The rain fell like needles from the sky.
In the outer lands of the Ashfall Border Region, a small village clung stubbornly to existence between barren hills and dying forests. This was a place abandoned by cultivators, forgotten by sects, and ignored by kingdoms.
This was where Erynd Vale was born.
At eighteen, Erynd was already considered useless.
He knelt in the mud behind the village granary, his fingers shaking as he tried to gather scattered grain into a torn sack. His clothes were soaked, his body thin, his breathing uneven.
Pain throbbed in his chest.
Not physical pain.
Humiliation.
"You're still here?"
A mocking voice rang out.
Erynd froze.
Three young men stood nearby, their clothes clean despite the rain. Each wore the grey robe of an Outer Disciple Trainee—not a true cultivator, but far above ordinary mortals.
Leading them was Kail Ren, the village chief's son.
"Still pretending to be useful?" Kail sneered. "You failed the Spirit Root test. You should have left Ashfall already."
Erynd lowered his head. "I'm just doing my work."
"Work?" Kail laughed. "You mean begging for scraps?"
The other two laughed with him.
Erynd clenched his fists.
Three years ago, when the Spirit Root Examiner came, every youth in the region gathered. Some awakened low-grade roots. A few awakened middle-grade roots and were taken by sect scouts.
Erynd awakened nothing.
Not even a trace.
"No spirit root detected," the examiner had said coldly.
From that day on, Erynd became less than human.
"You're wasting food," Kail continued. "A mortal with no cultivation potential shouldn't exist."
Erynd felt the familiar burning in his chest—but he swallowed it down.
He had learned long ago that resistance only made things worse.
Kail stepped closer, his boot pressing down on the grain sack.
"Get out of my sight."
Erynd bowed his head and moved.
Behind him, laughter followed like poison.
That night, Erynd sat alone at the edge of the village.
The wind was cold. The sky was heavy with dark clouds.
He stared at his left wrist.
Since childhood, a strange scar-like pattern rested there—faded, almost invisible. No matter how often he scrubbed it, it never disappeared.
His mother once told him it was a birthmark.
She died when he was ten.
His father vanished soon after.
"Why was I born like this?" Erynd whispered.
The sky answered.
Thunder roared violently.
The clouds twisted unnaturally, spiraling inward like a giant vortex.
Villagers screamed.
The earth trembled.
Then—
🔥 The sky burned.
A pillar of crimson light descended from the heavens, striking the ancient hill beyond the village.
The impact shook Ashfall to its foundation.
Erynd was thrown backward, his body slamming into the dirt.
Pain exploded through his left wrist.
He screamed.
The faded mark ignited, glowing like molten iron.
[Bloodline detected.]
A voice echoed in his mind.
Erynd gasped.
[Ancient Bloodline Compatibility: 0.01%… 0.5%… 3%…]
The pain intensified.
He clawed at the ground, teeth clenched, vision blurring.
[Compatibility reached threshold.]
[Ashfall Bloodline awakened.]
Memories not his own flooded his mind.
—A towering empire reduced to ash
—Kings kneeling in blood
—Cultivators burning beneath crimson flames
—A throne shattered by betrayal
Erynd screamed as the world spun.
Then, silence.
The rain stopped.
Slowly, he pushed himself up.
The mark on his wrist had changed—no longer faded, but sharp and defined, glowing faintly red.
Before he could think, a cold mechanical voice spoke again.
[Ashfall System activated.]
[Host: Erynd Vale]
[Cultivation Level: Mortal (Unranked)]
Erynd froze.
"A… system?"
He had heard cultivators speak of ancient inheritances and divine artifacts—but never imagined such a thing would choose him.
Suddenly, the forest erupted with movement.
Black figures crawled out—Void Beasts, creatures born from corrupted qi.
The nearest beast lunged.
Erynd's body reacted instinctively.
[Skill unlocked: Ash Flame – First Ember]
His marked hand burned.
A wave of crimson fire exploded outward.
The Void Beast disintegrated instantly, reduced to ash drifting in the wind.
Erynd stood frozen, his heart pounding.
He had killed it.
With one strike.
Far away, in a palace of black stone, an ancient woman opened her eyes.
"The Ashfall Bloodline…" she murmured.
"I thought it extinct."Erynd collapsed to his knees.
The sudden release of power drained him completely. His limbs trembled violently, his breathing shallow.
[Warning: Host energy depleted.]
The crimson flames faded.
The mark dulled.
The remaining Void Beasts hesitated—then retreated back into the forest, as if afraid.
Erynd lay there, staring at the dark sky.
For the first time in his life…
The world had acknowledged him.
Morning came with chaos.
The village elders gathered, fear written on their faces. The crimson pillar had been seen for miles—cultivators would come.
And they did.
A group of riders arrived before noon, wearing the emblem of the Cloudpiercer Sect.
Their leader, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, stepped forward.
"Who triggered the phenomenon?" he demanded.
Silence.
Erynd stood at the back of the crowd, heart racing.
Then Kail spoke.
"It was him," he said, pointing. "The useless one."
All eyes turned.
The cultivator's gaze fell on Erynd like a blade.
"Step forward."
Erynd obeyed.
The man reached for his wrist.
The moment his fingers touched the mark—
The cultivator screamed.
His hand burned black, flesh cracking.
He staggered back in horror.
"This… this bloodline—"
Before he could finish, another cultivator appeared in the sky, descending slowly.
A Core Formation expert.
"Leave," the newcomer said calmly.
The Cloudpiercer riders fled without hesitation.
The expert looked at Erynd.
"From today onward," he said, "your life will no longer be your own."