The moon hung low over Jade Crest City, its silver light spilling like molten jade across the Wei Clan's ancestral shrine. Mist curled through the courtyard, weaving between cracked stone pillars and faded banners that whispered of a once-proud lineage. The air hummed with faint spiritual energy, a remnant of the Tianxu Realm's ancient qi, but the shrine itself was a shadow of its former glory—much like the boy who knelt before it.
Wei Chen, seventeen and frail, pressed his forehead to the cold stone floor, his scholar's robe too large for his thin frame. The clan elders called him the "useless heir," a title spat with scorn at every gathering. His meridians, sealed since birth, refused to channel qi, leaving him a mockery in a city where cultivation was life. Tonight, he sought solace in the shrine, not for prayer, but for silence. The whispers of his failure followed him everywhere else.
"Ancestors, if you're listening," he muttered, voice sharp with sarcasm, "a little help would be nice. Or at least a better body." His lips quirked, but the humor didn't reach his eyes. They were dark, heavy with a weight no one in Jade Crest City could fathom.
He rose, brushing dust from his robe, and paced the shrine's dim interior. Jade lanterns flickered, casting shadows that danced like spirits across the walls. At the altar, a cracked jade tablet sat, its surface etched with runes too worn to read. The clan claimed it was a relic of their founder, but Wei Chen had always thought it a useless trinket—until tonight.
A pulse of warmth brushed his fingertips as he reached for it, unthinking. The tablet glowed, faint at first, then blazing with emerald light that flooded the shrine. Wei Chen staggered back, heart pounding, as the runes flared, twisting into shapes that felt… familiar. Too familiar.
"Jade Sovereign, you failed us."
The voice was a blade, slicing through his mind. Images surged—towering peaks wreathed in celestial mist, a battlefield strewn with shattered swords, a woman's face blurred by tears and betrayal. Wei Chen clutched his head, gasping as his knees buckled. The memories weren't his, yet they burned like his own. A throne of jade, a crown of stars, a blade through his heart. He was the Jade Sovereign, a cultivator who shook the heavens… and fell to treachery.
The vision shattered. Wei Chen lay sprawled on the shrine floor, chest heaving, the jade tablet dim once more. But something had changed. His meridians, long dormant, pulsed with a faint thread of qi, like a river breaking through a dam. He sat up, eyes wide, and tested the flow. It was weak, barely a trickle, but it was there. For the first time in seventeen years, he felt alive.
"Who… am I?" he whispered, staring at the tablet. The runes seemed to pulse in answer, but before he could touch it again, a low growl echoed from the courtyard.
Wei Chen froze. The mist outside thickened, coiling into a shape that was no mere shadow. A demonic beast, its eyes like twin coals, slunk through the shrine's gate. A Shadowfang Wolf, its fur black as midnight, teeth glinting with venom. Such creatures were rare in Jade Crest City, drawn only by powerful spiritual energy. Like the tablet's glow.
"Great," Wei Chen muttered, scrambling to his feet. "Ancestors, your timing is impeccable."
The wolf lunged, claws raking the air. Wei Chen dove behind a pillar, heart racing. He had no cultivation techniques, no weapons beyond a scholar's wit. But the memories—those fleeting glimpses of the Jade Sovereign—whispered of power. He closed his eyes, grasping at the thread of qi in his meridians. A fragment of a technique surfaced, unbidden: Jade Soul Scripture. His hands moved instinctively, tracing patterns in the air.
A faint green light flared from his palms, forming a shimmering barrier. The wolf's claws struck it, sparks flying, but the barrier held. Wei Chen's eyes widened. "Not bad for a useless heir," he said, grinning despite the sweat on his brow.
The wolf snarled, circling. Wei Chen's barrier flickered, his qi too weak to sustain it. He needed a weapon. His gaze darted to the altar, where a ceremonial dagger lay, its blade etched with jade runes. It was no cultivator's sword, but it would do. He lunged for it, dodging the wolf's snapping jaws, and seized the dagger just as the beast charged.
Instinct took over. The Jade Sovereign's memories guided his movements, fluid as a dance. He sidestepped, slashing the dagger across the wolf's flank. It howled, black blood splattering the stone. Wei Chen pressed the attack, his frail body moving with unnatural grace, until the wolf collapsed, its eyes dimming.
He stood, panting, the dagger trembling in his hand. The shrine was silent again, save for the faint hum of the jade tablet. He approached it warily, half-expecting another vision. Instead, a single rune glowed, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. He reached out, and the tablet's warmth surged through him, unlocking another fragment of memory: a battlefield, a woman's voice promising eternity, then a blade in his back.
"Betrayal," he murmured, the word bitter. "Who were you?"
Footsteps echoed outside, sharp and deliberate. Wei Chen tensed, hiding the dagger behind his back. A figure stepped into the shrine's light—a girl, no older than sixteen, her black hair tied high, a sword strapped to her waist. Her eyes, sharp as jade, swept over the dead wolf and landed on him.
"Well, well," she said, voice dripping with mockery. "The useless heir of the Wei Clan, playing hero? I'm almost impressed." Her lips curved, but her hand rested on her sword's hilt, ready to draw.
Wei Chen straightened, meeting her gaze. "And you are… trespassing in my clan's shrine, mocking me while you're at it. Bold choice." His tone was light, but his eyes were wary. The tablet's glow had faded, but he felt its weight in his pocket, a secret he couldn't share. Not yet.
She laughed, a sound like chiming bells. "Lin Xiyue, Ninefold Mountain Sect. I was passing through when I sensed demonic qi. Didn't expect to find you fighting a Shadowfang Wolf. Care to explain?" Her eyes narrowed, catching the faint qi lingering around him.
"Nothing to explain," Wei Chen said, shrugging. "Just a scholar defending his home. You should try it sometime—less sword, more brains." He flashed a grin, hoping to deflect her suspicion. The last thing he needed was a sect prodigy poking into his secrets.
Lin Xiyue's brow arched, but her lips twitched, betraying amusement. "Brains, huh? We'll see about that. The Wei Clan's hosting a tournament tomorrow. If you're not as useless as they say, show up." She turned to leave, then paused, glancing back. "And don't die before then. It'd be boring."
Wei Chen watched her vanish into the mist, his grin fading. The tournament was the least of his worries. The jade tablet, the memories, the betrayal—they were pieces of a puzzle he didn't understand. But one thing was clear: his life as the useless heir was over. The Jade Sovereign's power stirred within him, and with it, a destiny he couldn't escape.
He tucked the tablet into his robe, its warmth a quiet promise. Tomorrow, he'd face the tournament, Lin Xiyue, and whatever else the Tianxu Realm threw at him. For now, he had a wolf corpse to hide and a clan to shock.
"Let's see who's useless now," he muttered, stepping into the night.