Evening. The skies glimmered with nine-colored radiance, as if an overwhelming force loomed, devouring the heavens and earth. This was the renowned Scarlet Flame Gale, feared by even the strongest warriors, sealing the world from destruction.

At the West Gate of Qingyang City, a young man in white stared skyward, his gaze fixed, as though trying to pierce through the firmament.

“Father, three whole years…” Lucas Young murmured bitterly, his voice touched with despair as his eyes darkened.

Fifteen years old, born into the Young family, one of Qingyang City's four great clans, Lucas had lost his father, Leon Young, three years ago. Since then, he had come here every evening, hoping against hope that his father might return. The thought of being abandoned by the man who loved him so deeply was a pain that never ceased.

His heart bled silently.

“Master, let’s head back. Tomorrow’s the day the elder picks his successor,” said a young girl behind him. Her delicate beauty contrasted with the sorrow gleaming in her tearful eyes. It was Lana, Lucas’s devoted maid.

Hearing her words, Lucas flinched, his frame quivering slightly. Just as he was about to turn around, his gaze suddenly sharpened, bright like stars. Excitement suffused his handsome face.

Two dark dots were approaching rapidly from the distant horizon!"Flying through the air... Soulbinder Realm experts! In Qingyang City, the strongest are only in the Qi-Gathering Realm. Huan'er, it must be Father returning!"

Before Lucas Young’s words could settle, a suffocating pressure rolled down from the skies like a storm.

Huan'er's face paled instantly. This wasn’t Leon Young. Fearfully, she dropped to her knees, trembling.

On the Tianqi Continent, the strong ruled. Facing someone powerful, kneeling in submission was often the only way to survive.

"Young Master, get down quickly! Don't anger these heavenly figures!" she frantically urged.

Since birth, Lucas had lived as a proud scion. He had never once bowed to anyone. Even as the oppressive force bore down on him, his teeth clenched, his spine remained rigid.

"Hm? Achieving this with only the fifth tier of Blood Condensation? Interesting."

In the sky, a man and a woman looked down. The man’s gaze was icy, while the woman, seductive and bewitching, raised her eyebrows in surprise.

The pressure increased again.

Lucas’s body began to quiver. His knees buckled slightly, but an unyielding defiance surged within him, forcing his back straight. For a moment, he stood like an unshakable mountain.

The woman’s shock deepened, her interest clearly piqued.

"Senior Brother, we didn’t find the legacy of Orion Godfrey. Why not take this boy back to the Infinity Sect? At least it’d give the sect something to answer for," Lana Harper suggested, her voice as melodious as a celestial hymn, intoxicating to hear.The one addressed as the senior brother remained cold and indifferent, his voice carrying an unsettling calm. "A Pure Yang Holy Body—once in a thousand years, with unparalleled bloodline powers. For Leon Young to have a son like you, his death is barely regretful."

"What?" Lana Harper gasped in disbelief.

"You said my father is dead? What… what happened?" Lucas Young's voice trembled as his body quaked, his eyes bloodshot with grief.

"Of course, he fell by my hand," Aldred Moore replied, his face filled with an arrogant pride.

"You… killed my father!" Lucas roared, his heart, which had long been waiting for his father’s return, shattered into pieces. Three years of yearning, all for this cruel revelation. A sudden surge of killing intent erupted from him.

"Boom!"

Lucas’s aura surged wildly, his bloodline flaring to life. His body glimmered with a faint purple radiance, as if thunder rumbled through his veins. The intensity of his bloodline power was undeniable.

"Die!"

With a stomp, Lucas launched himself straight into the sky like a bolt from a bowstring, aiming directly for the smug Aldred Moore.

"Hmph."

Aldred let out a cold snort, and with a dismissive gesture, a surge of invisible force exploded outward from his body.

The impact struck Lucas mid-air like lightning, his body jolting as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. He plummeted like a broken kite, crumpling to the ground.

All his meridians—shattered.

"Master Lucas!" cried Ring, rushing to cradle him. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. For as long as she could remember, Lucas had always shielded her, always been her protector. Without him, she could have been subjected to countless horrors.

She might have been a servant, but because of him, she had lived like a princess.Lana Harper's gaze sharpened, her thoughts heavy. It seemed Aldred Moore still couldn't let go of what happened back then, judging by his ruthless attack.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Lucas Young's body felt like it was falling apart, but the hatred in his eyes burned fiercely. Clenching his teeth, he forced his bloodline power to erupt once more. This time, the violet light around him flared violently, as though it was burning.

"Young Master, no!"

Huan'er cried out, her voice trembling. She didn't understand cultivation, but even she knew what he was doing—burning his own bloodline. A desperate move that would grant him temporary power, but leave him crippled afterward.

Lucas didn't care. His meridians were already shattered, his future sealed. Whether he lived or died, all he wanted now was one last fight, one moment of defiance.

Aldred scoffed. "A natural bloodline? Leon Young didn't deserve it, and neither do you."

Mockery twisted his lips as he raised his hand, channeling his essence. His finger pointed directly at Lucas's dantian, merciless as a blade.

Crack!

The sound of shattering echoed. The violet light around Lucas faltered, flickered, and finally vanished. His dantian was destroyed. His bloodline power, erased.

He was a broken man, left with nothing.

Having finished what he came for, Aldred flicked his sleeve with disdain, already turning to leave. In his eyes, Lucas had no strength left to resist—not now, not ever.Lucas Young didn't know where he got the strength, but he struggled to his feet, nearly biting through his teeth. "Don't leave! I'll kill you!"

Before his words faded, a surge of cold killing intent exploded from Aldred Moore.

This time, he truly meant to kill.

Lana Harper's heart pounded wildly. It had been ten years since she'd seen him like this—except for that one time. She looked at the bloodied, broken Lucas and remembered someone. Sympathy flickered across her face as she hurriedly spoke, "Senior Brother, this boy may deserve death, but he's still part of the Young family's branch. Killing him could bring trouble."

Aldred Moore nodded slightly, his cold indifference returning. Disabling Lucas was no more than a trivial matter to him. Weaklings were nothing but insects.

As he turned to leave, Lucas rasped out, "Who are you?"

"Hm?" Aldred turned, his brow furrowing as he stared down at Lucas. The young man hung his head, bloodied and beaten. Aldred's lips curled into a mocking smirk. "Three Pillar Sects' leader—Aldred Moore of the Infinite Sect."

Lucas snapped his head up, his bloodshot eyes blazing. "In three years, I’ll claim your head at the Infinite Sect!"

"Ha!" Aldred Moore burst into laughter, his voice loud and disdainful, echoing through the air. "Your meridians are shattered, your core destroyed, and your bloodline ruined—and you still dare to dream? Fool!"

Laughing arrogantly, Aldred Moore and Lana Harper soared away, their figures vanishing into the skies.“Aldred, are you sure there's no trace of Orion Godfrey's legacy around Qingyang City? He was a mighty Hua Ling cultivator, only a step away from claiming the heavens!” Lana Harper pressed again.

The path of cultivation: condense blood, gather yuan, Hua Ling follows the peak of Yu Hun, and lastly, the Feng Tian realm.

“Connor Benton swindled us,” Aldred Moore snarled, his eyes flashing with cold fury. “Thought he could snatch my Soul-Gathering Elixir? Dream on. We’re heading to Yulan City to ambush him—end him!”

At Qingyang City’s western gate, Ring stood, her face pale with worry.

“Young Master…”

She froze, horrified. Lucas Young stood rigid, stone-like, his unyielding gaze locked on Aldred’s departing figure. No matter how much Ring tugged, not an inch did he move.

Was it true? The Young Master—his meridians shattered, his dantian destroyed, his bloodline stripped?

She tried to lift him but found it impossible—his cultivator’s body, honed since age six, was as immovable as rock. At twelve, he’d awakened his bloodline and reached the fourth level of Condensed Blood—a prodigy of Qingyang City. Now, his weight was far beyond that of an ordinary adult.

“Young Master, I... I’ll fetch the Patriarch,” she stammered and turned, her face darkening. The Yang family, with its internal rivalries, would be poised to twist this calamity. His uncles—they wouldn’t waste a moment exploiting what had happened.

Long after she left, Lucas staggered, collapsingly onto the dusty ground, his body finally crumbling under the weight of despair. Tears streamed down his face, but it wasn't pain—it was rage. Rage at the news of his father’s murder.

He had spent three long years thinking Leon Young had abandoned him, that his father had chosen not to return. But reality struck cruelly, and the truth was far worse.

"Father... I swear, I will avenge you!"

Lucas Young clenched his fists and made his vow, but the weight of the day’s events bore down on him like a crushing tide. The humiliation, the despair—it all gathered into a suffocating hopelessness. His body betrayed him; his meridians shattered, his dantian and bloodline ruined. His journey as a warrior was over, his future ripped away.

The chill seeped deep into his bones. The world around him blurred, its colors dimming, fading.

Suddenly—“Boom!”

A bolt of lightning tore through the heavens, striking him dead-on.

Agony! Unrelenting, consuming agony!

Pain ripped through his body. Every broken meridian screamed in torment, and his dantian felt as though countless blades were tearing it apart. Yet curiously, not a single scorch mark appeared on his skin.

"What... where am I?"

His thoughts spiraled into chaos, his mind a tangled mess. Then, a strange sensation bloomed within him—his mind now carried something foreign.

“Wait... Maxwell Elrond? An outsider trying to seize control of my soul? No! Never!"

A raw, ferocious will erupted from Lucas, shattering the illusion that threatened to engulf him. The intruder—Maxwell Elrond, the so-called “Wandering Pill Sovereign”—had dared to attempt a soul transfer. But Lucas wasn’t giving up.

Not today. Not ever.Thankfully, Maxwell Elrond was just a remnant soul and not a martial powerhouse. Otherwise, Lucas Young’s body would’ve already been taken over.

Having devoured Maxwell Elrond's soul, Lucas now understood the importance of strength more than ever. Maxwell, while lacking in martial prowess, was a true genius in almost everything else—alchemy, artifact forging, formations... he was skilled in all of it! Yet, despite his monstrous talent, he was relentlessly hunted by a true martial master, until all that remained of him was a sliver of his soul.

Lucas clenched his fists, his anger boiling as he recalled Aldred Moore's arrogant demeanor. “You had your moment,” he muttered under his breath, bitterness lacing his words. “At least you once stood at the top, brought countless strong men to their knees. Me? I couldn’t even fight back. I just watched... watched as my father’s killer walked away like it was nothing.”

But then, something clicked in Lucas’s mind. “Wait... that martial manual...” His eyes lit up with a flicker of hope. Since he had absorbed Maxwell’s soul, he should’ve inherited his memories.

He delved into his mind, searching frantically. Yet, after combing through everything, there was no trace of knowledge about alchemy, artifact forging, formations—none of it. His chest tightened with frustration, but he refused to give up. He scoured his thoughts again, digging deeper.

This time, his heart skipped a beat.

A mantra surfaced, a technique named **“Derive the Heavens”**. It unfolded in his mind like an ancient tome. “What an audacious name,” Lucas murmured, his voice low. The manual was brief, barely a thousand words, but every word carried an unfathomable mystery, an endless depth that defied comprehension.Lucas Young compared the clan's Blood Condensing Technique with the newfound skill, realizing the vast gap—like heaven and earth.

Unknowingly, he had immersed himself completely, slipping into a trance where the world seemed distant and irrelevant. His mind instinctively began to simulate the technique.

At first, everything was calm, unremarkable.

Then, sudden shifts shook his consciousness. Sun, moon, and stars intertwined and aligned in harmony. A colossal palace rose from the ground, dominating the cosmos.

Inside the palace, Lucas saw a towering figure standing with hands clasped behind his back. It felt like the heavens and earth would bow before this being.

With a single motion to grasp the sky, the sun, moon, and stars trembled, seemingly unstable, before merging into the figure's body.

Lucas stared wide-eyed, stunned beyond belief. That overwhelming sight burned into his mind—the very celestial bodies absorbed by this supreme existence.

Then, as the figure's form turned translucent, the technique unraveled before Lucas’s eyes, every profound detail and transformation etching deep into his soul.

Lost in awe and intoxicated by the magnificence of this art, Lucas forgot the passage of time, as if nothing else existed.