Sovereign of Chaos

Chapter 3: Mysterious Stone Bead

Under the astonished gaze of the crowd, Edward, who had been dead, suddenly sat up in his coffin. It was as if a stretched spring had suddenly recoiled, eerie and without warning.

Clothed in black, with black lips, a black hat, and black eyes—

Everyone, except for Ethan, was horrified, their faces changing color. Even Olivia and Sophia were pale and retreated in fear.

"A ghost!"

The crowd scattered like frightened birds, especially the timid girls and boys, who hid behind their elders, crying hysterically.

Ethan's eyelids twitched and his palms were sweaty, but his deep bond with his grandfather from a decade of companionship kept him standing by the coffin.

"Grandpa, are you alright?" Ethan asked cautiously.

Under Ethan's watchful gaze, his grandfather's eyes seemed to regain some vitality, and his rigid face broke into a faint smile. He weakly raised his right hand from within the coffin, pointing at Ethan and then at his own mouth.

What did that mean? Did his grandfather have something to say or...?

As Ethan puzzled over this, he noticed that apart from the darkness around his grandfather's lips, they also seemed a bit raised.

Could there be something extraordinary inside his grandfather's mouth?

Ethan's heart raced as he cautiously glanced around. The nearest person was at least twenty yards away, tiptoeing and peeking carefully in his direction. They shouldn't be able to notice anything happening here.

After making these few movements, Edward seemed to have exhausted all his strength. His eyes lost their last glimmer of vitality, and his upper body collapsed heavily back into the coffin.

Edward's massive frame shook the black coffin violently, and at the same time, a stone bead the size of a goose egg slipped from his mouth.

"Grandpa!" Ethan exclaimed in alarm, reaching out to steady his grandfather.

At the same time, the crowd noticed the commotion and hurried towards the coffin—

Without time to think, Ethan quickly tucked the stone bead into his robe and collapsed in front of the coffin, sobbing.

Robert was the first to reach the coffin, followed by Sophia, Olivia, Marcus, and the other onlookers.

"He's finally dead for good!" Robert said. On his left, Aunt Eleanor Greyson looked sullen, as if she felt the whole ordeal had been ominous.

"Everyone, please seal the coffin and take the old man up the mountain as soon as possible. We appreciate your help," Robert said, bowing his hands, relieved.

"Robert, you're too polite!" The four pallbearers bowed in return, still shaken from the ordeal. "Yes, let's get up the mountain quickly. Today has been too strange."

...

In the dead of night, by the hill behind Ethan's house, Edward's grave lay solemnly. The first day of the seventh day since Edward's passing had arrived, and as was customary, a family member was required to keep vigil by the graveside for seven days. Great Uncle Robert and Aunt Catherine seemed to be eager for Edward to be laid to rest, and thus, would not come. With Ethan's father having disappeared years ago, this burden had fallen squarely on Ethan's shoulders.

On the second day of the ninth month, according to the Chaos Calendar, Ethan crouched by the grave, hugging his knees. Despite the late hour, he was unafraid. Not far from him, he had constructed a crude grass hut to serve as his resting place. For the next seven days, Ethan would not leave this spot.

Bathed in the silvery moonlight, a lonely shadow formed in front of Ethan. He had been crouching there for most of the day, motionless and without hunger, his eyes betraying a sorrow and desolation that belied his age.

"I wasn't there when Grandfather died," Ethan murmured to himself, feeling a pang of guilt. His grandfather had passed away from poisoning on the afternoon of the thirty-first day of the eighth month, while Ethan was apprenticing at a blacksmith shop in Stone Town. By the time he received news of his grandfather's condition and rushed home, it was already too late.

"Caleb…" Ethan clenched his fists tightly, then released them.

The events of the day flashed before his eyes: Robert, Catherine, Victor, Sophia, Olivia, and others; the character "endure" Sophia had given him on the mountain path; and the Stone Bead his grandfather had spat out before his demise.

"Ah, this Stone Bead…" Ethan rubbed the bead hidden in his pocket, then listened attentively for a moment to ensure no one was nearby before taking it out.

As the saying goes, children from impoverished families must grow up quickly. The harsh conditions of his upbringing had made Ethan more mature, cautious, and resolute than his peers.

"What's so peculiar about this bead that it came from Grandfather's mouth?" Ethan wondered, studying the Stone Bead.

It was the size of an adult's thumb, its surface uneven and crisscrossed with fine cracks. It was dull and unadorned, without any sign of peculiarity.

"I don't know why Grandfather treasured it so much, even keeping it in his mouth as he died," Ethan said, furrowing his brow.

After toying with the bead for a while and finding nothing remarkable, Ethan threaded a thin hemp rope through one of the cracks and fashioned it into a simple pendant to wear around his neck.

Then, he sat cross-legged with his palms facing each other and began to meditate.

Ethan knew that the practice of cultivation was divided into four realms: Strong Blood, Meridian Training, Bone Sacrifice, and Ascending to the Peak.

Each step was incredibly difficult, requiring talent, wealth, perseverance, and opportunity. Despite having practiced for over a year, Ethan had only reached the first level of the Strong Blood Realm. This wasn't due to a lack of talent, but rather the poverty of his family, which couldn't even afford the most basic cultivation methods!

The only first-level method, "Azure Ox Method," had been purchased for him by his grandfather, who scrimped and saved for years to afford it.

The "Azure Ox Method" was a widespread cultivation practice in Stone Town, comprising nine levels in total. Each level was more expensive than the last, and the final few levels were well beyond Ethan's means.

As for his enemy Caleb, Ethan knew all too well that he hailed from a wealthy family in town and was a high-ranking cultivator in the Strong Blood Realm, standing among the pinnacle figures in Stone Town.

Ethan managed a bitter smile and quickly put the thought out of his mind, focusing solely on meditation. Soon, the spiritual energy at the gravesite thickened, and a pale green vortex of energy formed around him, pouring into his body through the top of his head.

"Hmm?" Ethan opened his eyes in surprise. "The speed at which the spiritual energy is entering me seems unusually fast, doesn't it?"

Cultivation involved seizing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to transform oneself. The higher one's cultivation, the faster they could draw in the spiritual energy. Some legends spoke of powerful individuals who could drain the energy within miles in mere moments, a truly terrifying prospect.

"Something's not right! There's definitely a problem!" Ethan's eyes suddenly shot open. "There's no way I could achieve such a seizing speed with just the first level of the Strong Blood Realm!"

"Even a cultivator in the late stages of the Strong Blood Realm would likely find this speed impressive!" Ethan abruptly stood up, scanning his surroundings. "Could it be that my grandfather's burial site is actually a hidden cultivation treasure trove?"

Ethan inspected the gravesite more closely. It faced south with a northward backing, nestled between two high mountains and offering a sweeping view. In terms of feng shui, this location was considered a place of dragon veins. However, there were no spiritual herbs or immortal grasses, nor any signs of the legendary formations used by immortals to gather spiritual energy.

"Could it be…" A sudden flash of light crossed Ethan's eyes, and he stared intently at the ancient Stone Bead hanging from his chest. "Is it because of this Stone Bead?"