Location: The Shattered Pagoda – The Eye of the Storm
The return journey from the ruins of the Heavenly Sword Sect was silent. The Obsidian Wrath docked at the capital, offloading millions in gold and resources, but Aris didn't stay to count his coins.
He felt it.
A pressure was building under his skin—an itch deep within his bone marrow. It was the sensation of a vessel that was too small for its contents. His Qi Capacity was overflowing. The massive influx of XP from the massacre, combined with the 200,000 AP injection from the Star Heart, had pushed him to the absolute limit of the Core Formation realm.
"Level 49," Aris whispered, stepping into the ruins of the West Pavilion. "99.9%."
He walked to the center of the Yin-Spring. The toxic fumes swirled around him, acting as a cooling agent for his overheating meridians.
"Nox," Aris commanded.
The shadow-beast emerged. Nox had evolved. He was no longer a small cat or a hound. He was the Eclipse Hound—a creature the size of a dire wolf, with a mane made of writhing smoke and two pairs of violet eyes.
"Guard the perimeter," Aris said. "If the Emperor tries to enter, eat him. If the Matron tries to crawl out of her hole, eat her too. I cannot be disturbed."
Nox growled in acknowledgement and melted into the darkness, turning the entire courtyard into a lethal kill-zone.
The Trigger
Aris sat in the lotus position. He opened his Abyssal Inventory.
[Item: Solar Essence Crystals (x50)]
[Item: Heart of the Star (Converted to Pure Void Energy)]
"System," Aris said, his voice steady. "Consume everything. Initiate Level 50 Breakthrough."
[Warning: Dangerous Threshold.]
[Breaching the Nascent Soul Realm will trigger 'Heavenly Tribulation'.]
[Analysis: Due to Host's 'Abyssal' nature, the Heavenly Dao will not recognize you as a Cultivator.]
[It will recognize you as a Virus.]
[Predicted Tribulation Type: Divine Erasure Lightning (Red).]
Aris grinned. "Divine Erasure? Sounds like free energy to me."
"Execute."
BOOM.
Aris swallowed the energy.
It wasn't a gentle stream. It was a dam breaking. The energy tore through his meridians, shredding the "Core" in his dantian.
In normal cultivation, one shatters their Golden Core to give birth to a "Nascent Soul"—a spiritual infant that represents their immortal self.
But Aris didn't have a normal soul.
As his Core shattered, it didn't form a baby. It formed a Singularity. A tiny, spinning black hole formed in his chest, devouring the Solar Essence, the Yin-Spring, and the very air around him.
The Server Purge
Outside, the sky over the Thorne Estate didn't turn dark. It turned Red.
Clouds the color of fresh arterial blood swirled directly above the West Pavilion. There was no thunder. Thunder is the sound of air being displaced. This phenomenon made no sound because it was erasing the air.
In the Imperial Palace, the Emperor fell off his throne, trembling. "What... what is that? Is the world ending?"
In the dungeons, General Thorne looked up, feeling a fear he hadn't felt since he was a child. "Red Lightning... the Legend of the God-Scourge..."
Back in the Pagoda, Aris looked up through the hole in the roof.
[Heavenly Dao: Threat Detected.]
[Error Code: Entity 'Aris Thorne' violates Laws of Reality.]
[Action: Delete.]
A beam of silent, crimson lightning descended. It wasn't electricity; it was concentrated disintegration.
Aris didn't dodge. He stood up and spread his arms.
"Come on!" he roared at the sky. "You think you can delete me? I wrote the patch notes!"
[Skill Activated: Abyssal Sovereign Body - Maximum Output.]
[Skill Activated: Reverse Refinement - Environmental.]
The red beam hit him.
The West Pavilion vaporized instantly. Stone turned to nothingness. The ground melted into glass.
But in the center of the crater, Aris stood.
His skin was cracking, glowing with red lines as the "Erasure" tried to dismantle his atoms. The pain was beyond description—it was the sensation of being unmade.
Hold it together, Aris screamed internally. Don't resist it. Process it.
He visualized his body as a machine. The lightning was just raw data—corrupted, dangerous, but powerful.
[Processing: Divine Lightning...]
[Filtering: 'Erasure' Code...]
[converting to: 'Abyssal Fuel'...]
The Singularity in his chest spun faster. It grabbed the red lightning and pulled it in.
ZZZZT.
The beam stopped. The clouds paused, seemingly confused. The target hadn't been deleted. The target had eaten the attack.
The Evolution
[System Notification: Energy Threshold Met.]
[Nascent Soul Forming...]
Inside Aris's dantian, the Singularity collapsed.
Then, it exploded.
From the darkness, a figure emerged. It wasn't a golden baby. It was a miniature version of Aris—perfect, crystalline, and pitch black. It sat on a throne of violet code.
[Congratulations!]
[Level 50 Reached (Nascent Soul - Rank 1)]
[Physique Evolution: 50% Awakened]
[New Feature: The Abyssal Domain (Radius: 100 meters)]
Aris opened his eyes. The whites of his eyes were gone, replaced by black sclera. His irises were glowing violet rings.
He looked at the sky. The Red Clouds were gathering for a second strike—a stronger one.
Aris raised his hand.
"Admin Command," he whispered. "Cancel Process."
He released his new Abyssal Domain. A sphere of absolute darkness expanded from his body, shooting up into the sky.
It hit the Red Clouds.
The Domain didn't fight the clouds; it overwrote them. The "Rules" of the Heavenly Dao inside his domain were null and void. The Red Clouds flickered, turned grey, and dissolved into harmless mist.
The sky cleared. The sun returned.
The Message
Aris stood in the center of the glass crater, naked, his body reforged into something that transcended humanity. He felt... infinite.
[System Alert: Incoming Transmission.]
[Source: Unknown (Higher Dimension).]
Aris blinked. A blue window popped up, different from his usual interface.
[Message:]
"Interesting. Most glitches crash the system. You just upgraded it."
- The Dying God
[Reward Enclosed: The Key to the Underworld.]
A heavy, rusted iron key materialized in Aris's hand. It felt cold—colder than the Abyss.
[Item: Key to the Underworld]
[Rank: Divine (Sealed)]
[Description: Opens the gate to the 'Realm of the Dead'. Warning: The dead do not like visitors.]
Aris closed his hand around the key. He didn't know what it opened yet, but he knew one thing: He had just survived the universe trying to kill him.
"Master?"
Nox approached cautiously. The beast bowed low, sensing the shift in hierarchy. Aris was no longer just a Host. He was a King.
"I'm fine, Nox," Aris said, waving his hand. His clothes—a new set of robes woven from pure shadow—materialized over his body.
He looked toward the main estate.
"I am Level 50 now," Aris said. "That means I qualify for the Imperial Conquest Tournament."
He smiled.
"It's time to take this show on the road. The Heavenly Sword Sect was just an appetizer. The neighboring empires... they are the main course."
[Abyssal Nexus: End of Chapter Status]
Host: Aris Thorne
Level: 50 (Nascent Soul - Early Stage)
Class: Forbidden Alchemist (Rank 4 - Void Architect)
[Attributes]
Strength: 250 (Superhuman)
Agility: 220
Intelligence: 150
Qi Capacity: Infinite (Connected to Abyssal Singularity)
[New Ultimate Skill: The Black Sun]
Aris can manifest his Nascent Soul externally as a "Black Sun" that hovers behind him. It passively absorbs all hostile Qi attacks within 100 meters and converts them into HP/MP.
[World Status]
The Heavenly Dao: Wary. (Will likely send "Agent" type enemies instead of lightning next time).
The Dying God: Watching.