ASCENSION OF THE FORSAKEN DISCIPLE

Chapter 2:The Forbidden Grounds And The Martial Ascension System

"Trash like you don’t deserve to wear the robes of Azure Cloud Sect."

Li Shen’s words still echoed in Kai Lin’s ears as he dragged the wooden bucket of rags and brushes down the crumbling steps that led to the Ancestral Trial Grounds. The punishment had been announced coldly by Elder Zhao Tianren, his indifferent eyes hiding something …. mockery, perhaps, or even disdain.

Now, every step Kai took carried the weight of humiliation. His limbs ached from hours of failed training drills and his ribs throbbed from where Li Shen had struck him during the sparring practice.

 And still, he had been cast into the most feared corner of the sect as if he were nothing more than refuse.

The Ancestral Trial Grounds was once a holy site where legendary disciples sought enlightenment. He had long since been abandoned. Rumors whispered through the sect that the grounds had become cursed, that spirits of the dead roamed freely, and devoured the weak who dared enter. For Kai Lin, it was more than punishment. It was an exile.

The heavy wooden gate groaned as Kai pushed it open. Dust and cold air swept across his face, and a faint coppery tang like dried blood clung to the air.

Fallen statues of long-dead patriarchs lined the walls. Their stony eyes were already cracked and hollowed. Broken prayer tablets littered the ground. Kai saw strange and twisted carvings writhed across the moss-covered floor as though alive. 

Kai shivered, clutching his rag as though it were a sword.

"Why am I even here?" he thought bitterly. His chest tightened as he recalled the sneers of the other outer disciples.

“Trash with broken meridians.”

“He’s wasting resources.”

“Even beggars outside the sect are stronger.”

The words cut sharper than blades. Kai’s fists trembled, but he was powerless. His meridians were shattered, the channels within his body that once should have carried spiritual qi were fractured beyond repair. No amount of training, no pill, and no elder’s mercy could mend them.

And so, Kai had lived the last four years as nothing more than a punching bag for others. His only legacy being humiliation.

But when he closed his eyes, he remembered a different image. His father’s firm grip on his shoulder and the warmth of his laughter.

"One day, Kai, you’ll rise above them all."

Yet his father had vanished, leaving nothing behind after he clashed with elders, daring to expose the corruption. Some said Zhao Tianren had been involved.

Kai clenched his jaw. “Father… what did you leave me with? Nothing but shame?”

Hours passed as Kai swept broken stones and wiped ancient dust from cracked walls. His hands bled from jagged edges, but he pressed on. Anything was better than thinking of Li Shen’s laughter.

Then, he noticed it.

At the far end of the hall, half-buried beneath collapsed rubble was a faint golden shimmer glowing. Kai froze with his heart pounding. He dropped his broom and knelt, clearing away the debris with trembling fingers.

Beneath the dust lay a tablet unlike any he had ever seen. Its surface was jet-black stone, very smooth and yet etched with patterns of stars that seemed to twist as he looked closer. 

It was chains of radiant light woven of divine energy bound tightly together as though the heavens themselves had sealed it away.

The carvings on its surface pulsed faintly with power, whispering to his soul.

Kai’s breath caught. “What… is this?”

A normal disciple would have run. A wise disciple would have ignored it. But Kai Lin was neither. He was broken, mocked and abandoned. what did he have left to fear? Nothing. 

Almost without thinking, he reached out. His fingers brushed the surface and something happened…

A voice thundered inside his mind. It was ancient yet sharp, as though the heavens themselves spoke to him. 

 “System initializing… Synchronizing host… Searching for compatibility…” 

Kai gasped and staggered back, clutching his skull. Golden runes exploded before his eyes and  floated midair like celestial fire. They rearranged themselves into glowing lines of text only he could see.

“Synchronization complete. Martial Ascension System has chosen Host: Kai Lin.” 

His heart pounded hard against his chest. “System? Chosen… me?”

The text pulsed again.

 “Welcome, Host. The Martial Ascension System exists to forge those abandoned by fate into true sovereigns of the Martial Path.

Features available: Quest System. Stat Integration. Martial Techniques Library (Locked). Ascension Trials (Locked).” 

Kai’s lips trembled as he staggered backwards. This had to be an illusion. Maybe a fever dream born of despair. 

Another panel appeared right in his vision,

“First Quest Unlocked

Quest: Break Free From Mortality.

Objective: Absorb the Fragment of the Ancient Martial Core sealed within the tablet.

Reward: Reconstruction of damaged meridians, base stat awakening.

Failure: Spiritual collapse - Death.”

Kai’s blood ran cold.

“What's happening?”

He stumbled back, shaking his head. “No… this is insane. I can’t…if I fail…”

But then he remembered Li Shen’s sneer, Zhao Tianren’s cold eyes and the word trash echoing in his ears. If he refused… if he lived like this… was that not worse than death?

His fists clenched. For once, his eyes burned with determination and a reason for survival. 

“I have nothing left to lose. If the heavens want me dead, so be it. But I won’t die crawling like a dog.”

Kai pressed his hand against the tablet again. At once, the divine chains unraveled, dissolving into streams of golden light that coiled around his arm like serpents. The air trembled.

From the depths of the tablet, a fragment of blazing crystal emerged - the shard glowed with pure martial essence. It shone brighter than the sun, a Martial Core Fragment, something even sect patriarchs would kill for.

The fragment shot forward, embedding itself into Kai’s chest.

“...AARGH!” He groaned. 

Kai collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing violently. White-hot pain tore through him as the fragment’s energy surged into his shattered meridians. His veins bulged, glowing like molten rivers, as cracks split across his skin.

Every nerve screamed. His lungs felt as if they were on fire. His bones rattled as if they would shatter into dust.

The system’s voice echoed coldly,

 “Commencing Martial Core Fusion… Estimated survival rate: 12%.” 

Kai clawed at the ground, blood spilling from his lips. He wanted to scream, but no sound came only a ragged growl of defiance.

“Not… like this… I refuse… to break!”

Visions swirled before his eyes,  Li Shen’s mocking grin, the outer disciples spitting the word trash and  Zhao Tianren turning his back on him, and his father’s last smile.

He bit down so hard his teeth cracked. “I’ll… rise… even if it kills me!”

The tablet pulsed again, its surface glowed with ancient runes. Energy poured from it in torrents, slamming into Kai’s body like tidal waves.

The ground quaked and statues shook. Dust rained from the ceiling as the entire hall trembled with great power.

Kai’s meridians which was once broken, jagged fragments of pathways began to knit together under the burning light. But the process was painful. It tore him apart only to rebuild him stronger.

Blood burst from his nose and ears. His vision blurred, but the golden text burned clearer than ever:

“Core fusion: 40%… 55%… 70%...” 

Each percentage was agony, every moment was a war between life and death. But Kai clung on as his nails dug into stone and his teeth gritted against the wave of destruction.

Finally…

 “Core fusion: 100%. Host survival confirmed.” 

Kai collapsed flat on the floor. His chest heaved as though he had run a hundred battles. His entire body was drenched in sweat and blood, but beneath the pain something new surged within him.

Kai felt a faint warmth flowing through his veins.

It's the Qi.

For the first time in years, Kai felt the breath of life energy coursing through him. His meridians were whole. His body was elegant with vitality.

Tears welled in his eyes. “I… I can cultivate?”

The golden screen appeared once more before his eyes, 

“Quest Completed: Break Free From Mortality

Reward Granted: Meridians Reconstructed. Base Stats Unlocked.”

The tablet flared again, brighter this time around, as if responding to Kai’s rebirth. Ancient runes moved outward and it painted  the hall with blinding light. 

The very air crackled with divine pressure.

Kai shielded his face, but the voice of the System echoed one last time that night,

“Prepare yourself, Host. This is only the beginning. To ascend, you must endure trials that will shatter your limits.” 

The ground split beneath him and energy surged upward like a volcano. Kai’s scream echoed through the forbidden grounds.