In the heart of a silent, endless void, Xiao Tian stood still.
The blackness around him was complete, oppressive. He couldn't tell whether he was floating or grounded—until the soles of his feet finally touched something solid and cold. Beneath him was smooth stone, radiating a faint light that seemed to come from nowhere.
At the center of this darkness, a pale blue glow pulsed slowly.
It was the Core Stone.
He stared at it in silence.
Earlier—when his hand had touched the Core—this strange vision had begun.
Now, above the stone, a shimmering form remained in the air—a massive, semi-transparent hologram.
The projection was humanoid, towering over two meters tall. Its body was metallic in appearance, clad in armor that shimmered with advanced, alien technology. Its face was obscured by a helm of clear crystalline mesh, behind which several glowing eyes flickered in layered rotation.
The figure did not move. But a moment later—
A sound emerged from the hologram. It was not human.
The voice was mechanical, resonating in multiple harmonic layers as though speaking through vibrating metal. The tone was neither threatening nor welcoming—it was simply... ancient.
Yet somehow, Xiao Tian understood it.
"We are A001... And you, who are you?" "How did you access this memory archive?"
Xiao Tian froze.
He didn't know how he understood the voice. It was not a language he had ever heard before. But it resonated within him, like a half-remembered melody long buried in his soul.
"I... I don't know," he said aloud. "I just... touched the stone."
The holographic being was silent again. Then it tilted its head ever so slightly, and the light within its eyes pulsed.
"Then perhaps... this is the convergence." "You have been chosen by the resonance of the Core."
Xiao Tian felt a strange weight settle upon him. Not physical, but emotional—as though a great responsibility had just been passed down.
"This archive contains a message. A legacy. If you are ready, we will show you what came before."
Without waiting for a reply, the projection expanded. Stars emerged from the darkness. Swirling galaxies, vast nebulae, and glowing spheres of energy bloomed around him.
He stood in the center of a holographic representation of the cosmos.
"Our civilization once spanned across galaxies. We watched the stars. We studied the balance of creation. We were stewards of harmony."
Xiao Tian listened, spellbound.
"But then... came the Devourers."
Suddenly, the galaxies around him began to dim. A shadow crawled across the starmap. Spheres of light were consumed one by one by blotches of moving blackness.
"They do not conquer. They consume. They erase."
"Our homeworld was the last to fall."
The image zoomed in on a single blue planet—then exploded in silent flame.
Xiao Tian took a step back. He could feel the despair, even though it was just a projection.
"We scattered fragments of our knowledge across the universe. The Core Stones. Beacons of hope, buried in primitive worlds. Waiting."
"You... are the first to activate one."
Xiao Tian's mouth was dry. He could barely speak.
"Why me? I'm just... a boy."
"Your soul resonates with what remains of ours. That is enough."
"Now... it is time."
The being raised its hand. The light of the Core Stone intensified.
"Touch the Core again. Accept the memory. Accept the legacy."
Xiao Tian hesitated. His hand trembled.
But he stepped forward.
His fingers brushed the surface of the stone.
Instantly, a surge of energy flooded into his arm. Blue-white light raced up his right hand, snaking across his skin like living circuit patterns. It burned—not with fire, but with knowledge.
Pain. Power. Insight.
He cried out, falling to one knee. His left hand clutched his glowing right shoulder.
The light crawled up his neck, across his face, illuminating half of it with an intricate, celestial pattern.
He gasped, staring at his arm.
"You are no longer who you were," the voice said, fading. "You are the first Awakened. The bearer of our will."
The stars dimmed.
The hologram disappeared.
Xiao Tian knelt in silence, his breathing ragged.
He looked down at his glowing hand—and knew.
He could never return to who he was.
But something stirred inside him—deeper than fear, deeper than awe.
A feeling he couldn't name, yet one that pulsed in time with the energy flowing through his veins.
In his mind, images began to flicker: unfamiliar constellations, a map etched in golden light, strange glyphs dancing across a black void.
He clutched his temples as the information rushed in—a flood of data, too fast to read, too vast to fully grasp.
And yet, somewhere within, he began to understand.
Not through study. Not through words.
But through resonance.
Through the bond now forged between him and something far older than this world.
"The path ahead is uncertain," a final whisper echoed.
"But you will not walk it alone."
Xiao Tian exhaled.
He rose slowly to his feet.
The Core Stone's glow had dimmed, but it still pulsed faintly—like a heartbeat.
His.
Above him, the vision of stars lingered for a moment longer, slowly fading like morning mist. But within his mind, that constellation map remained—imprinted in light.
Somewhere among those stars, answers waited. Allies waited. Enemies perhaps, too.
But most importantly—his destiny awaited.
He turned to look behind him—expecting nothing. But now, the path he once walked felt... distant. Detached.
Forward was the only direction.
He took a deep breath and whispered to himself.
"I don't know what's waiting out there... but I will find the truth."
His voice did not echo. But in his heart, it resonated.
He looked toward the invisible sky above, where stars still danced in the recesses of memory, and clenched his fist tightly.
Whatever had begun with the Core Stone… was only the first page of a much greater journey.
And with that, Xiao Tian began to walk—one step, then another—into the darkness ahead, guided by the light now burning within him.