The wind howled through the ravine, carrying with it the scent of snow and blood.
The three outer disciples froze in place.
They stared at Lin Chen as if they had seen a ghost.
"You—" one of them stammered, eyes wide. "How are you still alive?"
Lin Chen stood calmly, his posture relaxed, his breathing steady. The tattered robes clinging to his body should have made him look miserable, yet an invisible pressure radiated from him, making the surrounding air feel heavy.
Alive?
He felt more alive than he ever had.
"Disappointed?" Lin Chen asked softly.
The disciples exchanged glances. Unease crept into their hearts, quickly followed by anger.
"Don't scare us with tricks," another disciple snapped. "You're a cripple. Zhao Feng personally destroyed your meridians."
"Yes," the third added coldly. "Even if you survived, you should be crawling like a dog."
Lin Chen's smile faded.
"You talk too much."
He took one step forward.
Boom.
The ground beneath his foot cracked.
The disciples' expressions changed instantly.
Before they could react, Lin Chen moved.
To them, it was as if he vanished.
A sharp crack echoed through the ravine.
The disciple in the middle screamed as his body flew backward, smashing into a rock wall ten meters away. Blood splattered across the snow as he slid down, unmoving.
Dead.
The remaining two stared in disbelief, their minds going blank.
"One punch…?" one whispered.
Lin Chen stood where he had been, his fist still clenched.
So this was Body Refinement at the peak?
No—this was far beyond what ordinary Body Refinement cultivators should possess.
Fear finally overwhelmed them.
"Run!"
They turned and fled.
Lin Chen's gaze turned cold.
"You kicked me when I was down," he said quietly. "Why leave so easily now?"
He stepped forward again.
His figure blurred.
The second disciple felt a hand clamp around his neck. Before he could scream, Lin Chen twisted.
Crack.
The body went limp.
The last disciple collapsed to his knees, terror written all over his face.
"Lin Chen! Senior Brother Lin!" he cried. "I—I didn't hit you! I only watched! Please—"
Lin Chen stopped in front of him.
The disciple trembled violently, forehead slamming into the snow again and again.
"I was wrong! I was blind! I was ordered—"
Lin Chen looked down at him, expression unreadable.
In his mind, a calm mechanical voice sounded.
[Kill intent detected.][Emotional state stabilized.][First combat trial completed.]
Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Ordered by whom?" he asked.
"Zhao Feng!" the disciple blurted out instantly. "Senior Brother Zhao told us to throw you here! He said you were already useless!"
Lin Chen nodded slowly.
"I see."
Hope surged in the disciple's eyes.
"T-Then you'll spare me—?"
Lin Chen raised his hand.
"I said nothing about forgiveness."
The disciple's scream was cut short.
Silence returned to the ravine.
Lin Chen exhaled slowly, staring at his bloodstained hand. His heart was calm. Too calm.
If this were the past, he would have hesitated.
But now?
These people had already decided his fate once.
He simply returned the favor.
[First blood achieved.][Destiny Points +10.]
Lin Chen paused.
"Destiny points?" he murmured.
[Destiny Points may be used to repair fate, upgrade system functions, or unlock abilities.]
Interesting.
He turned his gaze toward the Azure Cloud Sect, its towering peaks piercing the clouds in the distance.
Zhao Feng.
Liu Mei.
The sect that abandoned him.
"I'm back," Lin Chen said quietly. "And I'm not crawling anymore."
As Lin Chen made his way back toward the outer sect grounds, whispers began to stir.
Cultivators passed him, frowning in confusion.
"Isn't that Lin Chen?"
"How is he walking?"
"I heard his meridians were destroyed…"
Some scoffed. Some stared. Some shook their heads.
No one stopped him.
To them, he was still trash—just a trash disciple refusing to accept reality.
Lin Chen returned to his small wooden residence at the edge of the outer sect. The door hung crookedly, clearly forced open recently. Inside, the room was bare.
His spirit stones were gone.
His pills gone.
Even his spare robes were missing.
Lin Chen laughed quietly.
"They didn't even leave me a bowl."
He sat cross-legged on the bed frame, closing his eyes.
"System," he said.
[Heavenly Destiny Harem System activated.]
A translucent interface appeared before him.
Host: Lin ChenCultivation: Body Refinement (Peak)Destiny Points: 10
Functions:
Destiny Bond (Locked)
Shared Cultivation (Passive)
Reverse Growth (Passive)
Condition to unlock Destiny Bond:→ Establish first fate resonance with a destiny-class female
The outer sect challenge arena fell into a deathly silence.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of disciples stared at the figure standing at the arena's edge, their expressions frozen between disbelief and mockery.
Lin Chen.
The trash disciple.
The cripple who should have been dragged off by beasts days ago.
Zhao Feng's smile stiffened.
For a brief moment, something like unease flickered through his eyes—but it vanished just as quickly, replaced by contempt.
"Lin Chen?" Zhao Feng laughed loudly, breaking the silence. "You really crawled back?"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"Is that really him?"
"I heard his meridians were destroyed…"
"Why does he look… different?"
Lin Chen walked forward slowly, each step steady, unhurried. His gaze never left Zhao Feng.
"I didn't crawl," Lin Chen said calmly. "I walked."
That only made Zhao Feng laugh harder.
"Hah! Still pretending?" Zhao Feng shook his head. "Even if you survived, you're still trash. A trash who dared to appear in front of me."
He raised his voice deliberately so everyone could hear.
"Disciples of the outer sect, watch carefully. I'll show you what happens when trash forgets its place."
Zhao Feng stepped forward, his aura flaring.
Qi surged outward, violent and oppressive.
Qi Condensation, Fifth Layer.
The crowd gasped.
"As expected of Senior Brother Zhao!"
"He's already halfway through Qi Condensation!"
"Lin Chen is finished."
Pressure crashed down on Lin Chen like a wave.
Several weaker disciples staggered back, faces pale.
Lin Chen, however, didn't even blink.
"Is that it?" he asked.
The arena went quiet again.
Zhao Feng's eyes darkened. "You're courting death."
He moved.
Qi gathered around his fist as he charged, stone tiles cracking beneath his feet. His punch carried enough force to shatter bones, aimed directly at Lin Chen's chest.
In Zhao Feng's mind, the outcome was already decided.
Cripple or not—this punch would end it.
Lin Chen raised his hand.
Just one.
No fancy technique.No qi burst.No stance.
He stepped forward and threw a punch.
Boom.
The sound was not a clash—it was an explosion.
A shockwave erupted from the point of impact, ripping across the arena like a thunderclap. Stone tiles shattered outward in a circle, dust and debris blasting into the air.
Zhao Feng's eyes widened in horror.
His punch never reached Lin Chen.
Instead, his arm bent at an impossible angle.
Crack.
Then his entire body lifted off the ground.
He flew.
Straight across the arena.
His body slammed into the barrier at the edge with a deafening crash, rebounding before collapsing in a heap. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he rolled to a stop, unmoving.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The dust slowly settled.
Lin Chen stood in the center of the arena, fist lowered, expression indifferent.
The crowd stared.
Someone swallowed audibly.
"…One punch?"
"No techniques… no qi… just—"
"That was Senior Brother Zhao…"
Panic crept into their eyes.
Zhao Feng coughed violently, blood pouring from his lips. His cultivation fluctuated wildly, his aura collapsing.
Lin Chen walked toward him.
Each step echoed like a hammer against the disciples' hearts.
"You said I was trash," Lin Chen said, looking down at him. "Say it again."
Zhao Feng trembled.
"Y-You…" His voice cracked. "You cheated…"
Lin Chen smiled faintly.
"Cheating?" He crouched slightly. "I trained."
The crowd flinched.
Lin Chen raised his foot and placed it gently on Zhao Feng's chest.
"Now," Lin Chen said softly, "feel it."
He released his strength.
Crack.
Zhao Feng screamed.
His meridians shattered.
Not by accident.
By intent.
Lin Chen leaned close, voice barely above a whisper.
"This is for my cultivation."
Zhao Feng's eyes rolled back.
He passed out.
[Enemy cultivation destroyed.][Karmic balance adjusted.][Destiny Points +30.]
Lin Chen straightened.
"Anyone else?" he asked calmly.
No one answered.
Some disciples stepped back instinctively. Others lowered their heads, afraid to meet his gaze.
At that moment—
A cold voice rang out.
"Enough."
The crowd parted as an elder stepped forward.
Elder Huang.
An outer sect elder, Foundation Establishment realm.
His gaze swept over the shattered arena, the unconscious Zhao Feng, and finally landed on Lin Chen.
"Lin Chen," Elder Huang said slowly. "You crippled a fellow disciple in public. Do you know the consequences?"
Lin Chen met his gaze without flinching.
"He crippled me first," Lin Chen replied. "No one asked about consequences then."
Elder Huang frowned.
"That matter was never confirmed."
Lin Chen smiled.
"Neither was this."
The crowd sucked in a breath.
Elder Huang's aura surged, pressing down like a mountain.
Lin Chen's robe fluttered violently.
Yet—
He didn't kneel.
His bones didn't creak.
His expression didn't change.
Elder Huang's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting…"
Before he could say more, a sudden fluctuation rippled through the air.
Lin Chen's chest tightened.
A thread—warm, sharp, undeniable—pulled at his soul.
At the same moment—
Far away, Liu Mei staggered.
Her heart pounded violently.
"What—?" she whispered, clutching her chest.
A strange sensation flooded her—panic, regret, confusion… and something she refused to name.
Her vision blurred.
Lin Chen's face surfaced in her mind.
Alive.
Standing tall.
Unbroken.
[Destiny resonance intensifying.][Target: Liu Mei.][Emotional state: Shock, disbelief, regret.]
Lin Chen felt it.
A connection forming.
Thin.
Fragile.
But real.
He looked past Elder Huang, toward the inner sect.
"So it begins," Lin Chen murmured.
Elder Huang stared at him, a chill crawling up his spine for reasons he didn't understand.
"Lin Chen," the elder said slowly, "from this day on… you are no longer trash."
Lin Chen smiled.
"I know."
He turned and walked away, leaving behind a shattered arena, a ruined genius, and an outer sect that would never look at him the same way again.
Behind him—
Fate trembled.