The cracked beast core shimmered faintly under the moonlight, its fractured surface pulsing like a dying heart.
Outside, the icy wind of the Northern Wastes howled across jagged rocks and barren trees, but within the crumbling hut, a different kind of storm was about to awaken.
Qin Zhen sat cross-legged on the stone floor. He had cleaned the room with what little strength he had left, pushing aside rotting straw, rusted tools, and shattered wood. The broken table now served as a makeshift altar, bearing only three items: the dagger he no longer needed, the scroll he had already mastered, and the beast core the source of his next step.
He placed the core gently against his chest. It throbbed with primal, feral energy. Unrefined. Unstable.
A gamble. A weapon. A gate.
Ordinary cultivators would never dare to absorb a beast core directly.
Not without spiritual roots.
Not without stabilization techniques or healing elixirs.
Not without fear.
But Qin Zhen was no ordinary cultivator.
He had once fought gods.
[Nine Abyss Breathing Technique – Forbidden Tier]
Status: Locked by Heaven's Decree
Override Status: ACTIVE
Risk: Extreme
Reward: Unlimited
Compatibility: 97% (Past-life memory synchronization successful)
He inhaled slowly. The air entering his lungs tasted like frost and fire.
"Nine Breaths to enter the Abyss. Nine Hells to reclaim the Heavens," he whispered, voice like a prayer... or a curse.
First Breath.
He pulled the air deep into his lungs and with it, the wild spirit energy from the core.
The reaction was immediate.
Energy surged into his body like icy knives stabbing through his veins. His limbs convulsed. His eyes bulged. His teeth clenched so hard his jaw cracked audibly. The beast core's energy wasn't meant for absorption it was a storm meant to be tamed by alchemists or shattered with rituals.
But Qin Zhen didn't resist.
He devoured it.
[System Alert]
Poisonous spirit energy detected.
Initiating Inner Burn Protocol...
His heart ignited.
Not literally but the feeling was close. A furnace of pain erupted in his chest, forcing sweat to pour down his brow. His meridians long believed to be sealed twitched, then trembled, then cracked open like old doors forced wide.
Second Breath.
The Nine Abyss Breathing Technique responded.
Ancient runes not seen since the Abyss War flickered across his skin like tattoos of light, then vanished. His body stopped resisting the chaos... and began consuming it. Refining it. Bending it to his will.
He wasn't healing his crippled meridians.
He was replacing them.
Third Breath.
His muscles tore and rebuilt. His blood turned black for a moment, boiling with corruption, then turned bright red again. He screamed but not in weakness.
It was rebirth.
[Dantian Activity Detected]
Heaven's Shackles weakened: 7%...
"Keep going," he whispered hoarsely, fingers digging into the stone.
Fourth Breath.
His back arched as energy surged into his lower abdomen. The dantian long thought a hollow pit twitched. Then spun. A faint black vortex appeared, barely visible to the eye, like a whirlpool in the void.
His breathing deepened. Slowed. Controlled.
Each breath now a battle. A war within.
Fifth Breath.
His skin cracked open in thin lines across his arms and chest, dark smoke leaking from within. He was purging years of stagnation, of poison, of weakness.
Sixth Breath.
BOOM.
Blood burst from his nose. His eardrums ruptured. The very walls of the hut quaked.
Out in the distance, a young outer disciple of the Qin Clan paused mid-patrol.
"What the…?"
A pulse of energy rippled out like a shockwave, flattening nearby grass, rattling tree branches. The boy stumbled, falling to one knee, eyes wide.
"Is someone cultivating… in there?"
But he didn't approach. He fled.
Back inside, Qin Zhen's breathing was ragged. Shaky. Blood dripped from his elbows. His vision blurred.
But his will was unshaken.
Seventh Breath.
The energy in the beast core was thinning, growing desperate, as if trying to escape him.
It wouldn't.
He seized it all.
Eighth Breath.
The vortex in his dantian spun violently, pulling in spirit energy like a black hole. His meridians aligned new paths forming from raw force and abyssal memory.
[System Update]
Dantian Reconstruction: 89%
Energy Flow Efficiency: 300% above mortal baseline
Ninth Breath.
The world went still.
For one heartbeat, everything wind, breath, pain, thought paused.
Then
The beast core shattered.
Not with a bang, but in silence. It dissolved into light, scattering across his body like falling stardust. The last of its power flowed inward.
And then
[BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED!]
Stage: Skin-Refining Realm – 1st Layer
Heaven's Shackles weakened: 21%
Reward Unlocked:
[Hidden Bloodline Fragment: Abyssal Beast Vein]
Qin Zhen's eyes snapped open.
But they were no longer human.
Just for a moment, his pupils had slits, like those of a predator. Deep red irises ringed with gold glowed faintly before returning to normal. His breath misted in the air but the mist was black, threaded with strands of dark qi.
He stood slowly.
The pain was gone. His body… felt alive. Hardened. Sharpened.
He flexed his fingers.
His skin was tougher. His arms stronger. Every bone in his body had been subtly reinforced.
He wasn't fully restored but this was no longer the body of a cripple.
This was the first step on the path back to godhood.
He walked to the shattered door and stepped outside.
The wind struck his face but now, it felt different. He could feel the energy in it. The faint traces of spirit qi riding the night breeze. The heartbeat of the land. The resonance of distant beasts in slumber.
The stars above shimmered more clearly than ever before, as if the heavens themselves had taken notice.
"I'm back," he whispered to the night.
Then paused.
[System Alert]
Intruder Detected
Threat Level: Skin-Refining Realm – 4th Layer
Status: Hostile
Objective: Kill or Be Killed
Rewards: XP Boost, Combat Proficiency Upgrade, Weapon Drop (TBD)
He turned his head slowly toward the treeline.
At first, he saw nothing.
Then a figure stepped into the moonlight.
Cloaked. Hooded. Sword drawn.
The edge of the blade gleamed dull silver, stained faintly with blood old blood.
Qin Zhen's eyes narrowed.
"The clan already sent someone to finish me off?"
The figure didn't speak.
But his killing intent rolled forward like a tide.
"I was barely cold and they're already afraid," Qin Zhen muttered. He rolled his neck, joints popping audibly.
His voice lowered to a growl.
"Perfect."
He stepped forward, barefoot in the frost, each step confident, unhurried.
"Let's see what this new body can do."
The figure lunged without warning, sword flashing in a vicious arc aimed at Qin Zhen's throat.
He ducked under it barely then twisted, countering with a palm strike aimed at the assassin's ribs.
The impact was solid but not enough.
The assassin staggered, grunted, then retaliated with a spin-kick that grazed Qin Zhen's shoulder. Pain flared, but he didn't flinch.
Still slower than I need to be.
The assassin darted forward again. This time, the blade came in low.
Qin Zhen exhaled and for a moment, his breath came black.
[Combat Skill Activated]
Bone-Severing Palm (Cooldown: 2 Days)
Strike Enhancement: +120% Force, +Abyssal Disruption Effect
His palm blurred.
SMASH.
This time, the blow cracked bone.
The assassin flew backward and slammed into a tree, coughing blood.
Qin Zhen didn't wait.
He dashed forward faster than the assassin could react and pinned him to the trunk by the throat.
Moonlight glinted on the assassin's eyes. Young. Maybe eighteen. His expression twisted with shock.
"You're… just First Layer… how…?"
Qin Zhen leaned in.
"Because unlike you," he whispered, "I've died before."
Then he struck.