The affinity crystal trembled violently in Cairen's hands, cracks spreading across its surface as if thousands of threads were writhing within it, ready to explode.
The dry sound of cracking echoed through the courtyard as the sect leader and Elder Xu looked at Cairen with tense eyes.
"Damn, the crystal is about to explode!" Elder Xu said in a low voice, already gathering Qi so that, if something happened, he could try to save Cairen.
The sect leader didn't take his eyes off the crystal, also focusing completely.
"Not yet… He's close… very close, almost there."
At that moment, the Qi around the crystal stirred. The Qi was pulled even more intensely, being foolishly drawn into the crystal. The Qi collided and fused rapidly.
Then, within seconds, all the Qi concentrated inside the crystal. And then—
Crack!
A huge fissure appeared in the crystal, but before it could shatter, a deep dark-gray light burst forth. The light was intense and swallowed all other colors. The Qi inside the crystal, along with the crystal itself, disintegrated into particles that were sucked into Cairen's body.
And then, silence returned.
The leader and the elder were about to use their Qi to protect Cairen, but it wasn't necessary. In the end, it seemed everything had gone well. They exchanged glances, feeling the same thing.
Cairen had broken through and advanced to the second realm, awakened his affinity, and formed his dantian, all at once.
Meanwhile, Cairen remained still with his eyes closed.
Inside his mind, the system's voice rang out clearly once more.
Ding!
[Secondary Mission Completed!]
{Rewards: Fallen Affinity Awakened, Personal Fallen Ability Unlocked}
Cairen's heart raced at the sound, but before he could react or feel happy, a deep pain spread throughout his body, as if countless hot, heavy chains were being forged within him, inside his veins and tendons.
Dark veins appeared and spread beneath all his skin, forming patterns that resembled thousands of black chains. The chains ran along his arms, chest, back, and legs, as if he were being bound by invisible shackles.
At that moment, an even stronger pain flared on his back, as if something were being branded onto him, but it disappeared shortly after it came. And just like the pain, the invisible chains vanished completely.
The system's voice returned as Cairen took a deep breath.
[Personal Fallen Ability Acquired: Shackles of the False Genocider.]
At that moment, Cairen had a quick vision but understood instantly what it meant and how to use his ability. Unlike The Serpent's Plague, which he only knew how to use because of the Fallen Narakai, this ability was his. He understood why it appeared and how to use it the moment it emerged.
Cairen opened his eyes slowly, still feeling a strange weight in his hands, as if something wanted to burst out at any moment, the chains wanted to emerge.
He wanted to check his status but decided to leave it for later, since the leader and Elder Xu were approaching.
"Are you alright?" the leader asked, looking him up and down.
"Yes… I just feel a little different. Stronger," Cairen replied, trying to hide his excitement and the urge to use his ability.
The leader nodded at that, becoming less concerned. Then Elder Xu's voice came.
"Boy, what were those new marks on your body? Did your bloodline ability evolve?"
Cairen thought for a moment and realized that they had probably seen the chains running over his body when his ability awakened. He hadn't seen them, but he had felt them.
"Something like that… I think. I'm not sure yet."
"Alright, you can figure out more about your bloodline later. But for now, congratulations! For stepping into the second realm. But…" The leader paused, looking at Cairen.
"Old Xu and I have no idea what your affinity is."
"Yes, I thought it would be poisonous Qi affinity, but it's not, and it doesn't resemble any common element we know. It could be something rare, like sword affinity or sound affinity. I've even heard of musical Qi affinity," Elder Xu added, stroking his beard.
"And how can I find out?" Cairen asked.
"Hmmm, the King has the Record of Affinities. An ancient book that contains the record of all affinities ever seen since the founding of the Rhyne Kingdom. Perhaps, if you can read it, you'll find yours."
"I'll send a letter to the royal city. It may take a few days, but we'll have an answer. So, wait until then."
"In the meantime, don't worry, even if your main affinity is unknown and not poison, your bloodline still grants you affinity with it," the leader said.
"So it's possible to have more than one affinity?" Cairen asked curiously.
"Yes. Everyone has a predominant affinity, but some have a secondary one. I, for example, have affinity with both poison and wind."
"But following two paths is difficult and risky. It requires more resources and monstrous talent, as your cultivation speed drops by half when cultivating two types of Qi. And if the affinities are conflicting, cultivating them together could result in crippling injuries."
"It's not ideal, but cultivating with your secondary affinity is still possible. And even if it's not your main one, I'm certain your poison affinity is greater than anyone else's in this sect. The fact that your blood contains a poison of such magnitude without harming you makes that clear." The leader spoke seriously before stepping forward and adding,
"I'll give you three months to temper your body with your affinity and follow your main path. But if you can't, follow the poison path. If you wait too long to decide, you'll miss the perfect period for cultivation."
"You're already starting late, so you can't afford to waste time. The first years of cultivation are essential, after that, breaking through a realm becomes increasingly difficult."
Cairen thought for a moment before the system spoke again in his mind.
'Ding!'
[Secondary Mission: Temper your body with the Fallen Affinity]
{Reward: Random 3º grade Fallen Bloodline}
As soon as he saw this, Cairen's breathing quickened, and a smile formed on his face.
"I'll find a way to temper my body and follow the path of my affinity," Cairen said firmly, looking at the sect leader.
The man stared at him and saw in Cairen's eyes a sudden determination, though he didn't know the reason, but that was good. So he nodded.
"Good. In two days, your ceremony will take place, on the same day the other core disciples return from their mission. You'll be introduced to all the disciples, and word will spread across the country that the Poison Sect has a new core disciple."
"When the King responds, I'll take you to the royal city. Until then, Old Xu will handle whatever you need." He turned and left so fast Cairen couldn't follow his movement.
Then Elder Xu smiled and said,
"Come, young one, now we'll test your bloodline ability."
Cairen nodded, and they left together.
The two went to a secluded courtyard at the back of the sect. Mountain walls surrounded the place. In the center of the courtyard were five training dummies, several stone and metal containers, and a large iron cage with a wild beast inside.
The beast had black fur and yellow eyes, growling low at Cairen, its claws scratching the floor of the cage. Cairen felt it was different from the ones he had killed, if he faced it head-on, he knew he would lose. At least if he fought with only physical strength.
"I've prepared this place to test your ability. I want you to use it on that target over there," the elder said, pointing to the first stone dummy. Then he tossed a small dagger to Cairen.
He nodded and caught the dagger, making a small cut on his hand, but at that moment, a drop of blood fell onto the blade, producing a hissing sound. Moments later, all that remained of the dagger were traces of what it had been.
Cairen and the elder looked at it in silence.
…
..
.
Time passed, and night was already falling. Elder Xu had simply made Cairen use his blood on different targets, wood, stone, metals, and even a living beast with strength comparable to the early third realm, the Qi Accumulation Realm.
The results were simple and direct. Anything touched by the blood was corroded, but the speed and extent varied until the blood lost its potency and vanished.
Ordinary wood was destroyed in seconds, resistant metals and stones lasted a little longer. As for the beast… well, it didn't even survive long enough to finish a scream.
In the end, Elder Xu concluded that the poison didn't just corrode physical matter but also seemed to weaken the victim's Qi, which explained why the beast fell so quickly. But the elder noted that if the beast had a higher cultivation, like in the next realm, it could form barriers with its affinity, and as long as the blood didn't reach it, nothing would happen.
"Your blood corrodes both matter and energy. I've never seen anything like it. In time, it could become truly unblockable, at least physically. You can now easily kill anyone in the third cultivation realm. But in the next realm, it'll be impossible for now."
"But with training, and as your strength grows, the power can increase and become impossible to defend against."
However, the elder also warned him that this was his own blood, so using too much would weaken him, and that wouldn't be good. Not until his body was strong enough to recover from the damage quickly.
Finally, he asked for a little of Cairen's blood for study. Several containers were destroyed until a special wooden jar, made from the Iron-Scaled Tree along with other materials, finally resisted.
Cairen was surprised that wood could withstand what even iron could not, but the elder just smiled, as if expecting the result.
"Hm, as I suspected, if your blood doesn't start corroding something, the poison will remain the same and won't lose its strength until it hits something it can corrode. This way, I can study it and find ways to create new poisons or see how to amplify the power of your bloodline." The elder's eyes gleamed with a manic light. Without wasting any more time, he vanished from in front of Cairen, leaving him in the courtyard full of destroyed things.
"Time to head home and finally check my status. I can't wait for this!" Cairen said as he ran toward his cave.