Chapter One: Ashes of the Past, Embers of the Future
The world resembled a fading oil painting, its canvas stained with strokes of suffocating soot. In the Ashen Sky Domain, the sun was a mere pallid ghost of a disc, struggling to pierce the monolithic clouds that incessantly rained gray dust. This dust—known as Ash Essence—was the world's vital breath, the fuel for all cultivation. Yet, it was a double-edged sword; it sustained the soul but choked the lungs of those too weak to master it.
In the central courtyard of the Han Clan, a biting cold gnawed at bone and marrow. Fang Li knelt at the center, his posture broken but his spirit tethered. His white robes, once a symbol of his status as a healer, were now a wretched tapestry of mud and drying blood.
"Fang Li… do you truly comprehend the depth of your transgression?"
A voice, deep and resonant like rolling thunder, descended from the high platform. Elder Han Gu stood there, his long white beard swaying in the wind, but his eyes were chips of frozen glass.
"You embezzled the Dragon Marrow Herb from the clan's ancestral vaults," the Elder continued, his voice dropping to a chilling sub-zero. "That herb was destined for my nephew, Han Chen, to catalyze his breakthrough to the third level of Cauldron Ignition. And yet…" His gaze sharpened into needles. "You squandered it on… refuse?"
Fang Li slowly lifted his head. A metallic tang filled his throat—the taste of copper mixed with the gritty ash he had been forced to inhale.
"Those 'refuse,' Elder," Fang Li's voice was a jagged rasp, "are the very cultivators who till the soil and bleed in the mines to build your palaces. A plague is rotting them from within. If they perish, who remains to uphold the pillars of your vanity?"
A wave of hushed scoffs rippled through the gathered disciples. In this world, altruism wasn't a virtue; it was a mental infirmity.
"Silence!" Han Chen barked, stepping forward with predatory grace. Clad in ornate leather armor, he looked every bit the favored scion. "You are a failure—a bottom-tier first-level cultivator. Heaven granted you a gift for the Medical Arts so you could serve the clan's interests, not to play the saint at the expense of your masters."
Han Chen leaned down, his breath warm and foul against Fang Li's ear.
"Want to know the punchline, cousin? That maid you nearly died to save—Xiao Lan? She's the one who sold you out. She pointed us to the herb's location for a mere handful of ash stones. Loyalty is a luxury the hungry can't afford."
Fang Li's pupils contracted.
He looked toward the edge of the courtyard. There stood Xiao Lan. She held a small cloth pouch, her fingers trembling slightly, but her face was a mask of chilling indifference. There was no regret, only the cold calculation of survival.
In that heartbeat, something inside Fang Li didn't just break—it shattered.
The idealistic lens through which he viewed the world disintegrated. The vibrant colors of his morality bled away, leaving behind a stark, ugly clarity.
"Since you love the dirt so much," Han Chen sneered, "stay there."
His boot descended like a falling hammer.
Crack.
The sickening snap of ribs echoed in the silence. Fang Li was driven into the frozen earth, the cold seeping into his lungs as his heartbeat stuttered toward a halt.
As the darkness surged to claim him, the world shifted.
Freedom… I was a slave to my own heart. A slave to 'kindness.' To 'loyalty.' Death… is the only liberation I have left.
Suddenly, a sharp, mechanical chime resonated within his consciousness—a sound that felt like it came from outside of time itself.
[System Notification: "Absolute Fusion System" Initialized.] [Status: Host in critical state. Vital organ failure: 60%.] [Sarcastic Remark: Is this the grand finale? Slain by a cousin's boot and a servant's betrayal? How… underwhelming.]
Fang Li's fading consciousness froze. "Who… are you?"
[I am the antithesis of your failed morals. I am cold logic. I am the Architect and the Eraser.] [Query: Do you wish to persist?]
Fang Li looked at the blurred figures of Han Chen, Xiao Lan, and the Elder. The "kind" Fang Li would have forgiven them. The new Fang Li felt only a void.
"I want to shatter this cage," he whispered internally. "I want to be free—from their cruelty… and from my own weakness."
[Emergency Transaction Offered.] [Requirement: To reconstruct your shattered Cauldron, you must perform your first Fusion.] [Recommended Materials:] * Shattered Medicinal Spirit Roots (Internal)
Contaminated Ash Essence (Environmental)
The Concept of "Mercy" (Abstract – to be consumed as soul-fuel for the Ignition)
Fang Li hesitated for a fraction of a second. The memory of his mother's smile flashed by. His healer's oath.
Then, he felt the weight of Han Chen's boot again.
Burn it all. Mercy never filled a stomach. It only dug my grave.
[Fusion Process Initiated… Converting "Mercy" into "Black Ignition Energy"…]
An internal supernova erupted within him. It felt as if ancient, parasitic vines were being ripped from his soul. Memories—saving a wounded animal, tending to the poor—evaporated into black smoke. In their place, a terrifying, predatory power surged through his veins.
[Fusion Successful!] [Merged: "Shattered Body" + "Ash Essence" + "Energy of Betrayal".] [Result: Birth of the "Smoldering Ash Cauldron".] [Cultivation Rank: Cauldron Ignition — First Level (Evolved).] [Trait Unlocked: "Fused Eye" — All existence is now viewed as raw material.]
Outside, Han Chen felt a sudden, glacial aura erupting from the "corpse" beneath his foot.
"What?!" He snarled, raising his foot for a final, crushing blow.
A pale, iron-like hand shot out, clamping around Han Chen's ankle mid-air.
Crunch.
The sound of Han Chen's ankle turning into powder was louder than the ribs. He screamed, but the grip only tightened.
Fang Li rose slowly, like a demon climbing out of the abyss. The warmth was gone from his eyes; they were now bottomless pits of swirling gray mist and void-black currents.
"Cousin," Fang Li said, his voice devoid of any human emotion. "You said this world has no need for my heart. You were right. So… I threw it away."
A translucent screen flickered before his vision.
[Target: Han Chen] [Cultivation: Cauldron Ignition — Third Level] [Physical Talent: Stone Bones (Low Grade)] [Option: Harvest 'Stone Bones' and fuse into your Cauldron?]
Fang Li's lips curled into a smile—the kind of smile that makes the gods shudder.
"System," he murmured. "Begin the plunder."