The boot connected with Han Jin-woo's ribs.
Crack.
He heard the bone break before he felt it. Then the pain came—white-hot, screaming through his nerves. He curled into himself on the cold stone floor, blood dripping from his split lip.
"Pathetic."
Gong Su-jin stood above him, his pristine white robes unmarred by a single speck of dust. Behind him, three Inner Circle disciples laughed.
"Three years in our sect," Su-jin continued, his voice smooth as silk and twice as cold. "Three years, and you're still at Qi Gathering Stage 3. Even dogs learn faster than you."
Jin-woo didn't respond. He'd learned that lesson long ago. Words invited more pain.
"Nothing to say?" Su-jin crouched down, gripping Jin-woo's hair and wrenching his head up. Their eyes met—Su-jin's sharp and predatory, Jin-woo's... empty. "I liked it better when you used to cry."
"Young Master Su-jin," one of the disciples called out. "We should finish this. The Elders patrol this area at midnight."
Su-jin released Jin-woo's hair, letting his head drop to the stone. "You're right. We shouldn't waste more time on trash."
He stood, adjusting his sleeves. "Throw him into the Cursed Valley."
Jin-woo's blood ran cold.
The Cursed Valley. The sect's dumping ground for corpses, failed experiments, and disgraced disciples. No one who entered had ever returned.
"W-wait—" Jin-woo's voice cracked. "I haven't done anything—"
"Exactly." Su-jin smiled, beautiful and terrible. "You haven't done anything. You haven't earned a single contribution point. You're a drain on sect resources. Consider this... early retirement."
The disciples grabbed Jin-woo by his arms and legs. He thrashed, screamed, but his broken body couldn't resist. His Qi was pathetically weak—crippled meridians since birth. A defect. A curse.
Why?
The thought burned through his mind as they dragged him through the sect's back paths.
Why was I born like this?
Why does everyone get to stand above me?
Why do I have to die like a dog?
The disciples reached the cliff's edge. Below, the Cursed Valley yawned—an abyss of swirling mist and jagged rocks, the stench of decay rising like a physical wall.
"Any last words?" one of them sneered.
Jin-woo looked up at the moon. Full. Blood-red.
"I'll remember your faces."
The disciple laughed. "Dead men don't remember anything."
They threw him.
The fall lasted an eternity.
Wind screamed past his ears. The mist swallowed him whole. Jin-woo's body tumbled through the darkness, bouncing off rocks that tore his flesh, breaking bones that hadn't already been shattered.
Then—impact.
He landed in something soft. Rotting. The corpses of those who came before him, piled high enough to cushion his fall.
Jin-woo lay there, staring up at the distant circle of moonlight far above. His breath came in wet, ragged gasps. Blood pooled beneath him.
So this is how I die.
He'd always known it would end like this. No glory. No revenge. Just... nothing.
His vision blurred. The pain faded, replaced by a creeping cold that started in his fingers and spread inward.
Mother... I'm sorry I couldn't—
His hand brushed against something.
Something smooth. Warm.
Jin-woo's fading eyes drifted to the side. Beside him, half-buried in corpses, was a skeleton dressed in rotting robes far more ornate than anything the sect possessed. And in its bony grip...
A jade stone.
It glowed with soft, green light—pulsing like a heartbeat.
What...?
His fingers closed around it instinctively. The moment his skin made contact—
[CONTACT ESTABLISHED.]
The words burned across his vision in characters of golden fire.
Jin-woo's eyes widened. "What—"
[PRIMORDIAL JADE CORE DETECTED.]
[HOST COMPATIBILITY: 97.3%]
[WARNING: HOST VITALS CRITICAL. INITIATING EMERGENCY FUSION.]
The jade stone liquefied in his palm, seeping into his skin like water into sand. Jin-woo screamed as liquid fire coursed through his veins, burning through his meridians, carving new pathways where none existed.
[FUSION IN PROGRESS: 10%... 25%... 47%...]
His back arched. His broken bones snapped back into place with sickening cracks. Torn muscles knitted themselves together. The blood stopped flowing—reversed—drawn back into his body.
[FUSION IN PROGRESS: 78%... 91%... 100%]
[FUSION COMPLETE.]
Silence.
Jin-woo lay perfectly still, chest heaving. The pain was gone. All of it. He felt... light. Clean. Whole.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
A new voice spoke directly into his mind. Calm. Cold. Ancient.
"Vessel. Can you hear me?"
Jin-woo sat up slowly, staring at his hands. The cuts were gone. His skin glowed faintly with a jade-green luminescence that faded after a few seconds.
"Who... what are you?"
"I am Ryung. The Will of the Primordial Jade Core. You have been chosen as my host."
"Chosen?" Jin-woo laughed bitterly. "I wasn't chosen. I was thrown away."
"Irrelevant. The circumstances of our meeting do not change the outcome. You now carry within you the legacy of the Jade Sovereign—a god who walked this world before your ancestors learned to speak."
Jin-woo's heart pounded.
[STATUS WINDOW]
A translucent panel materialized before his eyes:
╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║ HOST: Han Jin-woo
║ AGE: 18
║ CULTIVATION: Qi Gathering 3
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ CORE LEVEL: 1 (Dormant)
║ CORE ENERGY: 12/100
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ABILITIES UNLOCKED:
║ • Divine Analysis (Basic)
║ • Bone-Forging Breath (Passive)
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ BODY STATUS: HEALED
║ MERIDIANS: REPAIRED (12%)
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝
Jin-woo stared at the floating text. His breath caught.
Meridians: Repaired.
His crippled meridians—the curse he'd been born with—were being fixed.
"This is real," he whispered.
"Yes. Though you should temper your excitement. The repair is only 12% complete. Full restoration will require significant energy—energy you do not currently possess."
Jin-woo stood. His legs didn't shake. His ribs didn't scream. He felt stronger than he ever had in his entire life.
He looked up at the distant cliff edge.
"Those people up there," he said quietly. "They think I'm dead."
"A reasonable assumption, given your previous condition."
"Good." Jin-woo's eyes hardened. Something cold and sharp crystallized in his chest. "Let them keep thinking that."
He turned away from the moonlight and walked deeper into the Cursed Valley.
"Where are you going?" Ryung asked.
"You said the Core needs energy to grow. There's a reason this place is called cursed." Jin-woo's voice was steady. "Whatever's down here—I'm going to find it."
Behind him, the skeleton that had held the jade stone for centuries crumbled to dust.
Its purpose, finally fulfilled.
[END OF CHAPTER 1]
Next Chapter: The Cursed Valley's Secret