Ashbone: The Record of Burning Heaven

Chapter 2: The Touch of Ruin

The smell of rotting flesh filled the ice chamber. It was coming from Elder Gu, who was currently rolling on the ground, clutching the stump of his shoulder. His severed arm lay a few feet away, already reduced to a pile of white dust.

"You... you devil!" Elder Gu shrieked, his face twisted in horror. "What kind of demonic art is this?!"

Lin Jin didn't answer. He looked at his own hands.

Pale. Veiny. Surrounded by a faint, distorting grey mist.

He felt light. The crushing weight that had sat on his chest for eighteen years was gone, replaced by a cold, hungry current flowing through his veins.

Is this power?

"This is merely a taste," the ancient voice echoed in his mind, dripping with arrogance. "Now, look ahead. Your 'dear father' seems upset."

Lin Xiao, the Patriarch of the Lin Family, was indeed upset. But he was a veteran warrior. His shock lasted only a second before his expression turned to ice.

"I knew it," Lin Xiao said, his voice vibrating with Spirit Qi. "I should have strangled you at birth. You are a curse upon this family."

Clang!

Lin Xiao drew the sword at his waist. The blade shimmered with a blue light—the ‘Frost Stream Sword,’ a High-Grade Spirit Weapon that had cost the family a fortune.

"Die, monster!"

Lin Xiao lunged. The air temperature dropped instantly. A wave of freezing sword energy slashed toward Lin Jin’s neck.

Lin Jin stood still. He had never fought before. He didn't know how to dodge.

"Raise your left hand," the voice commanded. "Don't block the energy. Catch the blade."

Catch the blade? It will cut my hand off!

"Trust me. Or die."

Lin Jin grit his teeth and raised his left hand, palm open, directly intercepting the descending sword.

SLAM!

The sharp blade hit Lin Jin’s palm. But there was no sound of cutting meat. Instead, there was a sickening sound of sizzling acid.

HISS—

Lin Xiao’s eyes widened in disbelief. The blue light on his precious sword flickered and died. Where Lin Jin’s hand touched the metal, grey spots spread rapidly like a plague.

"What?" Lin Xiao gasped.

"Break," Lin Jin whispered. It wasn't him speaking; it was an instinct he didn't know he had.

He clenched his fingers.

CRACK!

The High-Grade Spirit Weapon, famous for its durability, shattered into a thousand rusted fragments.

Lin Xiao was forced back by the recoil, staring at the hilt left in his hand. It was already corroded, looking like it had been buried in the mud for a century.

"My sword..." Lin Xiao’s face flushed red with rage. "You unfilial beast! That was worth ten thousand gold coins!"

"You tried to sell my life for a bottle of marrow," Lin Jin said, his voice flat. "And you care about a sword?"

"You are nothing but a resource!" Lin Xiao roared, gathering a massive ball of blue energy in his fist. "If I can't harvest you, I will destroy you!"

The pressure in the room skyrocketed. Lin Xiao was a Spirit Core realm cultivator. Even without a sword, his raw energy was enough to crush a mountain rock.

"Careful, boy," the Entity warned, its tone shifting to urgency. "Your body is still trash. You blocked the sword, but your bones are cracking under the pressure. You cannot win a prolonged fight. Yet."

Lin Jin felt it too. A sharp pain shot up his arm. Blood trickled from his nose. The Corrosion Power was strong, but his body was too weak to channel it for long. If he fought his father head-on, he would explode.

"What do I do?" Lin Jin thought desperately.

"We leave. But first... let's bring the house down."

Lin Jin’s gaze shifted to the pillars supporting the underground ice chamber.

"Touch the ground. Release everything you have."

Lin Xiao charged, his fist glowing like a meteor. "DIE!"

Lin Jin didn't dodge. He slammed both palms onto the frozen floor.

"Corrosion Wave!"

BOOM!

A shockwave of grey mist exploded outward, not towards Lin Xiao, but into the floor and the walls.

The Thousand-Year Ice, hard as steel, instantly turned grey and porous. The structural integrity of the entire cave vanished in a heartbeat.

RUMBLE...

The ceiling groaned. Giant chunks of rock and ice began to fall.

"You lunatic!" Lin Xiao halted his charge, looking up in terror as a massive boulder crashed down between them. "You'll bury us all!"

"I am already in hell, Father," Lin Jin smiled. It was a broken, jagged smile. Blood stained his teeth. "I'm just dragging you down with me."

Dust and debris filled the air. The cave began to collapse.

Lin Xiao was forced to retreat, grabbing the screaming Elder Gu and jumping back toward the exit to avoid being crushed.

"Block the exits! Seal the mountain!" Lin Xiao shouted to the guards outside as he fled. "Don't let that monster escape!"

Inside the collapsing chamber, Lin Jin fell to his knees. He was exhausted. A heavy rock was falling straight for his head.

"Move!"

The Entity surged one last time, forcing Lin Jin’s legs to move. He dove into a narrow fissure in the wall—an underground drainage channel that led deeper into the earth, away from the family estate.

Behind him, the Bone Prison collapsed completely, burying his past, his pain, and his innocence under tons of rubble.

Darkness swallowed him as he slid down the wet, slimy chute.

He was alive.

He was an outcast.

And for the first time in his life... he was dangerous.

End of Chapter 2