MTLNOVEL Chapter 10: *Chapter 10: Fragments of Eternity**
The shard of the **Primordial Core** pulsed faintly in Li Tian's hand, its light casting eerie shadows on the walls of the small shrine. He stared at it, his small fingers trembling as the memories began to flood back—fragmented, disjointed, but unmistakable.
The **Eclipse Citadel**, its spires piercing the heavens. The **Void Serpent Matriarch**, her golden eyes gleaming with malice. The **Flame Sovereign**, her fiery hair burning a shade too blue. The **Thunder Sovereign**, his lightning crackling with barely contained energy. And the **Celestial Arbiter**, her scales of judgment tipping toward betrayal.
"You will *all* regret this," he had vowed, his voice a blade of ice.
The memories came in flashes, like shards of a broken mirror. He saw himself standing atop the citadel, his divine aura flaring like a supernova. He felt the sting of the **Entropic Void** blade, its venom coursing through his veins. And he remembered the fall—the endless, suffocating descent through layers of reality, his divine flesh dissolving into stardust.
Li Tian clutched the shard tighter, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He was the Eternal Sovereign, the ruler of the heavens. And he had been betrayed.
The realization hit him like a thunderclap, shaking him to his core. He was no ordinary child. He was a god, cast down and stripped of his power, but still alive. Still *himself*.
The shard's light grew brighter, its energy seeping into his small, frail body. He felt a surge of warmth, a flicker of the divine power he had once wielded. It was a mere fraction of what he had lost, but it was enough. Enough to remind him of who he was. Enough to fuel his resolve.
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The village of Qingyun was quiet, its inhabitants unaware of the storm brewing in their midst. Li Tian returned to the hut, the shard hidden safely in the folds of his tattered robe. His mother was asleep, her face softened by the moonlight streaming through the window.
He sat on the edge of his bed, his mind racing. The shard was a clue, a piece of the puzzle. If there was one fragment of the Primordial Core, there had to be more. And if he could gather them, he could rebuild his power. He could reclaim his throne.
But the mortal realm was vast, and he was no longer the Eternal Sovereign. He was a child, weak and vulnerable, in a world that had no place for gods.
"I must start small," he murmured, his voice barely a whisper. "I must grow stronger."
He closed his eyes, focusing on the shard's energy. It was faint, but it was there—a thread of divinity connecting him to his past. He reached for it, his mind grasping at the fragments of his memories.
The **Eternal Supreme Scripture**, the cultivation technique he had created eons ago, surfaced in his mind. It was a method of refining both body and soul, of harnessing the essence of the cosmos. He had taught it to no one, not even his closest allies. And now, it was his only hope.
Li Tian began to cultivate, his small body trembling with the strain. The process was slow and painful, his mortal frame ill-suited to the demands of divine energy. But he persisted, his determination unyielding.
By dawn, he had made progress. His body felt stronger, his senses sharper. The shard's light had dimmed slightly, its energy absorbed into his core. It was a small step, but it was a start.
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The next morning, the village stirred to life. Li Tian's mother busied herself with chores, her face lined with worry but softened by relief. She had noticed the change in him—the way his eyes gleamed with unnatural wisdom, the way he moved with a purpose that belied his age.
"Li Tian," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "You must rest. You've been through so much."
He nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. The shard had shown him a glimpse of his past, but it had also revealed something else—a map, faint and fragmented, etched into his memory. It was a path, a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the other fragments of the Primordial Core.
And the first clue lay in the mountains beyond the village.
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