Fang Qi's footsteps felt heavy and unstable as he traversed the long corridor toward the Main Hall. He deliberately let his shoulders slump, his hand occasionally leaning against the cold wooden pillars to balance his seemingly frail frame. At the corner of his lips, the black medicinal residue had dried, creating the perfect illusion of a young man who had just coughed up blood from decaying lungs.
The Main Hall was already crowded. The whispers of the Han family elders created a low hum that filled the high-ceilinged room. However, the moment Fang Qi appeared at the threshold, a brief, sharp silence followed.
The Main Hall was already crowded. The whispers of the Han family elders created a low hum that filled the high-ceilinged room. However, the moment Fang Qi appeared at the threshold, a brief, sharp silence followed.
Several elders furrowed their brows, their gazes filled with disgust and irritation. To them, Fang Qi's presence at such an important gathering was no different from bringing a coffin to a wedding. But because their attention was consumed by the guest in the center of the room, no one bothered to drive him out.
Fang Qi found a dark corner behind a large pillar. He stood there, breathing shallowly, while focusing his vision. The system in his eyes flickered to life, dissecting reality into cold, glowing numbers.
[Han Yue | Fate Value: 1,500]
Han Yue stood in the center, his face a mixture of confusion and bruised pride. But he wasn't the one who caught Fang Qi's attention. Beside Han Yue stood a young woman in a pale blue robe adorned with silver cloud embroidery. Her posture was upright, her aura as sharp as a blade freshly pulled from a forge.
[Qin Ruo | Fate Value: 1,200]
The number was substantial, though not as high as Han Yue's. Yet, in Fang Qi's eyes, Qin Ruo's aura felt far more "dense," as if her destiny were not just vast, but directed with lethal precision.
"Miss Qin," Han Yue's voice rang out, attempting to sound calm but failing to hide the underlying tremor. "What is the meaning of this emergency meeting? We have just finished celebrating my return."
Qin Ruo did not answer immediately. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a black silk scroll sealed with blood-red wax.
"Our engagement," Qin Ruo said curtly. Her voice wasn't loud, but every word felt like a hammer striking glass. "The Qin family has decided to end it here."
A gasp of shock erupted throughout the hall. The Han family elders stood from their seats, their faces flushed with rage. Han Yue froze, his eyes widening as he stared at the scroll as if it were a weapon that had just pierced his chest.
"You... are calling off the engagement? In front of my entire family?" Han Yue asked, his voice rising an octave.
"The world has changed, Han Yue," Qin Ruo looked at him blankly, without a shred of pity. "Cultivation is about the compatibility of fate. Our family has consulted with the sect's diviners. 'The Seed' within your body... it no longer resonates with my path. If we remain together, it will only hinder both of our developments."
The Seed? Fang Qi narrowed his eyes from behind the shadow of the pillar. That word was new data for his brain. He observed Han Yue's chest through his system's vision. There, he saw a clump of golden light pulsating irregularly, resembling a turbulent core of energy.
"So that is what they call 'The Seed'?" Fang Qi thought. "The foundation of power in this world?"
Qin Ruo took a step forward. She opened a small jade box she was carrying. Instantly, a sharp red light radiated outward, causing the temperature in the hall to rise unnaturally. Inside the box, a red crystal shaped like a broken blade-tip floated slowly, emitting an aura that made Fang Qi's skin sting even from a distance.
"I know this is humiliating for the Han family," Qin Ruo continued. "As compensation, I have brought this Blazing Sword Shard. It is a rare fragment of universal law. My father sent me to give this to you as a replacement for our bond."
The atmosphere in the hall shifted once more. Greed began to replace the anger on the elders' faces. A Shard was something most could only dream of—a key to unimaginable power.
Fang Qi observed the red crystal (Shard) intently. The system in his mind began to process new information that appeared automatically:
[Object Detected: Shard (Law Fragment)]
[Status: Seeking Host]
[Attraction: Requires a fertile 'Seed' to anchor itself.]
Fang Qi saw the golden light in Han Yue's chest struggling, as if trying to pull the red crystal in. However, the light looked murky and distorted, as if there were something obstructing it from within—a parasite or an instability neatly hidden away.
Interesting," Fang Qi thought, his pale hand gripping his robe. "So that's how it works. The Seed is the soil, and the Shard is the seed of power that only wishes to grow in the best land."
He looked at his own chest. Dark. Empty. His system showed a Fate Value of only 5. In this world, he was merely a patch of barren land, not even worthy of being visited by the weakest Shard. He was an anomaly unwanted by the laws of nature.
Yet, amidst the humiliation Han Yue was enduring, Fang Qi felt a different thrum in his heart. Something colder than the poison in his body, and hungrier than Han Yue's ambition.
If I don't have the soil to plant it," Fang Qi whispered, barely audible over the noise of the hall, "then I'll just have to steal someone else's plant."
His cold eyes locked onto the red Shard, not with admiration, but with the calculation of a predator who had just found his first prey.