Moonlight seeped through the cracks in the Alchemy Pavilion's stone wall, casting silver streaks across the cluttered waste yard. Su Chen knelt beside a rusted iron jar, his fingers brushing the cold metal as he pried it open. Inside, coiled like a withered snake, was the preserved meridian of a fallen disciple-gray, brittle, and barely clinging to the last wisp of spiritual energy. For three nights, he'd snuck here after the Clan Trial, driven by the Reverse God Meridian's insistent hum, a hunger no ordinary cultivation could sate.
He lifted the meridian, its texture dry as dust. The jade pendant at his throat warmed, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. Since defeating Su Hao's team, he'd sensed the meridian's untapped potential-something beyond speed or strength. It craved structure, not just scattered spiritual energy. It craved meridians themselves.
Closing his eyes, Su Chen focused on the golden river of energy flowing through his veins. He willed it outward, feeling the pendant's glow intensify until it burned like a tiny sun against his skin. A suction force erupted from his chest, sharp and greedy. The gray meridian trembled, then dissolved into a stream of silvery light, snaking into his body.
Pain flared-sharp, searing-as the foreign meridian's energy collided with his own. But the Reverse God Meridian didn't reject it. It devoured it, grinding the silvery energy into pure gold, merging the fragmented structure of the fallen disciple's meridian with his own. Su Chen gasped, his back arching as power surged through him-denser, more controlled than ever before. He could feel the disciple's faint memories too: the way he'd channeled energy through three meridians, the technique he'd mastered for quick strikes. It was like absorbing a lifetime of training in seconds.
"This is its true power," he breathed, opening his eyes. They glowed with faint golden light, his senses sharpening to an inhuman degree. He could hear a guard's yawn a hundred meters away, smell the iron tang of spiritual energy in the air, even feel the faint vibrations of footsteps approaching-light, deliberate, and lethal.
He spun around, golden energy coiling in his fists. From the shadows of a pile of broken cauldron shards stepped Liu Shan, Su Kun's most ruthless enforcer. The five-meridian cultivator's hood fell back, revealing a scar that split his left eyebrow, his eyes glinting with malice. In his hand, he held a whip woven from beast tendons, its tip oozing a sickly green poison.
"Su Kun warned me you'd grown… unnatural," Liu Shan said, his voice low and gravelly. He snapped the whip, the tip cracking the air inches from Su Chen's face. "That meridian of yours is a curse. I'm here to cut it out of you-slowly."
Su Chen didn't flinch. The Reverse God Meridian hummed, eager for more. "You think you can take what's mine?"
Liu Shan laughed, a sound like rocks grinding. "Five meridians against a broken boy playing god? This will be over before you can scream."
He lunged, the whip whistling toward Su Chen's neck. But Su Chen moved faster than thought-faster than any human should. He dodged, his body leaving a golden blur, and grabbed the whip mid-strike. The poison burned his palm, but the Reverse God Meridian absorbed it instantly, neutralizing the toxins before they could spread.
Liu Shan's eyes widened. "Impossible-"
Su Chen pulled, yanking Liu Shan off balance. He drove his knee into the enforcer's ribs, hearing a satisfying crack. Liu Shan doubled over, spitting blood, but Su Chen didn't stop. He pressed his palm to Liu Shan's chest, activating the devouring ability once more.
The suction force roared, louder this time. Liu Shan's scream was cut off as his spiritual energy was torn from his body, his five meridians dissolving into streams of golden light. Su Chen felt the enforcer's power flood him-his brute strength, his mastery of poison, the cold efficiency of a killer. It was intoxicating, but Su Chen clung to his focus. He wasn't just absorbing power-he was taking back what Su Kun had stolen from his family.
When it ended, Liu Shan crumpled to the ground, a hollow shell. Su Chen stood, his body glowing faintly, the Reverse God Meridian thrumming with satisfaction. He'd grown exponentially stronger, but more than that-he'd unlocked a weapon that could turn Su Kun's own men against him.
He vanished into the night, disposing of Liu Shan's body in the forest where monsters would erase all trace. But as he slipped back into his quarters, Su Chen knew this was just the first strike. Su Kun would notice Liu Shan's disappearance. The hunt was on-and next time, the stakes would be higher.