The Forsaken Disciple: Rise of the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 4: The Heaven-Origin Spiritual Root (Part I)

“The first seal...”

The Forgotten Immortal’s fingertip came to a halt a breath away from Chen’s forehead.

Golden light gathered at its tip. It was no brighter than a candle flame, yet its radiance made the entire celestial palace tremble as though it could no longer bear the force awakening within it.

Beyond the open hall, billions of stars pulsed in unison, while the endless rivers of starlight flowing through the void suddenly reversed their course.

Beneath Chen’s feet, the giant chessboard dissolved into countless glowing runes that spiraled upward around him like living dragons.

Every instinct within Chen screamed at him to retreat.

His body wanted to step back, to turn, to flee, because every fiber of his being understood that the moment the old man’s finger touched him, the life he had known would vanish forever.

The Forgotten Immortal seemed to read the fear in his eyes. “There is still time to refuse.”

Chen blinked, startled by the offer. “...Refuse?”

“If I break the first seal, the path before you will never again belong to an ordinary man.”

His voice echoed softly through the silent palace, but the gentleness of his tone could not lessen the weight of his words.

“You will lose the right to live unnoticed. You will become a beacon, and those who seek your bloodline will sense your existence. The fragile peace you have known, however painful it may have been, will end forever.”

A heavy stillness settled between them.

Chen lowered his head, and a bitter smile touched his lips.

Peace?

Had he ever truly known such a thing?

Every sunrise had begun with ridicule, and every night had ended in disappointment. Every hope he had dared to nurture had eventually been crushed beneath the laughter of those who believed strength alone determined a person’s worth.

He looked down at his worn hands and saw the history written across them. There were calluses from years of sweeping stone paths, scars left behind by endless beatings, and the fresh cut across his palm where the broken jade had drawn his blood.

Then, unbidden, the memories returned.

He saw his mother’s tear-filled eyes as she held him close. He saw his father standing alone before impossible enemies, sword in hand, facing a fate he must have known he could not escape.

They had not abandoned him. They had died protecting him.

Chen’s fists slowly tightened. “If I refuse...” His voice was quiet, but it no longer trembled. “...will I remain the same?”

The old immortal met his gaze without flinching. “Yes.”

Chen took a slow breath. “And if I accept?”

The Forgotten Immortal’s eyes seemed to contain the weight of countless forgotten ages. “If you accept, you will suffer. You will lose. You will bleed. You will bury people you cannot bear to lose.”

Then, after a brief pause, a faint smile appeared on his face. “But you will finally become yourself.”

Chen closed his eyes. For years, he had blamed Heaven, cursed fate, and resented the world for the life it had given him. Now, however, he understood something far more painful than any of those grievances.

His greatest enemy had never been weakness itself. It had always been the chains wrapped around that buried strength.

When he opened his eyes again, not a trace of hesitation remained. “I accept.”

The Forgotten Immortal nodded once. “As your ancestors once did.”

At last, his glowing fingertip touched Chen’s forehead. Everything exploded not outward, but inward.

Pain beyond anything Chen had ever imagined erupted through his body. It was as though countless invisible blades were tearing through every hidden meridian beneath his skin, cutting through him again and again without mercy.

A scream ripped from his throat and echoed across the palace before vanishing into the endless sea of stars. His knees slammed against the jade floor.

Blood burst from the corners of his mouth, and his muscles convulsed so violently that he could barely remain upright. “What...” He gasped for air, his words breaking apart under the strain. “...is...”

Another wave of agony crashed through him before he could finish.

The Forgotten Immortal stood motionless before him, his face untouched by triumph. There was only quiet sympathy in his eyes. “The seal is resisting.”

At that moment, golden chains appeared around Chen’s body.

One coiled around his right arm, another wound around his left, and then more began emerging from his chest, his legs, and his neck until they covered him in a web of radiant restraints.

There were hundreds of them, then thousands, each one inscribed with ancient runes that grew brighter with every passing second.

They had not been placed upon him from the outside. They had always been there, hidden beneath his flesh and buried even deeper within his soul.

The Forgotten Immortal extended both hands, and the chains began to tremble.

“You endured five years believing yourself broken,” he said, his voice resonating through the palace like a decree from an age-long past. “Now... endure the truth.”

One chain shattered. CRACK!

The sound thundered through the palace and seemed to echo across heaven itself.

The instant that first chain broke, a torrent of spiritual qi burst from within Chen’s body. The palace shook, the surrounding stars dimmed, and another wave of unbearable pain surged through every meridian he possessed.

Then, for the first time in his life, he felt them. He felt his spiritual pathways.

Countless invisible rivers stretched throughout his body, intricate and alive, as though they had been waiting in silence for this very moment. They had always existed, dormant and hidden, only now beginning to awaken.

Another chain exploded. Then another, then ten more in rapid succession.

Each shattering released another flood of pure spiritual essence into his body. Chen’s breathing grew ragged as he reached instinctively toward his chest. “I...” His voice quivered with disbelief. “...I can feel it...”

Tears blurred his vision, not because of the pain, but because of what that pain revealed.

For five years, he had struggled desperately to sense even the faintest trace of spiritual qi. He had failed every time. Not once had he felt a response, but now the entire world seemed to come alive around him.

The air shimmered with power. Every star beyond the palace radiated boundless energy, and every breath he drew brought streams of spiritual essence rushing into his body.

He did not need to force the qi to enter. It surged toward him willingly, as though greeting someone from whom it had been separated for countless ages.

The Forgotten Immortal watched him quietly. “It remembers you.”

Despite the agony, Chen forced himself to look up. “...Remembers?”

“Spiritual qi possesses no consciousness,” the old man said, a faint smile touching his lips. “But Heaven does.”

Another chain shattered. This time, something black began to pour from Chen’s skin.

A thick, foul-smelling substance seeped from every pore, coating his arms, his face, and his robes in a slick layer of filth. The stench was so overwhelming that Chen gagged at once. “What... is this?”

“Impurities,” the old man replied calmly. “Not ordinary impurities, but the remnants left behind by the seal.”

More black liquid burst from Chen’s body, and each drop that struck the jade floor hissed before evaporating into smoke. The palace itself seemed to breathe easier with every moment, as if an ancient poison were finally being purged from its presence.

Chen’s body suddenly felt lighter. His breathing steadied, and his senses sharpened to a terrifying degree. He could hear distant rivers flowing somewhere far beyond the palace walls.

He could smell the fragrance of flowers blooming in places his eyes could not reach. He could even sense the slow movement of stars revolving around worlds unimaginably far away.

His entire existence had changed.

Then, without warning, a thunderous heartbeat echoed through the palace. It was not Chen’s heartbeat. It belonged to something else, something far older and buried far deeper within him.

The old immortal’s expression turned solemn. “It awakens.”

Golden light erupted from Chen’s chest. The countless broken chains dissolved into dust, and deep within his spiritual sea, a single root appeared.

It was not made of wood, nor crystal, nor light in any ordinary sense.

It resembled a young sapling forged from liquid gold and flowing starlight. Its roots stretched endlessly downward into an ocean Chen could not see, while its branches reached upward toward an invisible heaven beyond comprehension.

With every heartbeat, another leaf unfolded, and within each leaf glittered countless tiny stars.

The Forgotten Immortal lowered his head. For the first time since Chen had met him, the ancient guardian bowed.

“The Heaven-Origin Spiritual Root...” His voice was filled with unmistakable reverence. “...has awakened.”

Chen stared at the impossible vision within his consciousness. He could feel it breathing. He could feel it growing. He could feel it living.

It was not merely a part of him. It felt instead like an ancient companion that had finally opened its eyes after an endless sleep.

Then the root pulsed once, twice.

A wave of golden light spread through his entire spiritual sea, dissolving the surrounding darkness as something vast and ancient began to emerge from beyond the radiance.

Chen instinctively held his breath. It was not another spiritual root, nor was it another seal. It was a book.

Ancient and solemn, it floated before him in silence, bound in weathered black leather that seemed untouched by time itself. Golden characters slowly emerged across its cover, each stroke shining with an authority that made the surrounding space tremble.

Primordial Immortal Scripture.

The book hovered before him, its mere presence enough to make the void around it quiver. The Forgotten Immortal smiled. “It has accepted you.”

Chen slowly reached toward it.

Before his fingers could touch the cover, the book opened on its own. Its pages began to turn as though guided by an unseen will, but the motion soon halted.

Every page beyond the first was sealed shut by brilliant golden chains inscribed with ancient runes. Only a single page remained open. Written upon it were four glowing words.

Worthiness unlocks destiny.

Chen frowned as he stared at the message. “Only... one page?”

The Forgotten Immortal’s smile slowly faded. “There has only ever been one.”