Pain. It was the first thing Jiang Chen felt when he regained consciousness. His entire body ached, and his limbs felt like they had been shattered. But beneath the pain, there was something else—power.
His eyes snapped open, and he found himself lying in the depths of the cavern. The stone tablet from before still glowed faintly, ancient runes pulsating with an eerie light. His mind was filled with strange knowledge, as if the tablet had burned something into his very soul.
"Heaven has cast you aside… but I shall raise you anew."
The words echoed in his head once more, sending a shiver down his spine. His breathing quickened. Had he really survived the fall… only to encounter some kind of divine inheritance?
He pushed himself up and gasped. His body felt different—stronger, lighter, and filled with a warmth he had never known before. He closed his eyes and instinctively focused inward.
That's when he saw it.
A golden core… pulsing inside his shattered dantian.
His eyes widened in shock. A golden core was something that only elite cultivators formed after years of training. But his dantian had been broken! How could this be?
Then, as if answering his question, the knowledge burned into his mind surfaced.
[Heaven-Defying Sacred Art: The Path of Rebirth]
Jiang Chen's breath caught. This wasn't an ordinary cultivation technique. It wasn't something that refined Qi through normal means. Instead… it created a new foundation from destruction.
His previous dantian had been weak, fragile—unworthy. When it shattered, this new one had formed in its place, forged by the energy of the ancient tablet.
He clenched his fists. The energy within him surged, stronger than ever before.
"Heaven cast me aside?" He whispered, his voice filled with new resolve. "Then I'll carve my own path."
A rush of wind swept through the cavern as if the world itself acknowledged his words.
Jiang Chen had awakened. And his journey was only beginning.
---