The temple garden had always been a place of peace.
In the early morning, when the mist was still rising and dew clung to the leaves, Jayden found a rare stillness beneath the twin spirit trees — two ancient trunks gnarled and intertwined, their roots forming a natural seat where he often meditated. The scent of lilac and wintergrass calmed his mind. His thoughts quieted here.
But not today.
Today, the garden reeked of blood.
Jayden stood barefoot, shirtless, sweat-drenched and breathing hard, his fists wrapped in thick linen. Before him lay three bodies dressed in black, marked with the insignia of the Crimson Fangs — a wolf skull etched in crimson dye.
One still twitched.
Jayden stepped forward and pressed his foot lightly on the attacker's throat. "Talk."
The man coughed blood. "The pill… it was never yours."
Jayden leaned closer. "You think I care about ownership? You sent men to threaten my master. To kill my friends. You scrawled my father's name into a threat. Speak."
The man grinned, teeth stained red. "Your father… made his choice. He turned his back on the pact. We were promised bloodlines, not loyalty."
Jayden frowned. "What pact?"
The assassin only laughed.
A thin thread of smoke slipped from his lips.
Jayden recognized the scent too late — Soulburn Incense.
Before he could react, the assassin's eyes rolled back and his body convulsed, burning from the inside out. Within seconds, there was nothing left but ash and bone.
Jayden stood still, heart pounding.
The Crimson Fangs had sent a message.
And now, he had to send one back.
Master Shen didn't scold him. Not for killing. Not for provoking.
He merely poured tea and sat with Jayden beneath the wind chimes in the upper chamber.
"You didn't hesitate," Shen said.
Jayden sat across from him, silent.
"That's not a bad thing," Shen added. "But it's dangerous when it comes too easily."
Jayden looked down at his tea. "They were going to kill me."
"I know," Shen said. "And next time, they'll send someone who can."
Jayden's grip on his cup tightened. "Let them."
Shen studied him. "Your power is growing. But your foundation is still forming. Until it is set in stone, I will not allow you to use the Heaven's Rebirth Pill."
Jayden nodded. "I understand."
Shen placed a sealed scroll on the table between them.
"This will help."
Jayden picked it up. The parchment was old, cracked at the edges, but it hummed with energy. He opened it slowly. Inside was a diagram — a human body drawn in silhouette, marked with hundreds of tiny golden needles.
"Acupuncture?" he asked.
"Not the kind you know," Shen said. "This technique was created by my master's master. It unlocks hidden meridians and stimulates latent chi reservoirs. With it, your cultivation speed will triple — but the pain may kill you."
Jayden's eyes lit up. "Teach me."
They began that night.
Jayden sat shirtless in the meditation hall, his body outlined with chalk marks. Shen moved like a shadow, placing fine golden needles along Jayden's back, arms, legs, and skull. Each needle shimmered with chi, trembling in place.
"Ready?" Shen asked.
Jayden nodded.
With a flick of his finger, Shen activated the formation.
Pain exploded in every nerve.
Jayden screamed.
His vision swam. Fire raced through his veins, white-hot and searing. His chi surged, broke, reformed. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't stop the tide crashing through his soul.
And yet—he didn't pass out.
He endured.
For hours.
When Shen finally removed the needles, Jayden collapsed, drenched in sweat, barely conscious.
But something inside him had changed.
He could feel it.
His chi wasn't just flowing anymore — it was singing.
Days passed.
Jayden trained relentlessly, mastering the new meridian flow, integrating the acupuncture cycles into his cultivation. His chi became sharper, faster. His movements more precise. Even his senses expanded — he could hear footsteps before they landed, smell blood before it was spilled.
And then, one morning, he sensed it.
A shadow crossing the garden.
An assassin.
She moved like wind through fog, barely touching the ground. Dressed in all white, with a veil hiding her face and a curved blade strapped to her back.
Jayden was ready.
He met her beneath the spirit trees, just before dawn.
"Did they send you to kill me?" he asked, cracking his knuckles.
The woman didn't answer. She drew her blade and charged.
Jayden slid low, dodging the first strike, and countered with a burst of chi-infused palm strikes. She deflected them all, graceful and fluid, like she was dancing.
They moved across the garden in a blur of motion — blades clashing, fists cracking, bursts of chi shattering the air.
Jayden saw an opening and struck — a needle-thin jab at her collarbone.
She twisted away, but his finger grazed her pressure point. Her movements slowed.
"Acupuncture strike," she gasped. "That's… impossible."
Jayden's eyes narrowed. "Tell me who you are."
She tore off her veil, revealing piercing green eyes and a scar across her jaw.
"My name is Reina," she said. "I was sent by the Fangs. But not to kill you."
Jayden blinked. "What?"
"I was sent… to test you."
She collapsed to one knee, clutching her chest.
Jayden approached cautiously. "Why?"
"Because the elders… believe you might be the heir," Reina said, blood dripping from her mouth. "The Dragon Form… is real. And you're waking it."
Jayden felt his heart skip.
"What do you know about my father?"
Reina looked up, pain etched into every line of her face.
"He was one of us once. A Crimson Fang. But he tried to destroy the pact. To protect you. So they buried him in the Hollow Vault. Alive."
Jayden's eyes went wide. "Where is that?"
Reina shook her head. "Even I don't know. Only the Grand Fang does."
"Then I'll find him," Jayden said, standing tall. "And I'll burn the Fangs to the ground."
Reina chuckled weakly. "Then you'll need allies. Take this."
She handed him a small jade pendant — shaped like a dragon swallowing its tail.
"This… will let you into the old sect ruins. In the west mountains. You'll find more there. Answers."
Jayden took the pendant, his fingers trembling.
"You're bleeding," he said, looking at her wound.
"I know," she whispered. "That acupuncture strike… it'll kill me slowly. Unless…"
He pulled a needle from his sash and placed it gently into the counterpoint behind her ear.
Her body jerked — then relaxed.
She looked up at him in awe.
"You really are his son."
Jayden stood.
"And I'm going to finish what he started."