The Immortal Altar was unlike anything Li Yi had ever seen.
A staircase of floating jade steps led from the mouth of the Twin Sun Cliffs into a suspended platform of radiant white stone, hovering in the skies like a divine monument. Carved into the platform were countless runes glowing softly, like embers pulsing with time itself. Above it all, the twin suns aligned, casting an ethereal light that made the air shimmer like illusion.
Only those summoned by the Heavenly Alliance could step onto the altar. Those unqualified would find themselves repelled by the invisible laws binding the area.
Li Yi stood at the base of the jade staircase, his gaze calm as the wind stirred his robes. Behind him, other cultivators murmured.
"That's the child from Azure Cloud Valley?"
"Just a brat. Must be some mistake."
"Wait and see. These tests reveal everything."
The Alliance Elder present, a middle-aged man in dark red robes with three silver rings on his sleeves—signifying his Nascent Soul – Peak Stage cultivation—lifted his hand. His voice echoed over the cliffs.
"Step forward and ascend. Only those chosen by the altar may continue."
One by one, cultivators stepped up. A few passed the first steps, glowing briefly as the altar recognized their potential. Others were thrown back by bursts of force, their talent unrecognized.
Then it was Li Yi's turn.
He stepped forward. The air shifted.
From the moment his foot touched the first jade step, a golden ripple spread across the staircase. The runes flickered violently, and the sky seemed to still for a moment.
A hush fell.
With each step, the pressure increased. A normal Foundation Establishment cultivator would have been crushed. But Li Yi advanced steadily—breathing calmly, his steps unwavering. The pendant at his chest warmed as if resonating with the altar.
Twenty steps.
Thirty.
At the fiftieth step, golden mist rose from the staircase, enveloping him. It was not ordinary mist—it was the Will of the Altar, the consciousness that tested soul and origin. Within it, Li Yi's mind was pulled inward.
Suddenly, he stood in a void.
A massive pair of eyes appeared in the darkness—ancient and emotionless. They peered into him, stripping away every layer: his memories, his bloodline, his soul.
"You are not born of this realm..." the voice was deep, almost thunderous.
Li Yi stood silently, watching.
"Your soul is tainted with divinity. Forbidden. Lost. And yet…"
The voice paused.
"...you carry the mark of the origin."
The pendant on Li Yi's chest flashed, and the golden mist bent backward, trembling before it. The altar's will recoiled slightly.
"What lies within you... should not yet awaken."
Then, with a flash, the mist exploded outward, and Li Yi opened his eyes. He had reached the top.
The watching cultivators stared in shock.
"What... he passed the full altar trial?"
"No, look! The staircase... it's glowing gold!"
The altar itself was reacting. For the first time in centuries, golden flame surged from its carvings. The runes around the platform lit up in succession, forming a great circular formation that had not activated since the last recorded awakening.
The elder's eyes widened. "That formation… the Heaven-Root Circle! Only those born with divine essence can trigger it!"
Li Yi stood at the center of it, his expression unmoved. But within, his blood was boiling. Something inside him had stirred. His meridians were vibrating, and a deep ancient force seemed to be awakening.
A second elder stepped forward from the Nine Heavens Sect, his expression grim. "Boy, tell me your origin. Which sect are you from? What cultivation technique do you use?"
Li Yi met his gaze. "I am Li Yi. I cultivate what was left to me by my family in the Xuan Realm. That is all."
A lie, but one spoken with such calmness it rang with truth.
The elder frowned. "Bloodline?"
Li Yi shook his head. "I do not know. I was born with a strange body, but no one ever told me more."
He had rehearsed these answers carefully.
The elders exchanged looks. Despite the altar's reaction, no concrete information could be pulled from him. The altar had acknowledged him—but it hadn't fully revealed his secrets.
Then came the final rite.
"You are qualified to join the Heavenly Alliance," the first elder announced. "But given the altar's reaction, you must be assigned directly to one of the ten great sects."
A murmur rose. Cultivators trained for years to be accepted by these sects. Li Yi was being offered immediate entry.
The representatives of the sects stepped forward.
The first, from the Scarlet Flame Valley, said, "Join us, and we will make you the heir of our main fire lineage."
The second, from Celestial Sword Sect, offered, "With us, your sword potential will reach the heavens. No one will stop your ascension."
One after another, offers poured in.
Then Yue Chan stepped forward, pushing aside the elders, a scroll in her hand. "He already has a sponsorship token. He is to be tested under the Floating Cloud Pavilion."
Gasps rang out.
The token she presented bore a feather mark—a personal invitation from the Pavilion's Matriarch.
The elders scowled, but none could refute it. Personal tokens from sect leaders overrode standard rules.
Li Yi turned to her. "Why?"
Yue Chan smiled faintly. "You intrigue me. That's enough."
The elders were displeased but accepted it. Politics between sects were delicate. To block the Floating Cloud Pavilion would mean challenging their authority.
And so it was decided.
Li Yi, now fully entered into the cultivation world, would begin as an inner disciple of the Floating Cloud Pavilion—skipping outer trials entirely.
But even as he prepared to leave the altar, something else occurred.
From the center of the altar, the runes glowed once more. A single flame—pure white—rose into the air and shot toward Li Yi. It merged into his forehead.
The elder gasped. "That's... the altar's Mark of Fate! He's been chosen by the will of the realm!"
No one could remember the last time this had happened.
Even Li Yi staggered, clutching his head as ancient knowledge surged into his mind. It was not a technique. It was something else:
> You have inherited the "Path of the Unbound Origin." All techniques from all realms can be harmonized. You are no longer restricted to a single Dao.
The implications were terrifying. It meant that Li Yi could walk any path—sword, flame, body, soul, time—and fuse them without conflict. He was no longer bound by sect limitations.
As he stood there, the golden flames faded. The altar stilled.
But all eyes on him had changed.
To the world, he was no longer a nameless youth.
He was now a threat, a beacon, a chosen anomaly.
Li Yi, son of forgotten gods, born of two realms, marked by fate itself.
And the journey had only just begun.