Sovereign of the Nine Heavens

CHAPTER 2 — THE ETERNAL VOID SCRIPTURE

John woke to darkness that seemed determined to swallow his soul whole.

An endless void stretched in every direction without beginning or end. Ancient black chains drifted through the emptiness like dying stars, their massive surfaces covered in glowing crimson symbols that pulsed slowly like open wounds breathing in the dark.

Some chains were broken completely. Others trembled violently, as though struggling to restrain something monstrous hidden beyond sight. Far beneath the darkness, something enormous moved.

John could hear it breathing.

Each breath rolled through the void like distant thunder, ancient and hungry enough to make his chest tighten instantly. He tried to move, but his body refused to respond. A horrifying realization struck him moments later. Perhaps he no longer had a body at all. Panic surged through him.

“What is this…?” His voice echoed unnaturally across the endless darkness, returning distorted and hollow. The void offered no answer. Then the chains began to rattle.

John’s eyes widened immediately. One after another, the massive chains started pulling backward as though invisible hands were dragging them through the darkness. The entire void trembled violently while crimson light spread outward in pulsing waves. Something was coming.

Slowly, a throne emerged from the endless black. It was not carved from gold. It was not forged from jade. It was made of corpses. Thousands upon thousands of twisted remains had been fused into the shape of a massive throne. Skeletons, shattered armor, broken crowns, and enormous beast skulls formed its foundation in grotesque layers.

Some of the remains still radiated terrifying pressure. Even in death, they felt powerful enough to destroy mountains, and seated upon that throne…

…was a figure. John’s breathing slowed involuntarily.

The figure wore black robes so dark they seemed woven directly from the void itself. Long silver hair cascaded over one shoulder while pale fingers rested lazily against the armrest of the corpse throne. A woman, at least, she resembled one. Yet the aura surrounding her felt less human than the darkness itself.

Shadows drifted constantly across her face, concealing most of her features. Only her eyes remained visible. Silver is cold enough to freeze souls. Then those eyes opened. The entire void completely shook. Several floating chains shattered instantly.

John staggered backward despite standing on nothing at all. Pressure crashed into him from every direction with enough force to crush his thoughts. It felt like kneeling before an ancient god. “You lasted longer than expected,” the woman said calmly. Her voice did not travel through the air. Instead, it echoed directly inside his skull.

John instinctively clenched his fists.n“Who are you?”

The woman tilted her head slightly. “Interesting,” she murmured. “Most people scream first.”

“I asked a question.”

“And I ignored it.” John’s jaw tightened immediately. Fear crawled through every nerve in his body, yet anger still burned beneath it. That realization surprised him more than the terrifying void surrounding him.

Even before this monstrous existence, part of him still refused to kneel completely. The woman studied him silently for several moments before laughing softly. The sound was beautiful and deeply unsettling.

“You carry more hatred than fear,” she observed. “That is rare.” John forced himself to look around the endless void again. “What is this place?”

“The space within the pendant.” His eyes narrowed slightly.

“The pendant is some kind of storage artifact?”

“No.” Her silver gaze sharpened.

“It is a tomb.” Cold spread slowly down John’s spine.

Before he could respond, the floating chains suddenly trembled harder than before. A deafening roar exploded somewhere deep within the darkness. John nearly collapsed.

The sound alone felt powerful enough to tear apart his soul. “What was that?”

The woman remained silent for several seconds. Instead of answering immediately, she slowly rose from the corpse throne. The moment she stood, the void itself seemed to retreat from her presence.

“Something sleeping,” she said quietly. Her silver eyes returned to John.

“And unfortunately for you, it noticed your existence.” John took an involuntary step backward.

The woman began walking toward him slowly. Her bare feet touched nothing beneath the darkness, yet every step created ripples throughout the void. “You are weak,” she stated plainly.

John almost laughed bitterly. “I’m aware.”

“No,” she replied calmly. “You misunderstand.”

Suddenly, she stood directly before him. Her silver eyes pierced into his soul. “You are catastrophically weak.”

Pressure exploded outward instantly.

John dropped to one knee. Pain shot through his meridians like molten iron, tearing through flesh. He gritted his teeth hard enough to taste blood while his entire body trembled violently. The woman crouched slightly to meet his gaze.

“And yet…” For the first time, genuine curiosity appeared in her expression.

“…you survived contact with the Eternal Void Scripture.” John struggled to steady his breathing.

“The what?” The woman extended one pale finger toward the darkness overhead. The void split apart instantly. A massive golden scripture appeared above them. Ancient symbols burned across its enormous surface like living fire. Thick black chains wrapped around the text while crimson eyes occasionally opened between the pages before vanishing again.

The sight alone made John’s head ache violently. Every instinct in his body screamed at him not to look directly at it, yet he could not stop staring.

“What is that…?” he whispered.

“The most forbidden cultivation art ever created.” The woman’s voice grew colder.

“The Eternal Void Scripture.” The scripture pulsed once. Immediately, John felt something staring at him. Not the woman. The scripture itself. A terrible pressure settled onto his soul. Then, countless whispers erupted inside his mind: Devour, Consume, Ascend, Break heaven.

John staggered backward while clutching his head in agony. “What is happening?!”

“The scripture is judging you.” The whispers grew louder. Violent images flashed through his mind. Mountains collapsed into darkness. Immortals screamed while their bodies dissolved into black ash. Entire worlds vanished beneath enormous void storms. Then he saw a man standing above shattered heavens. Ancient black flames burned around him while countless gods knelt beneath his feet.

Slowly, the man turned, his golden-black eyes locked onto John.

John gasped sharply. The vision vanished instantly. His knees nearly gave out beneath him. Sweat covered his face. “What… was that?”

“One of its previous masters.” The woman observed him before narrowing her eyes slightly.

“Interesting.” John forced himself upright despite the lingering pressure crushing his body. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“What question?”

“Why me?” This time, the woman fell completely silent. The floating chains drifted slowly around them while distant roars echoed through the endless void. Finally, she spoke. “The heavens abandoned you long ago.”

John frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means fate discarded you before you were even born.” Her gaze sharpened dangerously.

“Your spiritual roots were shattered intentionally.”

John froze. For several seconds, he forgot how to breathe. “That’s impossible.”

“Is it?”

The woman stepped closer once again.

“In this world, talent determines destiny. Kingdoms are built upon bloodlines, and entire sects worship spiritual roots.” Her voice became colder with every word.

“And your roots were destroyed while you still slept within your mother’s womb.”

John’s mind reeled violently. No, that could not be true. His entire life, he believed he was simply unlucky, weak, broken, but intentional.

Had someone done this to him? “Who?” he demanded.

The woman ignored the question entirely. “Most children born with shattered spiritual roots die young. You survived seventeen years.”

Her silver eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “That alone makes you abnormal.”

John’s fists tightened violently. Memories surfaced one after another: the way his mother always avoided questions about his father. The fear hidden in her eyes whenever sect elders approached, the strange men watched their shack during winter nights. Something cold settled deep inside his chest. The woman turned toward the giant scripture overhead.

“The cultivation world erased forbidden arts long ago,” she said quietly. “Especially arts capable of defying the Heavenly Dao.”John swallowed hard.

“The Heavenly Dao?”

“The will governing existence itself.” She looked back at him, and the Eternal Void Scripture is something heaven desperately wanted destroyed.

“Then why give it to me?” For the first time, genuine amusement touched her expression.

“Because abandoned things become dangerous.” The scripture pulsed again.

Without warning, the chains wrapped around it snapped apart. The entire void shook violently.

John stumbled backward as black energy erupted outward as a tidal wave. Pain exploded inside his chest instantly. He screamed. It felt like invisible claws were tearing through every meridian in his body.

“What’s happening?!”

“The inheritance has begun.” John collapsed into the darkness beneath him while his body convulsed violently. His veins turned black beneath his skin. Something moved inside him.

No, something was rebuilding him. The pain became unbearable. His shattered spiritual roots twisted violently while black energy forced itself through pathways that had never fully healed.

John screamed again. The woman watched silently. There was no pity in her expression. No hesitation, only observation.

“It hurts…” John gasped desperately.

“Of course it does.” The Eternal Void Scripture descended slowly overhead. Ancient symbols began burning themselves directly into his flesh.

John’s body arched violently. Bones cracked apart. Meridians tore open. Then rebuilt themselves again and again and again. Each reconstruction hurt worse than death itself.

John clawed desperately at the darkness beneath him. “Stop… STOP”

“You cannot stop now.” The woman’s voice remained perfectly calm. The scripture has already accepted you.

“Why?!”

Her silver eyes lingered on him quietly before she finally answered. “Because suffering nourishes it.”

John froze despite the unbearable agony tearing through his body. The woman continued watching him carefully. “The Eternal Void Scripture cannot be cultivated by ordinary geniuses.”

The chains around them rattled violently once more. “It feeds on pain. Hatred. Despair. Abandonment.”

Realization slowly spread across John’s face. The woman nodded slightly. “Yes.” Her voice softened almost imperceptibly.

“Your suffering kept you alive long enough to inherit it.” John’s breathing became ragged. Every humiliation, every beating, every year spent being treated like filth. All of it had prepared him for this moment. The realization horrified him. The scripture was not saving him. It was choosing someone already broken enough to survive becoming something worse. Black energy erupted from his body once more.

John screamed as darkness swallowed his vision completely. The last thing he heard was the woman speaking softly through the void.

“Survive this…”

Her silver eyes gleamed with terrifying coldness. “…and the heavens themselves will fear you.”

John’s eyes snapped open.

He slammed against the wooden floor of his shack while gasping violently for air. Pain tore through every inch of his body. Black blood covered the floor beneath him. Steam rose from his skin in thick waves while dark light pulsed faintly beneath his veins before slowly fading away.

“What… happened…?”

His voice sounded raw and broken. Outside, the entire mountain trembled suddenly. A deep rumble echoed throughout the Sky Burial Sect.

John’s eyes widened instantly, then the alarm bells began ringing in the distance, loud, urgent, terrified.