Chapter 2: Awakening in a New Era

The underground chamber was silent once more, save for the faint dripping of water echoing from cracks in the ceiling.

Jiang Chen stood motionless, staring at his hands.

That moment—when the bandit had attacked—he had felt something inside him stir, something ancient, something that had not awakened fully. It wasn't just instinct. It was something far deeper.

"Could it be… the inheritance of my ancestors?"

His thoughts were interrupted as a wave of exhaustion crashed over him. His breath was uneven, his body still weak from thousands of years in stasis. His meridians were dormant, his Qi practically nonexistent.

"No, I can't stay here. I need to recover my strength."

He forced himself to move, scanning the ruined chamber. His eyes landed on a broken pedestal, half-buried under dust. Something lay atop it—a cracked jade slip, its once-pristine glow now faint.

Jiang Chen picked it up carefully, wiping away the dust. A surge of nostalgia filled him—his ancestors once recorded their knowledge in these slips.

Closing his eyes, he channeled a sliver of what little Qi remained into it.

Instantly, a voice—ancient, weary, yet powerful—echoed in his mind.

"If you are hearing this… then you are the last of the Jiang Clan."

Jiang Chen's pulse quickened.

"The world that we once ruled has perished, and time has erased our name from history. But our bloodline will not fade so easily… You are the final ember of our clan."

The voice grew heavier, almost burdened with sorrow.

"If you are to rise again, you must be ruthless. You must seek the truth of our destruction. And above all… you must reclaim what was stolen from us."

Then, the message cut off. The jade slip crumbled into dust, its purpose fulfilled.

Jiang Chen exhaled slowly, his hands tightening into fists.

"I am the last Jiang. This world may have forgotten us… but I will remind them."

A gust of cold wind whistled through the broken chamber. He turned toward the distant exit—a stone passageway barely visible through layers of dust and debris.

But before he could take another step—

A deep, guttural growl rumbled from the shadows.

Jiang Chen froze. His sharp eyes swept the darkness, muscles tensing.

Then, from a crack in the wall, a creature emerged.

It was wolf-like, but grotesquely twisted—its flesh gray and rotting, patches of bone visible beneath its decayed hide. Its eyes burned with eerie green flames, and black mist seeped from its mouth with every ragged breath.

A Corpse Rot Wolf.

Jiang Chen's heart pounded. He had read about these creatures in ancient texts—beasts that had absorbed resentful Qi from battlefields, turning them into undead horrors.

"A low-level Profound Beast, but I'm in no condition to fight it."

The wolf snarled and lunged.

Jiang Chen dodged at the last moment, the beast's claws tearing through the stone where he stood. Fast! If he had been even a fraction slower, his ribcage would have been split open.

He landed in a crouch, but his breathing was ragged. His body was too weak—even dodging drained him.

The wolf whipped around and attacked again, its mouth stretching unnaturally wide, revealing rows of jagged, blackened fangs.

Jiang Chen forced himself to move, rolling to the side. The creature missed, but this time, it reacted faster—its tail lashed out like a spiked whip, aiming straight for his skull.

A split-second decision.

Jiang Chen raised his arms to block—

BOOM!

The impact sent him crashing into a stone pillar, pain exploding through his back. He coughed, tasting blood.

"Damn it… I need strength!"

The wolf didn't wait. It lunged again—going for the kill.

Jiang Chen's instincts flared.

Something deep within his blood stirred—a pulse of energy unlike anything he had ever felt before.

The world slowed for a fraction of a second.

He could see it—the exact trajectory of the beast's attack. Not through his eyes, but through some unknown force guiding his perception.

It was as if the universe itself had given him a moment of clarity.

Dodge left.

His body moved on its own, leaning just half an inch to the side.

The wolf's fangs missed his throat by a hair.

And in that instant—Jiang Chen countered.

His fingers curved into a blade, striking forward with surgical precision. His attack pierced straight through the wolf's eye socket, sinking deep into its rotten skull.

CRACK!

The wolf convulsed violently, its eerie green flames flickering before fading into nothingness.

Then—it collapsed, unmoving.

Silence.

Jiang Chen stood there, his breathing heavy, blood dripping from his hand. He stared at the beast's corpse, his mind racing.

"That moment… what was that?"

It wasn't just instinct. It was something more—something buried in his bloodline, waiting to awaken.

And that terrified him.

Not because it was dangerous—but because he had no idea what he was becoming.

A slow exhale. He wiped the blood from his fingers and turned toward the exit.

This was just the beginning.

If even a simple Profound Beast had nearly killed him, how could he face the true threats waiting outside?

He needed to recover his cultivation. He needed power.

And he would find it—no matter what it took.

The world had changed, but so would he.

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End of Chapter 2