The sparring ground still trembled from the echoes of the duel.
A hundred eyes followed him as he descended the platform, his robes swirling around him like dark waves. Dust still hung in the air where Qin Wu had knelt in agony just moments ago. But Qin Zhen didn't look back.
He walked forward, each step firm and precise, cutting through disbelief like a blade through silk.
Let them stare.
Let them whisper.
Let them remember the day a cripple shattered a prodigy.
His name once muttered with pity now passed from mouth to mouth like wildfire. Qin Zhen. The disgraced heir. The broken genius. The boy who had been tossed aside, declared useless by the very clan that once pinned their hopes on him.
Now they spoke of him in awe. In confusion. In fear.
And he wasn't done yet.
His eyes locked on the ancient platform beyond the Inner Hall gates a stone circle half-buried in time and lore. Its surface was cracked with age but still thrummed with ancient energy. Faint runes, shaped like beasts and sigils of power, shimmered when the sun hit them just right.
The Bloodline Awakening Stone.
Three years ago, that stone had declared him empty no beast root, no spiritual resonance. A verdict worse than death for a clan that measured worth by bloodline strength.
But that was before I understood the seal.
[Quest Triggered: Bloodline Revelation]
Objective: Place hand on the Bloodline Awakening Stone
Outcome Possibilities:
• No Reaction = Expulsion
• Common Vein = Outer Hall Acceptance
• Rare Vein = Inner Hall Privileges
• Unknown Tier = ???
He stepped toward it, undeterred.
Gasps echoed behind him. Some disciples whispered. Others scrambled out of his path. Even those who mocked him an hour ago gave him a wide berth now.
Before he reached the stairs, a figure stepped into his path.
Elder Meng.
His face was stone sharp eyes, silver beard tied with a golden clasp, hands hidden beneath sleeves.
"You're not eligible," the elder said, voice curt and authoritative. "Only cultivators at the second layer of Skin-Refining or above may approach the stone. That's the rule."
Qin Zhen didn't blink. "Then test me."
A pause.
Elder Meng's brow furrowed. "You were crippled three days ago," he snapped. "Don't insult the sect with lies."
Qin Zhen lifted his right hand.
He let his qi ripple to the surface faint, but distinct. The air shimmered faintly, warping like heat haze. Around his fingertips, traces of spiritual energy spiraled upward in visible coils.
Silence fell.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Elder Meng stared at the phenomenon, lips parting ever so slightly. His spiritual sense reached out, brushing against Qin Zhen like an invisible mist.
"…You've cultivated," he said finally, tone hushed.
Qin Zhen nodded once. "Second layer, Skin-Refining Realm."
Gasps rang out across the courtyard.
"No way…"
"He was unconscious two days ago!"
"That's impossible!"
Elder Meng's gaze was unreadable now. "That... shouldn't be possible."
Qin Zhen didn't answer. He walked past the elder and ascended the stone steps.
He stood before the slab the same one that had condemned him as bloodless.
Even now, it radiated pressure. A weight older than the clan itself. No embellishment. No deceit. Only truth.
Last time, it rejected me.
This time, it will kneel.
He placed his palm on the stone.
It was cold at first. Lifeless.
A heartbeat passed.
Two.
Three.
Still nothing.
A few disciples in the crowd scoffed.
"He's bluffing again."
"Maybe he really is cursed."
"Just another trick…"
But then
The stone pulsed.
Dimly at first. A faint flicker of silver light passed across its surface.
Then red. Then gold.
And then
Black.
A surge of energy rippled outward, hurling wind in all directions. The stone began to vibrate. The carved beast runes flared one by one, lighting up in a spiral racing up his arm like firebrands.
Qin Zhen didn't flinch. The pain was real it burned like molten iron laced across bone but he didn't pull away.
Elder Meng took a step forward, eyes wide. "This reaction…"
The slab beneath Qin Zhen's feet cracked audibly.
[System Alert]
Hidden Bloodline Sequence Triggered
Bloodline: Abyssal Beast Vein – Level 1
Status: Classified Tier "Heaven-Forbidden"
The wind intensified.
A howl tore through the air ancient, primal, piercing. Not a sound born of this world. It echoed across the entire training ground, across the very mountain like the wail of something older than beasts, older than men.
Disciples fell to their knees. Some screamed. Others clutched their ears.
Elders shot to their feet. One summoned his spirit beast a silver falcon in alarm, wings outstretched defensively.
But Qin Zhen remained rooted, arm pressed to the stone, jaw clenched.
Then the light dimmed.
The wind died.
The howl faded.
A deep, shuddering crack split down the center of the Awakening Stone.
Silence.
No one spoke.
No one could.
A hundred cultivators stared in absolute shock at the impossible the Bloodline Stone, the eternal judge of worth, broken.
Result: Beast Vein Detected – Type: Abyssal Devourer (Extinct)
Rank: ???
Affinity: Dark, Soul, Void
Elder Meng's voice trembled. "That… that bloodline is from the First Era. From the Lost Sects…"
Another elder rushed forward from the shadows. "That can't be! That vein was wiped out before the Spirit Tribes rose!"
Qin Zhen turned slowly to face the crowd. His voice was calm. Controlled.
"Still think I'm a cripple?"
No one answered.
Not a single word.
He walked down the stairs, each footstep echoing like a war drum in the quiet courtyard.
Where moments ago there had been laughter, there was now only fear.
He passed the same group of disciples who had laughed at him earlier.
Now they lowered their eyes.
One even backed away.
Not because he was angry.
But because something in his gaze something behind his calm made their instincts scream predator.
They don't know what I am…
But they know they can't stop me.
He didn't smile.
But inside, a fire smoldered.
The stone that denied me now bears my mark.
The path they tried to close has been forced open.
They will remember this day.