The Eastern Wastes—land of exile, of forgotten names and dying bloodlines. No sect ruled here, no sovereign claimed it. It was where the unwanted were thrown away, like ashes into the wind.
Zhen knelt atop a crumbling cliff, blood staining the edges of his sleeves. The wind cut like a thousand knives, but he felt nothing anymore. His bones ached, not from age—he was only seventeen—but from the burden of humiliation, starvation, and the slow decay of hope.
Behind him, the jagged silhouette of the Jiuyang Clan's outpost flickered against the dusk. It had once been his home.
"Trash born of a whore and a cripple," his cousin had said.
"Even wild beasts wouldn't take you," spat the elders.
"Let him die in the wastes. His meridians are sealed. He has no future."
They were right. From the age of six, he had shown no talent for cultivation. No energy responded to him, no technique ignited in his hands. His qi pathways were locked—void, broken. A "Void Vessel," they called him.
But Zhen didn't weep. Not anymore. He had screamed once—years ago, when they broke his spirit, when they carved the Jiuyang crest from his robe and burned it before his eyes.
Now, he was empty. Numb.
And so, he stood.
The cliff welcomed him. One step and all of it would end.
But as his foot edged toward the void, the sky split.
Literally.
A rift cracked across the heavens like a sword slash, glowing with runes that twisted through reality. The air trembled. The stars above flickered and rearranged themselves. Zhen stumbled back, shielding his face from the blinding radiance.
Then came the voice.
> [Multiversal Ranking Protocol Detected.]
[Host Detected: Zhen — Status: Critical. Bloodline: Suppressed. Potential: Unknown.]
[Initializing Awakening Sequence…]
"What…?" Zhen gasped. His vision blurred. Symbols—foreign, shifting—poured into his mind like lightning and fire. His heart stopped.
And then started again.
With force.
His meridians—those once sealed by the elders—snapped open like ancient chains shattering. Qi surged through him, wild and searing. Power he had never tasted flowed into his limbs, his bones, his soul.
He screamed, but it wasn't pain.
It was rebirth.
Above the world, glowing in letters of divine light, the sky displayed:
> [Mortal Ascension Board - Multiverse Initiation]
#1 – Zhen (Eastern Wastes – Tier 0 Awakening)
Ranking Initiated. Broadcast Level: Universal.
The world paused.
In distant dimensions, cultivators meditating atop dragon spines opened their eyes.
In a realm made of stars, the Void Empress, older than time itself, frowned.
In a battlefield where gods dueled, a sword paused mid-swing.
All saw the name. All saw the place.
Eastern Wastes.
Zhen.
The name rippled across space.
Back on the cliff, Zhen fell to his knees, gasping. He could feel it—his body was no longer the same. His senses stretched out, touching everything. Every grain of sand. Every heartbeat in the nearby forest. Every motion in the air.
> [System Integration Complete.]
Welcome, Host. You are now bound to the Multiversal Ranking System. Your actions, strength, influence, and potential will be ranked across worlds.]
Zhen blinked. "Why… me?"
> Because you were forgotten. Because you were empty. And now, you will be full.
A chuckle escaped him.
It was hollow at first… but it grew.
They had cast him out. Laughed. Beaten him.
Now, the multiverse had chosen him.
He stood.
—
When Zhen returned to the Jiuyang Clan's outer sect gates, he looked like a different person. Taller somehow. Leaner. His eyes glowed faintly gold. His robes still bore dust and dried blood, but they hung on him like war banners.
The guards gawked. "Y-you…"
One of them stepped forward, spear trembling. "Zhen? You're supposed to be—dead."
Zhen didn't stop walking.
The spear shattered when it touched his aura.
He entered the festival square. Dozens of disciples turned, dressed in their best robes, celebrating the Sect's Awakening Festival. Fireworks shimmered in the sky. Offerings lay at the base of ancestral statues.
Then the sky changed again.
This time, they all saw it.
> [Multiversal Mortal Ascension Board – Ranking Update]
#1 – Zhen (Eastern Wastes – Tier 0 Awakening)
Gasps. Screams. Silence.
Elder Mo dropped his wine. "That… that's impossible."
Li Qing, his former fiancée who had once slapped him before the sect, paled. "No… He has no cultivation…"
From among the gathered elites, his cousin Jiuyuan stepped forward, clad in crimson inner sect armor. "Illusion tricks. Fake rankings. You were born trash. You'll die trash!"
He leapt, flame-wrapped fist shooting forward like a meteor.
Zhen raised a hand.
The flame vanished.
Jiuyuan's body stiffened mid-air, then collapsed, face-first, unconscious.
No sound.
Zhen turned to the Elders.
"Is this enough… to come home?"
Elder Mo stumbled back. "W-what did you do? What have you become?"
Zhen's gaze pierced through him.
"I became what you feared."
Then he turned away.
—
That night, Zhen stood alone atop the temple roof. The stars were closer than ever.
> [Congratulations: Host has ascended to Rank #1 on the Mortal Board.]
[You have gained the right to challenge Tier 1 Realms. Warning: Opponents will target you. Fate Anchors are watching.]
[Reward Unlocked: Universal Talent Crystal x1 – Bloodline Restoration: 10%. Hidden Inheritance Unsealed.]
He clutched his chest. Warmth flowed through him again. A second heartbeat—hidden, ancient—throbbed in rhythm with the stars.
> [Bloodline: ??? – Dormant Sovereign Class detected.]
"What am I?" Zhen whispered.
> You are the seed of something the multiverse forgot.
He didn't yet understand it all. But one thing was clear.
The rankings had begun.
And he would never be forgotten again.