Chapter 1: The Last Breath of the Guo Clan Black ash fell like mourning snow across the shattered ancestral hall of the Guo Clan.
Sixteen-year-old Guo Daoling knelt in the filth, ribs cracked, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth.
The once-glorious stone tablets—each one carved with the names of ancestors who had once shaken entire star-fields—lay toppled and defiled.
Rain mixed with the blood of his clansmen, turning the sacred ground into a muddy graveyard.
Above him, disciples of the Heavenly Cloud Sect laughed as they relieved themselves on the central ancestral tablet.
"Trash clan, trash bloodline," sneered a burly outer-sect disciple, shaking himself off.
"Three hundred years ago your ancestors stole the Domination Seed from our ancestors. Today we take it back—with interest.
"Another disciple kicked Daoling in the stomach.
Pain exploded through his body, but he refused to scream. His dantian was empty, his meridians dry. He had never been able to condense even a single strand of Spirit Qi.
In a world where strength was destiny, he was less than nothing.If the heavens want my Guo Clan dead… then today I will make the heavens bleed first.
The thought burned hotter than the pain.
Three hundred years ago, the Guo Clan had been one of the nine supreme clans of the Lower Realm.
Their Eternal Domination Body was legendary—able to regenerate from ash, endure heavenly tribulations that would vaporize gods, and eventually dominate the Great Cosmos itself.
Then betrayal came.
Their sworn allies, the Heavenly Cloud Sect, poisoned the previous clan head, stole the inheritance, and reduced the once-mighty family to this desolate border planet at the edge of the multiverse.Now only a handful remained.
Daoling's father had died protecting the last fragment of the Domination Seed. His mother had withered away from grief. All that was left was Daoling… and his twelve-year-old sister, Guo Xiaoyue, huddled behind the last intact pillar, trembling.
The Young Master of the Heavenly Cloud Sect stepped forward, silver robes fluttering, a cold smile on his handsome face.
Li Tianhao—Foundation Establishment peak, nineteen years old, already hailed as a genius of the sect.
"Guo Daoling," he drawled, spinning a jade sword between his fingers.
"Hand over the Domination Seed and I'll grant your sister a quick death.
Refuse… and I'll let my dogs play with her first.
"Daoling's vision blurred with rage.
He tried to stand.
His legs gave out.
Laughter erupted from the twenty Heavenly Cloud disciples surrounding them.
"Pathetic.""Look at the 'last hope' of the Guo Clan.
Can't even condense Spirit Qi at sixteen.""Kill him already.
The Seed is probably dormant in his useless body anyway."Li Tianhao raised his sword.
Spiritual light flared along the blade—Third Stage Sword Intent.
The air itself screamed.
The sword descended toward Guo Xiaoyue.
Time seemed to slow.
Daoling's heart slammed against his broken ribs.
Every humiliation flashed through his mind—the beatings in the outer sect of this dying planet, the mockery at every clan gathering, the nights he spent coughing blood while trying to cultivate the family's ruined manuals.
No.
Something deep inside his dantian cracked open.
It was not Spirit Qi.
It was older.
Hungrier.
Eternal.
BOOM!A golden pillar of light erupted from Daoling's body, shattering the rain clouds above. The ancestral hall trembled.
The defiled tablet glowed for the first time in centuries.
Li Tianhao's sword stopped an inch from Xiaoyue's throat, frozen by an invisible pressure."What the—"Daoling's veins lit up like rivers of molten gold.
His shattered ribs knit together with audible cracks.
Flesh wounds sealed instantly.
His black hair turned streaked with divine gold, whipping in the sudden storm of his own aura.
The Domination Seed—hidden since birth, dormant for sixteen years—had finally awakened.
{Eternal Domination Body – First Stage}
Indestructible Flesh!Power flooded every cell.
Not Spirit Qi.
Something purer.
Something that laughed at the heavens themselves.
Daoling rose slowly.
The mud on his knees burned away.
His torn robes mended themselves as if time was reversing.He looked at Li Tianhao.And smiled."You wanted the Domination Seed?" His voice was calm, but every word carried the weight of ancient mountains.
"Come take it.
"Li Tianhao snarled and slashed downward with full power.
{Heavenly Cloud Slash}
– Ninth Form!A crescent of sword light thirty meters long tore through the hall, capable of bisecting mountains.
Daoling raised one hand.Bare hand.
The sword light struck his palm… and shattered like glass.
Silence.
Then Daoling moved.One step. The ground cratered beneath him. He appeared in front of Li Tianhao faster than anyone could react.
SLAP!The back of his hand connected with the Young Master's face.
The sound was like thunder. Li Tianhao flew backward, body spinning, crashing through three stone pillars and embedding into the far wall with a crater thirty meters wide.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Half his teeth were gone.
His perfect face was now a swollen mess.The twenty disciples froze in terror."Impossible…""He was trash yesterday!"Daoling didn't stop. He walked toward the embedded Li Tianhao, each step shaking the ancestral hall.
"You came to humiliate my clan."
Step.
"You came to kill my sister."
Step.
"You came to steal what was never yours."He grabbed Li Tianhao by the throat and lifted him one-handed.
The Young Master's legs kicked uselessly.
His Foundation Establishment aura was nothing before the golden light radiating from Daoling's body.
Daoling's eyes burned with three hundred years of accumulated hatred.
"From this moment on, the name Guo Daoling will be carved into the bones of every clan that dares touch mine.
"He squeezed. Bones creaked. Li Tianhao's eyes bulged.
But Daoling did not kill him.
Not yet.
He needed this dog alive to deliver a message.
Daoling tossed the broken Young Master to the ground like garbage. Then he turned to the twenty pale disciples.
"Run.
"They ran.Some tripped over their own feet. Others activated escape talismans that fizzled uselessly against the golden domain now covering the entire Guo Clan ruins. Daoling did not chase.
He simply watched them flee into the stormy night.
Only when the last scream faded did he turn to his sister.
Xiaoyue stared at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.
"Brother… your body… it's glowing.
"Daoling knelt and gently wiped the dirt from her cheek.
The golden light softened.
"It's just the beginning, Xiaoyue.
"He looked up at the cracked sky. Beyond the clouds, he could feel it—countless worlds, endless planes, gods and immortals who had long forgotten the name Guo.
The Great Cosmos itself seemed to tremble.
Power demanded sacrifice.
He could already feel the first whisper in his mind: More.
Kill them all.
Why show mercy?Daoling clenched his fist.
The golden veins pulsed brighter.
Not today.
He had a clan to rebuild.
A cosmos to dominate.
And the first step started here.
He helped Xiaoyue to her feet. Together they walked past the ruined tablets. As they did, the largest ancestral stone—bearing the name of their first ancestor—cracked open.
Inside lay a single glowing jade slip.
Ancient words floated into Daoling's mind:Eternal Domination Scripture – Volume One: Indestructible Flesh
To dominate the cosmos, first dominate yourself.
A cold smile touched Daoling's lips.
The heavens had buried the Guo Clan.
Now the Guo Clan would bury the heavens.
He looked toward the horizon where the fleeing disciples had vanished.
End of Chapter 1