THEY SACRIFICED ME, NOW I RULE THE CULTIVATION WORLD

The first time Lucian Voss called me useless that evening, the entire hall laughed. The second time, even the servants joined in.

I stood beneath the crystal lights of the Voss family estate, holding a glass of untouched wine while cultivators twice my strength discussed me as if I were a stain on the floor.

“Three years, and he still cannot gather a thread of spiritual energy,” Lucian said, turning his glass between his fingers. “Elara, you must have the patience of a saint.”

“I didn't marry you to entertain your cousins,” I said.

The laughter faded. Lucian's smile sharpened, but before he could answer, Elara crossed the hall.

“My husband has done nothing to deserve this,” she said, her voice calm enough to quiet the nearest table.

Lucian lifted his glass in mock surrender. “Of course. I wouldn't want to upset the lady of the house.”

Elara took my arm and led me away before I could respond. Her touch was light, but her hand trembled.

When we reached the side corridor, she stopped beside a window overlooking the estate gardens. “Don't go back to our room tonight.”

I studied her. “Why?”

“Kael, you need to leave this estate before tomorrow night.”

“What happened?”

She glanced toward the hall. “I can't explain here. Just trust me and stay away from the main building.”

Darius Voss sat at the head of the long hall, his silver hair combed back and his expression carved into something colder than stone.

When everyone had gathered, he raised one hand.

“Tomorrow night, the Voss family will perform the ancestral foundation ritual,” he announced. “The formation has been prepared, and our guests will witness the renewal of our family's strength. This ritual will secure our position for generations.”

“Kael Mercer will serve as the offering.”

“What kind of offering?” I asked.

Darius regarded me as if a chair had spoken. “You have been given a place in this family despite your condition. Tomorrow, you will repay that kindness.”

“By doing what?”

Lucian laughed under his breath. “At least he has finally found a use for himself.”

Darius did not rebuke him. “You should consider it an honour. The ritual requires a suitable vessel, and your damaged spiritual roots make you fit for the role.”

I looked around the hall. No one appeared surprised. The elders had known. The servants had likely known. Even the guests seemed to understand more than I did.

My eyes found Elara. Her face had lost its colour.

I found Elara waiting near the staircase, her composure finally breaking.

“Tell me the truth,” I said. “What happens tomorrow?”

She shut the door to a small sitting room and faced me.

“The ritual needs a living sacrifice,” she said. “The formation will drain your life and use what remains to strengthen the family's foundation.”

“They chose me because I can't cultivate,” I said.

“They believe your shattered roots will make the sacrifice easier to control.”

“And you knew?”

“I found out months ago.” Her eyes glistened, but she did not look away. “I tried to stop it. My grandfather made me swear an ancestral oath. If I openly oppose the ritual or reveal certain family secrets, the oath will punish me. I can barely speak about it without feeling the seal tighten.”

“Was our marriage part of this from the beginning?” I asked.

Elara lowered her eyes. “My grandfather arranged it. I didn't know the full reason when I agreed.”

“Why tell me now?”

“Because I won't let them take you without trying to save you.” She reached into her sleeve and placed a small key in my palm. “There is a service passage behind the western storehouse. It leads beyond the outer wall. The guards change at midnight. You must go before then.”

“What about you?”

“I can't leave with you. They would know I helped, and the oath would—” She stopped, pressing a hand to her chest. “Just go, Kael.”

I closed my fingers around the key. “I'm not leaving you to face them alone.”

“You can't protect me if you're dead.”

Elara led me through a narrow corridor and into the rear courtyard. She pointed toward a low wooden door.

“Keep to the shadows,” she whispered. “Don't use the main road.”

I had taken only a few steps when a voice cut through the darkness.

“Where do you think you're going?”

Lucian stood beside the storehouse with four guards behind him. His smile showed that he had been waiting.

“So this is what you've been doing,” he said. “Helping the sacrifice escape.”

Elara stepped forward. “Let him go.”

Lucian's expression hardened. “You know what Grandfather will do if he discovers this.”

“He already knows what he intends to do to Kael.”

“Then don't make things worse.”

He gestured, and the guards moved at once. The first guard struck my stomach. I doubled over, and another blow caught my cheek before I could recover.

Lucian watched with open amusement. “You should have accepted your place. Tomorrow would have been quick.”

A guard seized my collar. I drove my elbow backward and twisted free, stumbling into the narrow path beyond the courtyard. Someone shouted for the others to catch me.

The path climbed toward the rocky ground behind the property. Ahead, the ground seemed to end beneath a tangle of vines. I veered to avoid them, but the soil gave way under my foot.

I fell through the darkness.

My shoulder struck stone, then my back hit the ground hard enough to drive the air from my lungs.

I forced myself onto one elbow. The place was a cave, but unlike any natural hollow I had seen. Strange markings covered the walls in precise lines, their shapes too deliberate to be scratches. A faint warmth stirred beneath the stone, and dust trembled from the ceiling.

I reached for the wall to steady myself. The moment my fingers touched one of the markings, a deep vibration passed through the cave.

Then a voice sounded inside my head.

It was low and ancient, yet clear enough to make every hair on my arms rise. I looked toward the cave entrance, but there was no one there.

“After ten thousand years,” the voice murmured, “I have finally found you.”

My throat tightened. “Who are you?”

A quiet laugh moved through my mind, carrying a weight that seemed to press against the walls.

“The one who may make you rule this world,” it said, “or devour your soul.”

The markings blazed brighter, and the darkness around me began to move.

I had no reason to trust them.