*Chapter 1: The Forsaken**
Thunder rumbled across the heavens, splitting the sky with veins of silver. Rain poured down in relentless sheets, drenching the slums at the edge of the Celestial Empire. The heavens wept, but not for Shen Liang.
Shen Liang knelt in the mud, his body broken, his breath ragged. Blood dripped from his mouth, mixing with the filth beneath him. His ribs throbbed, one surely fractured, maybe two. The taste of iron and humiliation lingered on his tongue.
"Trash like you should know their place," sneered Bai Cheng, the young master of the Silver Moon Sect. He flicked his sleeve, sending another wave of force through the air. Shen Liang had no strength left to dodge. The impact sent him sprawling onto the ground, his vision blackening for a moment.
Pain. Cold. Hatred.
He had grown used to them.
Born without a cultivation core, Shen Liang was a disgrace in a world where power determined one's worth. Even beggars with the lowest Qi levels could still train, could still rise above their station. But not him. He was nothing.
"Next time you dare step into the sect's outer training grounds, I'll make sure you leave with more than just a few broken bones," Bai Cheng spat, his eyes filled with disdain. The group of disciples behind him laughed as they turned to leave, their robes pristine even in the rain.
Shen Liang remained on the ground long after they were gone. His fingers dug into the mud, his nails caked with dirt. His chest burned, his breaths shallow, but the fire in his heart refused to die.
He should have died here. It would have been easier. But the heavens had never been merciful.
A sudden chime rang in his mind.
**[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]**
Shen Liang's breath hitched. The voice was neither human nor divine, but mechanical—cold, precise, absolute.
**[HEAVEN'S FORSAKEN SYSTEM ACTIVATED.]**
**[WARNING: Host has been abandoned by the Celestial Fate Network.]**
**[Initiating Override Protocol…]**
A blinding pain seared through his skull. Shen Liang clutched his head, his body convulsing. It felt as though something ancient, something forbidden, was carving itself into his very soul. Images flashed before his eyes—fragments of memories that were not his own. Warriors slaughtering gods. A throne of shattered celestial jade. Bloodstained hands reaching for the sky.
Then, silence.
Shen Liang gasped, his body collapsing. His heart pounded in his ears as new words scrolled across his vision.
**[You have been forsaken. But fate is a script that can be rewritten.]**
**[New Passive Ability Acquired: Fate Devourer]**
**[Description: Consume the destinies of others. Rewrite your own.]**
His hands trembled. The rain no longer felt cold. The pain no longer mattered.
For the first time in his life, he felt something stir inside him. Not just anger. Not just hate.
Power.
Shen Liang staggered to his feet, bloodied and bruised but unbroken. He lifted his gaze toward the storm-ridden heavens and let out a breathless laugh.
"If the heavens have forsaken me… then I will forsake the heavens."
Lightning cracked overhead, illuminating his dark, defiant eyes.
A new path had opened. A path paved with stolen fates and defied destinies.
And Shen Liang intended to walk it—no matter the cost.
---
*End of Chapter 1.*