The Return of the Void Emperor

Li Tian awoke to pain.

It came first as a dull throb, then sharpened, stabbing through his limbs with merciless precision. He sucked in a breath, but even that hurt. His eyes flickered open, meeting a ceiling of rough wooden beams stained with soot and decay.

Where was he?

He tried to move, but his body refused. His limbs felt heavy, sluggish, as if the earth itself weighed him down. Panic flared, but he forced it aside and focused inward. Something was wrong—terribly wrong.

No Qi.

His dantian, the core where all cultivators stored their energy, was empty. No—it was worse than empty. It was shattered. Cracks spiderwebbed through it, leaving behind only broken fragments incapable of gathering or holding spiritual energy.

Despair clawed at him. Was this a nightmare? But the raw ache in his bones told him otherwise.

Memories surged—fragmented and chaotic.

He had been betrayed. Cut down by those he had raised. Sealed and destroyed. Yet, against all reason, he lived.

No—not lived. Reborn.

He exhaled shakily, pushing through the flood of emotions. This was not the time for despair. His enemies thought him dead, erased from existence. That mistake would be their undoing.

But first, he needed to survive.

The door creaked open. Li Tian turned his head to see a frail old man step inside. His clothes were patched, his face lined with age and worry.

"You're awake," the man said, relief washing over his features. "Good. I thought we lost you."

"Who…" Li Tian's voice cracked. "Where am I?"

"The village of Blackstone." The old man set down a bowl of porridge. "I found you near the river. Broken. Beaten. Left for dead."

Li Tian's eyes darkened. So that was it. Abandoned and discarded like trash.

"Eat," the man urged. "You need strength."

Strength. The word rang in his ears.

His enemies had taken everything—his power, his name, his empire. But they had failed to take his will.

Li Tian gripped the bowl and raised it to his lips. One step at a time. He would rise again.

The void would answer his call.