Twenty years of silence ended with the sound of Heaven screaming. Jue Xuanyi opened his eyes.
He was deep within his clan's most forbidden sanctuary, a chamber carved from the bones of dead gods.
Blood-red lightning cracked across the ceiling. The formation arrays his grandfather had personally inscribed shattered like cheap pottery. Reality itself flinched away from the pressure radiating from his body.
"FINALLY!" The War Devil's voice roared through his consciousness. "Twenty years in this damn cage!"
"Patience was necessary." The Schemer Supreme's tone carried infinite calm. "Look at what we've created."
"Created?" The Heartless Sage's emotionless observation cut through them both. "He's merely reached Saint Realm. Adequate."
"At twenty years old, you withered corpse!" The Alchemy Saint's voice rang with indignation. "Even I took forty years!"
Jue Xuanyi ignored them.
He'd learned long ago that the voices would argue whether he listened or not. Instead, he focused inward, examining the transformation his body had undergone. The Calamity Bone pulsed in his chest, each beat sending waves of power through meridians restructured over two decades of isolation.
His entire skeletal structure flared visible beneath his skin. Translucent dark blue threaded with crimson, ancient script writhing across the bones like living serpents. Pain that transcended agony flooded through him, then settled. The bones faded from sight, hidden once more beneath flesh.
Saint Realm. The threshold where cultivators truly separated themselves from mortals.
Most geniuses reached it by fifty if they were lucky. He'd done it at twenty.
"Show off." The Merchant King's drawl carried amusement. "Though if you're making an entrance, might as well make it memorable."
"The Immortal Dao Conference is in three days." The Fate Weaver's tone lilted with barely contained glee. "Your father plans to unveil you there. All the major factions, all your little fiancées, all those arrogant young masters who spent years mocking the hidden cripple. They'll all be there to see what you've become. So many destinies for you to rewrite."
A gentle, warm smile touched his lips. The advisors fell silent. Over the course of their shared time they'd learned to fear that smile.
Jue Xuanyi reached into his spatial ring. His fingers closed around something small and smooth. He pulled out a jade pendant, no larger than his thumb. White jade carved into a lotus blossom.
His mother had given it to him on his sixth birthday.
For three heartbeats, his expression softened. "Getting sentimental?" the War Devil growled. "NOW?" The softness vanished as if it had never been, and he slipped the pendant back onto his neck.
"Perfect," Jue Xuanyi said. "Then I suppose I should make myself presentable."
The chamber door opened without him touching it. Spatial manipulation, the most basic application of his newly unlocked Saint Realm power. He stepped into the antechamber where a young servant girl knelt with a tray of spiritual tea.
She'd delivered his meals for the past month. Punctual, silent and ever terrified, never once looking him in the eye.
Today, her terror had purpose.
Her spiritual sense brushed against his aura. The aura he'd been suppressing during breakthrough. The raw, undisguised essence of the Calamity Bone.
She froze, her breath seizing in her chest, her legs refusing to obey.
"Young Master," she whispered, not raising her eyes. "This servant greets…"
The words died in her throat.
Jue Xuanyi walked toward her slowly. When he reached her, he gently lifted her chin with one finger until their eyes met.
She was crying.
"You served me faithfully," he said, and his voice held nothing but genuine warmth. "For that, I am grateful."
"Young Master, I won't tell anyone, I swear, I'll…"
"Shhh." His smile was beatific. "I know you won't."
The Origin Devouring technique activated without sound.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream. Then, there was only ash.
"Efficient," the Heartless Sage approved.
Jue Xuanyi picked up the fallen tea tray. The tea was still warm. He poured himself a cup and drank it in one smooth motion.
Acceptable.
He walked toward the door leading back to the clan proper. Behind him, even the ash dispersed with a gesture. As if the servant girl had never existed at all.
The corridors of the Primordial Devil Imperial clan's inner sanctum were carved from a substance that resembled black jade but was, in truth, condensed spatial essence. Walking through them felt like moving through a frozen night.
The first person he encountered was an elderly man in the clan's black and red livery. The servant took one look at him and immediately dropped to his knees.
"Young Master! This old servant greets the Young Master!"
Jue Xuanyi stopped, his eyes darting over them in a swift dismissive inventory. The man's cultivation sat at Peak Core Formation. Respectable for a servant.
"Rise. What's your name?"
"This servant is called Old Zhou, Young Master. I've served the inner sanctum for 230 years."
"Then you knew me as a child."
"I had the honor, Young Master." Old Zhou finally raised his head. His eyes widened. "You've grown into your lady mother's beauty and your father's presence."
Interesting observation.
"Tell me, Old Zhou. Has anything of note occurred during my seclusion?"
The old servant's expression turned complicated. "This servant wouldn't dare speculate on clan matters."
"But you will." Still gentle and covered in warmth, but with an edge that made Old Zhou shiver.
"There have been whispers, Young Master. About your engagements. Some of the young mistresses' families have sent inquiries. Asking about your progress. Your health. Whether…" He hesitated.
"Whether I'm a cripple being hidden away?"
Old Zhou flinched but nodded.
"And what does my father tell them?"
"The Devil Emperor tells them nothing, Young Master. He says all will be revealed at the conference."
"Smart man your father is." The War Devil's approval rumbled through his mind.
"How fare the Western Devil Lands?"
"Stable, Young Master. The family's three continents remain secure."
Jue Xuanyi reached into his spatial ring and withdrew a mid-grade spirit stone. "For your service."
Old Zhou stared at the stone like it was a divine artifact. For a servant at his level, it represented three years of wages.
"Young Master, this is too much…"
"Then consider it an investment in your continued discretion." The smile never wavered. "I trust you'll forget this conversation?"
"What conversation, Young Master?"
"Exactly."
As Jue Xuanyi continued down the corridor, he passed three more servants and two outer clan disciples. Each one had the same reaction. Shock, followed by immediate deference. Word was spreading fast.
A whisper reached his ears as he passed. One servant to another: "His left eye resembles the White Lotus Saint's eyes…"
He held his pace, his composure absolute. But the sound did not escape him.
When he reached the doors to the greeting hall, someone was waiting.
An old woman in simple maid's clothing stood waiting, her posture perfect. Her cultivation aura was restrained, yet to his senses, it was unmistakably Peak Saint Realm. She was a mountain compressed into human form.
Every advisor in his head suddenly became very attentive.
"Young Master Jue." She bowed with flawless precision. "This old servant has been assigned to attend to your needs. By order of the Grand Elder."
The Grand Elder. His grandfather.
"How thoughtful of Grandfather," Jue Xuanyi said pleasantly. "I'm honored."
"The honor is mine, Young Master." Her smile was warm and grandmotherly. Her eyes were calculating.
"…The old snake's poison is patience."
The Nameless One's voice was barely a whisper. So quiet he almost missed it.
But when the Nameless One spoke, you listened.
Ah. So Grandfather wasn't just being cautious. This was a test.
"Tell me, Maid Chen," he said as they began walking together. "How is my grandfather these days? Has he been eating well?"
"The Grand Elder is well, Young Master. He speaks of you often. With great… interest."
It was not pride, nor any warmth like love. It was interest.
"I look forward to seeing him again. It's been far too long."
"Indeed, Young Master. Indeed."
They were halfway to the greeting hall when a clan messenger appeared, moving at speeds that blurred the air. The man dropped to one knee the moment he saw Jue Xuanyi.
"Young Master! The Devil Emperor requests your presence immediately. The greeting hall."
Jue Xuanyi glanced at Old Maid Chen. Her expression hadn't changed at all.
"It seems I'm expected."
"The Grand Elder will also be present, Young Master," the messenger added. There was the faintest edge of tension in his voice.
Ah. So not just Father.
"How wonderful. A family reunion. I've missed them terribly."
The messenger fled.
Old Maid Chen's eyes gleamed with something that might have been amusement.
"Shall we, Young Master?"
"Oh yes please. We shall."
As they walked toward the towering doors of the greeting hall, the War Devil's voice rumbled through his consciousness.
"Show them everything. Dominate and make them fear you."
"Show them exactly enough," the Schemer Supreme countered. "Make them comfortable. Strike when they're not watching."
"Show them nothing," the Heartless Sage said. "Weakness is a weapon."
Jue Xuanyi didn't answer any of them.
The doors loomed ahead. Black jade inscribed with formations older than most sects. Beyond them waited his father, his mother, his grandfather, and the future he would claim.
Or destroy.
Or both.
He paused…a deliberate, unnecessary stop that cut the sound of the advisors short. Then, he took a slow breath. He didn't need to, but did so anyway.
Twenty years. All of it culminates here. This is not an end, but a violent start. Let's begin.
He reached out not with a hand, but with spatial intent. The massive doors shuddered, their ancient formations recognizing an authority they could not deny. They swung open without a sound. Beyond lay the Hall of Ancestors. Waiting figures. His future. He stepped forward.
The world was forced to hold its breath.