The forbidden bloodline

Chapter One: In Golden Lotus City, one name stood above all others. The Yan Family. Their estate stretched across the eastern district like a sleeping dragon, surrounded by towering walls carved with ancient runes that had protected the clan for generations. Magnificent halls stood beneath floating pavilions, while countless disciples practiced swordsmanship from dawn until dusk. Every clang of steel echoed with power. The Yan Family ruled above the other four great families of Golden Lotus City. None dared challenge their authority. -And if anyone do there's only one words.. ...Death. The other clans depended on them for cultivation techniques, spiritual herbs, weapons, and pills. To countless cultivators, receiving a single favor from the Yan Family was a blessing greater than wealth. It was said that every generation of the Yan Family produced extraordinary geniuses capable of shaking the cultivation world. This was a place where strength determined everything. The weaks can only be at their mercy. Talent determined one's future. The weak were ignored before they were ever noticed. Compassion was mistaken for weakness, while mercy was a privilege only the powerful could grant it. The gifted were treated like young dragons. Elders poured endless cultivation resources into them, nurturing them with precious pills, spirit stones, and rare techniques. The untalented... Were abandoned. Inside the Yan Family, the sound of swords never ceased. Young heirs trained until their hands bled. Not for glory. Not for honor. But to survive. Because in this world, only the strong had the right to choose their destiny. The weak simply accepted whatever fate handed them. Among this sea of talented disciples lived a boy named Yan Hua. A boy lived in the Yan family's. No. He wasn't a true member of the Yan Family. He had never shared their blood. He was merely the adopted son of a servant. His mother, Xue Mei, worked as the personal maid of the Yan Family Head. To everyone else, she was only a servant. But to Yan Hua... She was his entire world. She had once told him the story of how they met. Many years ago, while returning from an errand outside the city gates, she heard the desperate cries of an infant beside the riverbank. Curious, she followed the sound. There, wrapped in torn cloth soaked with dried blood, lay a newborn baby. Even the dry blood couldn't hide the dazzling gleam on the cloth. No family. No name. No identity. Only a pair of strangely beautiful golden eyes staring silently at the sky. She searched for his parents until sunset, but no one came. Unable to leave the helpless child behind, she carried him home. From that day onward... She became his mother. But kindness came with a price. Xue Mei had once been engaged to the Yan Family's chief butler, one of the highest-ranking servants in the estate. For someone of her status, it was considered a fortunate marriage. Instead... She broke off the engagement. Rumors quickly spread throughout the estate. People whispered that the abandoned child was actually her illegitimate son. They mocked her. Insulted her. Called her shameless. No matter how much she denied it, no one believed her. Yet she endured every insult without complaint. All because she refused to abandon the little boy she had rescued. Yan Hua never forgot that sacrifice. Growing up, he was mischievous and stubborn. Whenever he caused trouble, it was always Xue Mei who knelt before others, apologizing on his behalf. Whenever he offended someone, she was the one who received the punishment. Sometimes she returned home with swollen cheeks. Sometimes bruises covered her arms. Other times... She hid her injuries behind a smile. As he grew older, Yan Hua finally understood something. He could no longer act recklessly. Every mistake he made became another scar on the woman who raised him. Every tear he caused... She paid for with her own suffering. So he learned to endure. To lower his head. To swallow every insult. Because he could not bear to watch his mother suffer again. Fortunately, his life wasn't completely devoid of warmth. There was one other person who treated him kindly. Yan Qingxue. The eldest daughter of the Yan Family. Unlike everyone else, she never looked down on him because of his birth. She would secretly bring him food whenever he was hungry. Sometimes she even spoke to him as an equal. Those small acts of kindness became the brightest memories of his lonely childhood. Unfortunately... Kindness alone could not change one's destiny. Today was the annual Spirit Root Awakening Ceremony. The most important day in every child's life. The day that determined whether one could step onto the path of cultivation. By noon, the entire Yan Family had gathered within the ancestral courtyard. Thousands of disciples stood in neat rows. Clan elders occupied the high platform. Family heads from the other four great clans had also arrived to witness the ceremony. Excitement filled the air. Every child dreamed of becoming a cultivator. Every parent prayed for a talented heir. But among the crowd... One boy lowered his head in silence. Yan Hua. To everyone else, today was a celebration. To him... It was another nightmare waiting to repeat itself. The moment people noticed him, mocking laughter spread through the crowd. "Look." "The worthless servant is here again." "Doesn't he know he'll embarrass himself?" "Hahaha! He still believes Heaven will suddenly bless him?" "Impossible." "He doesn't even possess a dantian." "A cripple who can't cultivate will never become anything." "Training him would only waste the family's resources." Those words... Yan Hua had heard them so many times that he could repeat them without thinking. Worthless servant. Trash. Useless. A boy without a dantian. Every year. The same ridicule. The same disappointment. The same humiliation. His fingers slowly clenched into fists. His nails dug deep into his palms until blood trickled down unnoticed. Yet he remained silent. Because he had long learned one painful truth. The weak had no right to argue. Just then... An elder standing before the ancient Spirit Awakening Stone slowly opened his eyes. "The ceremony..." He paused, his powerful voice echoing throughout the courtyard. "...shall now begin."