Chapter 4: Beneath Heaven's Heel
The sky turned grey over Black Ash Ridge, but Lin Sheng's world had already darkened.
For days, the mine overseers searched for Duan Zhen, but his disappearance was blamed on desertion. None dared question it. Lin Sheng kept silent—but the fire in his chest grew brighter, more controlled.
He had begun shaping spirit threads—a sign of Mystic Pulse Realm.
This was no longer Body Refining. No longer accidental Qi Awakening.
Now, he was stepping into true cultivation.
---
Trial Stones of Falling Cloud
A message soon reached the mines:
> "All workers of age shall be brought before the Trial Stones. Potential may be measured. Records shall be taken. Talent shall be offered. Waste shall be discarded."
The command bore the mark of the Mountain Kingdom Court—directly below the Royal Capital.
Lin Sheng recognized the sigil burned into the scroll's corner.
It was the same that branded him a slave.
---
They marched for three days—over crags and dead rivers—until they reached Falling Cloud City, once a proud settlement of warriors and mystics, now a hollowed city under Mountain Law.
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed as he passed a burned village gate:
> "Falling Cloud Village" —his birthplace, left in ruins years ago.
The ashes were cold, the ground empty.
He walked past it without a word, but Mu Yanyu, watching from her traveling chariot, noted the change in his gaze.
---
Trial Square
In the city's square stood seven ancient monoliths, known as the Trial Stones of Origin—each tied to one of the Mortal Realm cultivation stages.
When a person placed their hand upon the proper stone, their spiritual potential was shown by flame, shadow, light, or echo.
Slaves lined up. Guards shouted names. Most touched the stones—and were declared "empty vessels."
Then it was Lin Sheng's turn.
The scribe scowled. "Name."
A moment passed.
Then Lin Sheng spoke, for the first time in public since returning from the mines.
> "Lin Sheng. From Falling Cloud."
The crowd went quiet.
Lin?
That name was supposed to be extinct.
The scribe hesitated, but the elder in charge—a bronze-robed cultivator from the Mountain Sect Council, Elder Han Yu—raised his hand.
> "Let him through. Let fate decide."
Lin Sheng placed his hand upon the Fourth Stone—that of Mystic Pulse.
The stone trembled.
A circle of law-light appeared.
Then another. And another.
Seven rings of flame ignited around his palm, forming the ancient pattern of the Heavenly Internal Body—a divine structure not seen in over five hundred years.
The crowd erupted.
Elder Han Yu stood. "Seven Pulse Rings?! This is… impossible. This is the body from the Gaternal Line!"
---
In her pavilion, Mu Yanyu whispered:
> "He's reaching it… slowly, naturally… without pills or treasures. He's returning."
Elder Feng Jiu's eyes narrowed. "If the Qin Clan catches wind—"
"They already have," she said grimly.
---
First Clash
As Lin Sheng stepped back from the stone, a youth in golden armor pushed forward—Qin Feilong, a junior disciple of the Celestial Qin Clan, sent to monitor the Trials.
He scoffed. "A slave dares claim the Lin name?"
Without warning, he raised his palm and struck.
A blast of flame shaped like a dragon shot toward Lin Sheng.
The crowd gasped.
But Lin Sheng raised his hand. Instinctively.
A barrier of white fire bloomed—uncontrolled, ancient, divine—and shattered the golden flame in midair.
The backlash hurled Qin Feilong into the wall.
Silence.
Elder Han Yu's face was pale.
Mu Yanyu stood quietly.
Elder Feng Jiu stepped forward, his voice low:
> "Seal this record. Say nothing to the royal scribes."
But it was too late.
Somewhere far away, a burning scroll in the Celestial Qin Hall flared again—and the hunt resumed.
---
Lin Sheng turned and looked at the crowd.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
He was beginning to return.
> "I was born from ashes… and I'll walk back into the sky."
---
Thus begins the first ripple in heaven's waters. And those who remember his blood… have already begun to move.