The sky above the Skyward Monastery darkened unnaturally, the once-pristine clouds thickening into swirling obsidian. Elder Ji stepped onto the highest terrace, his face solemn. He could feel the tear in space—a breach in the firmament itself.
"The seal has weakened…" he whispered.
Inside the Inversion Core's chamber, Jin Long opened his eyes. He felt it too. The Genesis Core pulsed in warning. A presence older than time had awakened.
Yue Lan arrived breathless, her eyes wide with dread. "Something just emerged from the void. A claw—massive—ripped through a moon!"
Jin Long nodded slowly. "It wasn't just a creature. It was an Ancient."
—
Elsewhere – Void Bastion
Zhan Wuhen knelt before a colossal shadow, its face hidden behind layers of writhing mist. The clawed hand that had emerged from the pit now receded, but its voice echoed across all planes.
> "Bring me the Core, Wuhen. Or I shall devour your essence instead."
Zhan gritted his teeth. "It will be mine. The Skyward Child is powerful—but he is still young. He cannot withstand what comes next."
He rose and turned to his cultists. "Summon the Twelve Hands of Ruin. The time to fracture the balance has come."
—
Back at the Monastery
Master Lingxu, Elder Ji, Jin Long, and Yue Lan gathered within the Skyward Circle, a sacred place where energy lines of the universe intersected. The skies trembled with pressure. Birds refused to fly. Even the air seemed reluctant to move.
"We don't have time," Elder Ji said. "If an Ancient has truly awakened, the Void will spread. And the Genesis Core is like a beacon to it."
Lingxu turned to Jin. "There is a technique. Forbidden even among the Skyward Monks. It allows one to fold space—not just travel across the realm, but seal fractures in reality itself. But the price…"
"I'll pay it," Jin said, without hesitation.
Yue Lan stepped forward. "Then I will, too."
Lingxu stared at them both, then slowly nodded. "So be it. You shall learn the Path of the Astral Fold."
—
The Training of Light and Void
Jin and Yue Lan trained together, focusing on aligning their spiritual threads. The Astral Fold required complete unity—of mind, soul, and purpose. It wasn't about channeling power—it was about becoming part of the universe's weave.
Each failure resulted in spatial backlash—cuts across skin, distortions of memory, even momentary time lapses. But they endured.
By the end of the second night, they stood hand in hand beneath the Skyward Circle's central star, and opened a Fold—not to travel, but to glimpse the source of the fracture.
What they saw chilled them:
The Void Throne.
Floating in nothingness, surrounded by dying stars, a citadel of bone and shadow pulsed with ancient malice.
And at its center, not Zhan Wuhen…
…but a being of infinite eyes and a mouth stitched shut by reality itself.
—
Final Scene: Foreshadowing
Back in the monastery, Elder Ji ran his fingers across an ancient scroll. As his hand passed over an old passage, new ink formed—bleeding through the parchment.
> The Skyward Child must not become the Skyward God… or all threads shall unravel.
Ji's eyes widened.
"He's not just the key… He's the lock."