Noux_

In the year 3030, Earth is nearly destroyed by natural disasters caused by global warming. Just as humanity is on the brink of extinction, the Earth awakens and chooses 15 people to receive ancient cultivation techniques. These Heroes lead humanity into a new era of cultivation.

500 years later, mutated beasts, evolving plants, and mysterious realms reshape the world. Lin Ho, the grandson of one of the original Heroes, struggles to cultivate after his parents disappear in a secret realm. On his 15th birthday, his necklace breaks, releasing a golden light that awakens a legendary power inside him—the Chaos Bloodline.

A new destiny begins.

Awakening of Chaos

The black mist thickened as they moved deeper into the drowned city. The structures had once been regal — temples carved from crystal coral, spires wrought from enchanted shellstone. Now they leaned and crumbled, choked by shadow and silent rot.

Each step the group took echoed unnaturally, as if the ocean held its breath to listen.

> "There's no pressure down here," Yan Fei whispered. "No water resistance. Are we… still underwater?"

> "Yes," Lin Ho answered, his Chaos Qi pulsing faintly. "But something's displaced the laws of the realm."

They came to a massive gate — two statues flanking it, each resembling a beast-man hybrid. Their eyes had once held spirit stones, but now only hollow sockets stared into the void.

Suddenly, a tremor rolled through the city.

From the shadows behind the statues, dozens of figures emerged.

They were once men — or at least resembled them — now twisted by abyssal energy. Scales burst through skin, webbed claws replaced hands, and barnacles grew across flesh like armor.

> "Invaders… unclean breathers… flesh that still remembers the sun…"

> "Guardians of the Deep Ruin. We seek the Heart Chamber."

> "You bring him…" the twisted guardian growled, pointing a talon toward Lin Ho. "The blood… forbidden… chaotic…"

The creatures began to scream — a sound of agony, not hatred — as if the presence of Lin Ho triggered a memory buried deep within their soul.

Yan Fei unleashed a wall of flame that burned even without oxygen. Xu Liang moved like a spear of light, piercing through corrupted flesh. Mu Yanyan danced through enemies, her wind blades leaving trails of spiraling mist.

He raised his hand — not in fear, but in calm.

Golden-black tendrils of Chaos Qi erupted around him in a spiral, forming a shield that consumed incoming attacks. Then, without speaking, he dashed forward.

Every strike he landed did not just injure — it unmade.

Beast-kin fell, not dying, but dissolving into wisps of nothingness. Not even bones remained.

> "His Qi doesn't kill," Elder Qiu murmured. "It erases."

Inside was a sphere of liquid starlight, hovering above a pit of bones. The moment Lin Ho stepped inside, the sphere reacted — tendrils of light reaching for him, drawn to the chaos within.

Visions slammed into his mind — a sea kingdom rising from the depths, blessed by ancient stars… then falling, corrupted by a forbidden power… fleeing into the abyss…

And finally, sealing away a fragment of chaos — his Chaos Bloodline.

> "I wasn't just born with it," Lin Ho muttered. "It was buried here… waiting."

Behind him, the elders watched in silence.

Chapter 45: Echoes of the Drowned