Mei Lan woke to a sensation that was entirely new: she could feel the edges of the world.
For eighteen years, she had been numb—her body a cage of dull flesh, her mind clouded by the crushing weight of suppressed potential. She was a servant in the Lin household, her life defined by servitude and quiet despair.
But last night, she had found a small, obsidian-black pill on her bedside table. Driven by a strange, irresistible compulsion, she had swallowed it.
Now, her blood was singing. She felt not only the energy within her own body but also the faint, distinct hum of the metal serving knife resting on the dresser. Her true self—the Innate Sword Soul—had been unlocked.
Her cultivation, which had stagnated at the lowest level of Qi Condensation, shattered. The purification pill Lin Tian had provided acted as a perfect spiritual key, unlocking the vast, terrifying power of her soul. She rocketed through Qi Condensation and stabilized instantly at Foundation Establishment Stage 5.
But the breakthrough was messy, explosive, and impossible to hide.
A thunderous spiritual energy slammed against her humble dormitory door.
"Mei Lan! You filth, open this door!"
It was Elder Qi, a vicious, mid-stage Core Formation cultivator from the Azure Water Sect—Sect Master Luo's most loyal hound. He had been left behind to investigate the Sword Intent surge that had terrified his master in Chapter 5. Now, the powerful aura pouring from the servant's room confirmed his worst fears.
The caged monster is free, Elder Qi thought with chilling clarity. That power must be suppressed, or the Sect is doomed.
Mei Lan didn't hesitate. Survival instinct, amplified by the cold, pure fury of the Sword Soul, took over. She grabbed the metal serving knife, which instantly felt less like cutlery and more like an extension of her own nervous system.
She kicked the door outward.
Elder Qi, backed by six heavily armed Core Formation disciples, was ready for a panicked girl. He was not ready for the look in Mei Lan's eyes—a look of absolute, lethal clarity—nor the torrent of Sword Intent that erupted from her small frame.
The Intent was not physical energy; it was pure mental and spiritual pressure, honed by a perfect, reborn talent. It slammed into the disciples like a physical wave, causing them to stumble backward, gasping.
"Stop her! She is possessed!" Elder Qi roared, summoning a massive, heavy water trident.
Mei Lan moved. Her speed was startling, her movements guided by an instantaneous comprehension of the Dao of the Sword granted by her Innate Soul. She didn't use any formal technique; she used the knife as if it were simply cutting air.
The first three disciples fell instantly. Her metal knife, guided by her pure Foundation Qi, found the subtle weaknesses in their armor and meridians—weaknesses only the Innate Sword Soul could perceive. Blood spurted, and they dropped, their Golden Cores violently disrupted.
"Filth! You dare kill disciples of the Azure Water Sect?!" Elder Qi screamed, launching his trident with a thunderous force.
The trident, backed by Core Formation power, ripped through the air toward Mei Lan's chest.
Mei Lan didn't dodge. Guided by her Sword Soul, she knew the only way to break this attack was to break the will behind it. She channeled all the Foundation Qi she had just absorbed, focusing it to a single point in the air—the exact path of the trident.
CRACK!
Her metal knife, imbued with a perfect sliver of her Sword Intent, met the heavy spiritual artifact. The clash was not a collision of strength, but a collapse of concept. The Sword Intent was so much purer than the Core Formation Qi that the spiritual energy binding the trident instantly fractured. The metal trident bent violently, snapping in half with a deafening screech.
Elder Qi gaped, his mind unable to process the destruction of his treasured artifact by a kitchen knife.
Mei Lan didn't wait. As the Elder's moment of shock lingered, she closed the distance, her speed blinding. She aimed for his Dantian—the center of his Core Formation power—but aimed only to disrupt, not to kill.
The knife stabbed forward, a perfect, clean thrust. It struck the Elder's Core Formation barrier, shattering it like glass, and the force of her Sword Intent caused his Qi to instantly circulate counter-intuitively.
Elder Qi screamed, clutching his core, his cultivation immediately crippled. He fell to the ground, writhing in silent agony, his Core Formation realm destroyed.
The remaining disciples, witnessing the effortless defeat of their Elder, fled in terror, scattering toward the mountain path.
Mei Lan stood over the wreckage, her body trembling not from fear, but from the immense exertion and the euphoria of her newfound power. The kitchen knife was smoking faintly in her hand.
She didn't look back at the General's estate. She knew the General and Madam Lin were kind, but they were also a cage. Her destiny was not to serve, but to cultivate, to fight, and to stand at the apex of the Sword Dao.
With a final, decisive movement, she threw the broken kitchen knife into a nearby stream. It was a symbol of her past life.
She looked toward the far horizon, where the great, wild world began. She was no longer Mei Lan the servant. She was the vessel of the Innate Sword Soul, and she was free.
"Lin Tian," a cold, clear thought echoed in her newly opened consciousness, a name she shouldn't have known. "I owe you a life debt for the key."
She vanished into the forest, leaving behind the chaos and the Azure Cloud Kingdom. Her legend had begun.