Cultivating in the Ruins of Heaven

Chapter 3: Cultivating in the Ruins of Heaven

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Section 1: A Sect of Shadows and Ruin

The sky above the Ye ancestral grounds was no longer blue.

Dark clouds clung like mold to the heavens, a lingering curse left behind by centuries of betrayal and blood. The ruined gates of the Ye Sect stood like broken ribs, twisted and scorched. Cracked statues of ancient elders lay decapitated among the weeds. A once-mighty jade plaque, inscribed with Ye Sect — Boundless as the Sky, now hung by a single rusted chain, swaying in the bitter wind like the last breath of a dying dream.

Ye Tian stood in the heart of the devastation.

No golden throne. No loyal disciples. Just ash and silence.

He gazed at the broken training grounds beneath his feet and clenched his fists until they bled. This had once been a place where legends were born. Now, it was a graveyard.

> [System Notification: Ye Sect Recognized.] [Designation: Reformation Node Established.] [Hidden Potential Detected: Ancient Leyline Fragment – 31% active.]

A flicker of crimson light pulsed beneath the broken tiles. Hidden power, buried beneath the ruins. This place wasn't dead — it was dormant.

Ye Tian smirked.

"Let them think we've fallen."

He raised a hand, and the air rippled.

> [Activating Glitched Technique: 999x Restoration Pulse.] [Warning: Cultivation field unstable.]

With a deafening hum, spiritual veins once thought broken began to glow faintly beneath the earth. Cracks in the training ground repaired themselves with an eerie, unnatural shimmer. Moss burned away. Stones fused back together.

Not by divine craftsmanship.

By glitch.

By force.

And just like that, the Sect began to breathe again — not beautiful, but alive.

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Section 2: The First Outer Disciple

A shadow moved at the edge of the clearing.

Ye Tian didn't look. He already knew who it was. The presence was faint, cautious, and desperate.

"Watching from the trees won't help you," he called. "If you want to die, keep hiding. If you want power… step forward."

Silence.

Then, rustling.

A boy, maybe fifteen, staggered from the undergrowth. His robes were torn, revealing ugly scars across his chest. He was clutching a dull blade, trembling like a leaf in a storm.

"Y-you're the last Ye…?" the boy asked, voice shaking.

Ye Tian nodded. "And you?"

"My name is Lu Han. My family… was killed by the Broken Soul Pavilion. I heard… the Ye Sect might be rising again."

Ye Tian studied him.

Weak. But not empty. There was rage behind his eyes.

> [System Scan: Potential Detected – Bloodline 13% Awakened.] [Suggested Role: Outer Disciple Candidate.] [Bond Potential: Initiate Level – Loyalty path unlocked.]

"Swear yourself," Ye Tian said.

Lu Han dropped to one knee. "I, Lu Han, vow to follow the Sect Master of Ye. Until death or heaven calls me."

> [Recognition Complete.] [Outer Disciple Registered: Lu Han – Rank F.] [Beginner Cultivation Technique Unlocked: Shattered Meridian Flow.]

"Rise, Disciple," Ye Tian said. "Your enemies will tremble before you — or they will die."

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Section 3: The Goddess Watches in Silence

Far above, where mortal eyes could not reach, a ripple tore across the void.

She stood in the rift, bathed in frost. Her long silver hair drifted like silk across a backdrop of starlight. Her eyes — colder than the end of time itself — watched him without expression.

Goddess of Ice Requiem.

One of the seven primordial divines. A being who had wept only once — when her realm was devoured by flames of betrayal. Now she watched this strange mortal who had awakened the Glitched System.

He was not supposed to survive.

Yet here he was.

Restoring a dead sect. Binding followers. Igniting a spark in the ruins of heaven.

She narrowed her gaze.

> [Bond Progress: 37%.] [System Status: "Emotional Interference Detected."] [Warning: Suppress divine curiosity.]

She clenched her icy fingers.

"No," she whispered. "Let me… observe."

Unseen by Ye Tian, a snowflake drifted down — one that should not exist in this part of the world.

And as it touched the ground near his feet, the soil turned pale, pure — blessed.

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Section 4: The Arrival of Long Yuyan

The earth rumbled.

Lu Han stumbled backward, grabbing his sword. "W-What was that?!"

Ye Tian didn't answer.

From the east, wind split with thunder, and a silhouette descended from the clouds.

Long Yuyan.

The Grand Commander of the Thousand Phoenix Army. Slaughterer of Devils. And once… his fiancée.

She landed like a star crashing into a battlefield, her crimson cloak billowing behind her as golden runes lit up her armored skin. Her gaze locked onto Ye Tian — not with love. Not with nostalgia.

With deadly focus.

"You're alive," she said, voice like a blade drawn slowly from a scabbard.

Ye Tian didn't blink. "You expected otherwise?"

She stepped closer. "I killed the one who ordered your family's death."

A pause. Then: "Not for you. For me."

> [System Alert: Former Bond Detected.] [Long Yuyan – Grand Commander of the Phoenix Gate.] [Emotional State: Conflict / Residual Attachment / Controlled Fury.] [Potential Re-Bonding Path Available.]

Ye Tian tilted his head. "You still wear our ring."

She didn't respond.

Instead, she extended her hand. "Come with me. Leave this ruined sect. Join my army. You can rebuild with real power — under my command."

Ye Tian's lips curled.

"I don't follow armies, Yuyan. I raise legends."

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Section 5: A Rival Sect's Challenge

The moment snapped as a dark ripple washed across the land.

Dozens of silhouettes emerged beyond the gates — clad in dark-purple robes, their faces hidden behind bone masks.

The Ghost Moon Sect.

Their leader stepped forward, a pale man with eyes like dead glass. "So the Ye Clan rises again?" he hissed. "Then let us be the ones to kill its second legacy."

Lu Han gripped his sword. "Sect Master…"

Ye Tian didn't flinch. His eyes glowed faintly.

> [System Notice: First Sect War Detected.] [Option: Activate Hidden Technique – Heaven-Breaking Sword Root.] [Energy Cost: 70% of Core.] [Outcome: Unknown.]

A familiar pulse echoed in Ye Tian's bones. The glitch was laughing again.

He raised a hand.

The wind obeyed.

The ground obeyed.

And the ruins began to glow.

"We are not dead," Ye Tian said.

The world trembled.

"We were just waiting."

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To Be Continued…