The Blank Scripture

### **Chapter 3: The Blank Scripture**

The scent of aged paper and dry ink filled Ren’s nostrils as he ventured into the deepest, most forgotten section of the **Xiao Clan**’s Grand Library. Dust motes danced in the slivers of light that filtered through the grimy windows, illuminating rows of scrolls that hadn’t been touched in generations. The clan’s history and cultivation secrets were all here, but he had read every one that was relevant to his situation. He was just wasting time, he knew, but it was better than facing the pity and contempt of his family.

He ran a hand along a shelf, his fingers tracing the worn bindings of scrolls whose names he no longer recognized. He coughed as a cloud of dust erupted from a particularly thick scroll. He was about to turn away when his hand brushed against something cold and rough behind the shelf. Curious, he pushed aside a loose-fitting shelf and discovered a small, hidden alcove.

It was no larger than a cupboard, and the air within was stale and musty. There were no scrolls, no books, no artifacts. Just a single, ancient-looking object sitting on a stone pedestal. It was a scroll, but it was unlike any he had ever seen. Its binding was a deep, dark ebony wood, and the parchment itself was a pale, almost ethereal white. It was completely blank. There was no title, no clan seal, no words or diagrams of any kind. It was… empty.

A surge of curiosity, a feeling he hadn’t felt in years, overtook him. This was the first object he had seen in the library that was as empty as he felt. Was this a test? A joke? He reached out and gently placed his hand on the scroll.

The moment his fingers made contact, a warmth unlike any he had ever felt spread through his palm. It was not the burning heat of fire or the shocking jolt of lightning, but a gentle, comforting warmth that flowed up his arm and settled in his mind. For a fleeting instant, a torrent of information, not in words but in images and feelings, flooded his consciousness. He saw a vast, empty void, and within it, countless stars, each one a different shape and color. He saw a river that absorbed everything into itself, yet remained clear and pure. Then, he heard a name, a name that was not spoken but simply *known* in his mind: **Phaseless Bloodline Scripture**.

He stumbled back, his heart pounding in his chest. The scroll, which had seemed so utterly blank, now felt like a living thing in his hands. He picked it up, his hands trembling. The warmth was still there, but the torrent of information had subsided. He held the blank scroll, the weight of it feeling like a burden and a gift at once.

He had no idea what it was. It wasn’t a conventional cultivation technique. It was a guide, a path, but not for a fire-breathing or earth-shaking bloodline. It was a path for something else. For nothing. For a void.

Ren’s mind, which had been so dark and desolate for so long, felt a sudden, profound spark of hope. This wasn’t a text for a powerful bloodline. It was a text for *his* bloodline. He was not a failure. He was not a void. He was **Phaseless**, and this was his scripture.

He glanced around the empty library, a profound sense of secrecy washing over him. The elders would not understand this. They would see it as a blank sheet of paper, a worthless piece of junk, or worse, some forbidden art. He had to keep this a secret. This was his path, and his alone.

He slipped the scroll into his robes and, with a new sense of purpose, left the Grand Library. The world outside looked the same, but to Ren, it had changed forever. He was still a void in the eyes of others, but now, he knew that within that void, there was a hidden universe of power waiting to be unlocked.

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