The underground chamber was colder than Kael expected.
Stone steps descended in a tight spiral, each one carved with ancient symbols dulled by time. As Kael stepped inside, the broken statue above slowly slid back into place, sealing the entrance with a muted rumble. Darkness swallowed the courtyard, leaving no trace that anything had ever been disturbed.
Kael did not hesitate.
He moved forward.
The air grew heavier with each step, pressing against his weak body like invisible hands. This was not pressure meant to test strength—it was pressure meant to judge intent. Anyone seeking power for glory would be crushed. Anyone driven by fear would turn back.
Kael kept walking.
His heart beat steadily.
At the bottom of the stairs, the passage opened into a circular chamber. At its center stood a black stone altar, cracked but intact, covered in dried blood and scorched marks. Chains lay scattered across the floor, snapped long ago as if something had escaped.
Above the altar floated a fragment of darkness, no larger than a fist.
It pulsed slowly.
Alive.
Kael stopped three steps away.
"So you're still here," he said softly.
The darkness shuddered.
The whisper from before returned, clearer now, layered with countless echoes.
"Return… return… return…"
Images surged into Kael's mind.
This chamber had once been a prison.
Not for a demon.
Not for a cultivator.
But for a foundation—a cultivation method so incompatible with the heavens that it had been sealed rather than destroyed. A method that did not require perfect meridians or natural talent.
Only resolve.
Only cruelty toward oneself.
Only the willingness to abandon the path of humanity.
Kael sat down cross-legged before the altar.
His crippled meridians screamed in protest the moment he began circulating energy. Pain tore through his chest, sharp and unforgiving, as if needles were being driven through his veins.
Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
The darkness pulsed faster.
"Pain is the gate," the voice whispered.
"Fear is the lock."
Kael ignored it.
He forced the energy through broken paths, tearing what little structure his body had left. Muscles spasmed violently. His vision blurred. Several times, he nearly lost consciousness.
But he never stopped.
Minutes passed.
Then hours.
At some point, pain stopped being pain.
It became information.
Kael adjusted his breathing, guiding the violent energy inward—not into his meridians, but into his bones, his marrow, his very blood. The fragment of darkness responded, unraveling into thin threads that pierced his body without resistance.
He did not scream.
The altar cracked.
The chamber shook.
Kael's cultivation did not rise.
Instead, something else changed.
A mark burned itself into his chest, invisible to the eye but unmistakable to the soul. The dormant devil sigil flared briefly, synchronizing with the fragment of darkness.
The whisper turned into laughter.
"You have taken the first step," it said. "From this moment on… you will never cultivate like the rest."
Kael opened his eyes.
The world looked different.
Sharper.
He could feel faint emotions lingering in the chamber—fear, despair, hatred. Residual imprints left behind by those who had once been imprisoned here.
And more importantly—
He could absorb them.
Kael stood slowly. Despite the damage he had done to his body, he felt lighter. Stronger in a way cultivation levels could not measure.
"Good," he murmured. "This foundation suits me."
He turned to leave.
That was when he sensed it.
A disturbance above.
Footsteps.
Multiple.
Rushed.
The sealed statue trembled violently as a force slammed against it from outside. Cracks spread across the stone ceiling.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"So fast," he said quietly.
Someone had noticed.
The fragment of darkness drifted toward him, fusing completely with the mark on his chest.
"Blood follows power," the voice whispered. "Your first hunt begins."
The statue shattered.
Light poured in.
Silhouetted against it stood Elder Lin—his face pale, eyes wide with disbelief—along with Lin Feng and several clan guards, weapons drawn, killing intent thick in the air.
"What… what did you do?" Elder Lin demanded, his voice shaking.
Kael looked up at them from the shadows.
And smiled.
For the first time since his rebirth, he did not look weak at all.