Chapter 5: The Name That Shouldn't Exist
Wind swept through the Trial Square long after the testing ended, but no one had truly left.
Everyone remembered what they saw:
A slave with no sect, no resources, no guidance—yet he awakened seven Mystic Pulse rings.
Even without knowing what the Heavenly Internal Body was, cultivators whispered one thing:
> "He is not ordinary. He is not from this world."
---
The Return of a Forbidden Surname
Elder Han Yu sat in silence at the Inner Pavilion of Records, an aged tea untouched by his hand.
Scribes around him transcribed what they dared not speak aloud.
> Lin Sheng.
Seven Pulse Rings.
Flame-Bound Spirit Vein.
Law-Lit Bones.
All matched a forbidden scroll hidden deep in the Mountain Kingdom's royal vault.
> "The Lin Lineage: Heirs of Gaternal Flame."
Elder Han Yu muttered to himself:
> "They were erased during the Celestial Purge… yet this boy… bears their name, their blood, and their flame."
A decision had to be made.
He sealed the records—falsely assigning Lin Sheng as a "minor anomaly"—but even as he did, he knew this lie would not last.
---
Mu Yanyu's Secret Decision
In her private chariot of frost-lotus, Mu Yanyu gripped her moonmirror tightly.
The reflection showed Lin Sheng sitting alone outside the Trial Hall, watching the stars.
> "He doesn't even know what he carries," she whispered.
Elder Feng Jiu looked worried.
> "If he's truly Lin-blooded, the Qin Clan will stop at nothing. They once slaughtered an entire world for less."
Yanyu turned, voice cold:
> "Then they'll have to fight me this time."
She had made her choice.
Not as a noble daughter.
Not as a spy of the Heavenly Moon Pavilion.
But as a woman whose fate had become entwined with his.
---
Upper Realm Stirring
High above the Mortal Realm, within the Skyview Pavilion of the Upper Realm, an ancient cultivator opened his faded eyes.
Immortal Venerable Yaolun, keeper of forgotten names, whispered:
> "The cycle has broken. The Flame-Born walks again."
Stars above his tower flickered.
He turned to a pearl tablet, etched with a long-lost sigil:
> "Lin."
---
The Beast Cult Alliance Responds
Deep in the Venom Marshlands, beneath a canopy of poisonous qi, dark figures gathered.
The leader of the Beast Cult Alliance, a horned man with serpent eyes named Dugu Sanlie, read from a jade slip.
> "Lin Sheng… Mystic Pulse… Seven Rings… Law Flame?"
He laughed, a sound like cracking bones.
> "That blood still exists? We only need one drop."
He turned to a masked assassin.
> "Send the Black Fangs. Bring me the boy's heart—and burn everything around him."
---
In the Quiet Night
Lin Sheng sat alone under the broken trial statue, his hand burning faintly.
He didn't yet understand why the world watched him, but he could feel it.
> "They want to control me. But I've only just begun to breathe."
The seal on his chest pulsed.
A faint voice whispered—not in words, but in law patterns:
> "You carry time. You carry flame. You will either burn this world clean... or let it consume you."
He raised his hand, fingers glowing faintly with untrained energy.
A flicker of divine flame danced at his fingertips—and vanished.
Then a thought came:
> "I need a path. Not someone else's. My own."
He stood.
And so, Lin Sheng, no longer just a mine slave, no longer just a survivor, stepped out of the Trial Square.
No sect claimed him.
No family sheltered him.
But the heavens had taken notice.
---
Thus begins the rise of the name that should not exist. And with each breath, Lin Sheng walks further toward rewriting the law of fate itself.