Chapter 26: Awakening in the Abyss
Lin Feng, no more than a fragile child of ten, lay motionless in the Lin family's residence, his small body a broken vessel of agony. His hands and feet had been severed, leaving stumps where once there were limbs—a grotesque reminder of the cruelty that had befallen him. His chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, each exhale a silent cry of pain that no one cared to hear.
Beside him, Lin Zhan, his father, drowned in grief and alcohol, the empty liquor bottle in his grasp nothing but dead weight. His once-proud posture was reduced to that of a man shattered by fate. His voice, hoarse and broken, trembled as he whispered, "My boy… who did this to you?" The words hung in the air, unanswered, dissolving into the cruel silence.
Lin Feng had been a prodigy, his bloodline awakening at an age far younger than most. But the moment it stirred, the heavens seemed to turn against him. His body fell into a state of torpor, his mind trapped in a world of endless darkness. Desperate, Lin Zhaoru, his mother, had sought the finest healers, alchemists, and even sorcerers, but all had returned with the same grim decree:
"The curse of the Ancient Ones cannot be undone unless the one who inflicted it chooses to withdraw it. When he wakes, your son will be a beast of vengeance, consumed by a darkness that cannot be quelled. If you truly love him, end his life now—before his wrath destroys all that remains of your clan."
The healers who spoke these words met cruel fates, their bodies withering into husks within days, as though the very curse they feared had devoured them.
Lin Zhan had resisted. He had clung to hope. But now, as he sat before his maimed son, the weight of responsibility crushed him. With trembling hands, he unsheathed his sword, its cold steel gleaming under the dim lantern light. He had to do this. If not for himself, then for the Lin family.
But just as the blade hovered above Lin Feng's throat, a violent tremor surged through the room. A pulse of spiritual energy exploded from within the boy's broken body—a force raw and untamed. The air itself seemed to fracture, reverberating with a low hum that sent shivers through Lin Zhan's spine.
Lin Feng's body convulsed violently, his severed limbs pulsing with eerie power. Then, from the stumps of his arms, jagged, mantis-like blades burst forth, their edges shimmering with an ominous glow.
In an instant, he struck.
Lin Zhan barely had time to react, twisting his blade just in time to deflect the deadly strike. His eyes widened in disbelief. His son was no longer a child—he was something else entirely. The bloodline that had lain dormant within him had awoken, and it was fighting for survival.
Sixty-seven rapid exchanges filled the air, steel clashing against the razor-sharp mantis blades that had replaced Lin Feng's arms. The force behind each strike was unnatural, each movement laced with a predatory instinct that Lin Zhan had never witnessed before. This wasn't a boy. This wasn't his son.
This was something ancient.
With a desperate surge of power, Lin Zhan forced Lin Feng back, sending him crashing through the wooden screen with a sickening thud. The child's small, battered body skidded across the cold stone floor, yet he did not cry out.
Outside, the Lin family's servants whispered among themselves, oblivious to the storm brewing within their walls.
"Did you hear? The young master lost his hands and feet… to a mere child from the fallen Void Clan."
"A day meant for celebration turned into disgrace. Why didn't he just die there?"
But Lin Feng, lying in the dirt, did not weep. His body had been broken, his soul battered by fate, yet his will remained unyielding. The world had turned its back on him, but something deep within refused to let go.
And so, he endured.
Days turned to weeks. The suffering deepened. His food was poisoned by Lin Dang, a cruel elder who watched from the shadows, expecting the boy to wither. But Lin Feng did not succumb. The Void energy within him purged the toxins, absorbing their essence, transforming them into raw strength.
His body changed.
His senses sharpened.
His bloodline was evolving.
At the age of twelve, Lin Dang grew impatient. Two assassins of the early Commander realm were sent under the cover of night, their blades slick with poison, their mission simple—eliminate Lin Feng before his power could fully awaken.
But Lin Feng was ready.
As they crept into his chamber, their steps silent as shadows, Lin Feng's eyes snapped open. No longer the dull, lifeless gaze of a broken child—his pupils now glowed with a terrifying golden hue, vertical slits forming within them.
The assassins lunged, their movements swift and merciless. But before their blades could reach him, Lin Feng moved.
The world blurred.
His mantis blades lashed out, their edges singing through the air. One assassin had no time to react—his head separated from his body in an instant, blood spraying like a crimson storm. The other barely managed to parry, but Lin Feng was relentless. His newfound power drove him forward, each strike carrying the weight of an inhuman force.
The second assassin's arm was severed at the elbow, his scream filling the chamber. Lin Feng did not stop. His blades plunged into the man's chest, piercing through flesh and bone.
Then, something changed.
The Void energy surged. A hunger unlike anything he had ever felt took hold. His blood boiled, his vision darkened, and before he realized it—he was devouring them.
Their essence, their very existence, was being absorbed into him. Their bloodlines unraveled, consumed by the abyssal void that pulsed within his veins.
His severed limbs tingled. Then twitched.
As mantis like blades grew from that very flesh his bloodline was making up for his lost limp trying to make him an apex predator.
From a distance, Lin Dang watched, horror creeping into his expression. He had hoped for Lin Feng to die. Instead, he had witnessed something impossible. The boy's bloodline—no longer just the Mantis—had fused with something older, something primordial.
Lin Feng had become a hybrid. A fusion of the Mantis and the Void Dragon.
The elder staggered back, cold sweat pouring down his spine. The realization hit him like a thunderbolt.
"This power… if I could harness it…"
For the first time, Lin Dang desired more than Lin Feng's death but to consume his very bloodline.
As a weapon.
Yet, deep within the shadows of Lin Feng's mind, something else stirred.
Lin Dang did not yet realize it, but in the moment Lin Feng consumed the assassins—something had awakened.
Something ancient.
And it had already noticed him.