Snow blanketed Yunling by morning. A pale sun rose sluggishly behind the clouds, casting a dim glow over the rooftops. The village, still humming from yesterday's Awakening Ceremony, returned to quiet normalcy.
All except for one hut—half-collapsed, long abandoned—at the edge of the eastern cliffs.
Inside, Li Shen sat cross-legged on the cold floor. His breath came slow and even, despite the frost in the air. His eyes were shut.
[Forsaken Root – 1% Unsealed]
[Qi Flow: Unstable. Core Not Formed.]
[Recommended Action: Initiate Devour Protocol]
[Target Required: Cultivation Technique, Root Fragment, or Spirit Beast Core]
He opened his eyes.
A faint mist of qi danced in the air around him, but none of it entered his body. Not naturally. It recoiled from him—like the world itself rejected his existence.
"I can't draw it in," he muttered.
But he remembered the black flames. The heat. The system's voice. He remembered the pain—and the clarity that came after.
Devour.
That was the key.
Not cultivation through harmony.
But domination.
⸻
Hours Later – On the Mountain Trail
Li Shen hiked deep into the forested slopes beyond the village. He carried no weapon, only a torn cloth pouch and a half-rotted book he'd found buried under his father's grave.
The book had no title. Its pages were filled with handwritten notes—fragments of a cultivation method his father had begun to develop. It spoke of resisting fate. Of burning the rootless cage.
And of something else.
"The Forsaken Root feeds not on qi alone, but on intent. It devours what is offered to the heavens."
Li Shen reached a narrow cliffside clearing. There, beneath the shade of black-needled pines, a wild Boneclaw Lynx prowled—a low-rank spirit beast, its claws glowing faintly with spiritual energy.
It snarled as he approached.
"Good," Shen said, his voice cold. "Come at me."
The lynx lunged.
Fangs flashed. Claws slashed. Shen ducked beneath its first strike, pivoted, and slammed a stone into the beast's skull.
It reeled, stunned.
He leapt onto its back, gripping its neck—and something inside him called out.
[Devour Protocol: Activated]
[Target: Boneclaw Lynx – Qi Core Detected]
[Initiating Soul Thread Extraction...]
Black fire surged from his palm into the creature. It screamed—a piercing, soul-rending sound—as its body convulsed.
Then, with a final shudder, it fell still.
[Target Deceased. Low-Grade Beast Core Extracted.]
[Qi Assimilation In Progress...]
[Forsaken Root: 2% Unsealed]
Li Shen staggered back, gasping.
He could feel it.
Qi surged into his body—not gentle, but forced. Violent. Like blood on his tongue. But it stayed. It moved through his meridians, awakening them one by one.
He was cultivating.
He had begun.
And he'd done it not by drawing qi from nature—but by ripping it from the living.
"...So that's what you meant, Father," he whispered.
⸻
That Night – Village Fires Burn Bright
Back in Yunling, news had already begun to spread.
"They say Liu Tian was invited to the Azure Sky Sect directly!"
"And that the traitor's son has gone mad—wandering the woods alone."
"A shame. He was a quiet one..."
Li Shen walked unseen past the huts, shadowed by the flickering lanterns. He carried the beast core with him, now a dull gray stone, lifeless.
His senses were sharper. His body lighter. He could feel his strength rising—bit by bit.
But he could also feel something else.
[Heaven's Gaze: Dormant – Tracking Activity Suspended]
[Warning: Frequent Use of Devour will Reactivate Heavenly Suppression]
The heavens were watching.
They didn't know where he was yet—but they were searching.
And he was not ready to be found.
⸻
Three Days Later – Azure Sky Sect
Far away, atop the soaring peaks of Mount Zhenxu, the Azure Sky Sect's inner sanctum buzzed with energy. Grand Elder Xuan Jie, one of the Eight Venerable Immortals, held the blackened Spirit Mirror in his hands.
"It was him," Xuan Jie said. "The son of Li Jiang. The mirror recognizes the bloodline."
Elder Mingshi bowed low. "But how? He has no root."
"He has something worse," Xuan Jie growled. "Something older than the heavens. The Forsaken Root should not exist."
He turned to the hall of golden-robed disciples gathered before him.
"I want eyes on that village. Now. If he awakens further, we may not be able to contain him."
⸻
Later That Night – In Li Shen's Hut
The old book lay open before a flickering candle.
Li Shen traced his father's final note:
"Heaven gives, but also takes. The Forsaken Root gives nothing—but it can take everything."
He exhaled.
Outside, the night was still. The villagers slept.
And Li Shen closed his eyes.
[Devour – Internal Flow Initiated]
[Beast Core: Broken Down – Qi Refined]
[Qi Level: Stage 1 Initiate – 5% Full]
[New Skill Unlocked: Soul Thread Sense]
[Forsaken Root: 3% Unsealed]
The power rose in him again.
He was no longer rootless.
He was something other.
Something worse.
Something free.