"Do you really think I'd spend the rest of my life with a man who can't even master the clan's most basic techniques?"Helena's voice rang through the Sterling Clan's grand hall, instantly silencing the lively chatter.Gerry stood frozen in the dimly lit corner of the room, a stark contrast to Helena, who stood beneath the brilliant lights at the center of the hall, drawing every eye in attendance."Helena? What do you mean?" Gerry's voice came out hoarse. "Today's my twentieth birthday. We've been promised to each other since we were children."Helena let out a soft laugh, one that now felt icy to Gerry."Promised? That was my parents' decision, Gerry. Back then, they believed your damaged meridians would recover and that you still had a future." She stepped forward, her silver silk gown gliding across the marble floor. "Twenty years have passed, and you're still stuck at the lowest stage of cultivation. You're not just crippled, Gerry. You're a burden to anyone standing beside you."

Plunging into the depths of the earth did not kill Gerry immediately.The roar of rushing wind filled his ears as his burlap-wrapped body hurtled through the endless darkness of the Forbidden Abyss.The agony from the surgical wound at his side gradually faded beneath the crushing cold. The air grew heavier with every passing second, thick with the damp, stagnant scent of an abyss that had never known sunlight.Without warning, a violent impact halted his descent.His body slammed into the thick branch of a massive tree jutting from the cliff wall. The collision shattered two of his ribs, but the branch absorbed much of his momentum. He bounced through a tangle of branches before crashing onto the ground below.Gerry landed flat on his back.The burlap wrapped around him had been torn apart, leaving his skin exposed to the freezing earth at the bottom of the abyss.He looked upward.Far, far above, only the faintest glimmer of light remained visible at the mouth of the chasm.It was t

Gerry stood perfectly still, lowering his center of gravity into the stance he had once watched the clan guards practice countless times.His eyes locked onto the creature's throat."Come," Gerry whispered, his voice filled with challenge. "Be the first sacrifice to my rebirth."The wolf lunged.Gerry did not retreat.At the precise instant its claws slashed toward his head, he threw himself sideways.The wolf's claws ripped across his shoulder, but Gerry never lost focus.As the beast landed, its abdomen was briefly exposed.Using the momentum of his fall, Gerry drove the sharp stone in his hand into the wolf's hind leg with every ounce of strength he possessed.The crack of breaking bone echoed through the silent abyss.The wolf howled in agony and collapsed.Gerry gave it no chance to recover.Breathing heavily, rage surging through every vein, he charged.He possessed no sword techniques.No mystical powers.Only an overwhelming determination to survive after years spent living be

Gerry wiped the blood from his eyes with the back of his trembling hand.Without warning, a savage hunger twisted through his stomach.Back in the Sterling Clan, he had always been served the finest meals on silver platters.Now, as he stared at the blood-soaked carcass before him, all he felt was absolute hunger.He crawled toward it.Using what remained of the sharp edge on his stone, Gerry split open the wolf's chest.Nestled within its lifeless heart was a marble-sized crystal glowing with a deep violet light.The Monster Core.Without hesitation, Gerry pulled it free.His stomach growled again, demanding sustenance.His eyes fell upon the wolf's still-warm hind leg.Without fire.Without seasoning.He sank his teeth into the raw flesh.The sharp metallic taste of blood and the tough texture filled his mouth.It was revolting.Yet as he chewed and swallowed, warmth slowly spread from his stomach throughout his body.[Analysis: Host has consumed the flesh of a Body Refinement Stage

[This is the most efficient pattern for universal energy circulation, Host.]"Efficient for you... but not for me." Gerry forced his hand into a fist, even as every muscle spasmed violently. "Perfect meridians... would only make me equal to Dandy. I don't want to be his equal. I want to surpass him! I want something... they could never predict!"Gerry closed his eyes, forcing his will into the torrent of energy raging through his body. He remembered an ancient technique he had secretly read about in the Sterling Clan's forbidden library, The Broken Flow, a theory the clan elders had dismissed as worthless because it was believed to destroy the very foundation of cultivation.With unwavering determination, Gerry began drawing in the Abyssal energy Vesper was controlling. He forcibly redirected the current, steering it away from the safe pathways recommended by the system.[Warning! Error! Host is modifying construction parameters!][Interference Detected! Energy Pathway 4-A has been il