The sky above Yunhe City was blue. Clouds drifted slowly across it. The flow of qi in the air felt stable and pure. Cultivators walked back and forth along the streets. Some wore robes from great sects, while others sold pills and talismans at small stalls.
This was a peaceful world.
A world that believed it had long been free from evil.
However, very few people knew that behind this peace, there was one name that had been deeply buried by history. Something that had already been destroyed.
**
On the outskirts of the city, far from sects and cultivation towers, stood a dilapidated wooden hut. Inside lived a young man around eighteen years old together with an old man whose body was already covered with signs of approaching death.
The young man was named Huang Jingyuan.
He looked ordinary. Too ordinary for the cultivation world.
His qi was weak, his foundation fragile, and in the eyes of other cultivators, he was nothing more than a commoner who would never touch the peak of the Dao.
That was what naive people believed.
"Grandfather… you do not need to force yourself," Huang Jingyuan said while holding a bowl of medicine. "I can find more pills later."
The old man smiled weakly. "There is no need, young master. This body has deceived death for too long. It seems this is the end for me."
His gaze moved toward the leaking roof of the hut. Old memories surfaced in his mind. His face darkened as he recalled the events from seventeen years ago. Events he could never forget, even on the day of his death.
"Seventeen years ago… the sky was this calm as well."
Huang Jingyuan remained silent. He had heard this story many times, but every time, his chest still felt tight. He did not remember the event because he had been only a baby, but the story was told again and again. It always pulled him into that tragedy.
Twenty years ago, a sect named Heaven Devouring Sect was declared a forbidden sect. The sect master was accused of violating the rules of the righteous path. The elders were said to have allied with demons and committed unforgivable crimes. All of it was claimed to be done under the order of the Heaven Devouring Sect Patriarch.
In a single night, the sect was attacked by seven great sects and completely annihilated.
The Patriarch was killed.
The elders were slaughtered.
Teachers were executed.
Disciples were wiped out.
Mountains and buildings were flattened.
Everything related to Heaven Devouring Sect was erased from the records of the world.
Except for one baby.
"Do you still remember what I told you when you first learned how to walk?" the old man asked softly.
The young man nodded. "That I must never say who I really am."
The old man smiled bitterly. "Correct. Because this world does not forgive the legacy of your sect. Do not use your family name, or you will be hunted by every cultivator in this world."
The old man's trembling hand reached into his clothes and pulled out a black token with the symbol of a dragon coiling around a sword.
The moment the token appeared, the air inside the hut grew heavy.
Qi trembled.
"This is the only thing left of Heaven Devouring Sect," the old man said. "I protected you not so that you could live long, but so that you could live long enough to reach today."
Huang Jingyuan felt his heart beat faster. For some reason, when he looked at the token, something deep inside him felt very close to it.
"Grandfather… what do you mean?"
The old man stared straight at Huang Jingyuan.
He coughed violently, blood staining his lips. Huang Jingyuan tried to help, but the old man stopped him. "No need. I have no time left."
His hand pushed the token into Huang Jingyuan's palm. The moment it touched his body, something strange entered him. He felt calmness, anger, hatred, and nostalgia all at once. A mixture that was difficult to describe.
"I can no longer protect you. From now on, you must walk with your own legs. My task is finished."
The old man smiled faintly. He felt satisfied for having protected Huang Jingyuan for seventeen years. Huang Jingyuan was now old enough to live on his own.
Huang Jingyuan held the old man's hand tightly. "Grandfather, wait a little longer. I will get pills to cure you."
The old man shook his head. "I already told you that I have no time left. There is nothing you can do anymore. This is the end for me, but I have one message for you." He smiled meaningfully at Huang Jingyuan. "Revive the Heaven Devouring Sect."
The old man's smile slowly faded, became empty, and finally stiff. His body, once warm, gradually turned cold. Tears began to fall from Huang Jingyuan's eyes. He had held himself together until now, but his emotions collapsed when he realized that the only person he knew had left him.
Those words became his last.
Huang Jingyuan froze. He clenched his fists so hard that blood dripped from his palms. He took a deep breath and slowly nodded.
"I will revive the Heaven Devouring Sect as you wish. I swear it," Huang Jingyuan said with a serious expression.
Traaang!
A sound like something shattering echoed out. Huang Jingyuan turned his head, but nothing had changed inside the hut.
At the same time, another strange sound suddenly appeared.
[DING]
[System Detected Initializing]
…
[GACHA LORD SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
Huang Jingyuan's eyes widened.
"What… is this?"