Heaven’s Shadow:The Path of Ruin

Chapter 1: The Abyssal Seed

The wind howled through the desolate forest, its icy claws tearing at Zhao Rui's ragged robes. He shivered as he stumbled forward, clutching a rusted knife in one hand and a half-empty sack in the other. The Blackstone villagers had banished him from their fields again, pelting him with rocks and curses.

"Cursed child," they called him. "Bringer of misfortune."

He gritted his teeth, his breath fogging in the cold night air. The barren woods offered little more than twisted trees and frozen ground. Zhao Rui's stomach growled, but he pressed on. Hunger had long ceased to be a distraction; it was merely another reminder of his existence.

The moon, crimson and full, cast an eerie glow over the landscape. The deeper he ventured into the woods, the heavier the air became. It pressed against his chest, thick and suffocating. The village elders often spoke of this place—the Forbidden Hollow—where spirits of the damned roamed. They warned of curses worse than death.

But Zhao Rui had nothing left to lose.

He paused at the edge of a steep ravine. Below, a faint red light pulsed, like the heartbeat of some slumbering beast. His eyes narrowed. Curiosity and desperation warred within him. The light seemed to call to him, whispering promises he couldn't quite understand.

Sliding down the rocky slope, Zhao Rui approached the source of the glow. A crumbling ruin emerged from the shadows, its jagged edges covered in ancient, blood-red glyphs. At the center of the ruin sat an obsidian sphere, smooth and black as midnight, suspended above a pool of shimmering red liquid.

"What… is this?" he murmured, his voice trembling.

The air around the sphere vibrated with a low hum, and a sudden voice echoed in his mind, deep and resonant.

"You've come far, child of misfortune. Step closer. Let me see your hatred."

Zhao Rui froze, his heart pounding. He spun around, searching for the source of the voice, but the forest was silent.

"Who's there?" he demanded, gripping his knife tightly.

"The blade you hold is useless here. Your strength… your resolve… they are what matter. Step forward, and claim your destiny."

The voice was neither cruel nor kind, but it bore an undeniable authority that drew him in. Zhao Rui hesitated. The stories of cursed artifacts and ancient evils flooded his mind. Yet, as he stared at the sphere, he felt something he hadn't in years: hope.

The villagers had mocked him, spat on him, beaten him. The world had abandoned him. Perhaps this was his chance to strike back.

He stepped forward.

The moment his fingers brushed the sphere's surface, a searing pain shot through his body. He screamed, collapsing to his knees as dark tendrils of energy coiled around him, burrowing into his flesh. His vision blurred, and a flood of images assaulted his mind: towering mountains crumbling, rivers of blood flowing, empires burning under a crimson sky.

The voice spoke again, now cold and commanding.

"You are weak, but the seed has chosen you. Feed it with your hatred, and it shall make you whole."

Zhao Rui writhed on the ground as the energy coursed through him. His body felt as though it were being torn apart and remade. When the pain subsided, he gasped for breath, his hands trembling.

He looked down at his arms. Veins of dark energy pulsed beneath his skin, glowing faintly in the moonlight. His senses sharpened; he could feel the life force of the forest around him, faint and fragile.

"What… have you done to me?" he whispered.

"I have given you power. But power demands a price. You must choose, Zhao Rui. Return to your village, or embrace the path of the Abyssal Seed. Your destiny lies in ruin and conquest. Do you have the resolve to seize it?"

Zhao Rui clenched his fists. The faces of the villagers flashed through his mind—sneering, laughing, calling him worthless. The Abyssal Seed had awakened something within him, something dark and unrelenting.

"I'll show them," he growled. "I'll show them all."

The voice chuckled, a sound that echoed like thunder in his mind.

"Good. Begin by feeding me. There is no turning back."

Zhao Rui stood, his eyes burning with a crimson light. His path was set, and the world would soon come to know the name of the boy they had scorned.

He was no longer the cursed child. He was the shadow that would consume the heavens.