Falling Maple City

Within a small courtyard, the cold stone floor pressed against a young man's bare feet as he stood with a wooden sword in his hand.

He swung the wooden sword. An arc cut through the quiet night air, stopping just short of the training dummy. He pulled back and cut again, his every motion aching his muscles.

The repetition was endless. Step, pivot, swing, stop, reset.

The technique was not fast, nor was it flashy. In fact, it was slightly clumsy.

The young man wasn’t strong. Not even experienced. Just a fourteen-year-old mortal learning to draw qi into his body.

Thus, every swing reminded him how little control he had and fueled his desire to survive and change his situation.

A few meters away from him lay four wooden beds, three of which were occupied. Three males of a similar age shifted under the moonlight, some murmuring in their dreams. He tried not to make too much noise, not to wake them.

Whoosh—swing. Stop. Pivot. Reset.

Lin Wei’s palms were slick with sweat. He crouched slightly, letting the tension in his shoulders ease.

Lin Wei let the wooden sword fall to his side. His muscles burned. His shoulders ached from hours of repetition.

He quickly washed up and sat on the bed, crossing his legs. The thin blanket did little to warm him, but he did not care. His chest heaved with each slow breath.

He closed his eyes and began to breathe in a rhythm. Around him, small orbs of qi trembled, a few moving toward him before entering through his pores into his spiritual veins.

Slowly, he circulated the small amount of qi within his veins before gathering it toward his dantian, settling it there.

Warmth spread gradually throughout his body, and he felt slightly rejuvenated. He stopped guiding the remaining qi within him with a smile.

Sleep tugged at him, and he quickly lay on his bed, curling beneath the blanket. His hands moved almost automatically beneath his headrest.

Then he remembered the pendant—the jade pendant he had found in a shallow forest stream while washing himself.

He had hidden it beneath his robe and later put it under his headrest.

Carefully, he pulled it out, holding it between both hands. Cold. Silent. Unremarkable to the normal eye. Yet he felt something from it.

He pushed a trickle of qi into it, cautious at first but gradually increasing the output.

A faint warmth spread beneath his fingers. Not strong. Not brilliant. But it hummed in response. Lin Wei’s eyes widened slightly. He swallowed hard. His heart pounded. He was both afraid and excited.

Then, as the small amount of qi within him faded, the world around him shifted. The courtyard vanished. The stones, the bed, even the night air dissolved into nothing.

He found himself in a vast darkness, infinite and silent, yet vibrating with spiritual qi. The emptiness pressed around him, heavy and alive. He looked in every direction, astonished by the depth of the void.

In the distance, a faint shimmer caught his attention. He paused, startled, then cautiously walked over to the light.

As he drew closer, the shape became clearer. A figure lay on the ground, emitting flickers of light across their form.

He stopped a few meters away from it and then realized the figure on the ground was unmistakably female, lying there with her eyes closed as if asleep.

Her skin was pale, flawless, adorned with delicate flower patterns that seemed to grow naturally across her arms and body.

Is she… alive? he wondered, almost in disbelief.

"Hello," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper, trembling slightly.

No response came. Only the faint, steady flicker of light from the flower patterns on her skin.

He swallowed hard, his heart hammering, and stepped closer, cautious, as if the wrong move could shatter the moment.

The closer he got, the more he could see: her hair spread around her like a dark river, framing a face so calm, so impossibly serene, it made him catch his breath.

Her features were delicate, perfectly balanced, with a softness that seemed almost unreal.

Lin Wei’s chest tightened. Her face was beautiful—beyond anything he had ever seen. Every detail struck him.

For a brief, panicked moment, his gaze flicked lower, noticing the subtle rise and fall of her chest, before he jerked his eyes back up, flushing violently.

She’s definitely alive, he thought, his heart racing at the thought of being caught staring.

He stepped closer, his eyes flickering over her form. Hesitation gripped him, but curiosity pushed him forward. His gaze returned for a heartbeat on her chest, then he quickly looked away, his cheeks burning once again.

Lin Wei’s hands trembled slightly as he pulled off his outer robe and draped it over her shoulders, as if that small barrier could contain the heat crawling up his neck.

He turned toward her face, his heart thudding. Carefully, almost reverently, he reached out to touch her cheek.

It was cold.

Soft.

A shiver ran down his spine. He froze, caught between awe and fear.

Her eyelids twitched.

Lin Wei jerked back, his eyes wide, his heart hammering in his chest.

A shallow, almost imperceptible breath escaped her lips. She was alive, and the movement of her body sent a wave of both awe and fascination through him.

The patterns on her skin seemed to glow faintly, reacting subtly to the qi still lingering in the space around them.

Lin Wei swallowed hard. He wanted to speak, to say something, anything—but the words refused to form.

All he could do was stand there, frozen, his heart racing, trying to steady his trembling hands.

"Hm..." A soft voice broke the tension as he shifted his focus back to reality.

The woman’s eyes fluttered open. Lin Wei stumbled back instinctively, his heart hammering, his palms slick with sweat.

Then her gaze fixed on him.

And the air itself seemed to shatter.

It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t intent. It was vast. Silent. Like staring into the abyss itself.

Lin Wei’s legs nearly gave out. His throat tightened, and he gasped, but no sound came. Every instinct in his body screamed at him: run, hide, disappear. But he couldn’t. His feet felt glued to the stone floor.

His mind faltered. Images of his own life, of everything he thought he understood, flickered and blurred. His breaths came shallow and quick, each one a struggle.

One moment, she seemed untouchable, divine, almost gentle.

The next… she seemed like a demon, a predator, a force that could erase him without thought.

Lin Wei’s stomach lurched. The world tilted. He felt like he might collapse, vanish, or be consumed entirely under her gaze.

For a moment, Lin Wei thought she might speak, and he opened his mouth, only to find the words stuck.

The woman simply waved her hand, and then, slowly, his perspective shifted.

The world ripped away. Lin Wei’s vision blurred. His body felt weightless, slipping through space, and before he could even scream, he was gone.

Meng Lin held a blank expression as she slowly stood. The robe that had been draped over her shoulders slipped loose and fell without notice.

Her movements were steady but faintly uncoordinated, as if each motion was being tested for the first time.

She blinked.

Once.

Then again.

Her gaze remained unfocused, drifting slightly past the world in front of her rather than settling on it.

Her fingers curled slowly, then tightened.

A faint tremor ran through her arm.

The air around her stirred before returning to normal.

Meng Lin blinked slowly, flexing her fingers once as she lifted her head. She gazed into the distance, as if waiting.

And almost immediately, panels appeared, one after another, stacking in front of her until they filled her vision. They flickered faintly, pulsing softly, and she simply stared, her expression blank and unreadable.

[Congratulations for understanding 1.08% of the Dao of Death]

[Congratulations for understanding 20% of the Dao of Void]

[Congratulations for understanding the Variant Elemental Qi of Shadow]

[Congratulations for surviving in a Cultivation Plane for 1 year]

[You have received 20 gacha wheel tickets]

[You have received 11 Immortal Jades]

[You have received the Medium-Grade Sacred Weapon: Void-State Spear]

[You have received 1 year cultivation ticket]

[You have received the unique skill: Dead]

[You have received 3 Immortal Jades]

Meng Lin blinked slowly, her focus shifting. Her fingers curled, then unclenched.

Her gaze returned to the distance, vacant and unseeing. Time passed, though she did not notice. Her breathing became the only noise within the void.

Then, with a slow shift of her body, she lowered herself into a sitting position, her arms closing around her knees, her gaze still vacant.

After some time, a panel appeared before her. [User shows no response. Activation of skill Dead detected.]

Meng Lin stood motionless, blank, unreadable. The panels blinked faintly in front of her, pulsing, as if waiting for her to act.

After a moment passed, another bright panel appeared.

[The Pulse of Awakening can be granted. Accept?]

Her lips parted. Her voice low, flat and cold.

“Why?”

The system hesitated. [Query unclear. Please clarify.]

Meng Lin’s eyes swept over the panels, flickering over the rewards and notices. She did not move her hands. She did not lean forward. Her tone remained flat.

“Why do you assume I need you?”

A pause. The panels quivered, flickering slightly, as if reconsidering.

[User shows abnormal conditions. Assistance triggered.]

Meng Lin tilted her head slightly, but in the end, her gaze returned to the distance, vacant, calm.

But beneath that surface, a deep longing for something was held within her.

The panels pulsed again, sharper this time. [Pulse of Awakening activated. Skill Dead will be temporarily sealed.]

A faint hum of qi ran through the void, brushing against her body, flowing along her veins.

A pulse lingered, spreading throughout her body. Meng Lin remained seated, her posture calm, unreadable. Her vacant eyes did not flicker. She did not react.

Finally, she tilted her head slightly, her voice low, flat, cold.

“I don’t feel much different,” she said. “Was that… supposed to do something?”

The panels seemed to blink, flickering rapidly as the system hesitated. [Query: User response insufficient. Requesting further assistance.]

Meng Lin exhaled slowly, her arms resting on her knees. “Relax, I’m simply resting,” she added, still calm, still seated.

The system paused, panels dimming. [User shows passive status. Assistance terminated.]

The void fell silent. No more pulses, no more flickering panels, no more insistence.

She remained there, seated, unresponsive, yet entirely awake, entirely aware. The system had chosen to stop, instead observing its user fully.

Hours passed, and Meng Lin continued sitting in that same position. She would have continued to sit there if she hadn't felt someone enter the void space.

A day had passed on the outside, and Lin Wei, showing determination once again, used his minuscule amount of qi to enter the jade token.