The outer courtyard of the Lin Clan's ancestral hall was already thick with people when Lin Feng arrived. Not the important ones—the inner disciples, the elders, the visiting sect envoys from Azure Peak. Those were inside, seated on jade platforms, sipping spirit tea while they judged the new generation like butchers weighing meat.
Out here were the spares: outer-branch children, distant cousins, the occasional bastard with enough talent to be tolerated but not enough to be claimed. They milled around in patched robes, whispering bets on who would awaken first, whose meridians would burst under the pressure, whose family would finally be allowed to move into the inner grounds.
Lin Feng slipped through them without a word. No one greeted him. A few glanced his way and quickly looked elsewhere. The "eternal trash" label had stuck long before today; it was safer to pretend he didn't exist.
He found a shadowed pillar near the back entrance and leaned against it, arms folded, expression blank. From here he could see the raised platform where the awakening crystal waited—a fist-sized orb of clouded violet quartz suspended in silver chains. It pulsed faintly, like a heart under strain.
The drums stopped.
An elder in midnight-blue robes stepped forward—Elder Kang, the one who had "supervised" Lin Feng's training sessions for years. The same man who had looked away when the poison needle went in during the last life.
"Begin," Elder Kang intoned. His voice carried the practiced boredom of someone who had presided over a thousand disappointments.
One by one, the youths stepped up.
A girl named Cui Lan pressed her palm to the crystal. It flared pale green. Faint cheers from her cousins. Low-grade spirit root—enough to enter an outer sect, not enough to matter.
A burly boy, one of Lin Hao's lackeys, slammed his hand down hard. Crimson light. Mid-grade fire root. The crowd murmured approval; he strutted off grinning like he'd already won the continent.
Then came Lin Hao.
He moved with the easy arrogance of someone who had never once doubted his place at the center of things. Tall, broad-shouldered, hair tied high with a jade clasp that probably cost more than Lin Feng's entire wardrobe. He placed his hand on the crystal almost lazily.
The orb exploded with golden light.
High-grade metal root. Top-tier affinity. Whispers turned to gasps, then open cheers. Elder Kang actually cracked a thin smile.
"Excellent," the elder said. "The Lin Clan's future shines brighter."
Lin Hao turned, scanning the crowd until his eyes landed on Lin Feng. For a heartbeat their gazes met. Lin Hao's lip curled—just a fraction—before he looked away, dismissing him like dust on his sleeve.
Lin Feng didn't blink.
Inside, something old and patient uncoiled a single millimeter.
Next.
"Lin Feng."
The name dropped like a stone into still water. A few snickers rippled through the outer disciples.
He stepped forward without haste. No dramatic pause, no defiant glare. Just quiet, measured steps until he stood before the crystal.
He placed his palm flat against the surface.
Nothing happened at first.
Then a sickly gray mist seeped from the point of contact, creeping across the violet quartz like mold. The light guttered and died. The crystal went dull, almost black.
A collective exhale of disappointment and mockery.
"Crippled again."
"Even the crystal rejects him."
"Waste of a slot."
Elder Kang sighed theatrically. "As expected. Meridians irreparably damaged. No spirit root detected. Step aside."
Lin Feng kept his hand there a second longer than necessary.
Beneath the surface of his skin, where no one could see, a thin black thread—thinner than a hair—slid out from his fingertip and into the crystal. It tasted. It measured. It remembered.
[Hidden Action Detected: Probing the source of damage]
[Trace poison identified: Shadow Orchid Extract — Administered via concealed needle during prior 'training' session]
[Devour Protocol Available — Partial activation permitted under Sovereign's Mask]
[Cost: 20 Dominion Points]
[Do you wish to proceed? Y/N]
Lin Feng's face remained utterly calm. To the crowd he looked defeated, shoulders slightly slumped, eyes downcast.
Inside his mind, he thought: *Not yet.*
He withdrew his hand.
The black thread retracted without a ripple.
[Ding! Dominion Points +3 — For flawless concealment of intent]
He turned and walked back to his pillar without a word.
The ceremony continued. More lights, more cheers, more futures decided in flashes of color.
But no one noticed the single drop of black ichor that had fallen from the crystal's underside when Lin Feng pulled away. It hit the stone floor and vanished into the cracks like it had never existed.
Half an hour later, as the last disciple stepped down and the elders began to wrap up, a soft chime sounded in Lin Feng's mind.
[First Awakening Mission — Completed (Hidden Condition Fulfilled)]
[Reward Granted: Initial Devour Slot Unlock]
[Dominion Points: 88 → 188]
[New Feature Unlocked: Essence Trace]
[Description: Allows passive marking of any being or object that has harmed the host. Marked targets leave faint residue detectable only by host. Devouring marked essence yields bonus experience and partial skill replication.]
Lin Feng exhaled through his nose—almost a laugh, but not quite.
He felt it then.
A tiny prick at the base of his neck. Familiar. The same sensation from ten years ago.
The needle.
It came from behind, silent, aimed at the exact spot where his meridians converged. A perfect assassination disguised as a clumsy accident in the crowd.
Most people would have flinched. Screamed. Collapsed.
Lin Feng simply tilted his head half an inch to the left.
The needle passed through empty air where his neck had been.
He didn't turn. Didn't look. Didn't acknowledge it.
But the black thread inside him stirred again.
[Essence Trace — Applied to unknown assailant]
[Target marked. Residue detected: Lin Clan outer disciple, badge number 47-19. Name: Wei Shun. Motive: Bribed by Lin Hao.]
Lin Feng kept walking.
He passed through the dispersing crowd, past the laughing victors, past the disappointed losers, past Lin Hao who was now surrounded by admirers and receiving a congratulatory pat from Elder Kang.
No one saw the moment Lin Feng's finger brushed the edge of Wei Shun's sleeve as he walked by.
No one saw the faint black wisp that flowed from Lin Feng's skin into the other man's cuff.
No one heard the soft, almost gentle notification:
[Ding! First mark placed. Devour readiness: 1/100%. Estimated time to full consumption without alerting target: 72 hours.]
Lin Feng stepped out of the ancestral hall into the late afternoon light.
The sky was turning the color of old blood. Somewhere far above the continent, the first spatial tear was already forming—silent for now, but growing.
He paused at the courtyard gate, hands in his sleeves, looking at nothing in particular.
A child—no more than eight—ran past him chasing a butterfly, laughing.
Lin Feng watched the boy disappear around the corner.
For the first time since waking up in this body, something flickered across his face. Not softness. Not regret.
Just a very small, very quiet acknowledgment.
*Some things are still worth remembering.*
Then the flicker vanished.
He turned left instead of right—away from his dilapidated residence, toward the clan's outer medicine garden.
There was a certain low-grade spirit herb that bloomed only at dusk.
And tonight, he needed ingredients for something far more interesting than survival.
Something that would make the next three days… memorable.
**To be continued...**