Xu Tianyin stood at the edge of a quiet lake, his reflection rippling in the water. The bruises on his body had darkened, his limbs stiff from the relentless training. He could feel the pain in every movement, but now, it was no longer just pain—it was something alive.
He had begun to understand.
Pain was not his enemy. It was a teacher, a force that shaped him. The world had cast him aside, had rejected him as a mistake, but he was still here. Still standing.
He exhaled, looking up at the sky.
Bai Yeming had left him alone today. He knew it was a test. She had given him guidance, but now, he had to forge his own path forward.
His fingers curled into fists.
The world knew his name. Xu Tianyin. A name marked by shame, spoken only in hushed voices by those who feared or despised him. He had been the mistake, the failure—the one who should not exist.
But names could change.
He closed his eyes and let himself listen.
The steady rhythm of his heartbeat. The weight of every scar, every wound. The silent hum of his own existence pressing against the void itself.
His name had once been a burden.
Perhaps now, it could be his weapon.
A breeze swept over the lake, disturbing the water's surface. Xu Tianyin's eyes opened. His reflection was distorted, shifting—almost as if something unseen lurked beneath it.
And then he heard it.
A whisper, too faint to be real.
His pulse quickened.
He turned sharply, scanning the trees, the sky, the earth beneath him.
Nothing.
But the feeling did not fade.
He was being watched.
His muscles tensed, instinct warning him before his mind could. A presence—something he could not yet see.
Then—movement.
A flicker in the trees, a shape shifting between the shadows.
Xu Tianyin did not hesitate.
He moved, his body screaming in protest, but he had already learned to push past pain. The moment his feet hit the ground, he felt the pulse of the earth beneath him, the sensation of the void pressing at the edges of his awareness.
Another flicker—then silence.
Whoever it was, they were gone.
But they had been there.
Xu Tianyin's grip tightened. He had spent his life being hunted, but something about this presence was different.
Not an enemy.
Not a friend.
Something else entirely.
His breathing steadied. Whatever it was, it had not struck yet. That meant he still had time.
Time to grow stronger.
Time to claim his path.
He turned back to the water. His reflection had settled, but his gaze remained sharp.
He was not the weak child who had once been cast aside.
And if the world thought they could still hunt him like a nameless mistake—
They would soon learn otherwise.