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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 night after the silhouette appeared passed in tense silence. No attack came. The fog remained, clinging to the cliffs like a living veil. But the fear it brought had settled in every disciple's bones.

Lin Ho stood watch alone near the cliff's edge, Chaos Qi circulating slowly in his core. The moment that creature locked eyes with him, he felt it — not killing intent, but recognition. It wasn't just watching him. It knew him.

> "Why now?" he muttered. "Why show yourself, but not strike?"

A faint voice answered — not from the air, but from the sea.

The ocean remained still, but the voice pressed against his soul. It spoke in a language older than empires — yet Lin Ho understood every word.

> "Child of entropy… once, we feared your kind. Now, we wonder."

> "Who are you?" Lin Ho whispered, standing.

> "What remains. Watcher of the trench. Survivor of the fall."

His Chaos Qi reacted instinctively, swirling around him like a storm as the voice echoed again:

> "You walk this land as one of them, but you are not. Blood remembers. The sea remembers."

No one else heard it. Not Bai Qing, not Yu Fan. Not even Luo Sen, who passed nearby and only raised an eyebrow at Lin Ho's tensed posture.

> "Listening," Lin Ho replied, his voice distant.

At dawn, Luo Sen gathered everyone around the command fire. A map of the coastal region was drawn in spirit ink.

> "New orders," Luo Sen said. "An underwater rift has opened two li from this cliff. Elder Qiu suspects it leads to a sealed ruin or a buried nest. We're sending a scouting team."

> "Why me?" Lin Ho asked, though he already knew.

> "Because nothing out there reacts to you the way it should. That thing in the mist? It looked straight at you, and didn't attack."

Bai Qing stepped forward. "Then I'm going too."

Yu Fan followed. "We owe each other a few debts."

Luo Sen nodded. "Fine. The three of you dive at sunset. You'll have one hour inside. After that, we collapse the tunnel."

As the sun dipped below the waves, Lin Ho stood at the edge, the longblade strapped tight, his Qi shield adapted for underwater movement. Bai Qing and Yu Fan activated water-breathing talismans.

> "Let's see what the deep hides," Bai Qing replied.

They dove together, slicing through the surface.

As the world turned blue and black around them, the rift came into view — a jagged crack in the seabed, pulsing with dark energy.

And waiting at its edge… was a figure in crimson robes, floating serenely in the depths.

It turned slowly, face hidden by a mask of coral and bone.

> "So, the chaos child arrives," it said in perfect human tongue — though no mouth moved.

Chapter 49: Voice from the Deep