Millionsfold enhance system

She had appeared in Qingshui City a year ago, an ethereal beauty wrapped in simple linen that could not hide the aristocratic grace in her every step. She said she was resting, recovering from an illness, but Ye Tian could sense an aura around her—a quiet, terrifying purity that made the spiritual energy in the air hum when she smiled. They had met by the river, where Ye Tian had saved her a fallen jade hairpin. Since that day, their stolen moments beneath the weeping willow had blossomed into a profound, unspoken love. She taught him poetry from realms he had never heard of; he brought her the sweetest wild plums from the treacherous ridges. When her hand brushed his, Ye Tian felt as though he could conquer the heavens.

But the heavens, as it turned out, were deeply cruel.

It was twilight on the eve of Ye Tian’s eighteenth birthday. The sky above Qingshui City did not fade into the gentle purple of dusk; instead, it fractured. A deafening roar tore through the clouds, sounding like the shattering of a thousand glass mountains. The townsfolk fell to their knees in sheer terror as a massive, ornate warship breached the sky, its hull glowing with dense, suffocating runes. Three figures descended, walking on the empty air as if it were a marble staircase. They wore robes of spun starlight, and their sheer presence caused the wooden roofs of the city to groan and crack.

Ye Tian, who was returning from the apothecary with his father’s medicine, dropped his parcels. His heart seized in his chest. The figures were descending directly toward the weeping willow by the river.

By the time he ran there, lungs burning and legs aching, it was already too late. Su Nanyan stood surrounded by the three cultivators. Her simple linen dress was gone, replaced by a magnificent gown of glacial silk that radiated absolute authority, yet her face was pale and streaked with tears.

"Young Miss," the lead cultivator spoke, his voice booming like thunder despite his calm expression. He was a middle-aged man with eyes that looked like frozen lakes. "The Patriarch’s patience has run dry. Your little excursion in this filthy mortal realm ends today. The Divine Ice Clan requires your return."

"Elder Mo," Su Nanyan whispered, her voice trembling. "Just one more day. Please."

"You have disgraced your bloodline enough," Elder Mo sneered, his gaze sweeping over the muddy banks of the river. Then, he noticed Ye Tian breaking through the reeds. The Elder’s eyes narrowed into slits of profound disgust. "Is this the mortal trash you have been associating with? A boy who hasn't even opened a single spiritual meridian?"

"Leave him alone!" Su Nanyan screamed, stepping between the Elder and Ye Tian. She looked at Ye Tian, her eyes conveying a desperate, agonizing farewell. "Ye Tian, run! Do not come near!"

But Ye Tian was eighteen, in love, and possessed a spine that refused to bend. He drew the rusted iron hunting dagger from his waist and stepped forward, placing himself before the girl he loved. "Who are you to take her against her will? This is Qingshui City!"

Elder Mo laughed. It was a cold, brief sound. He didn't even raise his hand. He merely released a fraction of his spiritual pressure.

It hit Ye Tian like a falling mountain. His ribs cracked instantly. The iron dagger shattered into dust. Ye Tian was thrown backward through the air, crashing violently into the thick trunk of the willow tree. He spat out a mouthful of dark blood, his vision swimming, his body completely paralyzed by a power so vast he couldn't even comprehend it.

"Tian'er!" A hoarse, desperate cry rang out.

From the alleyway, Ye Wuding came limping at full speed, dragging his broken leg. The crippled father threw himself over his son’s battered body, using his one good arm to shield Ye Tian.

Elder Mo looked at the one-armed man in the dirt. For a fraction of a second, a flicker of confusion crossed the Elder's face, as if he recognized something in the shape of the man's scarred face, but he quickly dismissed it. "Mortal filth," the Elder spat. "If the Young Miss had not demanded we spare the mortals of this town, I would erase your entire bloodline for daring to look at us."

"Please!" Su Nanyan fell to her knees before Elder Mo, sacrificing all her pride. "I will go with you. I will marry whoever the Patriarch wishes. Just spare them. If you kill him, I will shatter my own soul core right here, and you will return with a corpse."

Elder Mo’s face tightened. "Very well. A wise choice, Young Miss."

He waved his sleeve, and a powerful current of wind swept Su Nanyan into the air, drawing her toward the warship. As she ascended, she looked down at the bleeding boy under the willow tree.

"Live, Ye Tian," she mouthed, her tears falling like rain upon the lower realm. "Forget me."

The warship turned, tearing a hole in the fabric of space, and vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The crushing pressure lifted, leaving Qingshui City in dead silence, save for the ragged breathing of a father and son.

Ye Tian lay in the mud, staring up at the empty sky. His body was broken, but his soul was burning with a hatred and a despair so profound it threatened to tear his mind apart. He had never felt so useless. He had never felt so painfully, humiliatingly weak.

"Tian'er..." Ye Wuding coughed, spitting up blood of his own just from the residual pressure the cultivators had left behind. The older man pulled his son into a desperate embrace, sobbing openly into the boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I am useless. Your father is useless."

"Father..." Ye Tian choked out, his fists clutching the muddy grass. "Who... who were they? What is that power?"

"The higher realms," Ye Wuding wept, rocking his son. "It is a world of monsters, Tian'er. A world that devours the weak. You must let her go. You must survive."

That night, back in their dark, draughty shack, Ye Tian could not sleep. His ribs were tightly bandaged, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the agony in his chest. He looked across the room at his father, who had cried himself into an exhausted slumber. For the first time, Ye Tian noticed a strange, intricately carved wooden box tucked beneath the floorboards where his father usually rested his head.

Driven by a strange compulsion, Ye Tian dragged his battered body across the floor and pried the floorboard loose. He opened the box. Inside, resting on a bed of faded velvet, was a single, dull-grey pill, and a heavy iron medallion bearing the character for 'Ye'. The craftsmanship of the medallion was unlike anything in Qingshui City—it hummed with a dormant, majestic energy.

As Ye Tian reached out and touched the medallion, the midnight bell of the city tolled. He was officially eighteen years old.

In that exact instant, his vision went completely black. A terrifying, searing heat erupted in his chest, exactly where his heart beat. It felt as though a supreme seal, locked away by the heavens themselves, had suddenly shattered. Blood poured from Ye Tian's pores as an ancient, terrifying bloodline awakened within him, roaring like a caged dragon finally tasting the sky.

And then, a sound echoed in his mind. A voice that was neither male nor female, devoid of emotion, yet ringing with absolute, infallible authority.

[Ding! Host has reached the age of maturity. The Supreme Bloodline Seal has cracked.]

[Ding! The Millionfold Enhancement System is binding to the host...]

[Binding complete.]

[Welcome, Host Ye Tian. The universe is now yours to mold.]

Ye Tian gasped, falling onto his back, his breath coming in ragged heaves. The headache was splitting, but the glowing blue letters floating in his field of vision were undeniable.

"Who... what are you?" Ye Tian whispered into the dark.

[I am the Millionfold Enhancement System. I possess the absolute law to enhance any item, technique, bloodline, or creature by up to one million times its original foundation. You have lived in the mud, Host. It is time to ascend to the throne.]

Ye Tian stared at the words. His mind raced. He looked at the dull-grey pill resting in the wooden box. His father had once told him, years ago when he was drunk and weeping, that this was a low-grade Qi Gathering Pill, a remnant of a past he couldn't return to. It was meant to help a mortal take the very first step into cultivation, but its quality was so poor it barely worked.

"System," Ye Tian whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and a rising, terrifying hope. "Can you enhance this pill?"

[Scanning target: Defective Low-Grade Qi Gathering Pill. Impurities: 89%. Medicinal efficacy: Negligible.]

[Target acquired. Applying Millionfold Enhancement.]

The world around Ye Tian seemed to pause. A beam of blinding, transcendent golden light shot from his eyes, striking the dull pill. The grey surface of the medicine instantly shattered like an eggshell. A fragrance so overwhelmingly pure and fragrant burst forth that the dying potted plants in the corner of the shack instantly bloomed into vibrant, glowing flora.

The pill suspended itself in the air. It was no longer grey. It was a perfectly spherical orb of swirling galaxies, radiating a spiritual pressure that was soft, nurturing, but infinitely vast.

[Ding! Enhancement successful. The Defective Low-Grade Qi Gathering Pill has evolved into the Mythic-Grade Nine Heavens Primordial Elixir.]

[Effect: Instantly opens all 108 hidden celestial meridians, purifies the mortal body into a Primordial Dao Body, and guarantees direct ascension to the Foundation Establishment Realm without any bottlenecks or heavenly tribulation.]

Ye Tian reached out, his hand shaking violently, and took the glowing elixir. It was warm to the touch. He thought of Su Nanyan, taken away into the sky. He thought of his crippled father, weeping in the dirt. He thought of the Elder's eyes, looking at him like he was an insect to be crushed.

Without a moment of hesitation, Ye Tian threw the elixir into his mouth.

It melted on his tongue like sweet nectar, and then, a volcano erupted inside his stomach. Ye Tian threw his head back in a silent scream. The pain was absolute, but so was the power. He could feel the sludge and filth of eighteen years of mortal existence being violently expelled from his pores. He heard the sound of chains snapping inside his body—one, ten, fifty, a hundred and eight chains.

His meridians, previously dormant and narrow like dried riverbeds, were blasted open, expanding into roaring oceans of golden Qi. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which had ignored him for eighteen years, suddenly surged toward the small shack, forming a massive vortex in the night sky over Qingshui City.

He didn't just step into the first rank of Qi Condensation. He smashed through it. Rank one, rank three, rank five, rank nine. The golden energy solidified, forming an indestructible foundation within his dantian.

When Ye Tian finally opened his eyes, the shack was bathed in a gentle golden light radiating from his own skin. His previously frail, malnourished body was now sculpted perfectly, thrumming with explosive, world-shaking power. His senses had expanded a thousandfold; he could hear the heartbeat of a mouse in the alley, he could feel the flow of the wind miles away.

He looked down at his hands, clenching them into fists. The air literally cracked beneath his grip.

"This is power," Ye Tian breathed.

He looked over at his father. Ye Wuding was still asleep, exhausted, totally oblivious to the miracle that had just occurred in the room. With his new spiritual senses, Ye Tian looked at his father’s body, and what he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

His father was not just a cripple. Inside Ye Wuding's body, Ye Tian could see the shattered remnants of a spiritual foundation that was so vast, so incredibly majestic, that it made the Elder who took Su Nanyan look like a street beggar. There were dark, venomous runes wrapped around his father's spine, constantly eating away at his life force, suppressing a power that must have once shaken the higher realms.

Ye Tian realized, with chilling clarity, that his father had never been a mere mortal. His father had been a king among gods, cast down and broken, hiding in the dirt to protect his son.

"Who did this to you, Father?" Ye Tian whispered, his eyes burning with a cold, terrifying light. "Who imprisoned Mother? Who broke your arm and sealed your power?"

Ye Tian stood up. The boy who gathered herbs was dead.

"System," Ye Tian said, his voice hard as tempered steel. "We have a lot of work to do."

[At your command, Host.]

Chapter Two: The First Step on the Path of Retribution

The dawn broke over Qingshui City in muted shades of grey, but within the dilapidated shack of the Ye family, the atmosphere had transformed entirely.

Ye Tian stood in the center of the earthen floor, staring at his palms. The golden radiance that had lit the room during his breakthrough had retracted beneath his skin, yet he felt as though an untamed river of molten sun flowed through every vein and meridian. His breath was quiet, deep, and rhythmic, harmonizing with the subtle pulse of heaven and earth. Foundation Establishment—a realm ordinary mortals spent decades striving toward, and which ninety-nine percent failed to attain—had been reached in a single night.

He turned his gaze toward his sleeping father.

With his newly awakened spiritual senses, Ye Tian could perceive the grim reality of Ye Wuding’s condition in agonizing detail. The dark, venomous runes bound tightly around the older man’s spine were not mere physical afflictions; they were an ancient, spiteful curse known as the Nine-Locks Soul Severing Hex. It drained life essence constantly, turning what had once been an apex cultivator into a crippled, dying husk.

"System," Ye Tian inquired silently, his teeth clenched, "can the Millionfold Enhancement remove this curse?"

[Scanning target's condition...]

[Target is afflicted by a Divine-Rank Hex: Nine-Locks Soul Severing Curse. The curse is deeply rooted in the soul core. Direct brute-force removal with host's current realm will destabilize the target's fragile life-force and result in immediate death.]

[Solution: Host must acquire a Soul-Restoring Spirit Root or a Heaven-Cleansing Pill. Applying Millionfold Enhancement to either item will produce a Divine Sovereign Purifying Elixir capable of dissolving the hex without collateral damage.]

Ye Tian took a slow, measured breath. "A Soul-Restoring Spirit Root or a Heaven-Cleansing Pill... Neither can be found in a remote mortal border town like Qingshui."

[Affirmative. However, lower-grade alternatives exist. The host requires resources, spiritual stones, and higher-tier medicinal ingredients to trigger further enhancements.]

A dry cough interrupted the silence.

Ye Wuding stirred on his rough straw cot, his brow glistening with a cold sweat. He groggily pushed himself up with his singular arm, his eyes struggling against the morning light. "Tian'er...?"

"I'm here, Father," Ye Tian said softly, stepping forward and kneeling beside the cot. He took care to completely suppress his aura, appearing as ordinary as possible to avoid startling his father.

Ye Wuding reached out, his calloused, trembling fingers touching his son's shoulders and chest. "Your ribs... Yesterday, that cultivator..." The older man blinked in disbelief. "You're... you're breathing without pain? How can this be?"

"A miraculous twist of fate, Father," Ye Tian replied gently, offering a faint, reassuring smile. "The medicinal draft I drank before returning home must have taken effect overnight. The injury wasn't as severe as it appeared."

Ye Wuding looked closely into his son’s eyes. For a heartbeat, the old man seemed to sense a change—a quiet, unyielding steadiness that had replaced the boy’s former helplessness—but his exhausted mind brushed it aside. He exhaled a long, shuddering sigh, his eyes welling with moisture.

"Tian'er... Su Nanyan..." Ye Wuding's voice cracked. "Forget her. You must swear to me that you will forget her. Those people... they are not gods, but they are devils that mortal men cannot touch. Chasing after them will only bring ruin to your bones."

Ye Tian lowered his head, concealing the cold, resolute fire burning in his eyes.

"I understand, Father," he said softly. "Rest now. I will go to the market and trade our remaining herbs. We need grain and winter supplies."

He knew that promising to forget was a lie, but it was a lie spoken out of filial piety. Su Nanyan had traded her freedom and her dignity to preserve their lives. He would tear the heavens apart before he abandoned her.

***

Stepping out into the misty streets of Qingshui City, Ye Tian made his way toward the Eastern Bazaar.

The town was already waking up. Hawkers were setting up wooden stalls, butchers hung fresh game, and the mundane hum of daily life continued as though the sky had not fractured into chaos only yesterday. Mortals possessed short memories for matters beyond their comprehension; to them, cultivators were natural disasters, best forgotten once the storm passed.

Ye Tian carried a modest burlap sack containing a handful of low-grade silverleaf grass—the meager harvest he had gathered from the Whispering Ridge two days ago. Ordinarily, this handful of withered herbs would fetch no more than twenty copper coins at the Hundred Herb Pavilion.

Entering a secluded alleyway between two brick storehouses, Ye Tian ducked into the shadows.

"System," he called out mentally.

[At your command, Host.]

"Scan the silverleaf grass in this pouch."

[Scanning target: Three stalks of Low-Grade Silverleaf Grass. Quality: Poor. Medicinal age: Three years. Base value: Low.]

[Apply Millionfold Enhancement?]

"Apply."

A subtle, imperceptible ripple passed over the pouch in Ye Tian’s hand. No loud thunder sounded, no blinding beams burst into the sky; the system operated with absolute discretion at his subconscious command.

When Ye Tian loosened the drawstring and peered inside, his breath hitched.

The three dry, brittle stems had vanished. In their place lay three stalks of translucent, crystalline flora glowing with an iridescent, milky sheen. Droplets of condensation clinging to the leaves were pure, condensed spiritual dew. A fragrance so intoxicating drifted up that a stray weed growing in the brick mortar beside his foot sprouted into an oversized, vivid purple blossom within seconds.

[Ding! Enhancement successful. Three stalks of Low-Grade Silverleaf Grass have evolved into: Nine-Leaf Celestial Jade Orchids.]

[Medicinal age: 10,000 years. Effect: Replenishes ancestral vitality, repairs damaged spiritual roots, and forms the core ingredient for Earth-Rank Breakthrough Elixirs.]

Ye Tian quickly cinched the bag tight to prevent the fragrance from spreading into the streets.

"Ten-thousand-year celestial orchids..." Ye Tian muttered. "If I take this directly to a mortal apothecary, the shopkeeper will either mistake it for a glass toy or bring down greedy wolves upon my head. I must be smart."

He turned back toward the center of the city, his objective clear: the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.

Unlike ordinary apothecaries, the Spirit Treasure Pavilion was an outpost established by a minor trading sect from the outer cultivation provinces. Though situated in a mortal border town to fleece cheap materials from ridge hunters, its appraisers had genuine cultivation and knew the true value of rare goods.

Moments later, Ye Tian stood before the towering three-story pagoda of the pavilion. Two guards clad in light leather armor and holding iron spears stood at the gilded entrance, their gazes sweeping dismissively over the common townsfolk.

Ye Tian adjusted his simple, rough-spun tunic. His posture was straight, his footsteps light and silent. As he approached the threshold, one of the guards raised an arm to bar his way, sneering at his plain appearance.

"Hold on, boy. The pavilion isn't a playground for beggars. Off with—"

Before the guard could finish his sentence, Ye Tian slightly parted the drawstring of his pouch, releasing an infinitesimal wisp of pure, dense medicinal aroma.

The guard froze. The air around him suddenly felt heavy, charged with a purity that made his own stagnant meridians throb with vitality. The spear in his grip trembled.

From the opulent interior of the ground floor, a sharp, elderly voice rang out with unmistakable urgency:

"Stand down, you blind fool! Welcome our esteemed guest inside this instant!"

Chapter Three: The Price of a Miracle

The heavy curtain of the inner chamber parted, and an elderly man rushed forward with hurried, uneven steps. His embroidered robes of deep crimson billowed behind him, and his wispy white beard trembled. This was Appraiser Gu, an elder of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion whose discerning eye was renowned throughout the province.

The guard who had barred Ye Tian’s path stepped back, cold sweat drenching his collar. He bowed low, trembling. “Elder Gu! I was merely—”

“Quiet, idiot!” Gu snapped, brushing past the guard without a second glance. The elder’s sharp, bird-like eyes locked onto Ye Tian, taking in the young man’s calm demeanor, plain linen clothes, and the humble burlap pouch held loosely at his side. Despite the boy’s ordinary garb, Gu’s acute cultivation senses could detect the lingering, pristine medicinal fragrance suspended in the air.

“Honored young friend,” Elder Gu said, clasping his hands together in a polite cultivator’s greeting. “I am Gu Yan, Chief Appraiser here. Please, follow me to the VIP chamber on the third floor. Such rare essence should not be exposed to the vulgar winds of the outer hall.”

Ye Tian nodded faintly. “Lead the way.”

Ye Tian followed Gu up the polished sandalwood stairs, ascending to an opulent private suite adorned with heavy silk curtains and bronze incense burners shaped like crouching tigers. The air was rich with the scent of soothing lotus paste.

Gu gestured to a carved rosewood chair. “Please, be seated. Tea!”

A servant girl quietly entered, pouring two cups of pale green tea that radiated a mild spiritual warmth before bowing and vanishing behind the screen.

Ye Tian sat upright, his spine straight as a spear. He placed the burlap sack squarely onto the polished tabletop. “I have no taste for pleasantries, Elder Gu. I have herbs to sell, and I require two things in return: high-grade spiritual stones and rare spirit medicines capable of healing damaged souls.”

Elder Gu’s gaze drifted toward the coarse sack, his fingers twitching with anticipation. “Of course, young friend. But first, allow this old man to inspect the goods.”

Ye Tian untied the drawstring and tipped the sack slightly.

A singular, translucent blossom slid out, landing delicately upon the dark wood. The moment it met the room’s air, a faint, crystalline chime seemed to ring out across the chamber. Petals of milky jade shimmered with a soft, iridescent sheen, veined with pure, condensed spiritual sap. The ambient energy of the room spiked violently, causing the bronze censers to hum in resonance.

Elder Gu sprang to his feet so fast he knocked his tea cup sideways, dark liquid spilling across the table. He ignored it completely. He leaned in, his nose inches from the plant, his pupils dilated to pinpricks.

“By the Ancestors...” Gu’s voice broke into a high, wheezing whisper. “Nine-Leaf Celestial Jade Orchid! And this luster... this purity... It hasn’t merely matured for hundreds of years. This vitality has accumulated for ten thousand years!”

Gu snatched a pair of delicate jade tweezers and a magnifying lens made of spirit crystal from his robe, examining the root structure with feverish reverence. “Flawless. Not a single trace of worldly impurity. A 10,000-year medicinal age is a myth outside the central holy lands! Where did you...?”

Gu abruptly caught himself. In the cultivation world, demanding to know the source of another person’s treasure was an unforgivable taboo that often led to bloodshed. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a sleeve, looking at Ye Tian with renewed awe and a sliver of dread.

Could this youth be the personal disciple of an ancient hermit hiding in the mortal mountains? Gu thought frantically. Or perhaps a scion from a supreme clan undergoing mortal trials?

“Young master,” Gu said, his tone instantly shifting from professional courtesy to downright reverence. “This single 10,000-year Nine-Leaf Celestial Jade Orchid is an invaluable treasure. It can serve as the core catalyst for an Earth-Rank breakthrough elixir, or even save an elder whose lifespan is nearing its end. Its worth cannot be measured in mortal gold, nor in low-grade spirit stones.”

“Name your price,” Ye Tian said calmly, unperturbed by the elder’s reaction.

Gu swallowed hard. “Our Qingshui City branch does not have enough liquidity to purchase it outright at its full imperial auction value. However, if you are willing to deal with us directly, I can offer you: ten thousand middle-grade spiritual stones, a High-Grade Pavilion VIP Token that grants access to any branch across the continent, and...”

Gu paused, glancing at Ye Tian’s expression before continuing: “And a stalk of Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Grass, currently stored in our deepest vault. It is the only soul-restoring herb we possess in this entire outpost.”

Ye Tian’s heart gave a slight thud.

Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Grass!

On its own, a 1,000-year herb could only stabilize Ye Wuding’s curse for a few months. But under the power of the Millionfold Enhancement System, what would a 1,000-year soul herb evolve into?

“Add one more thing,” Ye Tian said, leaning forward. “A basic flying spiritual tool, and whatever body-refinement manuals or low-tier martial skills you have in stock.”

“Done! Deal!” Gu shouted without an ounce of hesitation, terrified that the youth might change his mind. “Wait here, young master! I will retrieve the vault treasures personally!”

The elder scurried out of the room like a man possessed.

Left alone in the quiet chamber, Ye Tian leaned back into the chair, exhaling slowly. His mind raced. Ten thousand middle-grade spiritual stones was a fortune sufficient to buy out half the mortal estates in Qingshui City. More importantly, the Soul-Nurturing Grass was within his grasp.

Suddenly, the cold mechanical chime rang within his sea of consciousness.

[Ding! System detected a potent residual spiritual signature within the pavilion’s underground vault.]

[Target identified: A shattered fragment of a Primordial Ashen Demon Core.]

[System Advisory: If acquired and subjected to Millionfold Enhancement, the fragment can awaken the host’s latent secondary divine bloodline: The Chaos Devouring Body.]

Ye Tian’s eyes narrowed into daggers.

“The Demon Core... Is it in this very building?”

[Affirmative. It is kept as an unidentified ancient relic in the pavilion’s deepest vault.]

Before Ye Tian could formulate a plan to barter for the fragment, the heavy wooden doors swung open once more.

Elder Gu returned, carrying a heavy, black iron chest bound with glowing yellow talismans. Behind him, however, walked a tall young man clad in flowing silver robes, holding an ivory folding fan. The silver-robed youth wore an arrogant smirk, his eyes flickering with the sharp, predatory gleam of a predator who had smelled blood.

“Elder Gu,” the silver-robed youth sneered lightly, casting a disdainful gaze at Ye Tian’s rough clothes. “You were in such a hurry to empty the vault for a peasant? Did you forget that my Iron Sword Sect has first rights to all rare treasures passing through this city?”

Chapter Four: The Arrogance of Scorpions

Elder Gu’s expression froze, turning pale with sheer mortification. He shot a frantic glare at the silver-robed youth, his voice dropping into a harsh hiss. "Young Master Liu, this is an exclusive transaction within the pavilion's private quarters! Even your father, Sect Master Liu, respects the neutral boundaries of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion!"

The youth, Liu Chen, merely flicked open his ivory fan with a sharp, dismissive snap. A cold breeze laced with sword intent stirred the silk tapestries along the walls. At his waist hung a jade pendant bearing the crossed-blade crest of the Iron Sword Sect—the undisputed overlord sect of the southern mountain range.

"Neutrality applies to equals, Elder Gu," Liu Chen said, walking past the old appraiser as if he were furniture. His sharp eyes locked onto the black iron chest in Gu’s arms, and then onto the crystalline glow still shimmering from the burlap pouch on the rosewood table.

Liu Chen’s pupils contracted sharply. He was a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Condensation realm, mere inches from Foundation Establishment. The sheer, suffocating density of the spiritual aroma wafting from that single flower sent a jolt of raw greed down his spine.

"A 10,000-year Nine-Leaf Celestial Jade Orchid..." Liu Chen whispered, his voice trembling before breaking into a triumphant, arrogant smirk. "To think such a miraculous celestial herb would fall into the lap of a backwater mortal. Today must be my lucky day."

He stepped up to the table, ignoring Ye Tian completely, and reached a gloved hand directly for the pouch.

"Pack it up, Elder Gu. I will take this orchid, along with the Soul-Nurturing Grass from the vault. In return, I will grant this mortal a low-tier servant’s medallion in the Iron Sword Sect. For someone of his standing, such an opportunity is greater than drowning in useless spirit stones."

To Liu Chen, this was magnanimity. A mortal holding a heavenly treasure was a child walking through an alley with a mountain of gold; taking it from him was simply correcting an absurdity of the natural order.

Before Liu Chen's fingers could graze the burlap, a pale, slender hand shot forward.

Ye Tian seized Liu Chen’s wrist.

The grip was neither violent nor accompanied by a dramatic roar of spiritual energy. It was simply absolute. Like an iron vise forged from celestial granite, Ye Tian’s fingers locked around the silver-robed youth’s arm, arresting its motion entirely.

Liu Chen’s eyes narrowed into slits of lethal malice. "Insolent insect. Do you have any idea whose hand you are touching? Let go before I sever every sinew in your wretched limbs."

He flared his Qi. A cutting, metallic spiritual pressure erupted from Liu Chen’s dantian, whistling through the chamber like invisible flying daggers. Ordinary mortals subjected to such pressure would have had their flesh torn open and their bones cracked on the spot.

Ye Tian sat unmoving. The cutting aura broke against his skin like sea spray crashing against an ancient mountain reef. Not a single thread of his rough linen tunic even fluttered.

"Your mother never taught you manners," Ye Tian said, his voice flat, emotionless, and terrifyingly cold. "Or does the Iron Sword Sect only raise thieves?"

"Die!"

Liu Chen snarled, his left hand snapping the ivory fan shut to thrust it like a dagger toward Ye Tian’s throat. The tip gleamed with condensed, lethal Sword Qi capable of piercing heavy plate armor.

Crack.

A sound like snapping dry kindling echoed through the VIP chamber.

Ye Tian simply tightened his grip by a fraction.

Liu Chen’s right wrist was crushed into powder instantly. The ivory fan clattered uselessly onto the table as a shrill, blood-curdling shriek tore from the young master’s throat.

"My hand! Ahhh! My hand!" Liu Chen collapsed onto his knees, his face flushed purple with agony, tears and snot leaking onto his pristine silver robes. The suffocating Sword Qi vanished, replaced by the pathetic whimpering of a pampered scion.

Elder Gu stood petrified, the black iron chest nearly slipping from his numb fingers.

He crushed a Peak Qi Condensation cultivator’s wrist with mere physical force? Without even releasing an ounce of spiritual pressure?

Elder Gu’s back broke out in a river of ice-cold sweat. He had suspected the boy had backing, but this was raw, monstrous, personal cultivation. The youth before him was not a messenger; he was a walking calamity.

Ye Tian stood up slowly, looking down at the squirming Liu Chen with eyes as indifferent as the winter sky. He released his grip, letting the broken limb flop limp at the youth's side.

"Take your hand and leave," Ye Tian said softly. "Cross my sight again, and it will not be your wrist that breaks."

Liu Chen scrambled backward across the polished wood, clutching his shattered arm to his chest. His silver robes were smeared with dirt and sweat, his face twisted in a hideous mask of humiliation, shock, and murderous hatred.

"You... you dead mortal..." Liu Chen hissed, stumbling to his feet, leaning heavily against the doorway. "You dare injure the heir of the Iron Sword Sect? You will not leave Qingshui City alive! My father will flay you alive, and every soul related to you will be fed to the spirit hounds!"

Ye Tian’s eyes flickered with a sudden, dark chill.

Threatening my father?

Before Ye Tian could step forward to silence the youth permanently, Liu Chen smashed a jade talisman against his chest with his good hand. A blinding flare of wind-attribute talismans enveloped him, and his body turned into a streak of silver lightning, violently bursting through the wooden balcony of the third floor and fleeing toward the sect's mountain territory at desperate speed.

The VIP chamber fell into an eerie, heavy silence, broken only by the whistling wind coming through the shattered balcony.

Elder Gu swallowed with immense difficulty. His knees felt like water. "Young master... Young Master Liu is the son of Sect Master Liu Ba... a late Foundation Establishment expert. If he brings the elders of the sect down upon us..."

"That is my concern, not yours," Ye Tian said, turning around calmly. He pointed at the black iron chest in Gu’s arms. "Open the chest. We finish our deal."

Elder Gu didn't dare waste another second. Trembling, he placed the heavy iron chest on the table and peeled off the sealing talismans.

The lid popped open, revealing three distinct compartments:

To the left was a storage ring packed with ten thousand glistening, crystal-clear middle-grade spiritual stones.

To the right rested a small jade slip containing two manuals: a low-grade movement technique called Wind-Chasing Steps, and an entry-level body manual, alongside a flying silver shuttle the size of an palm.

And in the center, nestled in frozen spirit silk, lay a single root emitting a faint, pale-blue mist—the Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Grass.

Ye Tian’s heart stirred, but before he reached for the grass, his gaze darted beneath the satin lining of the chest.

There, used merely as an uneven weight at the bottom of the compartment, sat a jagged, pitch-black rock no larger than a walnut. It looked burnt, unremarkable, and utterly devoid of spiritual aura to the untrained eye.

[Ding! Target located: Fragment of the Primordial Ashen Demon Core.]

[Host can initiate the Millionfold Enhancement upon physical contact.]

Ye Tian looked at Elder Gu. "This lump of burnt rock. Throw it in as a trinket, and I will consider our transaction complete."

Elder Gu glanced at the black stone, bewildered. "That? That was dredged from an ancient crater in the northern waste a decade ago. It has no Qi, and our smiths couldn't melt it. If young master wants it, please take it without another word!"

"Good," Ye Tian said.

He swept his sleeve across the table. With a faint flash of Qi, the storage ring, the jade slip, the flying shuttle, the Soul-Nurturing Grass, and the black stone all vanished into his newly acquired ring. In exchange, he left the single 10,000-year Nine-Leaf Celestial Jade Orchid resting on the rosewood table.

"A pleasure doing business, Elder Gu," Ye Tian said, turning toward the stairs.

"Wait, Young Master Ye!" Gu called out anxiously. "Liu Chen will return with the sect’s core elders within the hour! You cannot stay in the city! Take the flying shuttle and flee toward the imperial capitals!"

Ye Tian paused at the threshold, glancing back over his shoulder. A faint, razor-sharp smile touched the corner of his lips.

"Flee?"

Ye Tian’s voice was as cold as iron.

"They are the ones who should pray they don't arrive before I finish refining my medicine."

Chapter Five: The Sovereign Unbound

Ye Tian did not return immediately to the ramshackle courtyard. Time was an adversary he could not afford to indulge. The moment Liu Chen reached the mountain gates of the Iron Sword Sect, the wrath of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator would descend upon Qingshui City like an avalanche.

Instead, Ye Tian slipped into the dense bamboo groves flanking the outer edges of the Whispering Ridge, just half a li behind his home. Here, shielded by the rustling stalks and thick mountain mist, he could act without prying eyes.

He swept his sleeve, producing the spoils from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.

Floating before him was the pale-blue Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Grass and the jagged, soot-colored fragment of the Primordial Ashen Demon Core.

“System,” Ye Tian commanded mentally, his eyes cold and focused. “First, enhance the Soul-Nurturing Grass.”

[Scanning target: Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Grass. Integrity: 92%. Spiritual essence: Pure.]

[Target acquired. Applying Millionfold Enhancement.]

A deep, sonorous hum resonated through the clearing. Unlike the dazzling golden burst from the Qi Gathering Pill, this transformation was shrouded in an ethereal, sapphire luminescence that seemed to bend the surrounding space. The pale-blue root dissolved into liquid light, condensing and reforming in mid-air into an exquisite, lotus-shaped elixir the size of a pigeon’s egg. Nine faint rings of celestial mist slowly orbited its surface, exuding a breath that instantly soothed the restless spiritual energy within Ye Tian’s dantian.

[Ding! Enhancement successful. The Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Grass has evolved into the Divine Sovereign Purifying Elixir.]

[Effect: Reconstructs fractured soul cores, purifies all hexes below the Immortal Dao, and restores ancestral vitality to peak physical condition.]

Ye Tian caught the elixir in a carved jade phial, sealing it immediately. The remedy for his father’s curse was finally secured.

Now, his gaze shifted to the jagged black rock.

End of chapter one.