The silence of the Lower Realms had fractured. It was not war that spread through its veins, nor rebellion. It was fear—a quiet, choking dread that followed the whispers of one name: Li Xuan.
Within the deepest void of the Celestial Bone Grotto, Li Xuan sat cross-legged upon a lotus platform of black crystal, suspended above an endless abyss. Behind him, the obsidian veil of karma twisted and writhed, feeding into the pitch-black flower blooming at his spine. It was the embryonic form of the Black Lotus Domain, an internal manifestation of karmic sovereignty.
A billion lives had fallen for its awakening. A billion more would die for its maturation.
In the realms beyond, seven generals carried out his will. Their hands bled with the destruction of sects, clans, and bloodlines that dared harbor unbalanced karma. The Forty-Nine Elites, each chosen by divine fate and absolute submission, scoured the million supporting realms. They gathered treasures, heretical scriptures, fallen laws, and life-bound artifacts—all fed to the Black Lotus Auction House that Li Xuan controlled from the shadows.
But it was not enough.
He could feel it. His soul. It trembled beneath the weight of the Voidheart Enlightenment Sutra.
The forbidden mind cultivation art was no longer just pain. It had become a paradox—each success brought knowledge that made further cultivation more unbearable. His sea of consciousness boiled endlessly, shards of his past reincarnations surfacing to scream in agony before shattering against karmic tides.
He did not blink.
He did not move.
Because if he did, he would die.
Time had lost all meaning.
Inside his soul, the auction system throbbed. It was no longer merely a tool. It had merged with his karmic soul, becoming an immortal furnace for manipulation, exchange, and omniscient transaction.
"One billion karma units transferred from Realm Cluster 2301-Gray-Dusk. Authorization: General Yue Lin," the cold system voice echoed.
"Accept. Convert into insight."
The pain pierced his brain like a heavenly nail.
He screamed.
No sound came out.
Instead, the black lotus behind him bloomed another petal. Ten now. Each petal represented an epoch of karmic understanding, an entire cosmos' worth of sin, virtue, deceit, regret, blood, and sacrifice.
He opened his eyes. They were no longer eyes but whirlpools of revolving karma. The abyss stared back.
"Bring me the blood of the Seven Virtuous Sovereigns," he said.
---
In the capital city of the Upper Low Realm, turmoil spread. The Seven Virtuous Sovereigns were righteous paragons, revered as uncorrupted leaders untouched by war or greed. And now, one had been killed. His body was discovered impaled atop a mountain of gold and ash. A karmic sigil burned on his chest: a single lotus petal.
Li Xuan had sent no assassin.
He had simply adjusted the strings of karmic consequence. A hundred debts owed. A thousand sins hidden beneath good deeds. When weighed properly, reality obeyed.
The second sovereign died a week later. Poisoned by a lover long thought dead.
The third drowned in his own dreams.
None suspected Li Xuan.
None even knew he was present.
But his name grew in the dreams of prophets, in the bloodied scrawls of dying sages, and in the crying of newborns whose fate had already been bought and sold.
---
Back in the Celestial Bone Grotto, Li Xuan stepped down from the lotus.
"Open the hidden vaults," he said. "All of them."
The Black Auction System responded. Dimensions shifted. Realities bled. Thousands of hidden stores of divine artifacts, primordial pills, and heavenly laws were absorbed into the lotus domain.
Li Xuan now had the resources of an empire.
He still did not smile.
He had seen the future in glimpses.
In one, he stood atop the ashes of all Lower Realms.
In another, he sat alone, surrounded by empty karma.
In a third, he was devoured by a woman whose existence twisted even fate.
He had to be stronger.
"Prepare a false auction. Let the generals handle it. Spread word of an immortal treasure," he ordered.
"Which one, Master?"
"The Soul-Thorn Compass. Leak its presence to the Serpent Cult and Crimson Heavens. Let them bleed. Let them buy. Let them suffer."
The system accepted the command.
Far across the realms, false rumors ignited wars. Billions rushed to die for an illusion. And in the center of it all, karma shifted in Li Xuan's favor.
---
As night fell, Li Xuan sat alone.
He had not spoken to another soul in years. He had no friends. No lovers. Not even his most loyal generals had seen his true face.
He didn't need them.
The lotus behind him bloomed fully.
Eleven petals.
One final petal remained.
To achieve it, the entire Lower Realms would have to vanish.
And Li Xuan would press the auction hammer himself.
He would trade their existence for understanding.
The Black Lotus Domain would be whole.
And from there, the God Realms would shudder.
To be continued...