Lin Feng was once the pride of the Lin Clan, a name that carried weight not only within its towering walls but throughout all of Sky City. From the moment he was born, he stood beneath a sky filled with expectation—but unlike others burdened by such pressure, he rose to meet it with astonishing ease.
He was a genius.
No—more than that.
He was the hope of the Lin Clan.
In a city divided among five great clans—the Lin, Feng, Du, Lu, and Shi—power was everything. Strength determined status, influence shaped destiny, and only the strongest could stand at the peak. For years, the Lin Clan had maintained its position among the great powers, but it had never truly dominated. That dream, however, began to take form the moment Lin Feng revealed his talent.
He stepped onto the path of cultivation at a young age, and from that moment, the world seemed to open before him.
Where others struggled, he advanced.
Where others hesitated, he broke through.
In just three short years—three years that left even the elders speechless—Lin Feng rose through the Mortal Realm with unstoppable speed. By the time he was only twelve years old, he had already reached the 5th stage of the Mortal Realm.
It was an achievement that defied reason.
Disciples who had trained for nearly a decade could not match him. Even some of the older generation found themselves surpassed by a mere child. News of his progress spread beyond the Lin Clan, reaching the ears of the other great clans, shaking the balance of Sky City itself.
They began to fear him.
They began to envy him.
And within the Lin Clan, he was elevated above all others.
Lin Feng was not just talented—he was destined. The elders spoke of a future where he would rise beyond them all, where he would lead the Lin Clan to surpass the Feng, crush the Du, outmaneuver the Lu, and stand above the Shi. Under his leadership, the Lin Clan would no longer merely exist among the great clans—it would rule them.
And Lin Feng believed it.
He was proud.
Proud of his strength.
Proud of his talent.
And above all… proud of carrying the name "Lin."
Wherever he walked, disciples stepped aside. Wherever he trained, others gathered to watch. His presence commanded respect without effort, his confidence radiating like a blazing sun. To many, he was untouchable—a figure who stood far above their reach.
He was the future of the clan.
But fate is often cruel to those who shine the brightest.
At the very peak of his glory… everything came crashing down.
It happened without warning.
One day, he stood as the unrivaled genius of his generation.
The next… he was nothing.
His cultivation shattered as if it had never existed. The spiritual energy that once flowed through him vanished completely, leaving behind empty, lifeless meridians. No matter how he tried to circulate qi, nothing responded. It was as if his connection to the very essence of cultivation had been severed.
Panic spread through the clan.
Elders examined him.
Medicinal masters were summoned.
Countless methods were attempted.
But nothing worked.
Lin Feng… could no longer cultivate.
The news spread like wildfire.
At first, there was disbelief.
Then concern.
Then silence.
And finally… ridicule.
The same voices that once praised him began to change. Whispers followed him wherever he went, growing louder with each passing day.
"The genius has fallen…"
"What a waste…"
"All that talent… gone just like that…"
In Sky City, strength was everything. Without it, even the brightest genius was nothing more than a joke.
Lin Feng fell from the heavens into the dust.
His position, his reputation, his pride—everything was stripped away in an instant. The disciples who once admired him now avoided him or mocked him. Those who had once stood beneath him now stood above him, their eyes filled not with respect, but with disdain.
And yet…
Despite his fall, Lin Feng remained one of the Young Masters of the Lin Clan.
A title that should have long been taken from him.
A position he no longer had the strength to justify.
The reason was simple.
His grandfather.
The Grand Elder of the Lin Clan was a towering figure, a man whose cultivation stood at the very peak of the clan. Among all its members, none could match him. His authority was absolute, his strength unquestioned, and his presence alone was enough to silence opposition.
And he stood at the front—firmly, unwaveringly—in support of Lin Feng.
Whenever voices rose against Lin Feng, the Grand Elder suppressed them.
Whenever doubts appeared, he crushed them.
As long as he remained, no one could remove Lin Feng from his position.
Not the elders.
Not the disciples.
Not even the other great clans could interfere.
To the outside world, it was obvious.
Lin Feng remained a Young Master not because of his ability… but because of the protection of the most powerful man in the Lin Clan.
To many, it was unfair.
To others, it was shameful.
And to Lin Feng…
It was a constant reminder of everything he had lost.
He walked through the clan with the same title he once carried with pride—but now, it felt heavy. Every glance directed at him carried hidden meaning. Every whisper reached his ears, no matter how quiet.
He no longer trained at the center of the grounds.
He no longer stood above others.
He no longer shone.
Instead, he existed on the edges, watching as others chased the very heights he had once reached—and lost.
The training fields that once echoed with praise for his name now rang with the sounds of others improving, growing stronger, moving forward… while he remained stuck in place.
Time passed.
Nothing changed.
The fallen genius became a known reality across all of Sky City.
Lin Feng… the waste.
And yet…
Beneath the silence, beneath the humiliation, beneath the crushing weight of everyone's expectations and disappointment…
Something still remained.
A memory.
A feeling.
A truth he could not deny.
He had once reached the 5th stage of the Mortal Realm at the age of twelve.
He had once stood above all others.
He had once been the hope of the Lin Clan.
That reality could not be erased—no matter how much the world tried to bury it.
And deep within his eyes, hidden beneath the calm surface he showed to others…
A faint spark still burned.
Not the blazing brilliance of the genius he once was—
But something quieter.
Something deeper.
Something far more dangerous.
Because a person who has never fallen may not understand the value of rising.
But someone who has lost everything…
Knows exactly what it means to take it all back.
And Lin Feng—
The fallen genius.
The so-called waste.
The Young Master protected by the strongest elder in the clan—
Had not yet given up.
Not on himself.
Not on his power.
Not on the future he was once destined to claim.
Because somewhere, deep within him, a storm was beginning to stir.
And when it finally broke…
Sky City would remember—
Why his name was once spoken with awe.