NOVEL NEXT Chapter 124: System Awakens
A figure appeared, robed in silver, their face a blur but achingly familiar, their aura resonating with the Lotus Flame. "You've come far," they said, their voice echoing through the void, calm yet heavy with purpose. "Too far to turn back now."
Kael stood silent, his silver eyes locked on the figure, his dantian trembling with the flame's intensity. The figure raised a hand, and a lotus materialized, its petals burning with silver, violet, and a darker hue—chaos itself, bound within its form.
"This is the Seed of Origin," the figure continued, their voice a whisper that shook Kael's spirit core. "The first lotus was born from chaos. The path you walk is no longer just yours."
Kael's gaze fixed on the lotus, its pulse syncing with his own. "Then what is it?" he asked, his voice steady despite the void's weight.
"A path of destruction… and creation," the figure replied. "Those who carry this must choose: purge the world… or remake it."
Kael's heart trembled, the Silver Lotus Flame surging, its light flooding his meridians. The figure vanished, the void shattering like glass. He awoke, gasping, in the chamber, the crystal lotus now floating above his palm, no longer solid but alive, its petals pulsing with a single seed at its core, resonating with his dantian.
The flame within him absorbed it, silver light flaring from his body, blinding and pure. The crimson mark twisted, morphing into a new symbol—a blooming lotus encircled by a crescent moon, etched in burning silver. Kael fell to one knee, his cultivation surging, the barrier to Late Primal Warrior cracking under the flood of qi. His meridians expanded, his bones strengthened, his mind sharpened, the Silver Lotus Flame condensing into a denser, brighter core, fused with the Seed of Origin.
His aura shifted, no longer that of a mere cultivator but a primal force, echoing with ancient will. The chamber rumbled, stone cracking as the trial completed. Kael sprinted through the collapsing tunnel, his steps guided by the flame, faster, sharper, lighter than ever. He burst from the entrance just as the passage caved in, the mountain roaring behind him.
The sky above swirled with dark clouds, thunder crackling in the distance. Kael stood on the cliff's edge, wind whipping his robes, his silver eyes fixed on the horizon. The Lotus Path was sealed, buried forever, but within him, its legacy burned brighter, a new trial awaiting.
"Let them come," he whispered, his voice a vow carried by the gale. He turned, his steps steady, his breath calm, the mountains howling as the Warden of the Lotus walked on, his flame a beacon for the battles ahead.
Kael strode forward, his boots kicking up snow as he left the collapsed entrance of the Lotus Path behind. The Howling Spine Mountains loomed around him, their jagged peaks shrouded in mist, but the weight of the trial lingered within his soul.
The Silver Lotus Flame burned steadily in his dantian, its silver-violet glow now intertwined with something darker, deeper—the Seed of Origin, pulsing like a second heart.
Yet another force stirred, one that had slumbered silently for too long: his SSS-Rank Devouring System, awakened by the fusion of the Seed and his flame.
A jolt ran through him, his knees buckling as the Silver Lotus Flame flared wildly, its light spilling from his skin in shimmering waves. He clutched his chest, his vision blurring, as a mechanical voice, cold and familiar, echoed in his mind, breaking its long silence.
> [SSS-Rank Devouring System Upgrade Completed]
> Host Kael. Warden of the Lotus. Child of Chaos Flame.
> New functions unlocked. Initiating Soul Core Evolution.
His body trembled, his spirit sea cracking under the strain. A second core formed beside the Lotus Flame, dark and unstable, a swirling vortex of shadow and light that pulsed with ravenous hunger.
His meridians twisted, veins glowing with silver and black, the Seed of Origin clashing with this new force—the Devouring Core. Kael collapsed to the ground, his fists digging into the frozen dirt, his breath ragged as pain seared through him.
> [New Feature: World Devour unlocked.]
> Devouring Type: Conceptual Absorption.
> Effect: Convert defeated enemies' techniques, Daos, and bloodlines into devourable fragments. Fuse with system core or store for later integration.
Knowledge flooded his mind, a tidal wave of insights that left him gasping. Abyssal Fang vibrated at his side, its blade humming with hunger, resonating with the new power coursing through him.
The Silver Lotus Flame didn't fight it—instead, it fed it, flames merging with shadow, purification blending with consumption. Light and dark, creation and destruction, swirled within his dantian, a balance as fragile as it was potent.
A new mark appeared above his heart, a black spiral barely visible beneath his robes, pulsing with infinite hunger.
Kael rose slowly, his silver eyes scanning the horizon. Far to the south, where the wind carried faint scents of blood and fire, his sharpened spiritual sense caught a flicker of chaos—a battlefield forming, sect cultivators clashing with something ancient and twisted. The system pulsed again, its voice cold and precise.
> Detected: Chaos-Blood Beast. Estimated level: Peak Soul Flame Realm.
> Devouring Potential: High. Lotus Flame Reaction: Critical.
> Quest Triggered: First Feast. Eliminate and devour the Chaos-Blood Beast.
> Reward: 5000 Devouring Points, Chaos Essence Fragment, Bloodline Integration Option.
Kael's lips twitched, a faint smirk breaking through his stoic mask. This was his next trial, a challenge woven into the fabric of his destiny as the Warden. He tightened his grip on Abyssal Fang and moved, his steps steady, his resolve a flame that burned brighter than the storm around him.
The forest beyond the mountains was a graveyard of life. Petrified trees stood frozen, their leaves turned to ash, their bark cracked and drained of essence.
The soil crunched under Kael's boots, blackened and dry, devoid of qi. No beasts stirred, no insects hummed—only faint whispers clawed at his mind, their voices like invisible fingers scraping at his spirit.
The wind curled around him, wary and serpentine, as the land itself twisted, space rippling, time slowing, a decay that wasn't an illusion but a wound in the world's fabric.