Xueyin.
Xueyin.
Xueyin.
The name rang through the palace, but no one saw him. The palace, so grand and filled with cultivation energy, stood in quiet majesty. Its beauty was unmatched, the flowers and walls carved with intricate designs reflecting the power of the true gods who called it home—the Snake Tribe, Bird Tribe, Dragon Tribe, Plant Tribe, and Merfolk Tribe. Their essence was woven into the very air that filled the halls, but none of it could fill the emptiness inside Xueyin.
"Xueyin," the princess's voice called again, her tone persistent, almost desperate.
Xueyin sighed, the sound escaping as though his very soul had been crushed. He had been avoiding her for days, and her calls, her constant need for his attention, grated on him. His mother's death, the painful loss that shaped everything about him, the demotion from crown prince to the Star Cycle—these things weighed heavily on his heart. So, he ignored her, choosing to keep his distance.
"I'm not deaf," Xueyin muttered under his breath, standing from his chair and making his way toward the door. "And I don't want to see anyone right now. If the princess has something important, she knows how to reach me."
His steps were firm, unwavering, as he left the area to retreat to the one place he sought solace—his special cultivation room. There, his master waited. His master, who had been with him through thick and thin, who had seen him when he was a prince, when he was demoted, and when he faced his darkest hours. The man who had taught him the secrets of the Void Element. For 999 years, Xueyin had been cultivating, preparing for a great turbulence that loomed on the horizon.
The Void Element, a rare and powerful cultivation that integrated all five elements, was Xueyin's path. Fortunately, he possessed all five elements—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—within him, making him the perfect candidate for such a cultivation. But even with such potential, there was no peace in his heart. He stayed away from anything that could sway his emotions. He refused to be attached to anyone, not even to the princess, his younger sister, who had been born after their mother's death.
Memories of his mother's passing, the betrayal surrounding her death, and the mysterious fall of the Yue family—a fall that had never truly happened, only a voluntary seclusion from the world—haunted him. The bloodline, his bloodline, was not extinct. They had chosen to hide away, to separate themselves from the world. But that truth did nothing to ease the pain in Xueyin's heart. There was a conspiracy that lay buried, and it was something he would uncover in time.
But before that, there was something he had to do.
He had to solve the mystery of his mother's death, of the events that had led to the fall of the Yue family's legacy. He had to do it before he sacrificed himself. The turbulence that was coming—it would demand everything of him. Would he be able to solve the mysteries that had haunted him for so long?