The gloomy sky hung over the ruins of an ancient temple. Remnants of purple jade stones and broken pillars were scattered around Ye Tian, as if silently witnessing the once-great civilization erased by time and fate. Dust floated in the air, mixed with an ancient scent that choked the chest, as if the world itself was holding its breath... welcoming the rise of something that had long been sealed.
Ye Tian stood still in the center of the collapsed worship hall, his body still shrouded in a dark aura that had not yet faded. His gaze was calm yet sharp, staring straight at the black book now floating a few inches in front of him. The book opened on its own, its pages made of unknown ancient beast skin, emitting a dim glow that absorbed the light around it.
"Are you... the heir of the Heavenly Blood?" the echo of a voice was heard again, not from the book, but from within himself—a whisper that emerged directly in the depths of his soul, shaking his spirit and blood at once.
Ye Tian frowned. The blood in his body trembled, as if called by something older than heaven and earth. In his meridians, an unfamiliar power slowly awakened—wild, ancient, and untamable. Ancient symbols he had never seen began to appear on the surface of his skin, glowing with a dark red light that pulsed gently with his heartbeat.
"Is this... the inheritance of the Heavenly Blood?" he murmured softly.
Suddenly, a soft explosion sounded. Purple light radiated from the temple floor, forming an ancient magical formation that slowly rotated. The ground beneath Ye Tian's feet trembled slightly, and from the swirl of light, a blurry figure appeared like a spirit—tall, with a torn robe, and a face covered in black mist. The aura it emitted was terrifying, like an existence that should not exist in this world.
"My heir..." the voice was deep and full of pressure. "The Heavenly Blood Curse is both a key and a prison. Only the strong can free the world... or destroy it entirely."
Ye Tian remained calm, but his eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean?"
The figure didn't answer immediately. It stepped closer, yet its feet did not touch the ground. Every step it took reversed time around it—moss on stones became fresh again, cracks disappeared, and the air grew warm like spring thousands of years ago. The figure stopped right in front of Ye Tian, then stared directly into his eyes.
"I am your shadow from a future that never happened. I am the cursed legacy of the heavenly ancestors. And now, everything... depends on you."
The black book suddenly exploded into dark light and merged into Ye Tian's chest, absorbing into his dantian. His body was flung backward, crashing into a stone pillar until it shattered into pieces. But it wasn't pain he felt—it was transformation. A new power awakened within him. His bones cracked and then mended, his flesh folded and strengthened, his aura changed.
Suddenly, the sky grew darker, and from behind the clouds came a crimson lightning bolt. The lightning danced in the air, not striking the earth, but splitting, forming a pattern like a giant eye symbol watching from above.
"The heavens... are starting to notice me," Ye Tian whispered. "This is no longer an ordinary path. This is a path that will lead to destruction... or rebirth."
He stood slowly, his body now felt much lighter, but also far more dangerous. Every breath he took made the air tremble, as if the world was adjusting to his new presence.
And in the distance… beyond the mountains and mist, the sound of a great bell echoed. The great sects, the sleeping gods, and old enemies who had long forgotten Ye Tian's name… began to awaken one by one.
The bloodline of the heavenly ancestors had returned. And the world... would burn again.
The wind whispered softly through the cracks of the ruins, carrying the scent of blood and rain. While the world seemed to fall silent, witnessing the long-prophesied awakening, Ye Tian's body slowly rose from the debris. His clothes were tattered, but the gleam in his eyes held a determination unmatched by anyone in this world.
His hand clenched. In his grip, a red-black light flickered like a spirit flame—a part of the new power now flowing through his body. He could feel it, a power so unfamiliar yet familiar, like the ancestral blood that had long been hidden, finally awakened from its slumber.
"Is this the power… of the predecessors sealed by the heavens?" he whispered.
The world within his dantian changed. If before it was like a calm lake without waves, now it was like a vast sea struck by a storm. His spiritual currents were wild, strong, and unstoppable. Ancient symbols floated in his internal air, forming a new cultivation path not recorded in any book—the Cursed Path of the Heavenly Blood.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from the ruins. A man in a green robe, his face covered by a metal mask, emerged from the shadows. On his back was an old guqin, emitting an aura that distorted space. He was no ordinary person.
"You have awakened something that should have remained sealed, young man," he said in a flat voice, but the aura around him was so dense that even the small stones on the ground trembled.
Ye Tian did not flinch. "If my fate is destruction, then let me destroy fate itself."
The masked man raised one eyebrow. "You haven't even opened a single cultivation path, yet you dare challenge fate?"
Ye Tian stepped forward. With each step, the ground beneath his feet cracked slightly. "I don't need this world's permission to become strong. The heavens will not decide my end."
The masked man chuckled softly, then released his guqin. "Then prove it with your life."
The first note rang out.
The guqin's sound shook the sky. The illusionary sound attack struck Ye Tian's consciousness, pulling his soul into a shadow world. There, he saw himself bound by chains of light, facing thousands of ancestral shadows staring at him with blood-filled eyes.
But—when all seemed to collapse, the blood in Ye Tian's body boiled. His spiritual body ignited, and he raised his fist to shatter the bindings. A voice echoed from deep within his soul, like a reverberation from the past:
"Rise, Heir of the Heavenly Blood. It is not yet your time to yield."
A wave of power shattered the shadow world. His consciousness returned, and in the real world, Ye Tian's eyes glowed red-black. A circular seal appeared on the back of his hand—a blood seal bearing the symbols of a dragon, a sun, and thorns.
The masked man took one step back, his expression finally changed. "The Three Tribulation Seal… you… you're truly the descendant spoken of in the prophecy?"
Ye Tian did not reply. With a single step, he was in front of the man. His right hand struck the air, unleashing pure spiritual pressure that split rock and space. The masked man blocked it with his guqin, but the force flung him far, slamming him into the ruin wall, creating a massive crack.
At that moment, the sky turned blood red. Clouds spiraled into a vortex, and from the sky fell rain—not water, but drops of light colored red-black. Heavenly blood rain.
Ye Tian looked at the sky, then down at his still-glowing hand. "This world… has placed a curse upon me. Then I shall become the demon hated by the heavens… to set myself free."
The path he would now walk was no longer an ordinary cultivation path. It was a path of blood, a path of rebellion against the heavens themselves.
And that journey... had just begun.
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