The sky had no sun that day.
Dark clouds coiled like dragons.The stars vanished.And the heavens… bled.
High above the world, where no bird dared to fly and no immortal dared to breathe, one man stood alone on a broken platform of floating stone.
His white robes fluttered in silence.
His black hair, long and untamed, danced in the wind like blades.His eyes… calm. Still. Empty.
Yet beneath that stillness burned a power so overwhelming that time itself bent around him.
Corpses floated in the air—thousands of divine beings, gods, and celestial generals who once ruled over realms.Now, they were nothing but lifeless puppets, drifting like feathers in a storm.
At the center of it all stood him.
He was known by many names.The God-Killer.The Infinite Butcher.The Calamity of the Skies.
But long before those titles… he was simply a man.
A man named Li Tianming.
Once betrayed.Once broken.Once human.
Now?He was something else.
A being beyond realms.A cultivator who reached the Infinite Realm, where no one ever returned from.Where no emotions could survive.Where all things… ended.
But here he was—breathing. Feeling. Killing.
Before him knelt the Heavenly Emperor, the last of the great divine rulers, shivering with broken wings and blood-stained robes.
"Li Tianming..." the emperor whispered, voice shaking like glass. "You killed them all… You destroyed heaven itself. What do you want now?"
Li Tianming looked up at the cracked heavens, as if they bored him.
Then he spoke—softly, without emotion.
"I want nothing."
His hand rose.
A single finger pointed.
The sky screamed.
A golden thunderbolt—carved from his intent alone—fell like judgment.
The Heavenly Emperor disintegrated, not even leaving behind ashes.
And just like that… heaven died.
Years later…
Some say he vanished into the void.Some say he fell into madness.Some say he became a god himself.
But the truth?
He walked away.
He descended from the skies and found an ancient mountain at the edge of all maps—so quiet, so far, even birds forgot its name.
There, he built a small wooden hut.
A tea kettle. A stone bench. A garden of stillness.No weapons. No cultivation.Only silence.
Each day he sat under the falling leaves and tried to breathe.
Not to meditate.Not to ascend.Just to… be.
But his past followed him.Even the wind remembered his name.Even the mountains feared his steps.
And worst of all… his killing intent never left him.
It was like a shadow stitched to his bones.
Even when he smiled, flowers would wilt.When he exhaled, trees bent away.When he closed his eyes, spirits trembled.
He was too strong.
Even in peace, the world couldn't rest.
But he didn't care.
He brewed tea.
Fed the birds.
Watched the clouds.
Until one day… everything changed.
A quiet knock.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was soft. Hesitant. Like the wind whispering against his door.
He didn't move.
But he knew—someone had climbed the mountain.
A foolish mortal? A spirit beast? A thief?
No.
It was a girl.
Young. Pure.Her shoes muddy. Her breath trembling.Eyes wide, filled with fear—and wonder.
She stood at the door, hugging a small cloth bundle, her thin dress stained from the forest trail.
His door opened without a sound.
She froze.
There he was.
Barefoot. Silent. Hair like ink, eyes like winter.
The Sage.
Even standing still, he felt like a mountain.
Cold. Immovable. Eternal.
Her legs almost gave way, her instincts screamed run—but something inside her heart whispered stay.
Because despite his terrifying aura, his eyes…
Were tired.
Not cruel. Not angry.
Just… tired.
Like he had seen too much. Lost too much. Killed too much.
She opened her lips but no words came.
Only a whisper of breath.
"Are you… the one they call the Hermit Sage?"
He didn't answer.
He simply turned, walked inside, and left the door open.
That… was the answer.
She stepped in.
The hut was simple.
No treasures. No glowing artifacts. No ancient scrolls.
Only tea on the fire.
And peace.
"You shouldn't be here," he finally said.
His voice was deep, calm, but carried weight.
Like it didn't belong to a man, but to a force.
"I—I heard you live here," she said, carefully. "My name is Lian Xue. My father… he's the Grand Merchant of White Lotus City."
"I don't know him," the Sage said.
"I know," she said softly. "But I've come… to ask for help."
He turned to face her.
Just that movement made her heart skip.
He didn't look like a saint.He looked like a man who once burned the heavens and then walked away.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"I do not help," he said.
"But—"
"I do not follow. I do not protect. I do not obey."
"Then… why did you leave the heavens?" she asked quietly.
Silence.
The kettle hissed.
Finally, he whispered:
"To learn how not to kill."
Lian Xue looked at him—not with fear now, but with something else.
Curiosity.
Hope.
Maybe… even admiration.
"I'm not asking you to kill," she said. "Just to come see. Just once."
He looked at her.
Not the merchant's daughter.
Not a mortal.
But someone unafraid.
For the first time in decades… he nodded.
"Then remember this," he said.
"I only do what I want. No one commands me. No one approaches me. If they do… they won't live."
Lian Xue smiled. It was a smile full of light.
"I understand, Sage. Thank you."
And with that, the man who once slayed heaven…
Took his first step back into the world.