Night covered Starfall City.
Most cultivators were still discussing the shocking announcement regarding the Ancient Star Vault.
Some dreamed of inheritances.
Others dreamed of fame.
Many dreamed of becoming legends.
⸻
Kael dreamed of none of those things.
⸻
He stood alone atop a rooftop.
Looking toward the golden symbol floating above his palm.
The invitation left behind by the masked Origin Bearer.
⸻
Ever since the announcement—
The symbol had become increasingly active.
⸻
The Origin Core pulsed softly.
Responding.
Calling.
Guiding.
⸻
Then—
The symbol suddenly brightened.
⸻
BOOM.
⸻
A beam of golden light shot toward the northern mountains.
⸻
Kael's eyes narrowed.
⸻
"It's time."
⸻
Without hesitation—
He activated Origin Flash.
⸻
Golden light streaked across the city.
⸻
Far behind him—
Lyra slowly opened her eyes inside her cultivation chamber.
⸻
She felt it.
⸻
Origin energy.
⸻
Strong Origin energy.
⸻
"…Kael."
⸻
Meanwhile—
Another figure felt it as well.
⸻
The masked Origin Bearer.
⸻
Standing atop a distant mountain.
⸻
His lips curled into a faint smile.
⸻
"You found the path."
⸻
Hours later—
Kael arrived deep within a forgotten mountain range.
⸻
Ancient cliffs surrounded the region.
Dense fog covered everything.
⸻
No beasts.
No cultivators.
No sounds.
⸻
Only silence.
⸻
The golden symbol floated from his hand.
⸻
Then stopped before a cliff wall.
⸻
The mountain trembled.
⸻
BOOOOOM!
⸻
Ancient runes illuminated across the stone.
⸻
A hidden entrance appeared.
⸻
An Origin ruin.
⸻
Older than the Hall of Echoes.
⸻
Much older.
⸻
Kael stepped inside.
⸻
The entrance sealed behind him.
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Darkness.
⸻
Absolute darkness.
⸻
Then—
Thousands of golden stars illuminated the chamber.
⸻
The sight stole his breath.
⸻
An enormous underground world appeared.
⸻
Ancient bridges.
Floating islands.
Golden rivers.
Ruined temples suspended in midair.
⸻
It looked like a lost civilization.
⸻
The Origin Core began vibrating violently.
⸻
Then—
The system appeared.
⸻
[ HIDDEN LEGACY TRIAL DETECTED ]
Location:
Origin Star Sanctuary
Status:
Active
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ LEGACY TRIAL: FIRST GATE ]
Objective:
Reach the Star Temple
Restrictions:
External Assistance Forbidden
Failure:
Immediate Ejection
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⸻
Kael looked ahead.
⸻
A narrow bridge stretched across a bottomless abyss.
⸻
At the far end—
A massive golden temple floated above the darkness.
⸻
The Star Temple.
⸻
Without hesitation—
Kael moved forward.
⸻
The moment he stepped onto the bridge—
The world changed.
⸻
Pressure descended.
⸻
An enormous pressure.
⸻
It felt as if mountains rested upon his shoulders.
⸻
Kael's knees nearly buckled.
⸻
His eyes widened.
⸻
The bridge wasn't testing power.
⸻
It was testing will.
⸻
Every step became difficult.
⸻
Every breath became heavy.
⸻
The farther he walked—
The stronger the pressure became.
⸻
Memories appeared.
⸻
His life in Iron Flame Sect.
⸻
Mockery.
⸻
Humiliation.
⸻
Weakness.
⸻
Failure.
⸻
The bridge was attacking his mind.
⸻
Trying to make him stop.
⸻
Trying to make him surrender.
⸻
Kael continued walking.
⸻
One step.
⸻
Then another.
⸻
Then another.
⸻
Hours passed.
⸻
The pressure increased endlessly.
⸻
Yet he never stopped.
⸻
Because compared to everything he had endured before—
This wasn't enough.
⸻
Finally—
The Star Temple appeared before him.
⸻
The moment he touched its gates—
The pressure vanished.
⸻
Silence returned.
⸻
The massive doors slowly opened.
⸻
Inside—
A single object floated in the center.
⸻
A crystal.
⸻
Golden.
Ancient.
Radiating Origin energy.
⸻
The Legacy Fragment.
⸻
The first fragment.
⸻
Kael approached slowly.
⸻
Then—
A voice echoed through the temple.
⸻
Ancient.
Powerful.
⸻
"Candidate accepted."
⸻
The entire temple illuminated.
⸻
Golden symbols appeared across every wall.
⸻
The crystal floated toward Kael.
⸻
Then merged into his chest.
⸻
BOOOOOOM!
⸻
Origin energy exploded.
⸻
The Origin Core spun wildly.
⸻
Golden light filled the temple.
⸻
The system appeared again.
⸻
[ LEGACY FRAGMENT ACQUIRED ]
Fragment:
Star Fragment I
Compatibility:
Perfect
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED ]
Origin Star Sight
Effect:
Allows Host to perceive hidden Origin pathways, inheritances, and concealed formations.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⸻
Kael's vision changed instantly.
⸻
Golden lines appeared throughout the world.
⸻
Invisible pathways.
Hidden structures.
Ancient formations.
⸻
Things previously hidden now became visible.
⸻
Then—
The temple trembled.
⸻
BOOM.
⸻
BOOM.
⸻
BOOM.
⸻
Something else was awakening.
⸻
Far deeper within the ruins.
⸻
The atmosphere changed.
⸻
Cold.
Ancient.
Dangerous.
⸻
The system immediately reacted.
⸻
[ SYSTEM WARNING ]
Unknown Presence Detected
Threat Assessment:
Unable to Calculate
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ Emergency Recommendation ]
Leave Immediately
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⸻
Kael's eyes narrowed.
⸻
Something was approaching.
⸻
Something old.
⸻
Very old.
⸻
Then—
A pair of enormous golden eyes opened within the darkness beneath the temple.
⸻
The entire ruin shook.
⸻
And for the second time in his life—
Kael felt an existence comparable to the Void Lord.
⸻
The eyes stared directly at him.
⸻
Then the ancient being spoke.
⸻
"…Another Origin Bearer."
⸻
Silence followed.
⸻
Then—
A laugh echoed through the ruins.
⸻
A laugh filled with relief.
⸻
And sorrow.
⸻
"You are far too weak."
⸻
The giant eyes slowly closed.
⸻
"But at least…"
⸻
"…there is still hope."
⸻
BOOOOOM!
⸻
The entire ruin began collapsing.
⸻
And Kael realized—
The true Legacy Trial had only just begun.
⸻
Host: Kael Veyron
Realm:
Origin Awakening Stage 2
Title:
• The Returning Origin
Abilities:
• Origin Sense
• Origin Flash
• Origin Pulse
• Origin Perception
• Origin Resonance
• Origin Step
• Origin Severance
• Origin Star Sight
Legacy Fragments:
• Star Fragment I (1/9)
Active Quest:
[ The Second Legacy ]
Progress:
1/9 Fragments Acquired