The bridge shimmered beneath their feet—each step across the starlit path made Jin Long feel as if the universe itself watched. Above, constellations twisted into unfamiliar patterns. Below, an endless void breathed softly, like the lungs of creation exhaling secrets.
As they crossed the threshold, the Library of Ten Thousand Stars unfolded before them.
It was colossal.
Towering pillars carved from crystallized light held up a dome of galaxies. Shelves stretched for miles, not along walls—but in orbit, suspended in gravity-defying spirals. Books floated gently between shelves, glowing softly with ancient energy. Some tomes whispered in languages long dead; others flickered with living runes that reacted to presence.
"This place…" Yue Lan whispered, her voice reverent. "It defies logic."
"No," Jin Long said. "It is logic… and chaos. Balanced."
Suddenly, a voice echoed across the great hall.
"You have come seeking answers, wielder of the Genesis Core."
They turned to see a figure descend from the ceiling of stars—an old man cloaked in robes that shimmered like eventide. His eyes were galaxies, swirling with time.
"I am the Archivist," he said. "Keeper of this domain. Reader of fates. Witness to the fall and rise of all things."
Jin Long stepped forward, cautious but unafraid. "Then tell me—what is the Genesis Core? Truly."
The Archivist's eyes narrowed. "A seed of the First Spark. The fragment of Origin. It is both a gift… and a curse."
He gestured, and a tome floated toward them. It opened on its own, revealing illustrations of vast beings—titans of creation and destruction, birthing galaxies with their breath and tearing them apart with their rage.
"The Core," the Archivist continued, "was created by the Primordials to balance the Void. But over time, it drew the attention of… hungrier things."
"Zhan Wuhen," Yue Lan said.
The Archivist nodded. "He is a voidborne. A creature of negation. And he is not alone."
He snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, the stars above shifted—and a vision appeared: seven dark thrones scattered across the galaxy, each bearing a powerful entity, cloaked in shadow.
"The Void Sovereigns. Zhan Wuhen is merely the first of them. The Core calls to all of them. And they will come, one by one."
Jin Long clenched his fists. "Then tell me how to stop them."
The Archivist studied him. "That answer lies deeper. Within the Forbidden Stacks."
"Let us through."
"You may go," the Archivist said, "but be warned. Knowledge demands sacrifice. To learn what must be learned… you must give up something precious."
Jin Long hesitated.
"What would I lose?"
The Archivist did not answer. Instead, the floor beneath them split, revealing a staircase descending into a swirling abyss of silver mist.
"The truth," he said, "awaits below."
---
Far away, Zhan Wuhen stared into the remains of a collapsing star, a grin forming across his face.
"He's entered the library," he said, amused. "Perfect. Let him awaken it. Let him unlock the door that even the Primordials feared to open…"
He turned to his lieutenants—figures clad in ruin, faces unseen.
"It's time we prepared for war."