The Dragon-Serpent Plaza was a sprawling expanse of white marble, surrounded by towering obsidian pillars that seemed to pierce the very clouds. Thousands of disciples, servants, and branch family members had gathered, creating a sea of murmurs that fell into a chilling silence the moment I stepped into the arena.
At the far end, seated on elevated thrones, were the Matriarch and the Council of Elders. To their left stood my siblings—Yin Hua looking bored, Yin Jian glaring at me with murderous intent, and Yin Xue standing like a statue of ice.
I walked down the central aisle, the rhythmic thud of my boots echoing against the marble. I didn't bow. I didn't lower my head. I kept my gaze fixed forward, my silver hair flowing behind me like a battle standard.
"Look at him," a voice hissed from the crowd. "The trash actually showed up. Does he think a clean robe changes the fact that he's a cripple?"
I ignored the small fry. My focus was on the dais.
"Stop right there!"
A booming voice erupted from the high seats. Elder Yuan, the Third Elder of the Yin Family, stood up. He was a barrel-chested man with a beard like iron wire and a temperament known for being as volatile as a volcano. His cultivation was at the late stages of Foundation Establishment, and the Qi he radiated felt like a physical weight pressing down on the plaza.
"Yin Shen," Elder Yuan snarled, his eyes narrowing. "You stand before the sacred Testing Stone of our ancestors. You have been accused of striking a direct descendant and defying the natural order of this family. Do you have any last words before we drag you to the executioner's block? Because we all know that testing you is a mere formality—a waste of our time and the Stone's energy."
I stopped at the base of the stairs, looking up at him. I activated my Eye of Insight [Level 2].
[Target: Elder Yuan]
* Cultivation: Foundation Establishment (Late Stage)
* State: Arrogant, Impatient.
* Flaw: His Qi circulation is turbulent in the Huiyin point due to an old, improperly healed fire-attribute wound.
I let a thin, mocking smile curl my lips. "A waste of time, Elder? I thought the Third Elder was known for his 'unwavering' commitment to the family laws. Or has the fire-poison in your meridians finally reached your brain, making you as forgetful as you are loud?"
The entire plaza gasped. To insult an Elder openly was a death sentence.
Elder Yuan's face turned a deep, violent purple. "You... you dare?! You wretched, bloodless insect! I should have crushed you the moment you were born!"
"But you didn't," I countered, my voice echoing with a cold, metallic ring. "Instead, you all watched as I was fed poison and scraps. And yet, here I am, standing taller than the 'geniuses' you've pampered. Perhaps that is what truly bothers you, Elder. You're afraid that if the 'trash' can rise, it proves your entire system of 'noble blood' is nothing more than a fragile lie."
"SILENCE!"
Elder Yuan roared, losing all semblance of restraint. He leaped from the dais, his hand glowing with a ferocious, dark-red Qi. He wasn't just planning to discipline me; he was aiming to erase me from existence. "I will tear that tongue from your mouth myself!"
The air distorted as he lunged, his speed far beyond what any Body Tempering cultivator should be able to track. To the crowd, he was a blur of lethal intent.
But to me, his movement was telegraphed. I saw the 'Initial Intent'—the slight shift in his shoulder, the flare of his Qi—0.5 seconds before he even moved.
I didn't flinch. I didn't use Flash Step. I didn't need to.
BAM!
A translucent ripple of violet energy slammed into the air between us, freezing Elder Yuan mid-flight. The ground beneath his feet shattered as the force forced him back to the marble floor.
"That is enough, Yuan."
The voice was quiet, but it carried the weight of a mountain. Matriarch Yin Mei hadn't moved from her throne, but her left hand was extended, her fingers slightly curled. The pressure she exerted was so immense that even the air seemed to bow.
"Matriarch!" Elder Yuan gasped, struggling against the invisible wall of Qi. "The boy insulted the Council! He insulted the bloodline!"
"He is here to be tested by the Stone, as per the Decree," Yin Mei said, her cold, sharp eyes finally drifting down to meet mine. There was a glimmer of something—calculated interest?—in her gaze. "If he fails, you may do as you wish with his remains. But until the Stone speaks, he is a candidate of the direct lineage. Do not let your temper make a mockery of my court again."
Elder Yuan gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with a promise of agonizing death, but he stepped back, retreating to the dais.
Yin Mei looked at me. "Yin Shen. You had your say. Now, let the Stone show us if your arrogance has any foundation, or if you are simply a dead man shouting at the wind."
I turned toward the massive, ancient monolith standing in the center of the plaza—the Awakening Stone. It was five meters tall, jet black, and inscribed with runes that began to glow as I approached.
I felt the Chaos Meridian inside me pulse, as if it were hungry for the test.
--
The Dragon-Serpent Plaza remained shrouded in an expectant, heavy silence as the attendants prepared the Blood Awakening Stone. This was no ordinary monolith; it was an ancient relic carved from the heart of a fallen star, sensitive to the very vibrations of a cultivator's soul.
As I stood at the foot of the stairs, I watched the lead priest of the Yin Family approach the stone. He held a ceremonial silver needle, its tip shimmering with a faint light.
"The Law of the Stone is absolute!" the priest's voice boomed, carrying to the furthest corners of the plaza. "It reads the potential of your blood and the grade of your veins. The colors of the heavens shall reveal your destiny!"
He pointed to a stone tablet beside the monolith, where the hierarchy of light was inscribed:
| Vein Grade | Stone Color |
————————————
| Low Grade - Dull Grey |
| Mid Grade - Iron Bronze |
| High Grade - Shimmering Silver |
| Master Grade - Radiant Gold |
| Supreme Grade - Deep Amethyst Violet |
| Eternal Grade - Sanguine Crimson |
| Godly Grade - Primordial Obsidian |
"Let the candidates step forward!"
The first to approach was a young boy from a minor branch family named Yin Bo. His hands were trembling so violently I could hear the rattling of his sleeves from five meters away. He pricked his finger, pressing a single drop of blood onto the cold, black surface of the stone.
The runes on the monolith flickered, a faint light struggling to crawl upward. After a few agonizing seconds, the stone emitted a Dull Grey glow. It was so dim it barely illuminated the boy's terrified face.
"Yin Bo! Low Grade Vein!" the priest shouted, his voice devoid of pity. "Relegated to the Outer Servant Quarters. Next!"
The boy collapsed, his dreams of cultivation shattered in a single instant. He was dragged away by guards, his sobs muffled by the indifference of the crowd. This was the cruelty of Chinxong—without a vein of sufficient grade, you weren't even considered human in the eyes of the Great Families.
Next came Yin Chen, a disciple from a prominent branch lineage. He carried himself with a moderate amount of confidence. When his blood touched the stone, the reaction was swifter. A warm, metallic light erupted, bathing the front row in an Iron Bronze hue.
"Yin Chen! Mid Grade Vein! Accepted into the Inner Disciple program!"
The crowd offered a polite, if unenthusiastic, ripple of applause. Mid Grade was the baseline for survival, but it wouldn't earn you a seat at the table of power.
As the hour passed, dozens of candidates went up. Most fell into the Grey or Bronze categories. Only one, a distant cousin of the main line, managed to trigger a flash of Shimmering Silver, drawing a nod of approval from the Third Elder, Yuan.
I watched them all through my Eye of Insight [Level 2].
I wasn't looking at the colors; I was looking at the energy. I saw the way the Stone rejected the "Grey" blood because the meridians were too thin to conduct Qi. I saw how the "Silver" blood contained a higher concentration of spiritual essence.
But as I looked at my own hands, I felt the Chaos Meridian churning. It wasn't just containing energy; it was vibrating with a frequency that felt superior to anything the Stone had encountered today.
"Final Candidate," the priest announced, though his voice dipped into a sneer as he looked at the parchment in his hand. "Yin Shen. The Fifth Young Master of the Direct Lineage."
A wave of mockery swept throughout the plaza.
"Finally, the entertainment starts," Yin Hua whispered loudly from her seat, her crimson lips curling into a smile. "I wonder if the stone will even light up at all. Perhaps it will turn black from the sheer weight of his disappointment."
Yin Jian, clutching his bandaged arm, leaned forward, his eyes bloodshot.
"Fail," he hissed under his breath. "Fail and die, you bastard."
Ignoring them. I walked up the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the last, yet my heart was strangely calm. I felt the weight of nineteen years of humiliation, the memory of the poison, and the cold fury of a soul that had survived a literal sea of nothingness.
I reached the monolith. Up close, the Awakening Stone felt alive. It pulsed with a rhythmic, low-frequency hum that resonated with the starlight Qi in my veins.
"The needle, Fifth Young Master," the priest said, handing me the silver tool with a look of pure disdain. "Though I suggest you don't prick too deep. We wouldn't want you to bleed out before the executioner gets his turn."
I took the needle. I didn't look at the priest. I didn't look at the Matriarch.
I looked at the stone and whispered a single thought into my mind: 'Chaos Meridian... show them why the Heavens tried to erase us.'
I pricked my thumb.
The drop of blood was different. It wasn't just red; it had faint, swirling specks of gold and silver within it, looking like a miniature galaxy contained in a single bead of liquid.
As I pressed my thumb against the center of the Awakening Stone, the atmosphere in the plaza changed. The wind died down. The birds in the surrounding spirit trees stopped chirping. Even the Elders sat bolt upright, their instincts as cultivators screaming that something was fundamentally wrong.
For three seconds, the stone remained black.
Then, a sound like a thunderclap echoed from within the monolith.
The Stone didn't glow. It shuddered.
Cracks began to spiral across the obsidian surface, and multiple beams light began to emerge from the fissures—light that wasn't grey, bronze, silver, or even gold. It was a color that defied the chart provided by the priest.
The light exploded outward, blinding everyone in the plaza.
"What... what is this?!" Elder Yuan screamed, shielding his eyes.
"The Stone!" the priest wailed in terror. "The Stone is breaking!"
I stood at the center of the light, my silver hair whipping around me as if caught in a hurricane. I looked at the Matriarch, whose stoic expression had finally shattered into a mask of pure, unadulterated shock.
--