The jade slip felt warm in Long Chen's hand as he walked deeper into the forest. The air felt heavier the further he got from thr ruins, trees crowded the forest, thick to the point of blocking out most of the daylight that Spirit energy pooled everywhere. It made his skin feel damp, and his throat tight.
He spotted a huge rock by a narrow stream and sat down, letting the cold water noise settle him a bit. Long Chen widened his palm and stared at the slip in his hand. He turned the jade slip between his fingers, hesitating a bit, even though he already knew he'd use it.
"Alright. Just… get on with it." He muttered to himself, pressing the jade slip to his forehead.
And then, it happened all at once. The knowledge of the body refinning skill slammed into him. It was cold, sharp and invasive. He sucked in a breath as meridian diagrams, energy pathways, refining stages… all of it forced its way into his mind in seconds. By the time it stopped, he was sweating like he'd run miles and his head pounded like he'd just hit it against the rock he was sitting on.
"That was," he let out a shaky breath. "...intense."
The technique seemed simple when you broke it down: pull in spiritual energy, guide it properly, and then refine your body layer by layer. It was a simple techniqie, but wasn't.
He closed his eyes and reached out within him, using whatever sense he was supposed to use. At first, nothing happened. Then, a faint tingling—like static—brushed against his skin.
'Okay… now move,' Long Chen thought, beads of sweat forming at his forehead. 'Come on.'
He tried pulling it in, following the instructions the jade slip practically carved into his skull. The energy flared a bit but remained outside him, like it wanted to get in but couldn't find a way. There was no path to anywhere. And then, the pain started.
A sharp pain shot down his spine. His muscles locked, bones aching beneath his skin. Long Chen stumbled as he tried to keep the energy moving. The swishing amount of energy pushed into unopened meridans, like sandpaper dragging across nerves.
He clenched his jaw, and left the slip in his palm.
Time slipped strangely. When he finally opened his eyes, his hands were trembling and sweaty. And still, nothing happened. The energy wasn't flowing.
He didn't even get a chance to swear, before a branch snapped behind him.
Long Chen turned quickly towards it. Every other sound in the forest had vanished. There were no birds or insects. Just an unnerving amount of silence that filled the forest. Something crawled under his skin, his back hunching. Someone was watching him.
His hand went for the rusty dagger he strapped in between the bands of the material he used to cover his lower-half.
And then, like the damn dagger summoned them, three figures stepped out from between the trees. They were donned in dark clothes, with no emblems and masks that hid their faces. They held sharp steel and curved blades in their hands, easily surpassing the rusty thing Long Chen held.
They were assassins.
Long Chen felt his stomach sink. "Who sent you?"
They didn't speak. Instead, they spread out around him, their feet light against the hard ground.
Shit. Great. Perfect. Just the thing Long Chen needed.
The dagger in his hand felt small, and almost ridiculous in his hand.
Suddenly, the one on the left moved. He was fast, leaving Aiden little time to flinch and dodge the blade that slipped just past him. Another assassin rushed in from his right, forcing him back toward the third. They weren't trying to kill him yet, they were controlling him like a sheep dog corralling livestock.
Aiden swung without thinking. His rusty dagger collided with nothing. And then, a kick swept his leg out and he went down hard. A sword arched through the air, coming down on the earth where his head had been a second earlier.
Long Chen got up and ran.
He didn't wait to think, his body just moved. Branches slapped at his face as he raced his way down the forest, roots tried to grab his ankles. Behind him, footsteps followed. They were steady and confident, they didn't even hurry. They knew he wouldn't get far.
Adn then, a roar ripped through the forest.
Long Chen froze mid-step. He spotted something huge crashing through the trees ahead. It was a spirit beast, with black fur tangled with old scars and red eyes burning like coals. One swipe of its claws turned a thick tree trunk beside it into splinters.
Of course there had to be a giant murder beast. Why wouldn't there be? The universe just had a thing or two against Aiden. And Long Chen it seemed.
The beast eyes spotted him, and the assassins behind him
It roared again and charged towards them.
Aiden dove to the side as the beast collided with the nearest assassin, crushing him with horrifying ease. The scream barely had time to form.
The other two jumped back, blades ready.
Aiden didn't stay to see which of them died next. He turned towards the other direction and ran.
But then the ground vanished underneath one of his foot.
It but hair and he skidded at the very edge of a cliff, arms flailing. Below him was nothing but a vast black abyss. Death, if he had stayed still long enough.
He turned back and saw the remaining assassins emerging from the trees, blades lifted casually. They had him cornered.
"Nowhere left to run," one said.
Aiden looked at them, then at the abyss.
He didn't have time to process his decision before he jumped.
Wind ripped past him, swishing through every part of him. The darkness swallowed him whole. The fall… it felt endless, like he was somehow falling down towards the deepest part of he—
Freezing water slammed into him.
Aiden thrashed upward, lungs on fire, until his head broke the surface. He coughed and gasped, blinking water out of his eyes. The current yanked him forward, smashing him into rocks. He couldn't even tell which direction was up half the time.
His hand managed to catch on a ledge. Somehow, he hauled himself out onto cold stone.
Aiden laid there a long while, shaking, coughing out water and trying not to fall apart.
When he finally sat up, he realized the cavern around him was enormous. The ceiling disappeared into darkness, and the luminescent moss painted the stone in soft greens and blues.
And there, half-buried under rubble, was a skeleton.
It was enormous and seemed almost impossible as Aiden continued to stare at it.
Its bones were thicker than trees, and its skull could have been a house. Broken bone structures lay across the stone.
A gasp erupted from the depth of Aiden's throat, as he realized it was a dragon.
He stared, forgetting how to breathe.
He'd written about dragons a few times, but this? Even dead, the presence made his skin prickle.
Then something in the bones flickered.
A dim, fading light glowed in the hollow eye sockets.
And a voice rolled through the cavern—ancient, tired, resonant enough to shake dust loose.
"…this is impossible."
Aiden stumbled backward, shock rippling through him. "What—who—"
"I am Ryvax," the voice said, vibrating through the stone. "Of the Celestial Dragon clan. Or what remains."
Aiden blinked hard, disbelief clawing at him. "You're… alive?"
"No." The response was almost gentle. "I died long ago. What you hear is a shred of my will, clinging to these bones."
And then, there was a pause.
"I have been waiting for you, young master."
Aiden stared. "Young—young what? Why would you call me that?"
"Because you carry our blood."
Aiden's mouth fell open, his brows pinched together ,his disbelief increasing. "No. Nope. That's—sorry, what?!"
"I sealed your bloodline," Ryvax said.
Aiden stiffened.
"Your spirit root too. If I hadn't, you would've been dead before you could walk."
Aiden's mind scrambled for something—anything— from Long Chen's memories, a hint, a clue. Nothing. The dragon was being too vague.
"I don't—why would—"
"I served your mother." The dragon said "you do not remember her and that's not you fault but I was her personal guard." The dragon's voice softened. "When the war reached us, I hid you in the forest. That was all I could do."
Energy pulsed from the bones of the dragon—soft, warm, terrifying all at once.
"My time is nearly gone," Ryvax said. "But I can give you what remains."
Before Aiden could even breathe out a protest, the energy surged forward. It was like being hit by a flood of fire.
A scream tore through his throat but no sound came out. The energy rippled through him, rewriting things inside him he didn't have words for. Raw power crashed through his meridians, burned through his veins, and hammered against every part of him until the world went white.
When it stopped, he collapsed. Gasping. Shaking.
His body felt like someone had replaced it from the inside out. Everything hummed with power.
Behind him, a phantom dragon coiled upward, swallowing excess energy in great sweeping currents.
A notification flashed in his mind:
[Spirit Root Awakened: Celestial Dragon Emperor]
[Bloodline: Celestial Dragon]
[Cultivation: Body Refining Stage 8 (Complete)]
[Mission Complete: Reach Body Refining Stage 8]
[Rewards Unlocked]
"What… what just happened?" Aiden breathed, his chest rushing and falling with every air he took in.
"I awakened your bloodline," Ryvax murmured, voice fading. "And your strength. Control over it will be difficult. But you now have what you need."
"Why?" Aiden whispered, running a hand through his hair.
A long silence.
"…I swore to protect you."
The light inside the skull flickered, weakening.
"My lord… when you return to the clan, they will know you. But I ask you one thing."
Aiden swallowed. "Anything."
"When you see your mother—the Queen—tell her Ryvax fulfilled her last order." Then, the voice sharpened, almost furious. "And burn our enemies to ash."
The last glow faded.
Energy lifted Aiden off the ground, carrying him upward, the cavern blurring into rushing darkness—
He burst out of the abyss and hit the forest floor hard enough to shake loose leaves. But he stood easily, and he felt strong. Too strong. Energy thrummed inside him like a second heartbeat.
The jade slip's knowledge suddenly felt natural. The pathways in his body were open, glowing and alive.
He wasn't the same person who'd jumped.
A branch behind him cracked. Aiden turned as an assassin approached, his mask torn, eyes wary and greedy.
"You survived," the man said, almost stunned. "Tell me what's down there and maybe I won't kill you."
Aiden didn't say a word, or move. And then, the assassin lunged towards him.
But Aiden was already out of the way. His hand closed around the man's wrist and he twisted. The steel in his hand falling to the dirt. The assassin didn't even have time to look shocked before Aiden's fist slammed into his ribs.
He flew backward into a tree, and didn't get up.
Aiden looked at his own hand, feeling the slow, terrifying rise of power in his chest.
Another assassin appeared, and took one glance at him, before sprinting towards the other direction.
Aiden didn't chase him. He looked back at the abyss and remembered the dying request of the dragon
'Burn our enemies to ash.'
His fingers flexed and fist closed, "…Alright," he said softly.
And he walked deeper into the forest.