The Ceremony of the Eternal Sun was the heartbeat of the Great Qin Empire.
It was the day the Emperor ascended the Altar of Heaven to resonate his Qi with the World Tree, a ritual that supposedly "renewed" the prosperity of the land for another year. In reality, it was a massive flex of spiritual muscle—a nuclear deterrent meant to remind the surrounding kingdoms and the hidden sects that Qin Long was still an untouchable god.
The Altar stood a hundred feet high, carved from white spirit-marble. Thousands of spectators—ministers, generals, and commoners—stood in hushed silence below. The air smelled of ozone and crushed flower petals.
Aris stood among the Imperial Alchemists, a row of bowed figures in heavy silk robes. His Mask of the Faceless remained active, projecting the cold, untouchable aura of the "Pale Alchemist."
[System Analysis: Resonance Link Detected]
[Target: Emperor Qin Long (Level 80)]
[Status: Preparing to channel 40% of the World Tree's output.]
Aris watched the data streams flowing through the air like invisible fiber-optic cables.
"He's trying to download too much data on a compromised network," Aris mused. "Let's cap his bandwidth."
"System," Aris thought, his violet eye pulsing behind the porcelain mask. "Initialize Root-Admin Protocol: Throttle."
[Protocol: Throttle Initialized.]
[Action: Limiting Qi transfer to 5%.]
[Injecting 'Void-Static' into the connection.]
As the Emperor stepped onto the altar, his golden armor reflecting the midday sun, he looked magnificent. He raised his hands to the heavens. The ground began to tremble as the World Tree's energy surged upward through the palace foundations, answering his call.
Usually, this would result in a pillar of golden light so bright it could be seen for a hundred miles.
But today, the light was... flickering.
The Glitch
The Emperor's face, usually a mask of stoic perfection, twisted in a flash of confusion. He felt the energy rising, but as it reached his meridians, it felt thin, brittle—like trying to breathe through a straw.
Worse, a strange, numbing "static" began to eat at his internal Qi. It felt like ants crawling inside his bones.
What is this? the Emperor thought, his heart hammering with a sudden, icy fear. The Root... is it rejecting me?
[System Notification: Connection Timed Out.]
To the thousands of spectators, the Emperor seemed to stagger. The golden pillar turned a sickly, bruised purple for a split second before collapsing entirely.
"Gah!"
Qin Long dropped to one knee, coughing violently. Blood, dark and thick with "Void-Static," splattered onto the pristine white marble of the altar.
The silence that followed was more terrifying than a thunderclap. The Mandate of Heaven had seemingly been revoked in front of the entire nation.
"The Emperor has fallen!" someone screamed.
"Protection!" General Thorne's voice boomed from the front row, drawing his sword, but even the great General looked shaken. The God of War had stumbled.
The Savior
Aris didn't wait. He moved with the practiced grace of a man who had scripted this entire disaster.
"Stand back!" Aris shouted, his voice full of calculated alarm.
He bypassed the frozen guards, who were too shocked to stop the "Imperial Savior," and reached the Emperor's side.
"Your Majesty!"
Aris pressed his hand against the Emperor's back. To the onlookers, it looked like he was stabilizing the ruler with medical Qi. In reality, Aris was performing a "System Restore."
[Action: Reverse Refinement Active.]
Step 1: Suck out the "Void-Static" (removing the pain). Step 2: Inject "Abyssal Spark".
[Effect: Artificial Vitality.]
[Side Effect: Addiction. The Emperor's meridians will now crave the specific frequency of Abyssal Qi.]
The Emperor gasped, his eyes snapping open.
The crushing weight on his chest vanished instantly. It was replaced by a surge of dark, cold, potent energy that felt even stronger than his original Qi. It was intoxicating. It was like drinking ice water in a desert.
He stood up, leaning heavily on Aris. His color returned.
"It was a... a sudden surge of the Earth Veins," Aris declared to the crowd, his voice amplified by a small sound-formation. "The World Tree has grown too powerful for a single moment of resonance. It requires a stabilizer."
The Emperor looked at Aris. His eyes were wide with a mixture of terror and absolute dependence. He felt the dark energy Aris had given him—it was fierce, it was alien, and it was the only thing keeping him standing.
"Master Alchemist," the Emperor whispered, his voice trembling so only Aris could hear. "You... you have saved the throne itself."
[Quest Completed: The Puppet King]
[Reward: 1,500 AP.]
[Title Gained: The Shadow Behind the Throne (Increases manipulation success by 30%).]
[Political Status: The Emperor has granted you the 'Black Jade Seal'.]
The Price of Salvation
That night, in the absolute privacy of the Emperor's inner sanctum, the dynamic of the world shifted.
Qin Long sat on the edge of his bed, trembling. He could feel his Level 80 cultivation fluctuating. Whenever Aris walked further away toward the window, the Emperor felt a hollow, agonizing void in his soul. It was a withdrawal symptom programmed into his very spirit.
"Master... what is happening to me?" the Emperor asked, his pride completely shattered. "Why do I feel empty?"
"The Root is evolving, Your Majesty," Aris lied smoothly.
He stood by the window, watching the moon. Nox played with the shadows of the heavy imperial curtains, snickering.
"The World Tree is becoming 'Abyssal.' To lead this new era, your body must also evolve to match its frequency. Only my pills can facilitate this transition."
Aris turned around. He held out a single black pill. It was more potent than any before—pure, crystallized dependency.
"From this day forward," Aris said, his voice cold and authoritative, "you will take one every morning. It will stabilize your power. It will make you stronger than you ever were."
"And in return," Aris continued, "you will grant me the deed to the Thorne Estate."
The Emperor didn't even blink at the request to hand over the ancestral lands of his most loyal General. He didn't care about General Thorne. He only cared about the gnawing emptiness in his chest.
"Take it," the Emperor gasped, reaching out. "Take the estate. Take the legion. Just... give me the pill."
Aris dropped the pill into the Emperor's hand.
He watched the ruler of the Great Qin Empire swallow it like a starving dog.
Aris turned back to the window, looking toward the distant lights of the Thorne Estate, where his "family" lived. Where the Matron slept. Where his mother was still forced to wash clothes in freezing water.
The Matron wanted me to be a stable hand, Aris thought, his violet eye glowing with a terrifying light. I think I'll make her my first test subject for 'Reverse Refinement'.
[Abyssal Nexus: End of Chapter Status]
The massive intake of Qi from the "Throttle" protocol and the Emperor's "stabilization" has forced Aris's body to undergo another high-speed evolution.
Host: Aris Thorne
Level: 22
Class: Forbidden Alchemist (Rank 2)
[Attributes]
Strength: 85 (Can now crush Grade-4 Spirit Stones with grip strength) Agility: 70 Intelligence: 55 Qi Capacity: 1,200 / 1,200 (Equivalent to an Early-Stage Core Formation expert)
[Physique: Abyssal Sovereign Body (18% Awakened)]
New Passive: 'Dominator's Presence' – Lowers the physical defense of any enemy Level 30 or below just by standing near them.
[Abyssal Inventory]
Currency: 2,900 AP / 15,000 Gold. Key Item: The Black Jade Seal (Authority over 5,000 Imperial 'Black Shadow' soldiers). Nox Progress: Level 12 (Unlocked: Shadow Mimicry – can transform into a copy of anyone Aris has killed).
[World Status]
The Qin Emperor: Subjugated (Addicted to Abyssal Qi). The World Tree: 8% Infected by Abyssal Code.