Master of Shattered Fates

Pain.

It was the first thing Liu Chen became aware of as consciousness slowly returned. Not the dull ache of Wang Hao's kicks or the familiar strain of failed cultivation attempts, but something deeper. Something that felt like molten gold being poured directly into his skull.

He tried to open his eyes, but even the faintest hint of light sent new waves of agony crashing through his head. A groan escaped his lips, and he heard movement nearby.

"Lie still," a gentle voice commanded. "You've been unconscious for three hours."

Liu Chen recognized the voice—Elder Sun. The old man had always shown him kindness, even when the other instructors had written him off as hopeless. But there was something different in his tone now. A tension that hadn't been there before.

"What... what happened?" Liu Chen managed to whisper. His throat felt raw, as if he'd been screaming.

"That," Elder Sun said slowly, "is what I hoped you might tell me. The garden's protective formations registered a massive surge of power. When I arrived, I found you unconscious beneath the old tree. Several of its branches had shattered, as if struck by lightning. Yet there wasn't a cloud in the sky."

Memory flickered through the haze of pain—the morning practice session, Wang Hao's harassment, retreating to the garden. Then... something. A sensation like spider silk across his mind, followed by that strange voice.

*Oh, little blind one...*

"I was meditating," Liu Chen said carefully. Even with Elder Sun, he had learned to be cautious. "Then there was pain, and... I think I heard a voice."

The rustle of robes suggested Elder Sun had leaned forward. "A voice? What did it say?"

"Something about threads being tangled." Liu Chen's head throbbed with each word. "Elder Sun, my eyes..."

"Ah, yes." The old man's tone softened. "Here, drink this. It should help with the pain."

Cool glass pressed against Liu Chen's lips, and he sipped cautiously. The liquid tasted of bitter herbs and something metallic, but warmth spread through him as he swallowed. The pain in his head receded to a dull ache.

"Better?"

Liu Chen nodded slightly, then risked opening his eyes. The world swam into focus—the familiar walls of the medical pavilion, afternoon sunlight streaming through paper screens, Elder Sun's weathered face watching him with unusual intensity.

But something was different. The light seemed... wrong somehow. As if there were things moving just at the edge of his vision, like watching dust motes dance in a sunbeam.

"Elder Sun," he said slowly, "is there something in the air? Like... threads?"

The old man went very still. "What do you mean?"

Liu Chen squinted, trying to focus on the strange shimmer he could almost see. "It's like... like spider webs, but made of light. They're everywhere, connecting everything. But when I try to look directly at them, they..."

His words trailed off as Elder Sun abruptly stood, moving to the window. The old man's hands were shaking slightly as he drew the screens closed, dimming the room.

"Look at me," Elder Sun commanded, his voice tight with some emotion Liu Chen couldn't identify. "Tell me what you see."

Liu Chen focused on the elder, then gasped. Glowing lines radiated from the old man's form like rays of sunlight, weaving through the air in complex patterns. Some were bright gold, others a deeper amber, and still others so faint they were barely visible. They shifted and flowed with Elder Sun's every movement, like branches swaying in a wind Liu Chen couldn't feel.

"Golden lines," he whispered. "Dozens of them. They're beautiful."

Elder Sun sank back into his chair, looking suddenly much older. "Fate lines," he said quietly. "You're seeing fate lines. After all this time..."

Hope flared in Liu Chen's chest, warring with disbelief. "But that's impossible. I'm worthless, remember? I can't—"

"Enough!" Elder Sun's sharp tone cut through Liu Chen's self-deprecation. "Something has changed. Something significant enough to trigger every warning formation in the eastern quarter of the academy. And now you can see fate lines with a clarity that..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "We must be careful about this."

"Careful? Why?" But even as Liu Chen asked, he knew the answer. In three years at the academy, he had learned that power attracted attention—and not all attention was welcome.

"Because, young Liu Chen, sudden changes in fate are never simple." Elder Sun stood again, moving to a cabinet in the corner. "Particularly not changes of this magnitude. There will be... questions."

As if summoned by his words, footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. Multiple sets, moving with purpose.

Elder Sun's expression tightened. "Whatever happens next, say nothing about the voice you heard. Nothing about threads or tangled fates. Do you understand?"

Before Liu Chen could respond, the door slid open. Wang Hao stood in the entrance, flanked by two senior disciples in the white and gold robes of the Discipline Committee. Behind them loomed a tall figure that made Elder Sun bow deeply—Master Feng, head of the academy's Fate Detection Division.

"Well, well." Wang Hao's familiar sneer carried an edge of genuine anger. "It seems our little trash cultivator has been busy. What forbidden technique did you attempt this time, Liu Chen? What rules did you break in your pathetic attempt to gain power?"

"That's enough, Young Master Wang." Master Feng's voice was soft, but it carried the weight of absolute authority. "The Discipline Committee will handle this investigation."

Liu Chen's heart sank. An investigation. Of course there would be an investigation. He had caused a disturbance, triggered formations, damaged academy property. The fact that he had no idea how any of it had happened wouldn't matter.

His eyes darted to Elder Sun, seeking guidance, but the old man's face had become carefully blank. Yet in the strange new vision that seemed to overlay reality, Liu Chen could see the fate lines around his mentor churning with anxiety.

"Now then." Master Feng stepped forward, and Liu Chen had to suppress a gasp. The fate lines surrounding the master were unlike anything he had seen so far—not simple threads but complex webs that seemed to draw in and redirect the flows of destiny itself. "Let us discuss exactly what happened in that garden."

Liu Chen swallowed hard, remembering Elder Sun's warning. Say nothing about the voice. Nothing about tangled fates.

But as Master Feng's piercing gaze fell upon him, he wondered if he would have any choice in what secrets he revealed.

The fate lines around the master shifted, forming patterns that made Liu Chen's newly awakened senses scream in warning. He recognized the technique from his theoretical studies—Soul Truth Perception, a method of reading truth from the fluctuations in a person's fate lines.

They intended to tear the truth from him whether he wanted to reveal it or not.

*Oh, little blind one,* that strange voice whispered in his memory. *What interesting threads you've tangled.*

Indeed, Liu Chen thought grimly. Tangled them quite thoroughly, it seemed.

The investigation was about to begin, and he had a feeling his life at the Nine Suns Academy was about to become significantly more complicated.