The morning sun hit the posting board in the servant's courtyard, illuminating Rian's death sentence in black ink.
Name: Rian Zhou Designation: Quartermaster Location: Frostreach Outpost (Northern Border) Bloodline Assignment: Nether Spider
Rian stared at the paper. For the first time since waking up in this body, the cold, calculating veneer of the Banker cracked. His hands shook—not from fear, but from the sheer rage of a man realizing he had been scammed.
Frostreach. It wasn't a branch office. It was a liquidation center. The mortality rate for officers there was 80%. It was a frozen hellhole overrun by Spirit Beasts that ignored conventional steel.
And the bloodline… Nether Spider? Rian knew the market value of bloodlines. Dragon: CEO material. Tiger: Executive material. Ox/Horse: Labor force. Spider: ...Decorative.
It was a bloodline given to high-class courtesans to keep their skin soft and their bodies flexible for their masters. It was a joke. The Matriarch hadn't just fired him; she had put him in a dress and thrown him into a pit of wolves.
"She didn't honor the deal," Rian whispered, his knuckles turning white. "I offered a voluntary exit. She countered with a humiliating execution."
He had no leverage left. The contract was signed. If he refused the post, he was a deserter (Death). If he went, he was bait (Death).
High Above – The Celestial Realm
The God of Revenge watched Rian's face pale. He watched the Matriarch giggling in her chambers as she selected her dress for the ceremony.
The God's eyes narrowed. He liked a good scheme. He respected a ruthless play. But he hated a cheater.
"You broke the balance," the God rumbled, his voice shaking the invisible clouds. "The boy offered you his pride. You took his life. That is double-dipping."
He looked at the tray being carried toward the ceremony hall. The vial labeled Nether Spider wobbled on the velvet cushion. It contained the essence of a common cave spider—weak, fragile, fit only for weaving silk handkerchiefs.
The God reached down. He didn't change the label. He didn't break the glass. He simply touched the liquid with a fingertip of divine wrath.
Flash.
The purple liquid swirled. The essence of the common cave spider dissolved, replaced by something far older. Something that had crawled in the dark before the first Dragon ever breathed fire.
"Let us adjust the valuation," the God whispered. "A fair exchange. One life for one… calamity."
The Ceremony Hall
The drums beat like thunder. One by one, the legitimate heirs ascended the dais, drank their Golden Elixirs, and roared as spectral Tigers and Falcons manifested behind them. The crowd cheered.
Then, the crier called out: "Rian Zhou!"
The music stopped. The cheering died. Rian walked up the stairs. He looked small, frail, and utterly defeated. He didn't look at the crowd. He looked like a prisoner walking to the block.
The servant presented the tray. Lord Zhou, the Father, stood ready to announce the bloodline. He glanced at the scroll, then at the vial.
Nether Spider.
Lord Zhou froze. His eyes darted to the side, where Lady He sat fanning herself with a satisfied smile. The Viper, Zhou thought. We agreed on the Viper. Or the Lizard. Something useful. He looked at the assignment scroll. Frostreach.
The Lord's grip on his throne tightened. He realized the game instantly. The poisoning. The sudden cowardice of his son. The Matriarch's "helpful" suggestion. It wasn't a transfer. It was murder.
For a second, Zhou Feng felt a pang of something rare—guilt. The boy was his blood. He had shamed him yesterday for being a coward, but the boy had been poisoned by his own stepmother. Of course he was afraid.
Lord Zhou wanted to stop it. He wanted to shout, "Give him the Rock Lizard!" But the scroll was stamped. The Matriarch had already filed the paperwork. To change it now, in front of the vassals, would admit that his house was disorderly. That his wife was ruling him.
He couldn't lose face.
Lord Zhou looked at Rian. The boy's eyes were dead. I cannot save you, Zhou thought grimly. But I will not let you die a beggar.
"Rian Zhou," Lord Zhou announced, his voice lacking its usual fire. " accepts the Nether Spider bloodline. He will serve the clan as Quartermaster of Frostreach."
The crowd erupted into murmurs and stifled laughter. "A Spider? Is he going to knit scarves for the Yetis?" "Look at him, he's pretty enough for it!"
Rian didn't react. He took the vial. The glass felt cold. It's this or suicide, Rian told himself. A bad asset is better than zero assets.
He unstopped the cork and downed the liquid in one gulp.
The Aftermath
Rian walked back to his room, the laughter of the crowd still ringing in his ears. He felt… nothing. No surge of power. No fire in his veins. Just a slight chill in his stomach. Trash, he thought bitterly. It really is trash.
A shadow fell over him. It was the Lord's personal aide, a stern man in grey armor.
"Young Master Rian," the aide said, not unkindly. Rian stopped. "I am just Rian now. No need for titles."
"The Lord has ordered a modification to your departure," the aide said, handing him a heavy bag of spirit coins and a token. "You will not travel with the supply wagons. You will take a private carriage. He has assigned four Iron-Rank guards to escort you to Frostreach."
Rian looked at the bag. It was heavy. "Severance pay?" Rian asked dryly.
"A father's gift," the aide corrected, though his voice wavered. "He also sends this." He handed Rian a sword. It wasn't a treasure, but it was solid, tempered steel—far better than a servant deserved.
"Tell him… tell him the liability accepts the liquidation package," Rian said.
He entered his room and locked the door. He sat on the bed, staring at the empty vial. "Frostreach," he muttered. "Average temperature: -20 degrees. Hostile fauna. Zero infrastructure. And I have the power to spin thread."
He closed his eyes, preparing to sleep, preparing to accept his fate as a corpse-in-waiting.
And then, the Upgrade hit.
It didn't start in his muscles. It started in his perception. Ping. A sound. Not a sound… a vibration. He could feel the footsteps of a beetle crawling inside the wall, three meters away. Ping. He could feel the heartbeat of the guard standing outside his door. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Ping. He felt the air currents in the room. He felt the structural stress of the wooden beam above his head.
Rian's eyes snapped open. The world had changed. The room wasn't empty air anymore. It was a grid. A 3D map of tension, vibration, and geometry.
He looked at his hand. From his fingertips, five strands of Qi extended—so thin they were invisible to the naked eye, yet he could see them clearly. They drifted in the air, latching onto the table, the chair, the door handle.
He twitched his index finger. Across the room, the heavy oak chair slid three inches to the left. Silent. Smooth. Tensile strength, Rian analyzed instantly, his banker brain kicking into overdrive. That thread is thinner than hair but just pulled fifty pounds without snapping.
He took a deep breath. He didn't feel the "sticky, soft" Qi of a normal Spider. He felt a cold, metallic abyss. He looked at the empty vial again. The Matriarch thought she gave him a toy. The Lord thought he gave him a funeral.
Rian smiled. It wasn't the polite smile of a servant. It was the terrifying grin of a shark that just smelled blood in the water.
"Market research update," Rian whispered to the empty room. "The Nether Spider is not a utility class."
He clenched his fist, and the invisible threads sliced the heavy oak table in half. Cleanly.
"It is an Apex Predator."