The Azure Heaven Continent was vast, a land without boundaries, where the strong plucked the stars and the weak crawled in the dust. But within the central dominance of this continent, hidden within the folds of space itself, lay a world within a world—the Ancestral Pocket Realm of the Lin Clan.
Here, the sky was not a simple blue but a shifting tapestry of auroras, fueled by the density of Aether Qi that was thick enough to be seen with the naked eye. Floating islands drifted lazily across the horizon, tethered by massive chains of spirit steel, and ancient palaces sat atop them like sleeping giants.
In the southern quadrant of this realm, atop the Floating Island of Vermillion Bamboo, the atmosphere was tense. The usually serene winds were whipped into a frenzy, carrying the distinct, metallic scent of blood and the heavy, oppressive pressure of uncontrolled spiritual energy.
Inside the Crimson Cloud Pavilion, chaos reigned.
"Push! Madam, please, channel the Qi to your lower dantian! Do not let the energy recoil!"
The voice belonged to Feng Xiu, an elder with a beard as white as snow and hands that glowed with a soft, verdant green light. He was the Master Healer of the Lin Clan, a man who had snatched souls back from the gates of the underworld, yet now, sweat beaded on his forehead like rain.
Lying on the bed carved from thousand-year-old Spirit Jade was a woman of devastating beauty. Her hair, usually a cascade of silk, was a vibrant, blood-red crimson that seemed to pulse with its own light. Her face was pale, her breath coming in ragged, painful gasps, but her eyes—sharp and defiant—burned with an intensity that terrified the maids rushing around her with basins of warm water and spiritual herbs.
This was Yu Yue. The wife of the Third Elder, Lin Feng.
"I… I can't…" she gasped, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the sheets. A surge of violet energy flickered around her body, causing the space inside the room to distort.
"You must!" Feng Xiu commanded, pouring more of his life force into her wrist. "The child is strong. Too strong. He is fighting to come out!"
A low, guttural scream tore from Yu Yue's throat, a sound that seemed to vibrate through the very foundations of the pavilion. Outside, the spirit cranes took flight in fear.
And then, silence.
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to hold its breath.
WAAAAH!
A loud, piercing cry shattered the silence, echoing with a vitality that made the spirit lamps in the room flicker.
Feng Xiu slumped, his knees hitting the floor, but his hands remained steady as he held the small, wriggling bundle. A look of pure, unadulterated relief washed over his aged face. He quickly severed the umbilical cord with a blade of condensed Qi and wrapped the infant in a cloth woven from Silk-Worm Emperor threads.
"Madam…" Feng Xiu's voice trembled with emotion. "It is a healthy boy. A young master. Congratulations, Madam!"
Yu Yue fell back against the pillows, her chest heaving. The terrifying violet aura that had surrounded her receded, hiding itself deep within her pores. She reached out with trembling arms, a weak but radiant smile breaking through her exhaustion.
"Thanks, Feng xiu. Please Give him… to me."
Feng Xiu carefully placed the child into her arms. "It is my duty, as always, Madam."
Yu Yue looked down. The infant was still crying, his small fists clenched towards the heavens as if challenging the sky itself. She brushed a finger against his cheek, and the crying stopped instantly. The baby blinked, his eyes unfocused, staring up at the woman who held him.
"My son," she whispered, her voice thick with a mixture of love and a strange, hidden sorrow.
BANG!
The heavy doors of the chamber were thrown open. A gust of wind rushed in, carrying with it a man of imposing stature. He wore robes of midnight blue, embroidered with the silver Qilin of the Lin Clan. His black hair flowed like a waterfall, and his eyes shone with the brightness of stars.
It was Lin Feng, the Third Elder of the Lin Clan, and one of the most powerful cultivators of his generation.
"Yue'er!"
He ignored the bowing maids and the exhausted Healer, rushing straight to the bedside. His formidable aura, usually sharp enough to cut steel, softened instantly as he looked at his wife and the bundle in her arms.
"Is it…?"
"A son," Yu Yue smiled, tilting the bundle towards him. "Look, Feng. He has your nose."
Lin Feng scooped the child up, his large, calloused hands surprisingly gentle. He gazed at the boy, his laughter booming like thunder, shaking the dust from the rafters. "Hahaha! A son! The heavens have blessed my lineage!"
He inspected the boy closely, his eyes widening slightly as he noticed the hair. It was jet black, just like his, but running through it were distinct, jagged strips of crimson red, inherited from his mother.
"Unique," Lin Feng murmured, tracing one of the red strands. "A fusion of our bloodlines. He will be a genius, Yue'er. I can feel his meridians… they are wide and sturdy."
Yu Yue watched them, her eyes softening. "Have you thought of a name?"
Lin Feng looked out the window, where the sun of the pocket realm was rising, casting a golden light over the floating islands. "Triumph. Victory. He who will stand at the peak. Let us call him… Kai."
"Lin Kai," Yu Yue tested the name. "The one who opens the path. It fits him."
The joy in the room was palpable, a warm bubble of happiness. But in the world of cultivation, peace is often just the calm before the storm.
The air pressure in the room suddenly shifted. It didn't become violent, but it became heavy. It was the kind of pressure that forced the soul to tremble, a natural submission to a higher being.
The maids dropped to their knees, their heads touching the floor. Even Elder Feng Xiu bowed deeply, his back bent at a ninety-degree angle.
A man walked in. He moved without sound, his feet barely seeming to touch the ground. He looked similar to Lin Feng, but his aura was vastly different. If Lin Feng was a roaring fire, this man was the deep, crushing ocean. His eyes were ancient, holding the weight of centuries.
It was Lin Yang. The Patriarch of the Lin Clan. The master of this Ancestral Pocket Realm.
"Brother," Lin Feng said, bowing slightly while still holding the baby. "You came."
Lin Yang nodded, his face impassive. "I heard the cry. It resonated with the Qi of the island. A powerful birth."
He stepped closer, his gaze drifting over the baby for only a second before locking onto Yu Yue.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
Lin Yang's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. 'Strange...' he thought, his inner voice cold and calculating. 'A woman usually expends half her life essence during childbirth. Her cultivation should have regressed. Yet... Yu Yue's aura has doubled. No, tripled.'
He sensed the lingering traces of that violet energy in the room. It felt dangerous. Ancient. It felt... taboo.
'This woman...' Lin Yang thought, a shadow passing over his heart. 'I have always suspected her origins were not simple. Now I am certain. Hope this hopeless, love-struck brother of mine can keep her under control. If she becomes a threat to the Clan...'
He didn't finish the thought. He didn't have to.
Outwardly, Lin Yang smiled—a perfect, practiced smile. "Congratulations, Feng. And to you, Sister-in-law. The Clan needed this."
He looked back at the baby. "I have only Yan'er, a daughter. The Elders have been restless for a male heir in the main line. This boy... Lin Kai, is it? He carries the weight of our future now."
"I will train him well, Brother," Lin Feng said, puffing his chest out proudly, oblivious to the undercurrents of tension.
"I am sure you will," Lin Yang said softly. He glanced at Yu Yue one last time, a silent warning in his eyes, before turning and sweeping out of the room as quietly as he had entered.
Yu Yue watched his retreating back, her fingers tightening on the bedsheet. She had seen that look. She knew that the Patriarch—one of the strongest person in the continent—was watching her. She let out a sigh she had been holding, her heart heavy with a premonition she couldn't shake.
Soon after, the room was flooded with other Elders and Grand Elders, their congratulations loud and boisterous, drowning out the mother's quiet fear. They praised the boy's bone structure, his spirit root, and his auspicious birth time.
But amidst all the noise, the person most confused was the baby himself.
Lin Kai opened his eyes, his vision blurry and swimming with colors.
'What... what is happening?'
He tried to speak, to ask where he was, but all that came out was a gurgle. He felt small. Weak. Helpless. He tried to move his arms, but they were wrapped in tight silk.
'Why is everyone so big? Why is there a guy with a glowing green hand? And why...'
He squinted, his infant eyes struggling to focus on the ceiling. It wasn't drywall. It was jade, glowing with runes. And out the window... were those floating islands?
'I... I reincarnated?'
The realization hit him like a physical blow. The memories of his past life came rushing back, crashing into his infantile brain.
He remembered Earth. He remembered the smell of asphalt and rain.
He had been a nobody. Just a twenty-year-old college freshman at a local community college. He wasn't special. He wasn't a genius like his older brother, who had graduated from a top institute with honors and was working at a multinational tech firm.
Lin Kai—or whatever his name had been then—was just a guy who liked webnovels, video games, and sleeping in. He had lived his life in the shadow of his brother's success, feeling a constant, dull frustration. He wanted to be great, but he didn't know how. He was bored with the monotony of modern life.
Then came that day.
He was walking home, headphones on, kicking a pebble down the footpath. He remembered seeing the little girl. The red balloon drifting into the busy street. The truck turning the corner, its horn blaring too late.
He hadn't thought. He hadn't calculated. For the first time in his life, he just acted.
He remembered the shove. The impact. The sound of his own bones shattering.
The hospital ceiling was white. Sterile. He remembered his mother crying, his father holding her. And his big brother... the perfect brother... looking at him with devastation in his eyes.
'I died,' Lin Kai thought, a wave of grief washing over him. 'Mom... Dad... I hope you're okay. Bro, take care of them for me. Please.'
He felt a pang of regret. He hadn't accomplished anything. He hadn't traveled the world, hadn't fallen in love, hadn't made his parents proud—except, perhaps, in his final moment.
But as the grief faded, something else took its place.
Curiosity.
He looked at the man holding him—his new father. The man radiated power. He felt like a walking nuclear reactor. And the people around him... they were flying?
'This isn't Earth. Ancient robes. Glowing lights. Floating islands... Is this a cultivation world?'
Lin Kai's inner geek began to hyperventilate. He had read thousands of these stories! Reincarnation! Cultivation! Immortality!
He looked at his tiny hands. He was alive again. He had a second chance.
'No more mediocrity,' he vowed, his infant determination burning fierce. 'In my last life, I was a background character. I was the side-note in my brother's success story. But here... look at this place! My parents seem to be big shots. I have a noble lineage!'
He felt the warmth of the man holding him, the sheer protective power radiating from him.
'I will protect them,' Lin Kai thought. 'I couldn't stay with my parents on Earth, but I will make sure nothing touches this family. I will cultivate. I will become strong. I will see what lies at the peak of this world!'
He didn't know about the suspicious glance the Clan Leader had given his mother. He didn't know about the dark bloodline dormant in his veins. He didn't know that in ten years, this entire celebration would turn into mockery.
For now, Lin Kai simply yawned, his tiny mouth opening wide as the exhaustion of birth caught up with him.
'Watch out, world,' he thought as his eyes drifted shut, lulled by the rhythm of his father's heartbeat. 'The main character has arrived.'