The sect was unusually quiet when Su Chen returned.
No cheers. No greetings.
Just silence, as if the air itself held its breath.
The outer disciples scattered as he passed through the gates, their eyes filled with something new—not disdain, not amusement.
Fear.
Rumors had already spread like wildfire.
Ji Liang, the proud inner disciple favored by Elder Mo, had been crippled.
And the one who did it wasn't a rogue cultivator or some hidden expert.
It was Su Chen—the boy they used to mock for carrying buckets and mopping stone halls.
Now, he walked with a steady gait, robes still scorched at the hems, eyes burning with a cold violet glow. The beast core in his satchel pulsed faintly, concealed beneath cloth, but its power radiated outward—a silent declaration of strength.
No one dared to block his path.
At the mission hall, Su Chen handed in the core.
The elder on duty—a hunched man named Liu Shan—inspected it in stunned silence, fingers trembling as he placed it into the crystal array for verification.
"This is… a Foundation realm core," he whispered. "Perfect quality…"
He glanced up, blinking. "You… harvested this yourself?"
Su Chen didn't answer.
The elder swallowed. "That's worth over 2,000 contribution points."
Whispers erupted behind him from the other disciples waiting in line.
"Two thousand? That's enough for ten spirit-grade techniques—"
"Didn't he leave on a low-tier mission?"
"He must've found a ruin…"
Su Chen turned, meeting the eyes of those whispering.
They fell silent instantly.
> [System Update: Contribution Points +2,100]
Tier: Mid Inner Disciple now accessible
New Access: Inner Sanctum Library unlocked
He left the hall without another word.
But his rise hadn't gone unnoticed.
That night, in a candle-lit chamber high in the inner sanctum, Elder Mo stood before a table of jade slips and communication talismans. A wisp of smoke curled around his long sleeves, his expression tight and unreadable.
Across from him knelt Ji Liang—arm bandaged, face pale, sweat dripping from his brow.
"You lost to him?" Elder Mo asked calmly.
Ji Liang gritted his teeth. "He used a technique I've never seen before… some kind of void flame. It devoured my blade like it was paper."
"A forbidden technique, perhaps," the elder mused. "He's changed far too quickly. It reeks of an inheritance."
He turned away, gazing out the window at the mountain range.
"The Sect Master has begun watching him," Elder Mo muttered. "Too soon. I was hoping to crush him before that happened."
"What should I do?" Ji Liang asked.
"Nothing," Elder Mo said coldly. "You've already failed once. Interfering again will only draw suspicion."
Ji Liang clenched his fists. "He humiliated me—"
"You're alive, aren't you?" Elder Mo snapped. "Be thankful for that."
He flicked a talisman into the air, which shimmered before vanishing in a burst of light.
"Let others test him. The Elders' Summit is in three days. He'll be invited."
Ji Liang's eyes widened. "Already?"
"He rose too fast. Let the vultures gather. We'll see what kind of monster he really is."
Meanwhile, Su Chen sat cross-legged in the center of his new cultivation chamber—an isolated cliffside courtyard reserved for mid-tier inner disciples.
Moonlight poured in through the open ceiling, bathing him in silver.
> [Void Pulse (Rank I): 3% Mastery]
Warning: Technique unstable. Recommend supplemental cultivation method.
Available: Void Sutra (Fragmented, 1 of 3 Parts). Estimated time to fuse: 4 days
Su Chen's eyes opened.
Three days before the Elders' Summit.
And now they'd start watching him.
He welcomed it.
But he wasn't foolish.
The higher one climbed, the sharper the knives behind the curtain. He needed strength. Not just brute power, but position.
Control.
"Time to build a web," he whispered to himself.
The image of a girl with silver eyes and a crescent mark on her forehead flashed through his mind—Yue Ling.
A fellow inner disciple. Mysterious. Dangerous. Ambitious. She had turned down multiple faction offers, operating as a lone cultivator.
Su Chen had watched her before his reset.
She would rise… then fall in the bloodbath of the sect's succession war.
But maybe this time… he could pull her in.
The next morning, Su Chen made his way toward the northern courtyard where Yue Ling trained alone.
As he approached, he sensed it—ice-cold spiritual pressure, delicate and terrifying. Trees around the courtyard had frost clinging to their bark despite the spring sun.
Yue Ling sat in the center, eyes closed, a silver spear across her knees. Her aura felt like a frozen lake—calm above, deadly below.
She opened her eyes before he spoke.
"You're not subtle," she said, voice like wind over snow. "Most boys send flowers. You come wrapped in blood and rumors."
Su Chen stepped into the courtyard.
"I'm not here to court you."
A flicker of amusement touched her lips. "Pity."
"I'm here because you want to change the sect," he said. "I remember that about you."
Her eyes sharpened. "And what do you want?"
He looked her dead in the eye.
"To burn the old powers to ash. And I need someone who won't melt in the fire."
A long silence passed between them.
Then Yue Ling stood, spear in hand, frost retreating from the ground as she moved toward him.
"Fine," she said. "I'll hear your plan at the Summit."