Chapter 15 — Veil of Ash and Thunder
The wind howled like a warning from the heavens as Luo Qingshen and the silver-haired girl approached the edge of a floating landmass — the Obsidian Sky Sect, suspended between crumbling clouds and crackling lightning veins. Dozens of other disciples were already gathered, eyes full of ambition and arrogance.
"This is where the Heaven-Tier Trial will take place?" the girl asked, her voice soft but cautious. Her white robes shimmered faintly, catching light from the ethereal storm that loomed above. "It doesn't look welcoming."
"It isn't," Luo said simply. He folded his hands behind his back, gaze cold and unreadable. "That's the point."
A massive black obelisk stood at the center of the levitating sect, pulsing with ancient runes. It was said that only those with a fate strong enough to defy the heavens could pass its judgment. For the others… the ground would swallow them before they even touched the threshold.
Luo's expression remained blank, but his senses were sharp. He wasn't here to prove anything. He was here because someone powerful was watching — and he needed to know who.
❖ Arrival of Rivals
A tremor rolled across the floating ground as a golden carriage, drawn by fire-winged beasts, landed near the trial platform. The air shimmered, and a young man stepped out, surrounded by eight retainers in ornate armor.
"That's Jin Wuye of the Blazing Serpent Pavilion," someone whispered. "Third-ranked prodigy in the Eastern Star List."
"He came too?! Then this trial really is attracting the top elite…"
Beside Luo, the girl's eyes narrowed. "That boy... he's dangerous."
Luo didn't answer. His attention was drawn elsewhere — a masked figure in black, standing alone on a distant platform. Even among so many powerful auras, that one radiated silence... as if the world refused to touch him.
He's not here to compete. He's here to observe.
❖ The Trial Begins
The sect elder's voice echoed through the clouds like thunder.
"Welcome, chosen ones. The Heaven-Tier Trial begins now. Survive the First Gate, and your name shall echo through the mountains. Fail… and become ash."
The obelisk pulsed. Space twisted. Runes burst into flame.
Suddenly, the skies split open — and a Heavenly Beast descended from the rift above.
It wasn't part of the trial.
It was a mistake. Or worse — a sabotage.
A colossal, winged serpent cloaked in stormfire roared as it crashed into the sect, its scales harder than divine iron, its eyes glowing with primal fury. It opened its jaws, charging a bolt of destruction aimed directly at the observing crowd.
Screams erupted. Panic scattered the gathered disciples.
But one figure didn't move.
The girl.
She stood frozen, unable to dodge — her body locked by the creature's pressure.
Luo Qingshen exhaled once.
So much for staying low.
❖ Unveiling Power
The bolt of annihilation surged toward her.
Then—
A shadow flickered.
In a single heartbeat, Luo appeared in front of her, one hand raised.
"Cover your ears," he said quietly.
A black lotus bloomed in his palm.
"[Void Origin: Calamity Bloom]."
The world went silent.
Then, light exploded.
A sphere of void-dark energy surged out, devouring the incoming bolt, the air, the wind — even sound itself. The Heavenly Beast roared in agony as one of its wings disintegrated under the weight of the forbidden technique.
The girl collapsed behind him, breathless — not from injury, but from shock.
"You— That… what was that?" she asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
Luo didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the sky.
Because above, the masked observer finally spoke — a whisper carried only to those with divine senses:
"That move… was lost when the Void God was sealed."
❖ Aftermath
The beast retreated, wounded but not dead. Elders rushed in to contain it, their faces pale — not from the beast, but from what they had just witnessed.
A trial was about testing your limits.
What Luo showed… wasn't his limit.
It was something beyond.
Now, everyone was watching him.
And somewhere, far beyond the clouds, a slumbering presence stirred — sensing the Void Origin reawakening.