The silver-haired youth moved through the winding corridors of the Inner Estate with a grace that felt predatory. Despite his explicit declaration that he required no guidance, two elite guards followed three paces behind him.
Their silver-scaled armor clinked rhythmically, a stark contrast to the deathly silence that had gripped the Dragon-Serpent Plaza in his wake.
These guards, veteran warriors of the Qi Condensation realm, found themselves in a bizarre state of psychological distress.
Normally, escorting a "trash" prince would be a task beneath them, a chore to be met with sneers and rough shoves. But as they watched the back of Yin Shen—his spine straight as a spear, the ambient Qi seemingly swirling around his silver hair in faint, starlight eddies—they didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. They weren't just escorting a young master; they felt as though they were walking in the shadow of a slumbering dragon that had finally opened its eyes.
The path to the Serpent's Nest Pavilion led away from the desolate, rot-infested outskirts of the estate and toward the heart of the family's power. Here, the air was thick and sweet, saturated with high-grade spiritual energy drawn from the earth's veins. The gardens were not filled with weeds, but with Spirit-Gathering Lilies and Iron-Stem Bamboo.
When they reached the pavilion, the guards stepped forward to open the heavy vermilion doors. The Serpent's Nest was a masterpiece of architecture; a three-story structure of polished sandalwood and jade. It was a residence usually reserved for the most talented geniuses of the direct line—a place where the Qi was so dense that it condensed into a light mist near the floorboards.
"Fifth Young Master," one of the guards muttered, his voice uncharacteristically low, almost respectful. "The Matriarch has ordered that you remain within the pavilion until tomorrow's assembly. Your needs will be attended to by the personal staff."
Yin Shen didn't acknowledge them. He stepped over the threshold, his golden eyes scanning the opulence of the main hall. He could feel the Chaos Meridian within him thrumming with greed, sensing the abundance of Qi in the air. Without a word, he signaled for them to leave.
The doors closed with a soft thud, leaving him in the luxurious silence of his new reality. He didn't sleep that night; instead, he sat in the center of the hall, his soul submerged in the Star-King Breathing Technique, absorbing the vast spiritual reserves of the pavilion like a parched desert drinking the first rain of the season.
---
The following morning, the Grand Hall of Obsidian was bathed in the pale, sharp light of dawn. This was the sanctum of the Yin Family's governance, a place where the fate of the Eastern Continent was often decided.
The atmosphere was electric, vibrating with the suppressed auras of the family's elite. At the head of the long, crescent-shaped table sat Matriarch Yin Mei, her violet robes sprawling like a shadow across the floor. To her left and right sat the five active Elders, their faces etched with varying degrees of shock, calculation, and fury.
Beyond the Elders sat a group that rarely participated in family drama: the Merchant Lords. These were the men and women who managed the Yin Family's vast commercial empire—the spice routes, the spirit stone mines, and the alchemy trade.
For them, power was measured in gold and influence, and the sudden emergence of a Supreme-grade talent was a market shift of tectonic proportions.
Finally, seated at a lower tier, were the siblings. Yin Hua sat with her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed in a perpetual scowl. Yin Jian, his arm still held in a complex array of spirit-wood splints, looked as though he wanted to set the room on fire.
Yin Xue sat at the end, her expression as unreadable as a frozen lake, and Yin Yue looked on with wide, anxious eyes. Only the eldest brother, Yin Long, was absent, held back by his duties at the border.
"We have waited long enough." Elder Yuan barked.
He slamming his fist onto the obsidian table. The impact sent a ripple of dark-red Qi through the wood. "The events of yesterday cannot be overlooked. Yin Shen has destroyed a sacred heirloom. He has practiced—at the very least—some form of forbidden, soul-burning art to achieve a temporary surge in power. To grant him a seat in the Inner Estate is to invite a viper into our bosoms!"
"A viper?" A portly man in gold-threaded robes chuckled. This was Merchant Lord Su, the head of the family's treasury. "Elder Yuan, you speak of vipers, but all I see is an asset. If the boy truly possesses a Supreme-grade vein, his value to our marriage alliances alone is worth ten Awakening Stones. The Sects of the North would crawl on their knees to have their daughters wed into a Supreme-grade lineage."
"This isn't about profit, you greedy pig!" Yuan roared. "It is about the purity of the Yin bloodline! Nineteen years of nothingness, and suddenly he breaks the Stone? It is a demonic trick! I move that we strip him of his clothes and perform a Soul-Search immediately to uncover his heresy!"
Elder Feng, the Matriarch's brother, narrowed his eyes. "A Soul-Search on a direct descendant? Elder Yuan, have you lost your mind? Even if he used a forbidden method, the damage a Soul-Search would do to his psyche would turn a Supreme genius into an idiot. We would be destroying the very 'asset' Lord Su is so fond of."
"Then what do you suggest, Feng?" Elder Zhao, a withered man who oversaw the family's law, interjected. "We cannot ignore the fact that he humiliated a Fourth Young Master and insulted the Council. If there is no punishment, the branch families will think they can rise against us whenever they please."
The argument devolved into a cacophony of voices. The Merchants argued for preservation and exploitation; the Elders argued for tradition and discipline.
"He's a freak," Yin Hua's voice cut through the noise, sharp and cold.
She didn't look at the Matriarch, but at the empty space where Yin Shen should have been. "He's been hiding this. He watched us mock him for years, hiding his strength like a coward. Does that sound like a 'loyal son' to you? He's been waiting for a moment to strike. He didn't just break the stone; he broke the face of our family."
"Is that jealousy I hear, Hua?" Merchant Lord Su teased, though his eyes remained cold. "Afraid your position as the second-brightest star is being eclipsed by the one you used to kick?"
Hua's Qi flared, a scent of poisonous flowers filling the air. "Watch your tongue, Merchant. I am a direct descendant; you are a glorified bookkeeper."
"ENOUGH!"
Yin Mei's voice didn't just silence the room; it seemed to drain the color from the walls. The violet pressure she released forced the Merchant Lords to bow their heads and the Elders to stiffen in their seats.
"The bickering of children and accountants is not why I called this council," Yin Mei said, her gaze sweeping over the assembly. "The fact remains: the Minor Awakening Stone is shattered. Elder Yuan claims it was a demonic trick. Lord Su claims it is a Supreme miracle. Both of you are speaking from a place of ignorance because we lack the one thing the Yin Family prides itself on: Certainty."
She turned her gaze toward the silent Third Daughter. "Xue. You were the one who analyzed the shards. You were the one who saw the Qi density. What is your conclusion?"
Yin Xue rose slowly. The temperature in the hall dropped several degrees as her Glacial Spirit Veins resonated with the ambient Qi. She looked at her mother, her voice calm and devoid of the bias that had infected the others.
"The Minor Stone was insufficient," Xue began. "Its upper limit was High Grade. While it is true that the shattering suggests an output equivalent to Supreme Grade, it is also possible that the 'quality' of Yin Shen's Qi is simply different—more volatile, more ancient. We are arguing over the shards of a broken mirror and trying to see a whole reflection."
She paused, her eyes flickering toward the obsidian floor. "The Council is divided because there is a shadow of doubt. Elder Yuan believes in a lie; the Merchants believe in a dream. There is only one way to bring the Yin Family back to a state of certainty."
"Speak," Yin Mei commanded.
"We must use the Major Awakening Stone," Yin Xue stated.
A profound silence fell over the hall. Even Elder Yuan's breath hitched.
The Major Awakening Stone was not a mere relic; it was the foundation of the Yin Family's origin. It was a monolith of True Primordial Obsidian, said to be a piece of the world's first mountain.
It was kept deep within the Ancestral Vault, guarded by the spirits of the ancestors and the family's most powerful formations. It was only used for the birth of a potential Matriarch or Patriarch, or once every fifty years for the Grand Ritual.
Its limit was not High Grade. It didn't even have a known limit. It was said that it could measure the potential of a God.
"The Major Stone?" Elder Feng whispered. "Xue, the energy required to activate the Vault formations alone would cost us a year's worth of high-grade spirit stones. To open it for a single boy..."
"A boy who might be the first Supreme or Eternal talent born to us in a century," Yin Xue countered. "If we execute him and he was truly a Supreme genius, we have crippled our future. If we promote him and he is a demonic fraud, we have invited our destruction. Is a year's worth of stones too high a price for the truth?"
Elder Yuan's eyes glittered. He saw an opportunity. "I agree! Let him stand before the Major Stone. The Major Stone cannot be tricked by illusions or pearls. Its aura is so pure it would incinerate any demonic presence instantly. If Yin Shen is a fraud, the Stone itself will execute him. If he is real..."
Yuan sneered. "Well, then we will have our 'certainty'."
Yin Hua bit her lip. She knew the Major Stone was relentless. It didn't just show a color; it showed the vision of one's future path. If Yin Shen stood before it, there would be no more hiding.
Matriarch Yin Mei sat back, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the arm of her throne. The weight of the decision was immense. Opening the Ancestral Vault was a political statement to the other four families that the Yin were either in crisis or on the verge of a golden age.
"Yin Shen has already claimed he is 'no longer trash'," Yin Mei murmured, more to herself than the Council. "He challenged the Council. He challenged me. He wants to be seen."
She looked up, her violet eyes flashing with a terrifying light.
"Very well. In three days, when the moon is at its zenith and the Star-Qi is at its strongest, we shall open the Ancestral Vault. Yin Shen will be tested by the Major Awakening Stone. This time, there will be no broken relics and no excuses. He will either rise to the heavens as a true son of the Yin, or he will be reduced to ash by the weight of the ancestors."
"Matriarch!" Lord Su cried out, his eyes gleaming with the thought of the spectacle. "Should we invite the observers from the other families? If he is a Supreme genius, the prestige—"
"No," Yin Mei snapped. "This is a family matter. The truth will be ours alone until I decide otherwise."
She stood up, signaling the end of the assembly. "Prepare the Vault. Feng, you will oversee the formations. Yuan, you will ensure the boy is ready. And Xue..."
Yin Xue bowed.
"Since you suggested this path, you will be the one to bring the news to your brother. Tell him that the ancestors are waiting to see if he is worthy of the name he so loudly reclaimed."
As the Council members filed out, the air in the hall remained heavy with the scent of impending storm. Elder Yuan walked past the Merchants, his face a mask of grim satisfaction. He was certain that no demonic trick could withstand the Major Stone. Yin Hua followed him, her heart a knot of anxious resentment.
Far away, in the Serpent's Nest Pavilion, Yin Shen stood on the balcony, looking out over the Inner Estate. His Eye of Insight [Level 2] watched the fluctuating Qi signatures leaving the Grand Hall. He didn't need to hear the words to know what had happened. He could feel the shifting of the tides.
---