The golden words of the system screen shimmered in front of Jiji's eyes, each line glowing with a sense of finality that made his heart pound like a war drum.
Name: Tan Jilong
Age: 16
Sect: None
Spiritual Roots: Heaven Defying Spiritual Root
Attributes: Universal
Abilities: None
For a long breath, Jiji just stood there, frozen. His mop dangled in his hand, tip touching the wooden floor of the storage room, while his eyes darted across the glowing characters.
Universal.
His lips trembled slightly as he mouthed the word. Universal didn't mean broad—it meant everything.
"Wait… Universal? Does that mean I…" His voice faded, disbelief strangling his throat.
Before he could finish, another screen burst forth, filled with rolling lines of text that unfurled like a decree from the heavens.
Message:
The Heaven Defying Spiritual Root grants the host access to all spiritual attributes. Unlike other roots limited by singular affinity, this root devours spiritual energy indiscriminately, absorbing stones of every element. Fire, water, earth, wood, metal, lightning, wind, yin, yang—all shall be drawn into your body and converted directly into strength. Host's physical body and qi cultivation will grow without restriction. No bottlenecks. No natural limit. The path before you is endless.
Jiji's jaw slackened. His mop slipped from his fingers and clattered against the floor, the sound sharp in the otherwise silent storage room. He blinked once, twice, and then his mouth stretched into a wild grin.
"Devour… everything?" His voice cracked with rising excitement. "If a fire attribute brat can only absorb fire stones, and that rainbow root from the hard mission could do seven… then I, Tan Jiji, can eat it all! Fire, water, metal, thunder, yin, yang—everything is mine!"
He leapt into the air, fists punching toward the ceiling as his laughter thundered through the dusty rafters. "Hahahaha! Do you hear me, world? I can absorb it all! Every damn stone, every scrap of qi—you can't stop me!"
His chest heaved, but not from exhaustion. No, it was exhilaration, a fire in his veins, an ache in his bones that demanded more, more, more.
For once, cleaning didn't feel like drudgery. It was fuel. His mop was no longer just a weapon in his imagination but the staff of a god of purity. And so, while joy buzzed in his skull, he kept cleaning—swiping, scrubbing, polishing every corner with newfound vigor.
His strokes were faster, sharper, not out of duty but celebration.
Each patch of dirt erased felt like another victory, another declaration of his dominance over the fate that once mocked him.
…
Far from the Tan residence, in a shadowed inn room thick with the stench of stale wine and incense, a different mood brewed.
Several men sat hunched together, their ragged clothes and scarred faces betraying their lives as killers-for-hire, yet even they looked uneasy as they shifted beneath the piercing gaze of the man in the center.
He wore a dark robe embroidered with blood-red patterns that seemed to writhe under the flickering lamplight. From him emanated an aura of demonic qi so thick that it pressed against the lungs like a suffocating fog.
His voice was low at first, almost calm, but every syllable dripped venom. "How was the Tan residence? Did you deal with Tan Yulong's son as ordered?"
One of the bandits licked his lips, eyes darting to his companions for help before stammering, "We… we did as instructed, Lord. We ambushed him. He should have died. But—"
"But?" The robed man's voice cracked like a whip.
The bandit swallowed hard. "But… he didn't die. Somehow, he lived. And Tan Yulong… he didn't recall his men stationed in the town. He didn't call them back to his residence."
For a heartbeat, silence stretched like a blade drawn thin. Then—
"YOU FOOLS!" The man's roar shook the walls. The lamplight quivered, almost extinguished, and the men recoiled as if struck. His aura flared, demonic energy coiling like serpents around his figure, eyes burning with a crimson glow. "My order was simple—deal with the son! That boy should have been gone, erased, snuffed out like a candle in the dark! Yet here he breathes?!"
The bandits trembled. One fell to his knees, banging his forehead against the wooden floor until it cracked. "Forgive us! Lord, forgive us!"
The robed man sneered, his lips curling back like a beast baring fangs. His voice rose, harsh and guttural. "Do you even understand why this was important? Tan Yulong's son was the key! If you had killed him properly, the old man would have no choice but to recall his troops from the town. And then—then—we could have swallowed his household whole, crushed him when he was weakest!" His words thundered like iron against iron, each sentence laced with fury.
But instead of calming, his rage only escalated. His gaze sharpened, as if he were staring not at the bandits before him but someone else entirely.
A phantom image flickered in his mind's eye: a figure, not Tan Yulong, but another man cloaked in white beside Tan Yulong. His teeth ground together. His jaw tightened until veins bulged at his temples. "All ruined because of incompetence! That's it… I see him… him! He dares stand in my way again!"
His temper exploded anew, and the bandits could only quake beneath the storm of his fury.
"My plan was elegant, perfect!" His voice cracked the air like thunder. "Remove the son, lure the father, crush them both! But you—" he jabbed a finger at the cowering men, "—you couldn't even do the simplest task!"
The demonic energy swirled higher, pressing the air until the bandits' lungs burned. Their vision darkened at the edges as if suffocated by the sheer malice pouring off the robed figure.
"L-Lord, please!" one of them begged, his voice shaking. "Give us another chance! We will deal with him again. We will finish it this time, no mistakes!"
"Another chance…" The man's laugh was hollow, grating, a sound that chilled the marrow. His hands clenched, black smoke curling around his knuckles. "You promise me, yet you've already failed. Why should I believe a pack of dogs that can't bite?"
Just then, a quiet voice cut through the rising storm.
"My lord."
It was his attendant, a thin man with calm eyes who stood slightly behind him. He bowed deeply, his voice steady despite the oppressive qi swirling in the room. "If you let your temper run wild here, the Heaven Flame Sect stationed in town that was searching for you sir may notice. Their disciples patrol often, and if they catch wind of your demonic qi, it will complicate everything."
The words struck like a splash of cold water. The robed man's fury didn't vanish, but his flaring aura contracted, folding back into his body like a beast retreating to its den. His chest heaved, but his eyes remained molten with hate.
The bandits gasped for air as the suffocating pressure lifted, sweat drenching their backs. They didn't hear the conversation of the two but they are still fearful.
Slowly, the robed man raised a finger and pointed directly at them, his tone sharp as a blade. "You will deal with the young master of the Tan family again. Fail me a second time…" His lips curled into a smile that was colder than death. "…and you won't live to beg forgiveness."
The men scrambled to their knees, foreheads striking the ground in unison. "Y-yes, Lord! We swear it! We will kill him this time!"
The robed man's eyes narrowed, burning with vicious light. He shouted, his voice like the crack of doom:
"You'd better be!"