The silence of the underground archive was broken only by the ragged, rhythmic hiss of the Ashen Gale breathing. Kayden sat as still as an obsidian statue, but internally, a war was being waged. After shattering the first seven chakra points, he did not stop to savor the success. He pushed the Dual-Gate Qi higher, lashing the energy against the dormant nodes in his legs and lower spine.
The eighth, ninth, and tenth points connected with a sensation like white-hot needles sewing through his muscle. By the time he reached the eleventh and twelfth, his vision began to swim in a sea of red. He wasn't just opening the points; he was weaving them together, connecting the flow of energy into a cohesive circuit. As the thirteenth chakra point finally yielded and linked to the chain, the sheer strain on his five-year-old nervous system reached its breaking point. His world tilted, and Kayden fainted into a merciful darkness.
When he finally blinked his eyes open, the cold floor of the archive greeted him, stained with dried traces of the blood that had leaked from his nose and pores. His body felt like a leaden weight, but his mind remained sharp. He reached for the jade box, swallowing a vitality pill to steady his trembling limbs. He was far from finished.
Before returning to the grueling task of the points, he pulled a scroll detailing the "True Demon" lineage of the Caligin Clan.
The Portrait of the First Sovereign
The scroll unfurled to reveal a portrait that radiated a primal, ancient power. It was the depiction of the First Demon God, the ancestor who had reached the Primordial Demon Realm. The figure was a nightmare of lethal elegance: four eyes—large, black orbs with glowing red vertical-slit pupils—stared out from a face of cold stone. Two massive, jagged demonic horns swept toward the sky, and from his torso sprouted six powerful arms, each hand poised in a different lethal mudra.
The text explained the fundamental truth of their race: the demi-human form Kayden currently possessed was merely a "shell." The True Demon bloodline allowed a member of the royal clans to shed this human-like skin and transform into their true, monstrous form. However, this metamorphosis was only possible after the Blood Ritual—an awakening that would trigger the first transformation." A ture demon can transform at his will "
The abilities of a True Demon were legendary:
Extreme Regeneration: Wounds that would kill a human closed in seconds.
Indestructible Body: Flesh and bone hardened to surpass the strength of enchanted steel.
Elemental Mastery: While the First Ancestor had commanded all seven elements, modern descendants rarely manifested more than 3 or 4.
Kayden looked down at his small, pale hands, folding and unfolding his palms. He felt a strange, detached curiosity about the monster sleeping beneath his skin. In this world, power was not just learned; it was inherited, then carved out of the soul.
The Geography of Three Continents
Satisfied with the records of his own blood, Kayden turned his attention to the wider world, unrolling the dragon-hide maps of the three great landmasses.
The world was divided into a tri-continental structure, each separated by vast, treacherous seas. To the Northeast and West lay the Demon Continental regions—landscapes of jagged peaks and violet skies ruled by the seven clans. To the South sat the Human Continental, a region divided among three powerful empires.
The Human Continental
The human power system was fundamentally different, relying on Mana rather than Chakra Gates. Humans cultivated three internal reservoirs known as Dantians—the Lower, Middle, and Upper—with the Lower Dantian serving as the foundation.
The Holy Empire: Ruled by the Pope and the Holy Church, this empire wielded "Divine Power"—magic believed to be granted by gods and angels to heal and eradicate "corrupted" beings.
The Martial Empires: These nations focused on the Seven Star Stages of swordsmanship and the Ten Circles of magic. An 8th-Circle mage was considered a rare Archmage, while a 10th-Circle user was a legendary "Sage". These empires utilized powerful relics to boost their cultivation and maintained nine Magic Towers to safeguard their arcane secrets.
The Beast Continental
The power here was dominated by the Dragons, though spiritual laws prevented them from using their full, world-breaking power directly. To bypass this, the first dragons created Dragonic Humans—contract partners who could channel the dragon's power through "Dragon Veins" and use Dragon Tongue Magic.
The continent was a mosaic of powerful races:
The Fox Kin: Rare beings who could grow up to nine tails.
Vampires: Masters of Blood Magic and forbidden Dark Arts.
Elves, Dwarfs, and Barbarians: Each possessing unique elemental affinities or weapon mastery.
Beast Tribes: Unlike demons, most beast races possessed internal Orbs in their abdomens to gather mana.
Beyond the Northern Sea, the maps grew hazy, labeled only with warnings of chaotic thunderclouds and an obnoxious, lethal atmosphere. This was the land of the Evil Corrupted Creatures and the residence of the Ember's Apostles—the very targets of Kayden's promised revenge.
The Wall of the Root
Days turned into a week of blurred agony. Kayden lived on vitality pills and the sheer friction of his own ambition. He pushed himself until he had successfully opened and connected 21 minor chakra points. He stood on trembling feet, his body a map of bruised skin and internal heat.
He reached the final threshold: the Root Chakra Gate.
He sat and attempted to force the energy through the 21st point into the Gate itself, but he was met with a wall as solid as the castle's foundations. Without the guidance of the Blood Ritual or the direct instruction of the Clan Lord—his father—a five-year-old body simply lacked the physical capacity to breach a Great Gate. He was at the absolute limit of what secret training could achieve.
With only one week left before the ritual, Kayden decided to leave his seclusion. He gathered the scrolls, his movements slow and mechanical. As he walked toward the massive arsenal doors, the world suddenly began to tilt. The weeks of sleep deprivation, the trauma of opening 21 points, and the constant drain on his vitality finally caught up to him.
His knees buckled. As he began to fall, a pair of withered, powerful hands caught him before he could strike the stone floor. The Elder, who had been watching the prince from the shadows of the library for weeks, sighed softly. He picked up the small boy and carried him deep into his personal quarters within the library, placing him on a bed of soft furs.
Kayden fell into a deep, restorative sleep. When he finally opened his eyes, the Elder was standing by the window, the violet light of the morning sun streaming in.
"You slept for six days, little prince," the Elder said, his voice a dry rasp. "The Blood Ritual begins tomorrow."
Kayden sat up, feeling the 21 points in his body humming with a new, settled power. The preparation was over. Tomorrow, the shell would begin to crack.