The ruins of the ancient inheritance shimmered one last time before dissolving into particles of golden light. Lin Chen stood still, his breathing calm, but his blood was still simmering. His clothes were tattered, his sword cracked at the hilt, and his body bore fresh wounds, but none of that dulled the fire in his eyes. With the activation of the Dual Sovereign System, something fundamental within him had shifted.
He had no memories of his past life's entirety, no full recollection of what it meant to be the "Dual Sovereign," but he had a piece — a sliver of something vast and terrifying. And that was enough to spark the flame.
"I've only integrated five percent of my legacy..." Lin Chen murmured to himself as he descended the craggy path that stretched beyond the crumbled site. "If five percent can shake my foundation this much… then what will the full inheritance do?"
The winds howled across the rocky escarpments of the trial grounds' inner regions. Unlike before, where spirit beasts and natural formations offered the main threats, here in the Fogged Maw Valley, the land itself was hostile.
Clouds of silver mist rolled across the jagged stones, so dense that they stifled both vision and spiritual sense. A haze hung in the air, obscuring everything beyond a few meters. Trees with bark blackened by spiritual corrosion twisted upward like claws, and distant roars echoed ominously through the mist.
Lin Chen summoned a thin veil of spiritual energy around himself, shielding his lungs from the poisonous fog. According to the Dual Sovereign System's scan, the mist contained the miasma of decayed spirit beasts — corrosive, toxic, and infused with Yin-type spiritual residue.
Even as he moved cautiously, the ground beneath his feet gave way to a cracked depression — a natural basin ringed by bones and jagged rocks. The earth here was scorched in places, icy in others, and scattered with carcasses of failed cultivators who'd dared to venture too deep.
Suddenly — a presence.
His body froze. The air shifted.
Whoosh!
A massive shadow burst forth from the mist — a panther-like creature the size of a wagon, with sleek midnight fur rippling with spiritual power. Its eyes glowed blue with Yin intent, and dark mist trailed from its fangs. A Tier 9 Spirit Beast.
"No hesitation."
Lin Chen reacted instantly, flashing forward with his cracked sword. His blade arced in a crescent of light, aiming straight for the beast's neck.
Clang!
The sword struck hard bone. The beast roared and twisted mid-air, flinging Lin Chen back. He flipped, landing on one knee, coughing blood.
"Tch… it's got reinforced scales. Can't brute-force it."
He activated the Heavenly Merging Cauldron Technique. Instantly, his meridians flared with refined energy, channeling heat and yin harmoniously through his limbs. Golden lines etched his skin as energy circulated at high speed.
The beast pounced again.
This time, Lin Chen moved like liquid shadow. He ducked under the claws, slashed along the underbelly, then spun, leaping onto its back. His sword sank deep between vertebrae —
—only for the beast to explode in a shockwave of dark qi, throwing him thirty meters into a crumbled boulder.
Crack!
His ribs screamed. Blood dripped from his mouth. He forced himself up.
Then he grinned.
"It's evolving..."
The mist thickened. The beast's body doubled in size, its spiritual energy condensing and changing. It was mutating. Its bloodlines were awakening — crossing the threshold into Foundation Establishment. This was no longer just a Spirit Beast.
"…So this is what a proto-Demonic Beast looks like."
Lin Chen chuckled, dragging himself to his feet. His spiritual sea surged.
System Prompt: Proto-Demonic Beast Detected — Estimated Threat Level: High. System Advice: Retreat or Engage With Enhanced Technique Synchronization.
He cracked his neck. "Let's synchronize, then."
He drew upon the ambient Yin energy in the valley, channeling it through the system's Body Refinement Synchronization function. His flesh hardened, bones tempered, and muscles tightened with alchemical precision.
He became a blade.
They clashed.
The valley rang with the sound of explosions. Lin Chen darted beneath the creature's claws, slicing tendon and bone. It roared, retaliating with a swipe that pulverized the cliffside. Boulders rained. Lin Chen vanished in the dust, then reappeared above — driving his blade downward.
Shkrrrk!
The sword bit deep into the beast's neck, but it howled and rolled, crushing Lin Chen beneath one of its shoulders.
He screamed — in pain, and in defiance. Then gathered his energy, blasting the creature back with a burst of raw spiritual force.
For ten minutes, they fought. No tricks. No shortcuts. Just raw survival.
At last, with one final dash, Lin Chen struck the beast's heart with a concentrated pulse of sword qi.
BOOM!
The beast collapsed with a death groan, its body twitching before falling limp.
Lin Chen slumped beside it, heaving. "...You almost had me."
The system pinged:
[Beast Defeated: Proto-Demonic Beast (Tier 9)] [Evaluation: A] [Synchronization Boosted: +6%] [Yin Core Fragment Extracted — Absorbing...]
He absorbed the energy, letting it stabilize his damaged meridians. His body pulsed as strength trickled into every fiber.
The mist began to part.
He wiped his blade on the beast's fur, then stood.
"Still not enough to reach Nascent Soul," he muttered. "But… I'm getting there."
He turned — and stopped.
On the other side of the basin, a strange scent drifted on the air.
Alchemical fire.
Lin Chen frowned. "Someone's refining pills in this death zone?"
He followed the scent, moving cautiously.
Unbeknownst to him, just beyond the next rocky ridge, an explosion had gone off — a ward ruptured, flames leaking from a damaged alchemical array. And at the heart of the disturbance… a woman's voice cursed sharply.
"…Damn this broken formation!"
[End of Chapter 29]