Ryven remained seated on his bed, marveling at the dramatic changes to his physique. What had once been a lean, almost frail frame now showed defined muscle mass and perfect proportions. His reflection in the nearby mirror revealed someone who looked like they'd been training intensively for years rather than struggling with basic exercises just hours before.
But the physical transformation was nothing compared to what was happening in his mind.
Knowledge flooded his consciousness like a dam bursting—complex cultivation theories, intricate sword techniques, meridian maps, and most shocking of all, the truth about his condition. The information came in waves, each surge bringing new understanding that left him gasping.
Two complete cultivation methods crystallized in his thoughts: the Eternal Origin Cultivation Technique and the Nine Heaven Sword Arts. Both were incredibly advanced, far beyond anything taught in his family's academies or even the elite cultivation schools he'd heard whispers about.
But it was the accompanying memories that truly stunned him.
The wooden box hadn't been lost or abandoned in that old building. It had been placed there deliberately, waiting for him specifically. The memory fragment showed a figure—tall, imposing, with features that reminded Ryven distinctly of his late grandfather—carefully positioning the box in that hidden room decades ago.
"When the time comes, he'll find it," the figure had said to someone off-screen. "The inheritance will recognize him, and finally, the truth will be revealed."
Ryven's hands trembled as more memories surfaced, showing him the devastating reality of his condition. He hadn't failed to cultivate because of lack of talent or effort—he'd been fighting against his own body this entire time.
He possessed two incredibly rare and powerful traits: the Eternal Origin Physique and Ancestral Chaos Bloodline. Under normal circumstances, either one would have made him a cultivation prodigy beyond compare. The Eternal Origin Physique granted perfect energy absorption and retention, while the Ancestral Chaos Bloodline provided access to primordial cultivation laws that most people could never comprehend.
The problem was that these two gifts were fundamentally incompatible.
The Eternal Origin Physique sought perfect order and balance, creating stable energy channels throughout the body. The Ancestral Chaos Bloodline, however, thrived on constant change and transformation, wanting to remake those same channels according to primordial patterns. For eleven years, these two forces had been locked in constant conflict within Ryven's body, preventing him from making any cultivation progress whatsoever.
Every time he tried to gather qi, the Eternal Origin Physique would create perfect pathways for the energy to flow. But then the Ancestral Chaos Bloodline would immediately attempt to restructure those pathways, causing the energy to dissipate harmlessly instead of strengthening his cultivation base.
It was like trying to fill a bucket with water while someone else kept drilling new holes in the bottom.
The ancient pill he'd consumed—the Harmony Convergence Pill—was specifically designed to solve this exact problem. Rather than choosing one trait over the other, it worked to gradually merge them into something entirely new and unprecedented. The four golden lines represented four stages of integration, and he'd only completed the first stage so far.
"Incredible," Ryven whispered, finally understanding why his family had given up on him. They couldn't have known about his conflicting gifts—such conditions were so rare that most cultivation families had never even heard of them, let alone knew how to diagnose or treat them.
His attention turned to the black sword, which had been sitting quietly beside the now-empty wooden box. The moment his fingers touched the obsidian blade, it responded to his transformed physique in a way it never had before.
Following an instinct from his inherited memories, Ryven pricked his finger and let several drops of blood fall onto the sword's surface. The blade absorbed the blood instantly, then began to vibrate with increasing intensity until it dissolved into particles of pure light and flowed directly into his dantian.
The sensation was extraordinary. When Ryven focused his consciousness inward, he could see the sword floating serenely in his energy center, radiating an aura of infinite potential. With a thought, he could summon it back to his hand, and when he did, the transformation was remarkable.
Gone was the worn, ancient appearance. The sword now gleamed like liquid obsidian, its silver inscriptions pulsing with faint inner light. The blade was perfectly balanced, three inches wide and exactly one meter long, and when Ryven gave it a experimental swing, it cut through the air with absolutely no resistance.
More importantly, the sword seemed to resonate with both his Eternal Origin Physique and Ancestral Chaos Bloodline, serving as a bridge between the two conflicting forces. When he held it, the constant internal tension that had plagued him his entire life finally quieted to a manageable level.
The inherited memories identified it as the Void Eclipse Sword, a weapon of unknown origin that had been discovered in ancient ruins by his ancestor. Even the person who left this inheritance hadn't fully understood its capabilities, only that it was clearly an artifact of immense power that chose its own wielder.
With the sword secured in his dantian and his mind still processing the flood of new knowledge, Ryven turned his attention to the Nine Heaven Sword Arts. The technique was divided into nine distinct forms, each building upon the previous one in complexity and power.
He started with the first form: Heaven's Opening.
Even with his enhanced understanding and the inherited knowledge, the technique proved incredibly challenging to grasp. The movements weren't just physical—they required precise control of qi flow, perfect timing with one's breathing, and mental visualization of complex energy patterns all happening simultaneously.
Hours passed as Ryven worked through the basic motions with his wooden practice sword, not daring to use the Void Eclipse Sword until he understood the technique better. The Nine Heaven Sword Arts weren't like the basic forms he'd learned growing up. These techniques operated on principles that seemed to bend the normal rules of cultivation, incorporating elements that shouldn't have been possible at his current realm.
"Just the first form is this complex," he muttered, sweat beading on his forehead despite his improved physique. "There are eight more after this."
But instead of discouragement, Ryven felt a deep satisfaction. For the first time in his life, he was making real progress in understanding advanced cultivation techniques. The difficulty wasn't a barrier—it was proof that he was finally working with methods worthy of his hidden potential.
The inherited memories assured him that once his Eternal Origin Physique and Ancestral Chaos Bloodline were fully integrated through the remaining three stages of the Harmony Convergence Pill, his comprehension abilities would increase exponentially. What seemed impossibly complex now would become intuitive later.
As dawn light began to filter through his windows, Ryven finally allowed himself to rest. His body felt incredible, his dantian hummed with properly flowing qi for the first time ever, and his mind buzzed with possibilities.
Tomorrow, he would return to campus and begin his real journey as a cultivator. But tonight, for the first time in eleven years, Ryven Strathor went to sleep with genuine hope for his future.
The inheritance had awakened, and everything was about to change.