Blackstone City had always been insignificant.
It was not marked on most cultivation maps, nor mentioned in sect records worth reading. Nestled between two barren mountain ranges, it survived by trading spirit herbs, low-grade ores, and cheap talismans to passing caravans. The strongest cultivator in the city barely touched the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
To the great sects, Blackstone City was dust.
Yet to Li Yun, it was the entire world.
On that day, the city was alive.
Morning bells rang from the outer sect courtyards. Merchants shouted prices along the stone streets. Children ran barefoot between stalls, laughing as they dodged scolding elders. The smell of cooked grain and spirit broth drifted through the air.
Li Yun carried two wooden buckets filled with water, his shoulders already aching.
"Move faster," a fellow outer disciple shouted from behind him. "Master Zhou won't wait just because you're slow."
Li Yun nodded silently and adjusted his grip.
He had long learned not to argue.
At seventeen, he was already considered a failure among cultivators. His meridians were narrow, his dantian damaged during a forced breakthrough attempt years ago. While others trained in techniques and cultivation manuals, Li Yun performed errands—hauling water, sweeping courtyards, cleaning alchemy rooms.
Still, he endured.
He always endured.
Because Blackstone City was his home.
The sky darkened without warning.
At first, no one noticed. Clouds gathered often in the mountains. But then the birds fled—entire flocks bursting upward in frantic panic. The wind died abruptly, as if the world itself had stopped breathing.
Li Yun felt it next.
Pressure.
It descended silently, crushing down on his shoulders like an invisible mountain. His knees buckled. The wooden buckets shattered as they hit the ground, water spilling uselessly across the stone path.
All around him, people screamed.
Cultivators staggered, faces pale, blood leaking from noses and mouths. Defensive formations flickered into existence—then shattered instantly.
Li Yun looked up.
The clouds parted.
Three figures descended from the sky.
They did not ride flying swords. They did not release radiant light or divine beasts. They simply stood in the air, as though the heavens themselves supported them.
Reality bent around them.
One of them spoke, his voice calm and distant, echoing across the city as if carried by invisible threads.
"This is Blackstone City."
"Yes," another replied, glancing down with mild disinterest. "The obstruction."
Li Yun's heart slammed violently against his ribs.
Obstruction?
The third figure did not speak.
He raised his hand.
Golden light gathered.
For a fraction of a heartbeat, the world hesitated.
Then hell descended.
The golden light crashed into the city like divine punishment. Entire streets vanished. Sect halls collapsed. Cultivators were erased before they could even react, their bodies disintegrating into ash.
Screams tore through the air.
Li Yun ran.
He didn't think. Fear drove him forward, his body moving before his mind could catch up. He sprinted through smoke-filled alleys, dodging falling debris and burning beams.
"Yun! This way!"
Someone grabbed his arm.
It was Chen Wei, another outer disciple—one of the few who still spoke to him kindly.
Li Yun opened his mouth to answer.
A beam of golden light struck between them.
Chen Wei vanished.
There was no scream. No blood.
Just absence.
The shockwave hurled Li Yun backward. Stone and fire swallowed him as the street collapsed. Something massive slammed into his leg. Pain exploded, white-hot and blinding.
Then everything went dark.
---
Li Yun woke buried beneath rubble.
Firelight flickered through narrow cracks above him, painting the world in orange and black. Smoke burned his lungs with every shallow breath. His chest felt crushed, as if stone rested directly on his ribs.
His right leg was pinned beneath fallen debris. He couldn't feel it at all.
Blood trickled down his forehead, warm against cold stone.
Around him, the city screamed as it died.
So this is it…
His thoughts were strangely calm.
He had always known he would never rise high. No matter how hard he worked, talent ruled cultivation. And talent was something he had never possessed.
But he had never imagined dying like this.
For nothing.
Anger began to simmer.
Faces flashed through his mind—children playing near the wells, elders arguing over prices, his master silently correcting formations late into the night.
None of them deserved this.
Footsteps crunched nearby.
Li Yun stiffened.
A presence descended, heavy and suffocating. Even without seeing him, Li Yun knew—this was one of them.
Through blurred vision, he saw spotless boots land lightly on broken stone. The cultivator stood amid the ruins like an untouched god, robes pristine, aura vast.
"A survivor?" the man said, voice neutral.
Li Yun tried to move.
Pain screamed through his body. He failed.
The cultivator stepped closer, looking down at him as one might examine debris left behind after a storm.
"How unfortunate," he murmured.
Their eyes met.
Hatred surged through Li Yun's chest with terrifying intensity.
If I live… I will kill you.
The cultivator paused, then smiled faintly.
"Interesting."
He raised his hand.
Golden light gathered once more.
Li Yun tried to scream.
His body refused.
Death closed in.
---
Time stopped.
The raised hand froze mid-motion. Flames halted. Ash hung motionless in the air.
Silence swallowed the world.
---
[Critical condition detected.]
[Host vitality: 1.1%.]
[Soul collapse imminent.]
---
A cold, emotionless voice echoed inside Li Yun's mind.
---
[Hidden System compatibility scan initiated.]
[Resentment level: Extreme.]
[Willpower threshold exceeded.]
[Soul resonance: 99.8%.]
[Conditions satisfied.]
[Initializing: Ascendant Fate System.]
---
Li Yun's consciousness trembled.
And something deep within him awakened.
---
The moment the system's voice echoed, Li Yun felt as though his soul had been seized by an invisible hand.
The frozen world around him faded into darkness.
Not unconsciousness—separation.
His awareness was dragged inward, plunging into a vast, boundless void where no sky or ground existed. Countless faint symbols drifted like distant stars, each pulsing with strange, incomprehensible meaning.
He felt small.
Exposed.
Yet, for the first time in his life, he did not feel powerless.
---
[Ascendant Fate System initialization complete.]
[System state: Hidden.]
[External detection: Null.]
[Host authorization: Absolute.]
---
Li Yun instinctively understood what hidden meant.
No cultivator—no matter how powerful—would sense this presence. Not divine artifacts. Not heavenly laws. Not even the beings who had just erased Blackstone City.
This power existed outside their perception.
Before he could form another thought, pain returned—but it was different now. Controlled. Purposeful.
A violent force tore through his body.
His shattered meridians were forcibly reopened, ripped wider than they had ever been before. The pain was unbearable, yet Li Yun did not scream. Somewhere deep inside, he knew that resisting would mean death.
Spiritual energy flooded into him.
Not trickling.
Pouring.
Energy that once ignored him now rushed toward his body as if drawn by an unseen command. His flesh trembled. His bones hummed. His blood felt as though it were burning with molten light.
His damaged dantian, long considered useless, began to rotate violently.
Cracks spread across it.
Then it shattered completely.
Li Yun's consciousness nearly collapsed.
For a brief, terrifying instant, he thought the system had killed him.
Then—
Something new formed.
Where the broken dantian had once existed, a perfect, dense core of energy took shape—smooth, stable, and terrifyingly vast for a mortal body.
---
[Cultivation foundation reconstructed.]
[Foundation quality analysis…]
[Result: Perfect Mortal Foundation.]
---
Li Yun gasped sharply.
Air rushed into his lungs, deep and clean. The crushing weight on his chest vanished. His vision sharpened, colors becoming painfully vivid.
He could feel his body.
Every muscle fiber. Every bone. Every meridian.
They were no longer weak.
They were flawless.
Perfect Mortal.
A state whispered of in ancient legends, where a cultivator's body was refined to absolute purity before stepping onto the cultivation path. A state said to exist only in theory.
And yet—it was real.
More shocking than the power was the clarity.
Li Yun could sense the world around him.
The flow of spiritual energy through the ruined city. The residual auras of the three cultivators in the sky. Even the imbalance in their techniques—the inefficiencies hidden beneath overwhelming strength.
He saw.
---
[Emergency Main Quest generated.]
---
A translucent interface unfolded before his eyes, crisp and unmistakable.
---
Main Quest: Defy Death
Objective: Survive for 10 seconds
Time Limit: Active
Reward: Unknown
Failure: Soul annihilation
---
Li Yun's heart slammed violently.
Ten seconds…
That was all the system demanded.
Not victory.
Not revenge.
Survival.
The void shattered.
Time resumed.
Golden light crashed downward.
Li Yun moved without thinking.
Qi surged instinctively through his body, flowing in patterns he had never learned—yet somehow understood. He twisted, rolling sideways just as the attack obliterated the rubble where his head had been.
The explosion threw him through the air.
His body struck the ground hard.
Then—he stood up.
Alive.
The cultivator's calm expression finally fractured.
"Oh?"
Li Yun stood amid the burning ruins, clothes torn, blood streaking his face, yet his posture was straight. His eyes burned with a sharp, unfamiliar light.
---
[Quest progress: 8 seconds remaining.]
---
The cultivator studied him with open interest now.
"A mortal…?" he murmured. "No. Something else."
He flicked his wrist.
Pressure slammed into Li Yun like a descending mountain. The ground beneath his feet cracked. His bones screamed in protest. Blood sprayed from his lips.
He nearly fell.
Nearly.
---
[Warning.]
[Host body under extreme stress.]
[Emergency function available: Forced Awakening.]
---
Li Yun did not hesitate.
Activate.
---
[Forced Awakening confirmed.]
[Temporary trait unlocked: Fate Resistance (Low).]
[Duration: Until quest completion.]
---
The pressure weakened—only slightly, but enough.
Li Yun endured.
Seven seconds.
Six.
Five.
The cultivator frowned.
"That trait… how bothersome."
He stepped forward.
Each step distorted the air itself.
---
[Quest progress: 3 seconds remaining.]
---
Li Yun's legs trembled violently. His vision swam. His newly reforged body screamed as it was pushed far beyond what a mortal frame should endure.
But he did not kneel.
He remembered Chen Wei vanishing in golden light.
He remembered Blackstone City burning.
He remembered every moment he had lowered his head and accepted his fate.
Never again.
---
[Quest progress: 1 second remaining.]
---
The cultivator raised his hand once more.
Golden light gathered.
Before it could fall—
---
[Main Quest: Defy Death — Completed.]
---
The world trembled.
A ripple spread outward, invisible yet undeniable.
---
[Reward granted.]
[Unique Passive Skill acquired: Fate Anchor.]
[Effect: During major fate events, host cannot be erased by direct destiny interference.]
---
At the same instant, a distant horn echoed across the sky.
A sharp, commanding sound.
Another powerful aura surged toward Blackstone City from afar—different from the three above, but no less terrifying.
The cultivator clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Tch. Annoying timing."
He looked down at Li Yun, eyes cold and measuring.
"You're interesting, boy," he said calmly. "Enjoy your borrowed time."
Borrowed.
With a step, he vanished.
The crushing pressure disappeared.
Li Yun collapsed to one knee, gasping violently.
The city still burned.
The dead did not return.
But he was alive.
---
[System status: Stable.]
[Host condition: Critical but recovering.]
[Next Main Quest pending.]
---
Li Yun pressed one trembling hand against the broken ground.
Ash coated his fingers. Blood stained his palm.
He looked at the ruins of Blackstone City—the place that had shaped his entire existence, now reduced to nothing.
"If this is fate…" he whispered hoarsely, "then I'll tear it apart."
Deep within him, the Ascendant Fate System remained silent.
Watching.
Waiting.
---
Silence settled over the ruins.
Not peace—only exhaustion.
Li Yun remained on one knee for a long moment, his breath ragged, his newly reforged body trembling as delayed pain crept back in waves. The Ascendant Fate System had saved him, but it had not erased the cost. His muscles burned, his bones ached, and his mind felt stretched thin, as if he had been pulled back from the brink by sheer force.
The flames still roared around him.
Blackstone City was gone.
Slowly, Li Yun forced himself to stand.
His crushed leg—once numb and useless—responded. Weakly, but it responded. The Perfect Mortal Foundation had stabilized his body beyond normal limits, repairing what should have been permanent damage.
He took one step.
Then another.
Each movement grounded him in reality.
I'm alive.
That truth felt unreal.
As he looked around, details he had never noticed before stood out with painful clarity. The lingering auras of the attackers hung in the air like scars. Broken formations bled residual energy. Even the ash drifting on the wind carried faint spiritual traces.
This was the world of cultivators.
Cruel. Indifferent.
And he was now truly part of it.
---
[System evaluation in progress…]
[Host survival confirmed.]
[Fate deviation recorded: Minor → Significant.]
---
Li Yun's eyes narrowed.
Fate deviation…
So surviving wasn't just personal—it had changed something.
A sudden chill ran down his spine.
He was no longer invisible.
He bent down and picked up a broken fragment of stone. His grip tightened, and to his surprise, the stone cracked under his fingers.
Strength.
Real strength.
Not enough to challenge the beings who destroyed this city—but enough to ensure he would never be helpless again.
A soft cough echoed nearby.
Li Yun froze instantly, instincts sharpened.
He turned.
A figure lay half-buried beneath collapsed beams not far from him—a young woman, her breathing shallow but steady. Her clothes were torn and dust-covered, but even beneath the grime, it was clear she was no ordinary mortal.
Long black hair spilled across the rubble. Her features were pale yet striking, sharp eyes currently closed as if locked in forced unconsciousness. A faint spiritual aura clung to her body—unstable, sealed, but deep.
Li Yun approached cautiously.
He sensed it immediately.
This woman was not weak.
Something had suppressed her cultivation.
As he drew closer, the system reacted.
---
[Hidden Fate Detected.]
[Fate-bound entity within range.]
[Analysis restricted.]
---
Li Yun's heart skipped.
Fate-bound?
Before he could process further, the woman's eyes snapped open.
They were a deep, piercing blue—alert despite her injuries.
In a blur of motion, she tried to move.
Failed.
Pain crossed her face, but she did not cry out.
Instead, she stared directly at Li Yun.
"Don't come closer," she said hoarsely.
Li Yun stopped.
"I'm not your enemy," he replied honestly.
Her gaze flicked to the surrounding ruins, then back to him. "Everyone here is dead."
"I'm not," Li Yun said.
A flicker of surprise crossed her face.
She studied him more carefully now—his torn clothes, bloodied body, yet steady posture. Her brows furrowed slightly, as if something about him didn't make sense.
"You survived," she murmured.
"So did you."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, she exhaled slowly. "Then fate is truly mocking us both."
Li Yun crouched a few steps away, keeping his hands visible. "Can you move?"
She shook her head faintly. "My cultivation is sealed. A suppression mark… very advanced."
Li Yun's jaw tightened.
The attackers hadn't just destroyed the city. They had experimented.
Before he could respond, the system spoke again.
---
[Side Quest Generated.]
---
Side Quest: Echo of Survival
Objective: Assist the fate-bound survivor
Reward: Unknown
Penalty for refusal: Fate hostility increase
---
Li Yun didn't hesitate.
"I'll help you," he said.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Why?"
Li Yun glanced at the ruins.
"Because if we don't help each other, this world will erase us one by one."
Something shifted in her expression—guarded, but thoughtful.
She nodded once. "Very well."
Carefully, Li Yun cleared the debris pinning her down. His movements were gentle, precise—far more controlled than he would have been capable of before.
As he lifted the beam from her legs, she hissed softly but clenched her teeth, refusing to show weakness.
When she was free, Li Yun offered his shoulder.
She hesitated only a moment before accepting.
"I'm Su Yan," she said quietly.
"Li Yun."
They stood together amid the ashes of Blackstone City.
Two survivors.
Two fates altered.
---
[Side Quest progress: In progress.]
---
A distant rumble echoed from the horizon.
Li Yun stiffened.
He could feel it now—approaching presences. Cultivators drawn by the destruction, scavengers, sect scouts, or worse.
Staying here meant death.
"We need to leave," Li Yun said.
Su Yan nodded. "There's a mountain pass east of here. If we can reach it, we might avoid pursuit."
Might.
Li Yun adjusted her weight on his shoulder and began moving.
Each step away from Blackstone City felt like tearing something out of his chest.
He did not look back.
---
As they crossed the city's boundary, the system issued one final notification.
---
[Main Quest Updated.]
[New Objective unlocked: Step Beyond the Ashes.]
[Description: Leave the ruins and survive the next 24 hours.]
---
Li Yun clenched his jaw.
The path had begun.
Behind him lay ashes.
Ahead lay cultivation, enemies, love, and a fate that would no longer accept his obedience.
And somewhere deep within his soul, the Ascendant Fate System recorded every step.
---