"Fire! Fire in the eastern wing!"
The scream ripped through the night.
I broke into a run across the stone courtyard. Servants were running everywhere—some crying, some bleeding, some dragging injured people behind them.
I grabbed a guard's arm as he passed. "What's happening?"
His face was white. "Young master… the elders… they've turned against the clan…"
"What?"
Before I could ask more, an explosion shook the ground.
BOOM!
Smoke and sparks rolled across the sky. Debris rained down.
The ancestral hall.
I sprinted straight there.
When I reached it, the huge wooden doors stood wide open. Armed guards blocked the entrance—every one wearing the Luo family insignia.
My uncle's men.
I stepped inside.
The hall was a mess. Clan members knelt on the floor with hands tied behind their backs. Blood covered the marble. Broken weapons and shattered pillars lay everywhere.
At the highest seat sat Luo Zhen.
My uncle.
My father's sworn brother.
He sat there calmly, legs crossed, fingers tapping the armrest.
My father's seat.
"Uncle Luo," I said. "Why are your men in our clan hall with weapons drawn?"
He looked up slowly. "Kai Ren. You finally arrived."
"Answer me. What is this?"
Before he spoke, guards dragged someone forward.
My father.
His robe was soaked red. Head hanging. Arms bound tight.
"Father!" I rushed toward him.
Two guards shoved me back hard.
"Don't touch him!"
I stumbled.
"Let him go!" I shouted. "Uncle Luo, what are you doing?!"
Luo Zhen stood and walked down the steps. He stopped in front of my father.
Then he raised his hand and struck.
The slap echoed.
My father's body hit the floor.
"No!" I dropped beside him and shook his shoulders. "Father! Wake up!"
His eyes stared at nothing. A huge wound went straight through his chest. Blood poured out.
My mother ran over.
"Ren!"
She knelt and pressed her hands to the wound. "Hold on… please hold on…"
My father's lips moved. "Protect… Ren…"
His head fell to the side.
Still.
Dead.
I stared at him.
"Father…?"
Nothing.
"FATHER!"
My scream filled the hall.
Luo Zhen exhaled. "Enough. Dispose of the body."
I shot to my feet. "You killed him!"
"Yes."
"You murdered my father!"
"Yes."
"Why?!"
Another voice answered. "Because your bloodline doesn't belong to you."
I turned.
Luo Xian stepped forward.
My cousin.
The one I grew up with. The one I trained beside. The one I trusted.
"You?" My voice cracked. "Xian…?"
His eyes were cold. "Your Kai bloodline awakens once every thousand years. Whoever gets it rules the realm. Why should trash like you have it?"
"Trash?" I laughed once. "You trained with me. You know what I can do."
He sneered. "That was before your awakening. Without it, you're nothing."
"You framed my father."
"Yes."
"You betrayed the clan."
"Yes."
"You slaughtered innocent people."
"Yes."
"Why?" I whispered.
"Because power goes to whoever's ruthless enough to take it."
I lunged at him. "Die!"
Before I reached him, a massive force slammed my chest.
BANG!
I flew back and crashed into a stone pillar. Pain exploded through my ribs. Blood filled my mouth.
Luo Zhen lowered his hand. "You're too weak."
My mother screamed and ran forward. "Stop! Please, I beg you!"
A guard swung his blade.
It went straight through her chest.
"Mother—!"
She staggered, blood coming from her mouth. She looked at me.
"Ren… live…"
She fell.
Everything inside me broke.
A wild surge of energy exploded out of my body.
The hall shook. Cracks raced across the floor. Guards stumbled.
Even Luo Zhen's eyes widened. "The bloodline… it's awakening!"
"Seal him!" Luo Xian shouted.
Seven elders stepped up. They formed hand seals together.
Seven beams of light hit me at once.
Pain tore through every part of me. My meridians broke. My bones screamed.
I dropped to my knees, coughing blood.
"Aaahhh!"
Luo Xian walked over slowly.
"You were never meant to awaken."
He crouched and whispered in my ear, "Throw him into Abyss Cliff."
Hands grabbed me.
The last thing I saw was my parents lying dead on the floor.
Cold wind howled.
My body smashed against rocks as I fell.
Pain hit again and again.
I screamed until my voice gave out.
Then darkness took me.
"Do you want to live?"
The voice came from the void.
My lips moved. "Yes…"
A blinding light appeared.
A skeletal old man stood in front of me.
"I am the Empyreal Overlord."
"Take my inheritance."
"Or die."
"I choose… to live."
He pressed his palm to my chest.
Power roared into me.
Something deep inside shattered.
A hidden strength woke up.
I screamed as fire burned through my veins.
"Train."
"Survive."
"Grow stronger."
"Return."
"And slaughter."
Ten years later.
Thunder cracked over the mountains.
BOOM!
A figure stepped out of a huge crater.
I let out a slow breath.
"My cultivation… restored."
A shadow appeared beside me.
"They think you died."
I clenched my fists.
"Good."
Lightning flashed.
"And now…"
I looked up.
"…I return."