The blinding radiance that had engulfed the Dragon-Serpent Plaza did not fade gently. It retracted into the air like a dying star, leaving behind a world that felt suddenly, terrifyingly quiet. The thousands gathered in the arena remained frozen, their retinas seared by the prismatic void that had just erupted from the center of the plaza.
As the dust and lingering spiritual sparks settled, the sight that greeted the Yin Family was one of utter sacrilege. The five-meter-tall Awakening Stone—an ancient relic that had stood for generations as the arbiter of fate—was no longer a singular monolith.
Deep, jagged fissures spiraled across its obsidian surface, glowing with a faint, residual starlight. Then, with a sound like grinding bones, the top half of the stone slid slowly from its base, crashing onto the marble floor with a heavy, final thud.
In the center of the debris stood Yin Shen.
His silver hair, usually dull and unkempt, now shimmered with an ethereal luster, whipping around his shoulders despite the lack of wind.
His golden eyes were no longer those of a cowering cripple; they were calm, deep, and filled with a terrifying clarity that seemed to pierce through the very souls of those watching. He did not look like a man who had just broken a sacred heirloom. He looked like a king standing amidst the ruins of a lesser world.
"The Stone..." The head priest's voice was a high-pitched, broken wail. He fell to his knees, his hands trembling as he reached toward the shattered obsidian. "The Sacred Stone of the Ancestors... it has been destroyed! This is an omen! A catastrophe!"
The silence of the plaza was shattered by a roar of pure, unfiltered fury.
"HERESY!"
Elder Yuan surged forward, his feet cracking the marble as he landed at the base of the stairs leading to the stone. His dark-red Qi erupted with such violence that the nearby disciples were thrown back. His face was a mask of contorted rage, his eyes fixed on Yin Shen with a hatred that surpassed anything ever seen before.
"You wretched, demonic spawn!" Yuan bellowed, his voice shaking the obsidian pillars. "What foul, forbidden art have you practiced? What demonic tool did you hide in your sleeve to destroy our family's treasure? You didn't just strike a descendant; you have struck at the very heart of the Yin Family's legacy!"
Yin Shen did not move. He simply tilted his head, his gaze indifferent to the Foundation Establishment expert's killing intent. "I did nothing but follow the Law you so loudly championed, Elder. I gave my blood. The Stone reacted. If it was too weak to handle the truth, is that my fault or yours?"
"You dare talk back while covered in the filth of your crimes?!" Yuan's hand blurred as he gestured to the surrounding guards. "Guards! Seize him! Break his limbs and throw him into the Black Water Dungeon! He has used demonic interference to feign an awakening and destroy a national treasure. He is no longer a son of the Yin—he is a plague that must be excised!"
The elite guards of the Yin Family, clad in silver-scaled armor, hesitated for a heartbeat. They looked at the shattered stone, then at the calm youth. However, the authority of the Third Elder was absolute. They drew their halberds, the cold steel gleaming as they began to close in on Yin Shen from all sides.
"Wait."
The word was not loud, but it carried a sub-zero temperature that seemed to frost the very air.
Yin Xue, the Third Young Miss, stepped forward from the shadows of the dais. She moved with a grace that felt disconnected from the chaos of the plaza, her white silk robes trailing behind her like a shroud of snow. She did not look at the guards, nor did she look at the fuming Elder Yuan. Her glacial blue eyes were fixed entirely on the jagged edges of the broken Awakening Stone.
"Third Miss, stay back!" Yuan shouted, though his tone held a sliver of respect. "This demon is dangerous. He has tricked us all with some illusion or forbidden pill—"
"Elder Yuan, you are letting your temper cloud your perception," Yin Xue interrupted. She stopped at the edge of the debris, her gaze sweeping over the runes that were still flickering with a strange, violet-gold light. "Look at the fissures. There is no demonic rot here. No trace of forbidden medicine. Only pure, high-density Qi that the stone could not conduct."
She turned her head slightly, her profile sharp and cold. "Have you forgotten the history of this specific monolith, Elder? This is a Minor Awakening Stone, gifted to a branch family three hundred years ago before being moved here. Its capacity for detection is limited. It was designed to measure the potential of disciples up to the High Grade. Anything beyond that..."
She paused, her eyes finally landing on Yin Shen. "...is like trying to pour a river into a tea cup. The cup does not overflow; it shatters."
A collective gasp rippled through the thousands of onlookers. Yin Hua, the Second Sister, stood up from her seat, her crimson-painted nails digging into the armrest of her chair. Even Yin Jian, who had been praying for Yin Shen's execution, felt a cold lump of dread form in his throat.
"High Grade?" Yin Hua whispered, her voice laced with a mixture of disbelief and growing envy. "You're saying that... that thing has a vein higher than High Grade? Impossible. He's been a cripple for nineteen years! His meridians were withered!"
"The Stone does not lie, Sister," Yin Xue replied calmly. "It broke because it reached its upper limit. To shatter an obsidian star-core relic, the energy output must be at least two tiers higher than its rating."
The plaza descended into a cacophony of whispers. If Yin Xue was right, Yin Shen hadn't just awakened a vein—he had awakened something that hadn't been seen in the direct lineage for generations.
"Nonsense! Absolute, babbling nonsense!" Elder Yuan screamed, his Qi flaring even higher in his desperation. "Yin Xue, you are being deceived! Look at him! He is weak! He is barely at the Body Tempering stage! How could a 6th-stage Body Tempering brat possess the spiritual density to break an ancient relic? It is a trick! He must have used a Spirit-Shattering Pearl or some other artifact to mimic a high-grade awakening!"
He turned toward the throne, his hands clasped in a frantic gesture. "Matriarch! You cannot believe this! If we allow this 'trash' to claim such a status, we invite the mockery of the other four families! We must execute him now to preserve our dignity!"
For the first time since the stone had shattered, Matriarch Yin Mei spoke.
She rose from the Silver Serpent Throne, her violet robes flowing like a river of twilight. The guards instinctively knelt, and even the air seemed to grow heavy with her presence.
She walked to the edge of the dais, looking down at the wreckage, and then at Yin Shen. Unlike Yuan, she didn't look at him with rage. She looked at him as a predator looks at a new, unexpected rival in its territory.
"Xue is correct," Yin Mei stated. Her voice was like the strike of a bell, clear and undeniable. "I felt the resonance when his blood touched the stone. It was not the chaotic, jagged energy of a demonic tool. It was the Primordial Qi of a pure awakening. The stone did not break because of a 'trick.' It broke because it was unworthy of the blood it was trying to measure."
She stepped down the stairs, her eyes never leaving Yin Shen's. "High Grade? No. Even a Master Grade vein would have merely turned the stone gold. For it to shatter into dust... Yin Shen has awakened a vein that is at least at the Supreme Grade. Perhaps... even higher."
The revelation was like a physical blow to the crowd. A Supreme Grade vein. The same grade held by the Elders and the geniuses of the royal capital.
"Matriarch!" Yuan argued, his voice cracking. "There is no precedent! A person whose veins were dead for two decades cannot suddenly possess a Supreme Grade Meridian! It goes against the very Laws of Heaven! He is a freak! A main problem that will lead to our downfall!"
"The Laws of Heaven are written by the strong, Yuan," Yin Mei countered, her tone turning icy. "If Yin Shen is a 'problem,' then he is my problem to handle. You will stand down."
Yin Shen watched this play out with a cold amusement. He saw the way his mother—the woman who had allowed him to be poisoned and beaten—was now looking at him as a "resource." He saw the way Elder Yuan was trembling, not with righteous fury, but with the fear of a man who realized his prey had suddenly grown fangs.
"Supreme Grade?" Yin Shen finally spoke, his voice cutting through the tension. He looked at his mother, a mocking glint in his golden eyes. "You think so small, Matriarch. You all spent nineteen years trying to keep me in the mud, convinced that blood was everything. And now that the Stone is broken, you scramble to find a label that fits your narrow world."
He stepped forward, his boots crunching on the shards of the Awakening Stone. He pointed a finger at Elder Yuan, who flinched instinctively.
"You called me trash. You called me a demon. You ordered these guards to break my limbs because you were terrified of what you couldn't explain," He remarked, his voice rising. "But look around you. The Stone is gone. The old order is cracked. You can try to frame me, you can try to cage me, but you can no longer ignore me."
Elder Yuan's face was a grotesque shade of red. "You arrogant brat! Even if you have a Supreme vein, you are still a 6th-stage weakling! I could snuff your life out before you can even draw a breath!"
"And yet," Yin Shen countered, "you won't, because the Matriarch knows that a 'Supreme' talent is worth more than a thousand hot-headed Elders. Isn't that right, Mother?"
The disrespect was staggering. Yin Mei's eyes narrowed, her violet Qi swirling around her like a storm. The atmosphere was so tense that a single spark could level the plaza.
Elder Yuan turned to the other Elders, looking for support. "Are we going to allow this? He is mocking us! He is mocking the Council! Matriarch, if you do not punish this insolence, the Yin Family will become a laughing stock!"
"Enough," Yin Mei hissed, the ground beneath her cracking. "The Awakening is over. Yin Shen's status will be debated by the Council behind closed doors. Guards! Escort the Fifth Young Master to the Serpent's Nest Pavillion. He is no longer to return to the Desolate Courtyard."
"I don't need an escort," Yin Shen retorted, turning his back on the throne and the shattered stone. "I know the way to the Inner Estate. After all... I've been watching it from the shadows for a long time."
As he walked away, the silver-haired youth left behind a family in shambles. Elder Yuan stood in the ruins, his fists clenched so hard they bled, his mind already spinning with ways to eliminate this "trash" before he could grow any further. He didn't care about Supreme veins or the Matriarch's interest.
To him, Yin Shen was a ghost of a mistake that should have stayed buried, and he would stop at nothing to ensure the boy never reached the next stage of his journey.
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