Chapter 3: Fallen.
Long before the age of cultivation, in a primitive world where magic was still myth and strength belonged to steel and will alone, there lived a drifter known only as Vaelith the Hollow.
A man obsessed with the unknown, Vaelith spent his life wandering cursed ruins, forbidden tombs, and ancient battlefields where whispers of forgotten power lingered.
Over decades, he slowly absorbed a strange, invisible force—what was later known as essence—by meditating near the decaying remains of long-dead spirits.
It was not a technique, nor a conscious process. Just madness, time, and exposure.
After years of torment, he did the impossible: he opened humanity’s first Essence Gate and unknowingly formed a branded core—one born from a malicious, ancient spirit!
He was the first human seeker to ever exist!
But he told no one. He hid his transformation. His abilities grew monstrous, yet he kept silent.
Only upon his death, through a chilling letter written in his final moments, did the truth emerge.
By the time Vaelith’s death note surfaced generations later, the world had already changed.
Inspired by rumors and clues of his power, future seekers began experimenting with essence, developing structured methods to absorb, store, and refine it.
Techniques were formed. Factions arose. Essence beasts were hunted, and cultivation bloomed. But Vaelith’s letter served as a dark warning.