Chapter 1: The System Awakens
514 Words
Chapter 1: The System Awakens
Pain burned through every inch of Lin Feng’s bones like molten spiritual fire.
The bitter cold of the Abyss Burial Ground seeped into his cracked Nascent Soul, and the sneering faces of his sect elders blurred before his fading eyes. Elder Qinghe, the man he’d respected for a hundred years, held a bloodied sword that pierced his heart. Beside him stood the young female genius he’d once loved, her beautiful face twisted with indifference as she handed over his core cultivation technique to the sect’s rival.
“Lin Feng, you were nothing but a stepping stone,” Elder Qinghe cackled, twisting the blade deeper. “Your talent, your treasures, your Nascent Soul—all belong to Azure Cloud Sect now. A waste like you never deserved such power.”
Rage, grief, and endless regret churned in his collapsing soul. He’d devoted his entire life to the sect, risked his life to fetch heavenly materials for them, yet in the end, all he got was betrayal and a brutal execution.
If only he could live again… If only he had a chance to make every single one of them pay.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
“Ugh—”
Lin Feng jolted awake with a sharp gasp, cold sweat soaking his tattered linen robes. His body ached dully, but the soul-wrenching agony of being stabbed through the Nascent Soul was gone.
He blinked hard, staring at the shabby wooden beams overhead, the chipped stone floor covered in thin straw mats. This wasn’t the frigid Abyss Burial Ground. This was the dilapidated side courtyard of the Lin Clan Manor—his childhood quarters, the place he’d lived before he left for Azure Cloud Sect decades ago.
A rough, mocking voice cut through the air outside the door right then.
“Look who’s awake! The good-for-nothing young master of the Lin Clan, Lin Feng!”
The wooden door slammed open with a bang. Two burly clan servants sauntered in, arms crossed over their chests, eyes full of undisguised scorn. Behind them trailed Lin Hao, his cousin, the clan’s current golden genius. Lin Hao wore a bright embroidered silk robe, his cultivation aura of Qi Refining Layer 7 rolling off him like a tide, arrogant smirk plastered on his face.
“Feng, you really embarrassed our entire clan yesterday,” Lin Hao tsked, kicking over the chipped porcelain cup on the table. “You challenged me in front of all the clan’s elders and young ladies, yet you couldn’t even withstand a single palm strike from me. Everyone’s laughing about how our main branch birthed a spiritless trash who can’t absorb a single wisp of spiritual energy.”
One servant snickered, stepping forward to shove Lin Feng’s shoulder hard. He stumbled backward, hitting the wall, his head spinning.
“Master Hao’s right. At your age, other clan youths are already climbing Qi Refining layers. You’re seventeen, stuck at zero spiritual roots. The clan’s resources are wasted feeding a useless waste like you.”
Every word was a sharp knife, stabbing into Lin Feng’s heart.
- Writer
