In the northern reaches of the Star Luo Empire, deep in Sunset Forest, there is a dry well.
Seventy years ago, a royal enshrined discovered a cracked jade slip at the bottom of the well, engraved with ancient writing no one could decipher. The king devoted the empire's full resources to studying it for twenty years, yet could not make out a single character. The Great Enshrined left behind only one sentence: "It is waiting for someone."
No one knew who it was waiting for.
Nineteen years ago, a barefoot boy emerged from the wilderness on the border of Star Luo. He could not remember where he came from, did not know who his parents were, and could not even speak. But his eyes were gold, like two frozen moons.
The king of Star Luo brought him back to the palace.
Seven years later, the boy became known across the continent as the foremost talent of Star Luo's new generation. Nine blue-and-gold Soul Rings, Moonwhite Silk, ranked third on the weapon list, and a six-character Battle Armor: all these honors made him look like a rising star.
Yet everyone who met him felt that something was wrong.
He never spoke. Never smiled. Never looked anyone in the eye. His gaze always rested on some point in empty space, as if he were watching a world no one else could see. A pair of dark metal rings was locked around his ankles. The official Star Luo explanation was that they were "Soul-Guide Therapeutic Devices," but everyone who had seen them up close felt that they looked more like shackles.
And every time a battle ended, he would seem dazed for a moment, as if a small piece of something had been drawn out of him.
Some said he was a prisoner of Star Luo. Some said he was the king's weapon. Some said he was a monster dug up from underground...
The author is great, come on