The Immortal Heir; The Absolute Cheat

The freezing rain of the Iron-Blood Sect felt like shards of glass against Kai’s face.

He lay face-down in the mud of the outer disciple training grounds, his vision blurred with blood and dirt. Above him stood Young Master Chen, clothed in pristine, embroidered silk that didn't have a single drop of mud on it.

Chen’s foot was planted firmly on Kai's back, pressing down until Kai’s ribs groaned under the pressure.

"A piece of trash with a Cursed Core thinks he can speak to me?" Chen sneered, his voice carrying effortlessly across the courtyard. Around them, dozens of outer disciples watched, their faces twisted in mocking grins. Nobody stepped forward. Nobody cared.

"Please..." Kai choked out, coughing up a mouthful of crimson. "The marriage... leave my sister out of this. Your father crippled my father... isn't that enough?"

"Enough?" Chen laughed, a cold, sharp sound. He kicked Kai squarely in the ribs, sending him sliding across the wet dirt. "Your sister is a beauty, Kai. She will make an excellent concubine. As for you? You're an eyesore."

Chen gestured to two towering enforcers standing nearby. "He’s broken the sect rules by disrespecting a core disciple. Throw him into the Abyss. Let the monsters have what's left of him."

Kai tried to push himself up, but his limbs refused to cooperate. His spiritual roots were completely shattered, a birth defect everyone called the Cursed Core. He couldn't gather a single wisp of mana to defend himself. The enforcers dragged him roughshod across the stone tiles toward the back of the mountain, where a jagged, bottomless chasm split the earth.

The Abyss. A place where the sect threw failed experiments, corpses, and trash.

"Any last words, cripple?" one of the enforcers mocked.

Kai didn't beg this time. He glared through the blood dripping into his eyes, committing their faces to memory. "If I survive... I will tear this sect down, top to bottom."

The enforcers chuckled. With a brutal shove, they sent him flying over the edge.

The wind roared in Kai's ears as he plummeted into the pitch-black darkness. Rocks tore at his clothes and flesh as he bounced off the jagged walls of the chasm. Is this it? he thought bitterly, his heart burning with an agonizing, desperate rage. Am I dying as a nobody?

He hit the solid stone floor of the Abyss. The impact shattered what remained of his bones. A pool of dark, warm blood began to pool beneath his broken body. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. His consciousness was slipping away into the cold embrace of death.

Then, his blood seeped deep into the ancient, metallic black stone beneath him.

Hummmmm.

A strange, vibrating resonance echoed through the cavern. Deep within the earth, something that had been asleep for ten thousand years suddenly clicked.

A blinding, neon-blue light pierced the darkness, embedding itself straight into Kai's unseeing eyes.

[Ding! Host's life signs critical. Total cellular collapse imminent.]

[Detecting compatible soul wavelength... Matching 100%.]

[Initiating emergency binding: The Primordial Glitch System.]

Kai gasped, his eyes flying open as a mechanical, emotionless voice echoed directly inside his mind.

[Warning: Host's Cursed Core is preventing automated cellular repair. System override initiated.]

[Activating innate talent: Devourer Bloodline Extraction.]

[Scanning surrounding area for biological matter...]

[Found: Corpse of a Rank 2 Abyssal Shadow Wolf. Extracting...]

A spectral, dark mist rose from a decaying carcass a few yards away, flying directly into Kai's chest.

[Extraction successful! You have gained: +10 Strength, +5 Agility, and 'Shadow Veil' active trait.]

[Reconstructing shattered bones... Purging Cursed Core... Upgrading Spiritual Roots to: Tier 1 Heavenly Devourer Roots!]

An agonizing heat surged through Kai's veins, replacing the cold numbness of death. His snapped bones knit back together with sickening pops. The black, stagnant energy in his chest—the curse he had carried since birth—was brutally ripped out and consumed by the blue interface glowing in his mind's eye.

Kai leaped to his feet, gasping for air. He looked down at his hands. The cuts were gone. His skin looked healthier, and for the first time in his life, he could feel it—the raw, ambient energy of the world rushing into his body like a torrential river.

He wasn't a cripple anymore.

A glowing translucent panel floated in front of his face:

[STATUS PANEL]

Host: Kai

Realm: Mortal Cultivator (Tier 1)

Spiritual Roots: Tier 1 Heavenly Devourer Roots

Innate Ability: Extraction & Fusion (Level 1)

Current Traits: Shadow Veil (Rank 2)

Quest: Return to the Light. Escape the Abyss and exact vengeance on the Iron-Blood Sect. (Reward: Divine Dragon God Bloodline Fragment).

A feral smile broke across Kai's face. He looked up at the distant, tiny pinprick of light that marked the top of the chasm.

"Young Master Chen," Kai whispered, his voice dripping with venom as the blue light of the system reflected in his eyes. "I hope you enjoy your wedding. Because I'm coming to crash it."