Lu Tian sat cross-legged in the damp stone room that passed for his quarters. The walls were cracked, the roof leaked during rain, and the straw mat beneath him stank of mold. This was the sect's mercy to a "trash disciple."
But tonight, as the moonlight filtered through the slats, the room pulsed with a sinister glow.
The Heaven-Devouring Meridian.
It throbbed like a second heart, each beat drawing faint wisps of energy from the world around him—loose qi from the air, scraps of aura from the earth. But that wasn't enough. The meridian wasn't satisfied.
It whispered inside him.
Bonds… devour… fight… grow…
Lu Tian clenched his fists. "So, it wants more than qi. It wants… people."
He thought back to the moment in the martial hall, when Xu Han's flame had bent and flowed into his veins. Not stolen, but consumed, refined, reborn as his own.
He raised his palm. A faint spark of crimson-black fire flickered to life, weaker than before, sputtering like a dying candle. The effort drained him instantly, his body screaming from the strain.
I can copy techniques… no, not copy. I can make them mine. But the price…
He collapsed back against the wall, panting. His whole body burned as if shards of glass coursed through his veins. The power was intoxicating, yet it threatened to tear him apart.
"Then I'll need to pace myself. Grow steadily. Use every chance I get to devour more."
The thought made him grin. For the first time in either life, the idea of tomorrow didn't fill him with dread. It filled him with anticipation.
Still, another memory lingered—the ten threads of light he'd seen when facing his fiancées. Weak, fragile, yet undeniably connected to him.
He focused inward, and there they were again: ten lines of faint energy stretching into the void. He touched one—the cold blue thread of Lan Xue—and instantly felt a chill seep into his chest. He pulled away, shivering.
So bonds are real. And the stronger the bond… the stronger my devouring will become.
It wasn't love or affection that mattered. It was connection. Hatred, rivalry, loyalty, desire—anything strong enough to tie them together.
His laugh echoed in the empty room."Perfect. If they hate me, I'll use their hatred. If they desire me, I'll use their desire. One way or another, they'll all feed the meridian."
The whispers in his body purred in satisfaction.
Suddenly, a knock thundered on his door.
"Lu Tian!" A sharp female voice snapped. "You've been summoned. The sect master wishes to see you at dawn!"
His grin vanished. The sect master? Now?
Lu Tian straightened, his crimson eyes flashing in the moonlight."Good," he muttered. "Let them come. The more they push me down… the more I'll rise."