Pain.
It gnawed at every bone, pulsed with every heartbeat, scorched with every breath.
Gu Yue Fangtian sat cross-legged within the cave's heart, the ring of Rerum glowing faintly around his finger. The symbols on the cavern walls pulsed like the rhythm of a forgotten god's breath. The essence of spirit energy poured into his battered body—violent, unforgiving.
Muscles tore. Bones cracked. His veins turned to fire.
He screamed—but no sound came. His throat had given up long ago.
Yet still, he endured.
Because pain was no longer an enemy. It was home.
Because weakness was no longer a wound. It was death.
The boy who had run, who had sobbed, who had watched his mother's ruin—he was no more.
The cave trembled. The air twisted.
And with one final surge of burning agony, he broke through.
Rank 1 – Rana Initiate.
The first gate had opened.
His body lit with ghostly runes, the ring's power coiling around his soul like a dragon claiming its heir.
A whisper passed through the silence:
"You have stepped onto the Path of Ascension. The heavens have turned their gaze upon you, Gu Yue Fangtian."
He opened his eyes. They burned with a red hue, glowing softly in the cave's darkness. Gone were the eyes of a boy. These were the eyes of one reborn—not by kindness, but by cruelty.
Two Days Later
He returned.
To Qingxuan Village.
Not as a child.
Not as prey.
But as a storm.
Lu Zhong was drunk again, staggering outside his tea house, humming a vulgar tune.
He didn't even recognize the boy standing before him.
Until Fangtian's fist shattered his jaw.
Bones crunched. Teeth flew.
Lu Zhong collapsed with a howl of agony—but Fangtian was not done.
No… this was not revenge. This was punishment.
He dragged him behind the hut, bound his limbs with spiritual thread, and began.
Strike. Burn. Crush.
He shattered fingers.
He peeled skin.
He seared his eyes.
Lu Zhong screamed for death—but none came.
"You killed my mother," Fangtian whispered coldly. "You ended her light. So I will end your world."
"You fed on our poverty. So now—you will starve in hell."
Hours passed.
By dawn, Lu Zhong was nothing more than twitching meat—still alive, but broken beyond recognition.
Fangtian lit the hut with his own hands. Watched it burn.
But vengeance was never without a price.
Because Lu Zhen, the shopkeeper's son—a Rank 2 Cultivator from the outer sect—arrived at the sound of smoke.
And he knew exactly what had happened.
"You lowly trash!" Lu Zhen roared. "You dare?!"
Fangtian turned slowly. "You're just like your father."
"You'll die for this!"
The battle was one-sided.
Lu Zhen's spiritual aura crushed down like a mountain. Fangtian fought—ruthless, fast, brutal—but his cultivation was too low.
A palm strike to his ribs sent him flying through the trees. A blade cut deep into his side.
"Kneel!" Lu Zhen shouted.
Fangtian coughed blood. Still standing.
"Beg!"
Another strike—this one to the chest.
He fell to his knees.
But not in surrender.
In defiance.
Blood dripping down his mouth, he looked up, eyes burning with crimson resolve.
"I… won't cry."
"Not again."
"Not for pain. Not for loss. Not for you."
"I swear on my name—Gu Yue Fangtian—from this moment forward..."
"I shall know no fear."
"I shall know no tears."
"I shall become a demon, not to torment the weak—but to tear down the strong."
"No regrets. No emotions. No weakness. No death."
"Only vengeance. Only power. Only eternity."
He turned and ran—wounded, broken again—but alive.
The forest swallowed him.
Hours Later
The sun had set. Blood loss had turned the world gray. Every step felt like death's embrace.
He collapsed—at the edge of a mountain stream—unconscious, soul flickering.
She found him.
A girl in flowing robes the color of falling snow. Skin pale as moonlight. A faint, glowing sigil on her forehead—a divine lotus.
Her eyes were ethereal, calm as still water, yet filled with hidden sorrow.
She knelt beside him, fingers glowing with healing light.
"Even in death… he clings to life."
She touched his chest.
"The fire inside you is not mortal."
The ring pulsed once. She gasped.
"Rerum..."
She carried him, slowly, to her hidden sanctuary.
She did not yet know who he was. What he would become. But something inside whispered:
"This one… will change everything."