At the age of sixteen, he was the rightful heir of the Ling Clan, yet also its greatest shame. The clan, once standing as a pillar of Moonlit City, was now merely a shadow, and Ling Tian was the living symbol of that decline.
His cultivation was stagnant at the Third Layer of the Qi Condensation Realm—a level that could be surpassed by a ten-year-old child in better clans.
"Look at that trash. The Third Layer? He doesn't even deserve to hold a broom in the Pill Pavilion," scoffed Ling Yuan, Ling Tian's cousin, as he passed him in the courtyard. Ling Yuan himself was already at the Ninth Layer, and his sense of superiority always carried the sting of sharp ridicule.
Ling Tian merely clenched his fists beneath his worn robe. The jeer cut deep, not because he cared about status, but because he knew this stagnation was his punishment. He was born with an Ordinary Spirit Root—the most common and slowest root for absorbing spiritual energy. It was as if the heavens had closed his path to greatness before he even took a step.
That night, the moon hung like a silver sickle in the sky, but Ling Tian's heart was dark. He decided to visit the hidden storage pavilion, where his mother—a mysterious cultivator who died when he was young—had left a few personal items.
Beneath thick dust and behind a crumbling bookshelf, he discovered a hidden mechanism. With a low, rumbling sound, the stone floor shifted, revealing a dark stone staircase descending into the depths.
There, in the confines of a narrow, damp cave, lay three skeletons: two large ones that were shattered into pieces, as if struck by a cosmic force, and in the middle of them, a smaller skeleton protecting something.
Ling Tian knelt down. A chill crept over his skin, but he was driven by intense curiosity.
Between the small skeleton's fingers was an object—not a book, not a weapon, but a Dull Purple Crystal the size of a fist. The crystal emitted no light, possessed no spiritual energy, and was cold as ice.
The moment Ling Tian touched it, the crystal immediately dissolved.
No, it didn't dissolve into water; it dissolved into countless strands of purple light that infiltrated his pores, rushing straight to his Sea of Consciousness and, more importantly, to his Spirit Root.
His consciousness was assailed by an ancient, indescribable vision: the sky shattering, stars being extinguished, and in the center of the destruction, an entity surpassing the concept of space and time merely extending a hand.
"The inheritance of the Star Emperor. Granted only to the soul that refuses to bow to fate. Feel... the power that transcends realms." The voice resonated, sounding like muffled, primordial thunder.
Excruciating pain swept through Ling Tian. He felt every meridian being torn apart and rebuilt, every drop of his blood purified, and most dramatically, he felt the Ordinary Spirit Root that had held him back all these years being completely uprooted.
In its place formed something unknown in the Seven-Heaven Realm: the Divine-tier Spirit Root: Primordial Chaos. This root did not absorb the Qi of Heaven and Earth, but siphoned the energy of Primordial Chaos itself—the purest, most boundless source of energy in the universe.
Along with the new Spirit Root, a complex, nameless Inheritance Lineage, known as the Absolute Immortal Lineage, was directly imprinted onto his soul.
When the pain subsided, Ling Tian collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. Yet, his eyes glittered with a purple light that quickly faded.
He stood up. He no longer felt stagnation. Instead of the barrier of the Third Layer, he felt the energy of Primordial Chaos revolving wildly in his Dantian Sea.
The Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation!
The Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation!
The Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation!
In the short time it took to breathe, Ling Tian had broken through three layers, surpassing his previous three years of hard work.
He looked at the crystal, which was now completely gone. In its place, there was a cold, absolute certainty.
"The Seven-Heaven Realm? A land to restrain my destiny? Ants who dared to call me trash?"
The first smile that formed on Ling Tian's face was not one of happiness, but a sneer of absolute contempt.
Destiny has been rewritten. There is only one path for me: The Path of Supremacy.
He left the secret cave, carrying the inheritance of the Star Emperor, a Divine-tier Spirit Root, and a new promise to himself: He would crush everyone who had ever belittled him, and all who dared to stand in his way.
The rising has begun.