NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 22: Chapter 22 The Abyss of Origin
Recap:
After breaking the Fifth Chain inside the Vault Glacier Citadel and taking down Ren Feilong, Tianyu unlocks the Mirror Resistance and Soul Flame Memory abilities. But in the aftermath, something far more perilous emerges—a flame-shadow that resembles Tianyu, forged from the ice. Meanwhile, the Vault cracks open the long-sealed Abyss of Origin, a realm where no one has ever signed in.
---
The Vault shook.
At its deepest level, concealed behind countless suppressed soul contracts and flamebound locks, a door creaked open—one that had never been opened, not even during Jilung's time.
A place that existed before systems.
Before cultivation.
The Abyss of Origin.
Inside, the Vault Elders stood in silence before a sphere of null energy, its surface cracked like fading embers.
A voice resonated—not from the chamber, but from deep within each of their minds.
> The Sign-In Flame has awakened.
> Send the Echo. Release the forgotten. Let the Abyss remember its king.
---
Elsewhere, Tianyu stood at the edge of the citadel ruins, watching his frozen reflection twitch and snarl.
It bore his face, but lacked warmth. It held his power, yet had no direction.
It carried his past, but only the pain remained.
Qin Yao stepped up beside him.
"What is that?"
Long Shen approached cautiously.
"That's a creation of the Vault.
When you shattered the Fifth Chain, you triggered something ancient—a memory you buried, or one that someone sealed within you."
The ice-Tianyu spoke.
"I am the exile you denied."
Then it vanished, slipping into both flame and ice.
---
Tianyu's system buzzed.
> [New Global Event Triggered: Abyss of Origin Open for 48 Hours]
> Entry Condition: Host must willingly relinquish System Boosts.
> Danger Level: ??? (Unmeasured)
> Reward Potential: Unknown Realm unrecorded in all sign-in logs
---
He made his choice right away.
"I'm going."
Qin Yao stepped forward.
"You'll go in without your system?"
Tianyu nodded.
"If this is where the Vault once feared to tread, then this is where I truly belong."
---
The entrance appeared in the heart of the glacier—a black spiral portal shaped like a shattered dragon's eye.
Tianyu stepped through.
And then, everything went silent.
---
He fell.
Not through space, but through **existence itself**.
Through layers of memories, fragments of his soul, and buried truths.
Then he landed.
The Abyss wasn't dark—it was colorless.
No time.
No wind.
No gravity.
Yet at the center stood a tower—a floating structure made of symbols, sigils, and dreamlight.
And around it floated **echoes** of cultivators lost to time.
Including distorted versions of Tianyu himself.
Versions where he never received the system.
Where he died at birth.
Where he became a weapon for the Vault.
---
> [Welcome to the Abyss of Origin]
> Rule: All sign-in systems are suspended
> Only pure will, soulforce, and origin flame may be used
---
Tianyu took a deep breath.
This wasn't a place to grow stronger.
It was a place to prove he was worthy of power at all.
---
The trials began.
The first: **The Birthroom**—a confrontation with a version of Tianyu who died in his mother's arms, cold and powerless.
It whispered:
"Your flame isn't yours. It was gifted. Stolen."
Tianyu stepped forward and embraced it.
"I know. But I made it mine."
The second: **The Throne of Chains**—a trial where Vault Elders offered him the system again, in exchange for obedience.
He burned the offer.
The third: **The Mirror Ascended**—a fierce duel with the flame-shadow that had slipped away from the glacier.
But here, it had evolved.
It moved like him.
It spoke like him.
It anticipated every single move.
---
Then Tianyu shut his eyes.
He recalled why he had begun this journey. Not to dominate.
Not to elevate himself.
But to **never be forgotten** again.
His origin flame ignited, not in fury, but in defiance.
> [True Origin Flame Awakened: No-System Tier Monarchs Core Light]
> Passive: All abilities regain partial function without system support
He thrust his fist forward, and the shadow let out a piercing scream.
With one powerful strike, the Mirror Ascended shattered into pieces.
---
The Abyss trembled.
The tower cracked, and a voice resonated deep within Tianyu's soul.
> He has earned it. He has remembered. Let him sign in here.
In an instant, a scroll materialized.
Unlike any he had seen before.
Black ink sprawled across golden parchment.
> [Sign-In Complete: Abyss of Origin]
> Reward: Crown of the Unseen Flame System Core Upgrade Initiated
> Ability Gained: Flame of Null Memory Erase the strongest attack from reality once per battle
---
Tianyu stood there, enveloped in flame and silence.
Then the abyss sealed behind him, and he found himself back in the ruins of the citadel. But something felt different.
Above, where the Vault had once observed, **it now blinked**.
Something else had caught its attention.
---
Teaser for Chapter 23:
Tianyu returns from the Abyss transformed, but the Vault has begun its final convergence. Across realms, the other heirs are starting to stir. And at the very edge of time, the true wielder of the Ninth Chain awakens.