The Iron Vein Slums never slept — only trembled. Cries of hunger, the crack of whips, and the stench of blood filled the air as thirteen-year-old Xu Ming crawled through broken crates, looking for moldy scraps. His ribs pressed against his skin like knives, but hunger was his oldest friend.
That night, the Yun Clan's young master and his lackeys came. Again.
"Still alive, trash?"Fist. Kick. Spit.
Xu Ming didn't scream. He never did. He only stared at the dirt with eyes that had never opened. He was born blind — or so they believed. His sealed eyelids were marked with black threadlike runes only the monks could read.
"If these eyes ever open, the heavens themselves will bleed," the monks had whispered before abandoning him.
They laughed and walked away, leaving him bloodied and broken beneath a shattered wall. Then — it happened.
The sky split. A deafening crack echoed above. No clouds. No rain. Just lightning — a raw, golden flash that slammed into the earth beside him.
The shock burned through his veins. Something ancient stirred. His heartbeat faltered. The seals on his eyes glowed. They tore apart with a sickening snap.
And then… he saw.
Not just the world — but the qi veins in the air, the flaws in everything, the weakness in the human heart. Everything pulsed with lines of ruin, cracks in reality waiting to be broken.
A voice boomed in his skull:
"Heaven-Shattering Sight... activated."
And with a flicker of power, the dirt trembled beneath him.
"I see now…" Xu Ming whispered, rising slowly. "...what needs to be broken first."