent once for him."

Then the Mountain Sect's Formation Master, Grandmist Yun, rose slowly.

> "The Heavenly Internal Body is real. I saw the Restart Mark during his waterfall cultivation."

A stunned silence fell over the hall.

Yun continued:

> "It reacted to time essence and reflected law sigils… this is not something we can ignore. If we do, the sect loses its right to trial cultivators forever."

The decision was made.

> Lin Sheng would be offered Guardian Status within the sect. Not as a disciple, but as a protected name—an independent flame.

---

Shadow in the Rain

While sects deliberated, assassins acted.

In the lower districts of the city, Shen Lanyou, the silent serpent of the Black Fang, appeared once more.

This time, she didn't come alone.

She brought with her the Nine-Heart Beast, a demonic creature bred from the blood of extinct serpents. With nine breathing cores, it could track spirit essence and erase memory trails.

It had only one mission:

> Hunt the Lin child. Shatter his flame. Silence the Restart.

But when it approached the cliffs of Lin Sheng's training grounds, something strange occurred.

The Nine-Heart Beast froze. Its pupils widened, not from fear… but from recognition.

It knelt.

Shen Lanyou's face turned pale.

> "Impossible… that beast only kneels to those bearing the Primordial Flame Law…"

Lin Sheng stood calmly at the edge of the cliff, steam rising from his skin as the air bent around him.

> "You brought a creature of the ancient world to face me?"

He stepped forward.

> "Then burn with the world it came from."

He raised his hand.

And the Gaternal Flame—still faint, still incomplete—rose like a solar brand behind his back.

Shen Lanyou fled without a word.

The Nine-Heart Beast... remained.

It bowed its nine heads, then vanished into the cliffs like mist.

---

The Name Remembered

Far away, in the sealed Heaven Law Sect, high in the Upper Realm's threshold temples, ancient cultivators opened a record book that had not been touched in ten thousand years.

On its first page was a name:

> Lin Tianyuan – Holder of the Gaternal Flame, Founder of the Lin Lineage, Erased by the Celestial War of Realms.

Below it, written faintly in golden ink:

> Son: Lin Sheng

Status: Forbidden. Restarted.

The Elders of Heaven Law grew silent.

One of them, Ancestor Mirror Sky, finally spoke.

> "If the boy rises… heaven itself must bend, or be broken."

---

Back in Falling Cloud

Lin Sheng returned to the city gates.

He met Mu Yanyu, who held out a new robe—white flame-stitched with silver edges.

> "You've stepped into the Soul Root Realm now," she said quietly. "Your flame resonates with law. Your eyes… they carry time."

He said nothing.

She stepped forward and looked into his eyes.

> "You don't have to face this alone."

But Lin Sheng clenched his fist.

> "If I rely on anyone now, then I'm just a shadow of who I was meant to become."

Then softer, he added:

> "But I'm grateful… that you're still here."