Episode 2

Chapter 2: Emperor Yao

Darkness. Silence.

Then consciousness returned. Not gradually—like a bolt of lightning.

Chen Kai opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in pain.

His broken ribs, the bruises across his back, the wounds covering his body from the beating... all gone. No, not just gone. His body felt... light. Lighter than he'd ever felt in his entire life.

He lay at the bottom of the Soul-Severing Ravine in pitch darkness, yet he could see clearly. Every vein in the ancient leaves carpeting the ground, every dewdrop clinging to a spider's web, every grain of gravel—all sharp as daylight.

Even his sense of smell. He could detect the damp earth, the faint aroma of rare herbs growing in crevices between stones, and...

...and a foul stench. Something rancid coating his entire body.

*Ugh.*

With a groan, Chen Kai sat up. He looked down and found himself covered in a thick layer of reeking black sweat. It was as if every impurity from the last three years had been forced out through his pores.

"Ancient Dragon Vein blood... even diluted across thousands of generations, it's still passable. At least it purged some of the filth from your body," that ancient voice echoed in his mind again.

This time, Chen Kai didn't panic. He looked at his palm. The black pearl was gone. But in its place, at the center of his palm, was a small intricate tattoo in the shape of a dark pearl.

"Who are you?" Chen Kai asked, his voice hoarse. He didn't speak aloud, but he knew the voice could hear him.

A pause, as if the entity were remembering.

"...You may call me... Emperor Yao." The voice dripped with boundless arrogance, as though the name itself should shake the universe. "Or rather, I am the remnant soul of the great Emperor Yao."

"Emperor Yao?" Chen Kai frowned. The name meant nothing to him.

"Hmph! Fool! An ignorant village brat!" The voice sounded offended. "Never did I imagine that I, the supreme master of Alchemy across the Nine Heavens, sealed within this Primordial Chaos Pearl for thirty thousand years, would be awakened by a drop of filthy blood from a mortal boy who hasn't even reached the Foundation Building Stage!"

Chen Kai ignored the insults. He was too focused on the critical information. "Primordial Chaos Pearl? That's... the thing that drank my blood?"

"Of course!" Emperor Yao snapped. "The number one divine treasure in all of existence! A world unto itself! A divine weapon of creation! And now... it is bound to your pathetic soul."

Chen Kai tried to process this. A divine treasure? Bound to him?

He closed his eyes and focused on the tattoo in his palm. Instantly, his consciousness was pulled inward.

He found himself standing in an endless, mist-shrouded space. Grey fog swirled around him. At the center of it all, an illusory figure—translucent, ethereal—floated in the air. It wore elaborate ancient robes and radiated an aura so overwhelming that Chen Kai's knees nearly buckled. This had to be the remnant soul of Emperor Yao.

Beyond the figure, within the fog, Chen Kai could sense... something. He spotted a small patch of fertile soil, no larger than his room. The earth was pitch black and pulsed with pure life energy. Beside it sat a tiny spring, its water shimmering like liquid crystal.

"Chaos Spirit Soil and the Spring of Eternal Life," Emperor Yao said, his voice weary yet proud. "This is all that remains of my world. But even this scrap of soil can grow any spiritual herb in the blink of an eye. And a single drop of that water can bring back the dead."

Chen Kai's heart hammered. *Grow any spiritual herb?*

"Ling'er..." he whispered.

"Hmph. That little Frozen Vein Disease?" Emperor Yao scoffed. "A garbage ailment. A single drop from the Spring of Life could cure it a hundred times over. But don't get your hopes up. Your soul is far too weak to extract anything from this space. You can barely push your consciousness in here as it is."

Chen Kai clenched his fists. "Then what do I need to do?"

"What do you need to do?" Emperor Yao sounded amused. "First, you should thank me for healing your broken wreck of a body. The energy released when the Pearl activated, combined with your drop of Dragon blood, repaired every fractured bone. Second, you should ask yourself... why are you so weak?"

Chen Kai felt a wave of bitterness. "My Spiritual Root was crippled three years ago. I can't cultivate."

"CRIPPLED?" Emperor Yao's voice detonated in his mind like thunder, laced with mocking laughter. "Hahahaha! You idiot! You absolute fool! You think your 'Heaven-Class Spiritual Root' was crippled naturally?"

Chen Kai's blood ran cold. "What... what do you mean?"

"Look at yourself!" Emperor Yao commanded. "Use your consciousness. Examine your dantian! Not with your pitiful physical eyes—with your soul!"

Chen Kai trembled. He did as instructed. He focused his consciousness inward, toward his energy center.

At first, he saw only what he'd always seen: his nine meridians, once radiant, now dull, clogged, and withered. His dantian, hollow and cold.

"Look closer, you fool!" Emperor Yao barked. "Look at the residual energy around those 'crippled' meridians!"

Chen Kai pushed his focus harder, deeper than he'd ever attempted before.

And then... he saw it.

Coiled around his primary meridians like a nearly invisible parasitic serpent was a thin strand of dark grey energy. It radiated a malicious, cold, and... cunning aura. This was what blocked his meridians, slowly draining the life essence from his Spiritual Root.

"Th-This..." Chen Kai gasped. This wasn't natural deterioration. This was... a seal? A curse?

"That is the residue of the Demonic Soul-Draining Technique," Emperor Yao said, his tone frigid. "A disgusting low-grade demonic art. Someone... someone deliberately stole your Spiritual Root's foundation. They didn't destroy it. They harvested it."

A memory flashed through Chen Kai's mind, so sharp it made him nauseous.

The night after his Spiritual Root was "crippled." He'd been bedridden, feverish, racked with pain. Elder Wu—the clan's Grand Elder, second only to his father—had come to visit him.

Elder Wu's face had been full of compassion. "Ah, Chen Kai. What a tragedy. Our genius has fallen."

He remembered Elder Wu placing a wrinkled hand on his forehead. "Don't worry, my boy. Here, take this Soul Recovery Pill. It can't cure you, but it will ease the pain."

Chen Kai, young and desperate, had swallowed the pill without hesitation.

He remembered feeling a wave of cold energy spread from his stomach, soothing the burning agony... while simultaneously killing something inside him.

That pill... that hand...

"No..." Chen Kai whispered. A chill that had nothing to do with the ravine crawled down his spine.

"Elder Wu...?"

He thought about how Elder Wu had been the first to suggest that the Young Patriarch title be given to Chen Wei. He thought about how Elder Wu had been the one to exile him to the laborers' quarters, "so he wouldn't burden the Patriarch in the meantime." He thought about how Chen Wei's father—his second uncle—had been elevated to acting Patriarch after his own father went into seclusion out of "shame."

It all connected.

It wasn't an accident. It was a conspiracy.

They hadn't just crippled him. They'd stolen his talent.

"And now you understand," Emperor Yao said. "Your Heaven-Class Spiritual Root isn't gone. Its essence was stolen—most likely transferred to that 'genius' cousin of yours. And they left this demonic seal behind to ensure you'd never cultivate again, slowly killing you in the process."

Chen Kai said nothing. He just trembled. But it wasn't from fear. It was rage.

A rage so pure and cold it burned.

They had taken his life. They had destroyed his father. They had endangered his sister. All out of greed.

"Good," Emperor Yao said, sensing the killing intent radiating from Chen Kai. "That rage is good. That killing intent is good. A cultivator without it is nothing but a lamb waiting for slaughter. Now then—what will you do?"

"I'll kill them," Chen Kai said, every word like a shard of ice. "Chen Wei... his father... and above all, Elder Wu. I'll make them pay a thousandfold."

"Talk is cheap," Emperor Yao sneered. "You're still trash. That Demonic Soul-Draining Technique is still inside you. Even though the Primordial Chaos Pearl purged most of your physical impurities and awakened your Dragon Vein, the seal still blocks your cultivation."

"Teach me," Chen Kai said, his voice steady. "You're Emperor Yao. You know how to destroy it."

A low chuckle echoed in his mind. "Of course I do. A garbage seal like this? I could shatter it in my sleep. But this Pearl is bound to you. If you die, my weakened soul will be destroyed along with you. I have no choice but to help you."

"The energy from the Pearl's activation still lingers in your body, and your Dragon blood has strengthened your meridians. We'll use that."

"That cultivation technique of your Chen Clan is garbage," Emperor Yao continued. "It doesn't even deserve to be called a technique. Forget it. I'll teach you the first part of my own art: the Eternal Dragon Emperor Heart Sutra."

A wave of unimaginable information flooded Chen Kai's mind. Not words—concepts. Star diagrams, intricate Qi circulation pathways, and a profound understanding of how the energy of heaven and earth was meant to flow.

The Chen Clan's technique felt like trying to drink a river through a straw. Emperor Yao's technique... was becoming the river itself.

"Sit! Meditate!" Emperor Yao ordered. "That demonic seal feeds on your energy. We're going to reverse it. We'll use the Eternal Dragon Emperor Heart Sutra to devour that seal!"

Chen Kai didn't hesitate. He sat cross-legged in the mud at the bottom of the ravine. He closed his eyes and followed Emperor Yao's instructions.

He drew a breath. The spiritual energy in the ravine—far denser than in the clan compound—surged toward him.

He circulated the energy along the pathways of the Eternal Dragon Emperor Heart Sutra. It spiraled like a miniature galaxy inside his body, forming a pale golden vortex.

Then he directed the vortex at the demonic seal coiled around his meridians.

HSSSS!

The seal reacted like a snake that had been stepped on, thrashing violently. Sharp pain lanced through Chen Kai. But the golden vortex, fueled by the residual energy of the Primordial Chaos Pearl, was vastly superior.

The golden vortex seized the dark grey energy and began to grind it apart.

The corrupted demonic energy was shattered, purified, and converted into clean energy by the Eternal Dragon Emperor Heart Sutra, then absorbed into Chen Kai's dantian.

He was using his enemy as fuel.

"Again!" Emperor Yao roared in his mind.

Chen Kai gritted his teeth and kept cycling. Pure energy began pooling in his empty dantian.

One hour passed. Two hours.

CRACK!

Something inside him shattered. The demonic seal splintered to pieces and was consumed entirely.

At the same moment, the purified energy pooled in his dantian hit a critical mass.

BOOM!

A shockwave of power erupted from within. His nine meridians—once dull and withered—blazed with brilliant golden light, stronger than they had ever been.

Qi Condensation Stage... First Level!

But it didn't stop. The purified energy from the devoured seal was enormous.

BOOM!

Qi Condensation Stage... Second Level!

The residual energy from the Primordial Chaos Pearl's activation joined the surge, driving his cultivation even higher.

BOOOOM!

Qi Condensation Stage... Third Level!

The breakthrough finally slowed and stabilized at the peak of the Third Level.

Chen Kai opened his eyes. A faint golden light flickered across his pupils before fading.

He clenched his fist.

*Power.*

He could feel it coursing through his body. Three years... after three years, he could finally cultivate again. And in just a few hours, he had surpassed what Chen Wei's lackeys could achieve in a year.

"Hmph. Third Level. Still trash," Emperor Yao said, though a faint note of satisfaction colored his voice. "But at least you're no longer an ant that anyone can step on. Now then—what have you forgotten?"

Chen Kai jolted.

*Ling'er!*

He leapt to his feet. His eyes scanned the ravine floor. There, not far from where he'd landed, the Jade Dew Elixir lay intact, glimmering faintly. He nearly wept with relief.

He picked it up with careful hands.

"I have to get back," he said.

"And how exactly do you plan to do that, genius?" Emperor Yao asked. "This ravine is a thousand feet deep."

Chen Kai looked up. The cliff walls were nearly vertical and slick with moisture.

"The Dragon blood in your body and the Heart Sutra aren't just for show," Emperor Yao said. "Channel your Qi into your feet, like this..."

Emperor Yao fed him another set of instructions. A simple movement technique.

Chen Kai executed it. His legs became weightless yet solid. He stepped onto the cliff face... and his feet held.

He grinned.

"Don't get cocky," Emperor Yao grumbled. "Move. Your sister doesn't have much time. And I need to restore my soul. Don't bother me unless you're dying."

The voice faded, retreating into the depths of the Primordial Chaos Pearl in his palm.

Chen Kai wasted no time. With the Jade Dew Elixir secured safely inside his robe, he began to run.

Vertically.

He sprinted up the wall of the Soul-Severing Ravine, his enhanced body streaking upward like a shadow in the night.

The two lackeys who'd thrown him down were long gone, confident their job was done.

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Kai hauled himself over the ravine's edge. He was gasping, his Qi nearly spent, but he'd made it.

He stood for a moment, staring back down into the dark abyss below.

That was where "trash" Chen Kai had died.

And where he... was reborn.

He turned to face the dim silhouette of the Chen Clan compound in the distance. His eyes were cold as eternal ice.

*Ling'er\, I'm coming.*

*Chen Wei... Elder Wu... enjoy what time you have left. The hunt begins soon.*

***This work has been signed with NovelToon, and piracy such as reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited.***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***