The sky above the ruined temple was still shaking from the collapse of Daiost Brush Master's illusion, faint blue cracks spreading like a spiderweb before sealing again. Yun stood there breathing hard, his robes torn and stained with illusion dust, his expression colder than the day before. His eyes… sharper. Too sharp for his age.

Shen Yu watched him with a strange mix of pride and worry.

"You changed," Shen Yu said, voice low.

"I had to," Yun answered simply. No hesitation anymore. No childish trembling. "Otherwise I die later."

His fingers twitched—wanting a fight, wanting to test what the Brush Master left behind.

Behind them, the new companions Yun met inside the illusion—Zhen, the quiet spear girl who never blinked, and Mu Qing, the talkative boy with weird plant magic—appeared out of the collapsing mist. They had followed Yun out of the illusions like threads tied to him.

Mu Qing stretched his arms. "So… this is the higher world? Why does the air feel like it wants to punch me?"

Zhen said nothing, she just stared at Yun like he was a puzzle she wanted to solve.

Shen Yu sighed. "All of you, prepare yourselves. We aren't staying here."

Yun nodded. "We're going to the Under-Hall."

Mu Qing nearly choked. "T-the WHAT? That place is cursed! People go in and come out as dust!"

Zhen finally spoke. "He won't."

She pointed at Yun. "He carries… the ink of a god."

Yun didn't respond. But his right hand lifted slightly, summoning a faint, wavering brush-stroke of silver-black energy.

When it moved, the air split like paper.

Shen Yu tensed immediately.

"Don't use it carelessly! Brush Master's technique was never meant for beginners—"

"I'm not a beginner anymore," Yun said calmly.

And then the sky tore open.

Far away in the Celestial Sky's upper layers, in their golden astral palace, Yun's real parents both rose to their feet at the same moment.

Emperor Lianxing's hair flared with starfire.

"That stroke… that aura… The child unlocked the First Heaven-Cutting Brush?"

Empress Yueran clutched her chest. "He shouldn't be able to draw that yet. He shouldn't—unless the illusions pushed him too far."

"It did."

Lianxing's voice was grim but proud.

"And good. He must harden quickly. Our enemies don't wait."

Suddenly the palace trembled violently—an entire wing tearing open as a colossal shadow slammed into the barrier.

A Hunter.

One of the old ones.

Yueran's face went pale. "They sensed him… already?"

Lianxing lifted his hand, drawing a burning constellation into his palm.

"No. They sensed what he will become."

Back at the Ruined Temple

The sky ripped again, this time because something fell through it. Something wrong. Something hungry.

A Hunter fragment—only a fragment, but still bigger than a house crashed into the ground, its body half smoke, half bone. Its jaws twisted in shapes no human tongue could describe.

Mu Qing screamed.

Zhen tightened her grip on her spear.

Shen Yu stepped forward, raising his hand

But Yun stepped faster.

"Stand back," Yun said quietly.

Shen Yu grabbed his shoulder. "Yun, you haven't tested that technique on anything real"

"I'll learn now."

He stepped forward alone.

The Hunter roared and the sound cracked the stones. Yun didn't even flinch. He raised his hand slowly like a calligrapher preparing a masterpiece. A faint stroke of silver-black energy formed at his fingertips, shaky but sharp.

He whispered the Brush Master's words:

"The world is paper. Cut it clean."

He drew a single downward stroke.

The Hunter lunged and smashed into Yun heavily sending him flying

Making everyone gaps and shocked even Yun didn't believe it at first

And started fighting with the hunter while sharpening his skills against

The hunter while looking for a chance and he got one "Boom''

They both collided then got blasted away then he saw the opportunity when the

Hunter stalled he immediately drew a single downward stroke and everywhere

Stalled for some seconds and the world split.

Not a huge explosion, not a bright flash.

Just a cut.

Silent.

Precise.

The Hunter's body froze, then slid apart like wet ink sliding off parchment.

Mu Qing fell backward in shock.

Zhen's eyes widened with admiration.

Shen Yu exhaled slowly. "So… you really inherited it."

Yun didn't smile.

He didn't even look proud.

He looked… calm.

Too calm.

Like someone who expected to win.

Descent Toward the Celestial Under-Hall

After the corpse dissolved into black dust, Shen Yu gestured toward the canyon beyond the temple.

"Come. The Under Hall is waiting. And now the Hunters know you're here."

Mu Qing gulped. "Why do we need to go there again?"

"To unlock the second piece of your inheritance," Shen Yu said.

"And because someone is waiting."

As they walked toward the canyon, Yun suddenly touched his chest.

A whisper echoed in his mind—soft, ancient, impossible.

"Come deeper.

Ink-born child.

We have waited long enough."

Yun closed his eyes.

Zhen noticed. "What is it?"

Yun answered honestly.

"…Someone is calling me again."

And for the first time since his personality shifted, his hand trembled slightly.

Only slightly.

Shen Yu watched from behind, thinking to himself:

Good. Let him feel fear again. But only enough to sharpen him.

Ahead, the canyon opened like a mouth, endless darkness below.

The Celestial Under-Hall was waiting.

And deep inside it, something older than stars…

was waking up.

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