Chapter 1: Backlash

The sixteenth day of the first lunar month. The chill was still biting, and it was once again time for the annual exam at Xingfeng Academy.

For the academy’s students, this was the most important assessment of the year. If they failed, they would be expelled without mercy.

Early in the morning, all 176 students stood on the training field, waiting for the test to begin.

The academy was divided into three branches: Heaven, Earth, and Human. Today was the test for the Human Branch.

Among the crowd, the sixteen-year-old Henry Stone stood tall, a full head above his peers. His facial features were sharply defined, as if carved by a blade—so handsome it was almost excessive.

Even though everyone knew this genius was now half-crippled, admiring glances still fell upon him, some subtle, some direct.

Naturally, this made the male students jealous. In the past, they could only swallow their envy, but now they dared to voice it aloud.

“After this year’s exam, that guy’s going to be expelled, right?”

“Sigh, last year he represented the academy in the capital’s tournament and was the pride of the school. But this year, he’s about to lose even the right to stay.”

“He lost the final battle and got crippled. He can’t cultivate anymore. Forget about progress—just maintaining his strength would be a miracle.”

“According to the academy’s rules, if your strength doesn’t increase by thirty percent over last year in the annual exam, you’re out.”

“Heh, serves him right for being so arrogant before. Now he’s fallen straight from the clouds into the mud—he totally deserves it!”

The boys chattered away, mercilessly exposing Henry Stone’s shortcomings.

What’s the use of being good-looking? He’s just a cripple now.

Henry Stone remained cold. He’d heard enough of this ridicule over the past nine months and had long since learned to ignore it, though his fists clenched involuntarily.

Just as they said, last year he had represented Xingfeng Academy in the capital’s tournament for fifteen-year-olds, making it all the way to the finals, but failing to claim the ultimate victory.

But it wasn’t because he lacked strength. The night before the final, his food had been poisoned—not fatally, but enough to sap his strength the next day.

In that match, his opponent, Charles Rowe, not only defeated him but also crippled him, destroying the meridians in one leg and one arm.

And when Charles Rowe stood over him in victory, he revealed a secret—the one who poisoned him was Charles Rowe himself!

His opponent was utterly brazen, showing no guilt or shame, only cold indifference and disdain.

Why would Charles Rowe go to such lengths?

Because winning the final meant direct admission to the Imperial Academy—the best academy in Huayuan Nation, a sacred place every young cultivator dreamed of entering.

When Henry Stone returned to the academy, the former prodigy had become a half-cripple who could no longer cultivate. Those who once surrounded him changed their faces, mocking and ridiculing him, each eager to step on him while he was down, making him taste the full bitterness of human nature.

Over the next nine months, Henry Stone worked hard every day, but with the meridians in his hands and feet destroyed, he couldn’t practice physical techniques at all. Not only did his strength fail to improve, it actually declined.

So, this was likely his last annual exam. Once the results were out, he would have to leave the academy in regret.

However, while Henry Stone didn’t fight back, the girls seemed to defend him like mother hens, each one jumping to his aid.

“How do you know Henry Stone won’t recover?”

“You’re all just jealous!”

This only made the boys even more resentful. Was it just because he was good-looking?

Tch!

“Hey, what’s that?” Someone happened to look up at the sky and cried out in surprise.

Whoosh—a streak of white light shot down, plunging into the crowd at incredible speed.

What was going on?

Everyone was curious, but the white light flashed and then vanished without a trace.

However, Henry Stone felt a chill all over, a bone-deep terror rising within him, as if something foreign had entered his body, trying to snuff out his soul.

He struggled desperately, though he had no idea how to resist.

“Boy, don’t resist. Obediently let me take over your body!” a voice suddenly echoed in Henry Stone’s mind. “Your fragile soul is no match for me. Resistance is futile!”

“Relax, let me take control of your body.”

“There’s no need to fear. Though your soul will vanish forever, your body will become my vessel. In the future, I will shake the world and become a true ruler!”

Henry Stone was powerless to resist. He felt a powerful, ancient soul forcibly occupy his mind, driving him into a dead corner and completely stripping him of control over his body.

Even worse, his own soul was being worn away bit by bit. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he disappeared from this world entirely.

“No!” he roared in defiance within his mind.