The night was cold, but Zeravon's skin burned.
He remained on his knees at the edge of the Silent Drop — the chasm so deep even sound never returned from it. Yet tonight, it whispered.
> *"That wasn't me…"*
The words he had spoken moments ago echoed softly through the darkness, repeating not from memory, but from **somewhere else**.
Like the world had taken his question… and begun to answer.
He looked up.
The stars no longer blinked.
They stared — unblinking, unmoving — as if frightened.
A faint tremor ran through the mountain beneath him. It wasn't an earthquake. It wasn't spiritual energy.
It was the **Dao itself**, shivering.
---
**Meanwhile — Cloud Vein Pavilion**
Elder Lin woke abruptly.
His heart beat wildly. The jade pendant he wore — a relic that monitored spatial disturbances — had just cracked in half.
> "He touched reality again…"
He stood, no longer hesitant. No longer cautious.
> "If he goes any further… we won't be able to stop it."
He sent a signal scroll instantly — to the central sect alliance.
But even as the scroll vanished, he knew…
> *They won't make it in time.*
---
**Far Above — A Realm Where Time Doesn't Flow**
The Silent Origin drifted through the pale mist of null-space.
Now, it was no longer calm.
The stars near its presence were **flickering out**, one by one — not dying, but **erased**.
A ripple passed through its body as it spoke aloud:
> "The Seventh Echo has stirred."
Beside it, The Watcher of Ends trembled.
> "He's still sealed. How can an echo reach across timelines?"
The Origin's voice darkened:
> "Because he sealed himself *beyond time*. The echoes… are not his past."
> "They are his *future* remembering itself."
---
**Back on the Mortal Realm – Silent Drop**
Zeravon stood slowly, legs shaking. He looked down at his hands again.
This time, his fingers were trembling — but not from fear. From **pressure**.
Like something behind reality was pressing back, trying to get through the cracks.
And then… something **responded**.
A whisper — not in words, but in **pure emotion**.
Grief.
Power.
Endlessness.
…and guilt.
He staggered back.
> *"Who… am I really?"*
And from the chasm — a whisper emerged. Just one word.
**"You."**
Zeravon's eyes widened. The sound didn't travel through air.
It went through **existence**.
The rocks around him began to float.
The sky rippled again.
And deep within his chest… the **first seal** cracked.
---
**Deep Underground — A Forbidden Chamber Beneath the Sect**
There was a place even Elder Lin was forbidden to enter.
But tonight… something beneath that chamber opened **on its own**.
Golden chains that bound the forgotten gate began to rattle.
And behind them, etched in cosmic script, were the ancient words:
> *"Here sleeps the one who sealed what could not be sealed."*
> *"Zeravon — The Unwritten Origin."*
---
**Cloud Vein Pavilion — Outer Quarters**
The other disciples were awakened by a strange pressure.
One disciple screamed. Another fainted. Windows shattered without cause.
Instructor Wei ran outside, scanning the sky.
The **moon had frozen mid-path.**
The wind had stopped.
Birds hovered in the air, wings unmoving — frozen in a single moment.
> "What in the Nine Heavens is happening?!"
Elder Lin arrived moments later, shouting:
> "Where's the boy!?"
But Zeravon was gone.
Not vanished — just **moved beyond their ability to track**.
---
**Zeravon now stood within the chasm.**
Not *at* its edge.
He didn't remember moving.
The Silent Drop was no longer silent.
A ring of symbols surrounded him — each pulsing faintly, like the ticking of a divine clock.
In the center of it all… floated a small shard of translucent crystal.
It hovered before his face.
He reached out.
And the moment his fingertip touched it—
**Everything stopped.**
The world froze.
The stars halted.
Even thought… paused.
And then—
**A voice returned.**
This time, fully formed.
> *"You are the one who silenced fate."*
> *"You are the echo that even time could not erase."*
> *"You are…"*
> **"…Zeravon."**
And in that moment, **he remembered one name** — not his own, but one sealed alongside him.
> *"Eternalis…"*
His eyes widened.
> *"The First One I Sealed."*