The **Central Plaza** pulsed with light and music.
Spotlights swept across marble tiles as banners bearing the sigils of the **Four Great Families** waved in the wind. The elite of the city gathered in luxury suits and ceremonial robes, sipping wine and flattering each other under gold chandeliers hung in open air.
Tonight was the **Gala of the Heirs**.
And into that world of crystal smiles and cruel bloodlines…
**walked a man in torn hospital clothes.**
Ren Wei.
His face bruised.
His arm still bound.
But his eyes — calm.
Security moved fast.
> "Sir, you're not on the guest li—"
He raised a hand. Silent.
Then revealed a small object from inside his sleeve:
A **jade token**, glowing faintly — marked with a crown and three floating characters.
The **Han Crest Token.**
The guards froze. One of them turned white.
> "Wait... is that real?"
Gasps rippled. Murmurs spread like fire through dry leaves.
Atop the stage, the **heirs sat like emperors.**
One of them — tall, robed in dark red with long tied-back hair — **laughed cruelly.**
> **Li Zhengyu**, heir to the Li Family:
> "Look at this. The cockroach crawls back to the table."
Ren didn't respond. He kept walking.
> *Ding!*
> **Side Quest Activated – "Cause Public Panic"**
> *Objective: Instill genuine fear in at least one heir within 2 minutes.*
> *Reward: Spiritual Root Cleansing – +10%*
> *Penalty: Realm Downgrade*
Zhengyu scoffed and leapt from the stage.
> "That token's fake, peasant. Han Suiren's been dead for decades."
He stepped forward, arm outstretched — ready to snatch the token.
That's when it **happened**.
The jade flared **crimson**.
Invisible force lashed out like a thunderclap.
**Crack!**
Zhengyu's arm **bent backward at the elbow.** His ribs shattered with a sickening pop.
He collapsed to his knees, coughing blood, screaming.
And then—
> *"Mock the Han Crest again…
> and your next breath will be your last."*
**Han Suiren's voice**, echoing from the jade itself — ancient, cold, godlike.
Silence fell.
Then—
Screams.
Panic.
Dozens fled the plaza.
One of the heirs tried to jump off the stage.
> *Ding!*
> **Quest Completed: Public Panic Achieved.**
> **Reward Granted: Spiritual Root Cleansing – Absorption Rate +10%**
Ren Wei smiled.
> "Let the games begin."
The echo of shattered bones still lingered in the air.
Li Zhengyu groaned, blood pooling beneath him as medics rushed forward — none daring to touch him without looking at Ren Wei first.
Ren walked up the red-carpeted stairs in silence.
Eyes locked on the broken heir, he stood tall.
Then — he raised his foot.
A quiet gasp spread through the crowd.
> "One stomp," he said, calm as death,
> "That's all it takes now."
He held it there — high enough for Zhengyu to see it. Feel it. Fear it.
Then, slowly, he lowered it again.
> "You're not worth killing yet.
> When I kill you... it'll be with *my* power — not Han Suiren's shadow."
> "That way, no one will dare say it was borrowed strength."
He turned.
> *Ding!*
> **Main Quest Updated: "Walk the Path Alone"**
> *New Enemy Interest Detected: ???*
> *Warning: Unknown cultivator has sensed your presence.*
> *"Your power attracts more than revenge."*
He stepped forward again. Toward the mic.
They were still live.
Everyone could hear.
He didn't yell. He didn't need to.
He spoke softly — like a storm about to break:
> "You mocked the weak.
> Called it fate.
> Let me tell you something...
> The era of kneeling is over."
> "Four great families? You're nothing but worms waiting for a shoe."
The plaza was silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop blowing.
Then Ren Wei tossed the jade token onto the ground. It clinked once. Loud enough to make some flinch.
> "This token… isn't protection.
> It's proof that even the heavens watch."
He turned and walked down the stairs.
**Security didn't move.**
**The crowd parted.**
Some raised phones. Some just stepped away, eyes wide.
And in the crowd — a young cultivator, maybe no more than sixteen, quietly dropped to one knee.
No words. No gesture. Just silent reverence.
The first to recognize the path.