Chapter 1: The Ash of Impotence and the Supreme Dragon's Call
In the boundless and ruthless continent of Kang Qiang, existence was not a right, but a privilege earned through the strength of one's lineage and the depth of their spiritual reservoir. The sky itself was divided into nine celestial layers, each guarded by ancient sects and immortal beings who looked down upon the lower realms as mere dust. On this earth, spiritual energy, known as Qi, flowed like invisible rivers, and every living soul was born with a "Qi Sea"—a metaphysical vessel intended to capture and refine this energy. To have a vast Qi Sea was to be a god among men; to have an empty one was to be less than the dirt beneath their boots.
In the southern region of the Stormwind Empire, the Li Clan stood as a bastion of martial prowess. Their Grand Plaza, carved from the rare and cold White Jade, was a place of both dreams and nightmares. Today was the day of the "Annual Evaluation," a ritual where the youth of the clan would stand before the Heavenly Evaluation Stone to have their destinies decided. The air was thick with the scent of burning sandalwood and the nervous energy of hundreds of disciples.
At the very fringe of the crowd stood Li Ming. At eighteen, his face was a tapestry of silent endurance, his eyes dark and deep, hiding a soul that had been tempered in the fires of constant humiliation. While his cousins wore robes of shimmering silk embroidered with the clan's crest—a soaring hawk—Li Ming wore coarse, grey linen that had been mended more times than he could count. He was the son of a fallen hero of the clan, yet he was treated as a stray dog because his Qi Sea had never stirred, not even once in eighteen years.
"Li Han! Grade Six Talent! Fire Element affinity—exceptional!" the Evaluation Elder's voice boomed, sending a wave of excitement through the crowd. Li Han, a tall youth with a smug grin, bathed in the applause, his palms flickering with a faint orange glow.
One by one, the names were called. Successes were met with cheers, and failures were met with cold silence. Then, a chilling hush fell over the plaza as the Elder's gaze drifted to the back of the line.
"Li Ming... step forward."
The walk to the center of the plaza felt like a march to the gallows. Every footstep echoed against the jade floor. Whispers followed him like venomous snakes.
"Look at the 'Broken Vessel' going up again."
"Why does the Patriarch even allow him to stay? He's a stain on our name."
"Eighteen years old and still at the zero-th stage... what a tragedy."
Li Ming reached the Heavenly Evaluation Stone—a three-meter-tall pillar of obsidian crystal that pulsed with a faint, rhythmic violet light. He took a jagged breath and placed his right palm against the cold surface. He closed his eyes, pouring every ounce of his will into his hand, begging for a spark, a flicker, anything to prove he belonged to this world.
Minutes passed. The violet light of the stone dimmed. It didn't turn gold for high talent, nor red for fire, nor blue for water. It remained as dark as the void.
"Qi Sea... Empty. Absolutely devoid of spiritual resonance," the Elder announced, his voice devoid of pity. He looked at Li Ming with a mixture of boredom and disdain. "You have no roots, no affinity, and no future in the path of cultivation. According to the laws of the Li Clan, you are hereby stripped of your status as a disciple. You shall serve as a manual laborer in the outer mines starting tomorrow. Now, begone."
Li Ming's hand slid off the stone. He didn't cry. He didn't beg. He felt a strange, cold numbness spreading from his chest. He looked at the VIP stands, where his adoptive father, the Clan Patriarch, sat. The man didn't even look at him; he was busy discussing Li Han's potential with another elder. To them, Li Ming had already ceased to exist.
He turned and walked away, not toward the dormitories, but toward the "Hidden Dragon Mountain"—a jagged, fog-covered peak that loomed over the clan's territory. It was a place of taboo, rumored to be the graveyard of a celestial beast. As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of bruised purple and blood red, Li Ming climbed. He climbed until his fingernails were torn and his coarse robes were soaked in sweat and blood.
He reached a high, secluded ledge outside an ancient, moss-covered cave just as a violent thunderstorm began to brew. Lightning flickered in the clouds like the silver scales of a serpent.
"Is this it, then?" Li Ming shouted into the wind, his voice cracking. "If the Dao is just, why did it give me a soul but no vessel? If the heavens are wise, why am I a mistake?"
As if in answer, a bolt of azure lightning tore through the sky, striking a nearby ancient pine tree. The shockwave threw Li Ming backward into the cave's mouth. As he lay on the cold ground, his chest began to burn with an agonizing heat. He ripped open his shirt, and his eyes widened in terror.
The "Blue Dragon Tattoo"—a birthmark he had had since he was an infant—was moving. It wasn't just glowing; it was shifting beneath his skin like a living creature. The dragon's tail coiled around his ribs, and its claws seemed to dig into his very bones.
Suddenly, Li Ming's consciousness was pulled out of his body. He was no longer in a cave; he was standing in a dimension of pure darkness, surrounded by trillions of floating, crystalline structures that looked like architectural blueprints made of light.
[Calibration Complete...] a voice rang out—not a human voice, but one that sounded like the humming of a cosmic machine.
[Host Identity: Li Ming. Status: Genetic and Spiritual Match confirmed.]
[Activating 'The Supreme Dragon Blueprint'.]
"What... what are you?" Li Ming gasped, his mind reeling.
[I am the interface of the Primordial Creator. The world you inhabit is built upon a faulty, unoptimized version of the Dao. The 'Qi' you seek is merely a primitive energy source. You were born with an 'Empty Qi Sea' because you were never meant to be a vessel for the world's energy. You were meant to be its Architect.]
A massive holographic interface exploded into existence before him. It showed his own body, but instead of veins and organs, it showed millions of lines of glowing code and energy circuits.
[Initiation Quest: Rewrite the Law of Self.]
[The existing laws of the Li Clan and the Stormwind Empire are 'Bugs' in your system. Do you wish to delete them and install the 'Absolute Zero' Dao Engine?]
Li Ming didn't understand everything the voice said, but he understood one thing: this was his path. A path that no one else in the history of Kang Qiang had ever walked.
"Delete them," Li Ming whispered, his eyes blazing with a sudden, fierce light. "Delete it all."
[Command Accepted. Commencing System Overwrite.]
Outside the cave, the storm reached a fever pitch. A massive pillar of blue light descended from the highest heaven, piercing through the nine celestial layers and striking the Hidden Dragon Mountain. Inside the cave, Li Ming screamed as his old, frail body was dismantled at a molecular level and reassembled. His empty Qi Sea was not filled; instead, it was replaced by a rotating Grey Core—a singularity that didn't absorb energy, but generated it.
[Level 1 Integration Complete. You have attained the rank of 'Novice Creator'.]
[Acquired Ability: Deconstruction. You can now see the 'Source Code' of all things.]
Li Ming stood up. The air around him seemed to ripple and bow to his presence. He walked to a massive boulder that blocked half the cave entrance—a rock that would have taken ten strong men to move. He didn't use strength. He simply looked at the rock, seeing the golden lines of energy that held its atoms together. He touched it and thought: *[Dismantle]*.
With a sound like a soft sigh, the massive stone didn't break—it simply ceased to be. It dissolved into a cloud of grey mist that was absorbed into Li Ming's skin, fueling his new core.
"The Li Clan said I was a broken vessel," Li Ming said, his voice now carrying the weight of a mountain. "They were right. Why be a vessel, when I can be the one who crafts the world?"
The storm subsided, but fo
r the continent of Kang Qiang, the real upheaval had only just begun.