Rumble...
The sound was not sharp, yet it was as heavy as if it had slowly rolled forth from the deepest depths of Tiandi.
At first, it merely echoed above the Heavenly Veins.
Low and distant, as though some ancient structure were slowly cracking apart.
Then—
The sound began to spread.
Layer by layer.
Realm by realm.
Like invisible ripples, it surged out from the Heavenly Marrow Mine Vein, passed through mountain ranges, crossed realm rivers, swept over countless Immortal Domains and forbidden lands, and finally—spread across the entire Nine Provinces Celestial Continent!
At this moment.
The heavens changed.
Not black.
Nor dark.
But cracked!
Above the originally boundless Immortal Firmament, arcs of lightning slowly emerged.
They did not flicker.
They did not explode.
Instead, they seemed frozen in place.
Like scars upon the firmament, forcibly embedded deep within the clouds by an invisible force.
Crisscrossing.
Spanning endless territories.
From afar, it looked as though the sky over the entire Nine Provinces Celestial Continent had been lightly gripped by an invisible giant hand, then slowly crushed until it cracked.
No one knew where they had come from.
Nor did anyone know where they led.
They were not lightning.
They were more like cracks in the heavens.
Deep within the Nine Netherworlds forbidden land.
Endless yin mist churned.
An ancient existence that had sat in meditation for hundreds of thousands of years slowly opened his eyes.
His pupils had long since turned ash-white.
Yet the instant he raised his head, they trembled faintly.
"The heavens... have cracked...?"
His voice was soft.
As though he did not dare confirm it.
Yet he said no more.
Because he had sensed an aura beyond comprehension—
That aura was not strong; it could even be called exceedingly faint.
Yet it seemed...
To come from