Heavenly Rebirth: The Outcast Return

Chapter 8: The Thing That Shouldn't Wake

The prison seal shattered.

Ancient chains snapped like brittle twine. Dust fell like ash as the mountain groaned. The chamber rumbled violently — as if reality itself resisted what was about to emerge.

From the cracked doorway, a skeletal hand wreathed in black lightning reached out.

Then came the voice again — hollow, ancient, and echoing from every direction at once:

“You opened the path. Now I walk it once more.”

Xuan Long stepped in front of Mei Lin, summoning his spear. The weapon pulsed with his twin flames — Devourer black and Celestial gold — but even that light flickered in the presence of what now stood before them.

A figure emerged from the prison.

Nine feet tall. Skinless, like it had been burned away by time. Its eyes were twin vortexes, and its body was wrapped in living sigils that constantly shifted across its flesh. Chains dragged behind it, some still glowing faintly with failed sealing talismans.

“What… is that?” Mei Lin whispered.

The War Immortal answered grimly.

“That’s not just a spirit. That’s The First Devourer. The one who lost control. The one the gods buried.”

Xuan Long’s breath caught in his throat.

“Then why is it waking now?”

“Because your awakening called to it. You carry its legacy. Its sin. And now… it wants it back.”

The creature lifted its head and sniffed the air like a beast.

Then it spoke again.

“Give me the Flame, boy.”

Boom.

Without waiting, the monster charged.

Xuan Long barely had time to raise his spear as the First Devourer closed the distance, swinging a fist that cracked the chamber wall behind them even as he dodged.

Xuan retaliated, thrusting his spear into the monster’s shoulder.

It pierced.

But the wound… didn’t bleed.

Instead, the creature laughed — a hollow, soulless laugh.

“Flames. Run. Hunger. Run. Burn.”

It grabbed the spear mid-shaft and hurled Xuan Long across the cavern like a ragdoll.

He crashed into a pillar, the stone crumbling beneath him. Bones groaned. Pain surged. But he stood again.

He had to.

Mei Lin unleashed her own flames, launching a dozen crimson blades toward the creature’s back. They struck — exploding in bursts of energy.

Smoke.

Then silence.

“Did that—?”

The smoke cleared.

The First Devourer turned slowly.

Untouched.

It grinned.

Then its voice echoed again.

“The gods feared me. The stars sealed me. And still I hunger.”

“Now I see… you are incomplete.”

The runes across its body began to glow as it raised both arms.

The entire cavern started collapsing.

“Run!” Xuan Long shouted, grabbing Mei Lin’s wrist.

They bolted as the ceiling fell behind them, the creature’s laughter shaking the stone.

They sprinted through the Hall of Silence, dodging falling debris and fireballs. Ancient statues crumbled. Ghostly voices screamed from the walls as old magic unraveled.

Up the spiral staircase. Past the broken altar. Through the ruined entrance gate.

The moment they crossed the threshold, Xuan Long turned and slammed his palm into the gate’s seal.

BOOM.

The symbols reignited.

The gate re-locked.

For now.

He collapsed to his knees, gasping.

Mei Lin slumped beside him, equally breathless.

“That thing…” she whispered.

“It’s not done.”

“Correct,” the War Immortal said darkly. “The seal will hold for a while, but now that it’s active again, it will gather strength. And worst of all — it’s linked to you now. It can follow your Flame.”

“So what, I just sit and wait for it to catch me?”

“No. You get stronger. Fast. Because next time, the seal won’t save you.”

Xuan Long stood slowly.

His entire body trembled — not from fear, but from fury.

“I’ve had enough of being hunted.”

He looked to the east, toward the tallest peak of the Eastern Sky Range.

Beyond it… lay the Land of Heaven’s Remnants — a place filled with ruined temples, lost techniques, and forbidden scrolls.

“The Final Path… leads through that range,” he said. “I saw it in the vision. The only place strong enough to teach me how to master the Flame completely.”

Mei Lin nodded. “Then we go.”

But before they could move, a whisper slithered into their minds.

“You burned the sky, child. The stars have noticed.”

A scroll burst into flames at Xuan Long’s side — an old talisman given to him years ago by the Grand Elder before his betrayal.

As it burned, it projected a single name into the sky:

"WANTED: XUAN LONG — CURSED BLOOD. DEAD OR SEALED."

And below it, glowing red:

REWARD: IMMORTAL ASCENSION PASS

Every bounty hunter. Every rogue cultivator. Every greedy sect.

Now knew his name.

Now knew what he carried.

And now… they were all coming.