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Chapter 8 - Chapter 8: Awakening in Azure

Death, Marcus discovered, was surprisingly bureaucratic.

He floated in an endless white void, feeling neither hot nor cold, neither pain nor comfort—just a peculiar sense of existing without substance. After the agony of his final moments, the absence of sensation was almost disturbing.

"Processing..." A mechanical voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. "Soul designation: Marcus Chen. Karma evaluation in progress..."

Text materialized in the air before him, glowing with soft blue light:

[SOUL EVALUATION COMPLETE]

Lives Taken: 341 (-341,000 Karma) Lives Saved Directly: 43 (+12,900 Karma) Lives Saved Indirectly: 368 (+110,400 Karma) Souls Freed from Bondage: 17 (+51,000 Karma) Innocent Protected: 1 (+100,000 Karma) Redemption Arc Completed: (+75,000 Karma) [NET KARMA: +8,300]

"Positive karma detected. Calculating redemption parameters..."

Marcus—or whatever remained of him—wanted to laugh. Even death had spreadsheets.

"Compatible soul detected. Initiating transfer protocol."

"Wait, what transfer—"

The void shattered like glass.

Marcus felt himself being pulled, compressed, twisted through dimensions that shouldn't exist. Colors that had no names blazed past him. He heard music that was mathematics, tasted concepts that should have been impossible. And through it all, that mechanical voice continued its commentary:

"System binding initiated... Error. Previous life memories detected. Attempting to purge... Error. Soul trauma preventing memory wipe. Implementing workaround..."

"Workaround successful. Memories will be retained but sealed. Unlock conditions set."

"Transmigration complete. Welcome to the Azure Domain, Host."

Then darkness. Peaceful, complete darkness.

Until someone started slapping him.

"Third Young Master! Third Young Master Kael, stop pretending to be dead!"

The voice was young, male, and thoroughly exasperated. The slapping continued with increasing force.

Marcus—no, apparently he was Kael now—opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. Sunlight stabbed into his brain like needles, and his entire body felt wrong. Too weak, too small, too... different.

"Finally!" The face hovering above him belonged to a boy maybe fourteen years old, with sandy brown hair, honest brown eyes, and the kind of plain, forgettable features that would have made him excellent Syndicate material. He wore simple gray servant's robes with a wooden badge marking him as outer household staff. "Young Master, you've been unconscious for three days! The Patriarch is furious!"

Kael tried to speak, but his throat felt like sandpaper. The servant boy—Bei Chen, his new memories supplied—immediately offered a cup of water.

As Kael drank, two sets of memories collided in his mind like competing symphonies. One set belonged to Marcus Chen, twenty-eight-year-old assassin who'd died saving his sister. The other belonged to Kael Thornwood, fifteen-year-old waste who'd attempted suicide three days ago after years of humiliation.

The original Kael's memories painted a pathetic picture. Born to the prestigious Thornwood Clan of Silverleaf City, he'd been hailed as a potential genius until age ten, when an "accident" during training had shattered most of his meridians. Unable to cultivate, he'd become the clan's shame—bullied by servants, ignored by his father, tormented by his brothers.

Three days ago, after his second brother Darius had publicly beaten him and thrown him in the estate's pond, declaring him "not worth the air he breathes," the original Kael had swallowed an entire bottle of Meridian Severing Pills, hoping to end his misery.

He'd succeeded in dying. He just hadn't expected Marcus Chen to move in.

"Young Master?" Bei Chen's voice carried genuine concern. "Are you... yourself?"

Interesting question. Was he Kael Thornwood, failure? Or Marcus Chen, killer? Or something new altogether?

Before he could answer, text materialized in his vision:

[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE][Welcome, Host, to the Assassination Cultivation System][Your path to power begins with death—but not your own][Tutorial Quest Available: Survive the next 24 hours][Reward: 100 System Points, Basic Qi Gathering Technique][Failure: Death (Permanent)]

"System?" Kael whispered.

"What was that, Young Master?" Bei Chen leaned closer.

More text appeared:

[System functions are invisible to all but Host][Recommendation: Do not speak to System aloud unless alone]

Great. He'd been reincarnated into a cultivation world with a system that had a sense of humor.

Kael pushed himself up, noting how weak this body was. The original Kael hadn't just been unable to cultivate—he'd let his physical condition deteriorate to almost nothing. Thin arms, visible ribs, legs that trembled just from sitting up. Even before his enhancement training, eight-year-old Marcus could have snapped this body in half.

"Bei Chen," Kael said, testing the name. His voice was different—younger, softer, with a slight accent that marked him as nobility. "What happened while I was unconscious?"

The servant boy's expression darkened. "Second Young Master Darius told everyone you tried to kill yourself out of shame. He's convinced the Patriarch to remove you from the main family register unless you can prove you're not completely worthless."

"And how would I prove that?"

"Morning assembly is in an hour. All direct family disciples must demonstrate their cultivation progress." Bei Chen's voice dropped. "Young Master, forgive me, but... you can't cultivate. Your meridians—"

"Are damaged, not destroyed," Kael interrupted, the memories settling into place. "The original diagnosis was wrong."

Both sets of memories were analyzing the problem now. Marcus's experience with anatomy and pressure points combined with Kael's theoretical knowledge of cultivation. The meridians weren't shattered—they were blocked, twisted into knots that prevented qi flow. Painful to fix, nearly impossible for normal methods, but...

[System Analysis Complete][Host's meridians are 73% blocked][Repair possible with System assistance][Cost: 500 System Points][Current System Points: 0]

Well, that was unhelpful.

"Young Master," Bei Chen said hesitantly, "your father has summoned you to morning assembly. If you don't attend..."

"I'll be stripped of the Thornwood name entirely," Kael finished. The original's memories were clear on that. Magnus Thornwood didn't tolerate weakness, and a suicidal son who couldn't cultivate was the ultimate weakness.

Kael stood, his legs immediately protesting. The room spun, but he locked his knees and remained upright through pure will. Marcus Chen had once continued a mission with a punctured lung and three broken ribs. He could handle a weak body.

"Help me dress," he ordered Bei Chen. "Something clean but not ostentatious. I'm not trying to compete with my brothers."

As Bei Chen fetched clothing, Kael examined his new face in a bronze mirror. The boy looking back was handsome in an ethereal way—high cheekbones, delicate features that bordered on feminine, silver-white hair that fell to his shoulders, and eyes the color of winter sky. The Thornwood bloodline bred for beauty as much as power, though neither had helped the original Kael.

But there was something different now. The eyes that had been dull with despair in Kael's memories now held something else. Marcus's iron will, perhaps. Or maybe just the knowledge that he'd survived worse than anything this clan could dish out.

"Young Master," Bei Chen said as he helped Kael into deep blue robes marked with the Thornwood crest—a silver tree with roots of lightning. "Please be careful. Second Young Master Darius has been saying things... dangerous things."

"Such as?"

"That it would be better if you'd succeeded. That a dead waste is better than a living shame."

Kael filed that information away. In his past life, he'd have simply eliminated such a threat. Here, without power, he'd need to be smarter.

[Hidden Quest Discovered: Uncover the truth behind your meridian damage][Reward: 1000 System Points, Bloodline Awakening Stone][Time Limit: 30 days]

Interesting. The System knew something the original Kael hadn't.

The walk to the assembly hall was humiliating. Servants who should have bowed instead snickered. Outer disciples openly pointed and whispered. One group of younger disciples actually threw cultivation waste pellets at him—literal trash used as fertilizer for spirit plants.

The original Kael would have hung his head and endured. Marcus Chen catalogued faces, remembering everyone who showed disrespect. He might not have power now, but memory was its own weapon.

The assembly hall was a masterpiece of cultivation architecture—white jade floors inscribed with gathering formations, pillars of spirit wood that hummed with power, a domed ceiling painted with the clan's thousand-year history. It could hold five hundred people comfortably.

This morning, it held only thirty—the direct family and their personal guards.

At the hall's far end, on a throne carved from a single block of azure crystal, sat Magnus Thornwood.

The Patriarch was everything a cultivation clan leader should be—tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of presence that made the air feel heavier. His silver-white hair was pulled back in a warrior's topknot, revealing a face that could have been carved from winter stone. Sharp features, a blade of a nose, and eyes like chips of frozen sky. He appeared perhaps forty, though Kael's memories said he was approaching his second century. Core Formation cultivators aged slowly.

To his right stood Vale Thornwood, the eldest son. Twenty-two years old, Foundation Establishment Stage Three, already an inner disciple at the Azure Cloud Sect. He had his father's height but a scholar's build, with gentle eyes behind silver-rimmed glasses and an air of detachment that suggested he'd rather be reading than attending family politics. His robes bore both the Thornwood crest and the Azure Cloud Sect's insignia—a cloud pierced by a sword.

To Magnus's left stood Darius Thornwood, and Kael's new memories flared with old hatred.

Darius was eighteen, built like a warrior with broad shoulders and thick arms earned through brutal training. His silver-white hair was cut short in military fashion, and his face would have been handsome if not for the cruel twist to his lips and the cold satisfaction in his pale blue eyes. He stood at Qi Refinement Stage Nine, just a step away from Foundation Establishment, and his robes were deliberately cut to display the muscles beneath.

He was also, both sets of memories agreed, the one who'd destroyed the original Kael's meridians five years ago. The "training accident" had been anything but.

"So," Magnus's voice filled the hall without effort, "the suicide finally awakens."

Kael walked forward, noting how Darius's smirk widened with each unsteady step. Near the throne, he saw others—his father's advisors, the clan elders, and...

A girl, maybe sixteen, with midnight black hair and eyes like polished jade. She wore alchemist robes marked with a crescent moon. Ava Moonwhisper, the memories supplied. The clan alchemist's daughter, and the only person who'd shown the original Kael kindness in recent years. She watched him with genuine concern, one hand clutching a medicine bottle she'd probably brought for him.

"Father," Kael said, offering the shallowest bow that wouldn't be considered insult.

"You dare show your face after bringing such shame?" Magnus's voice could have frozen flame. "Attempting suicide because you're too weak to cultivate? Too pathetic to face your reality?"

"I apologize for my moment of weakness," Kael said, keeping his voice steady. "It won't happen again."

"No," Darius interrupted, stepping forward. "It won't. Because I propose we end this farce now. Strip him of the Thornwood name and cast him out. Better no third son than a waste who—"

"Who what?" Kael turned to face his brother, and something in his eyes made Darius pause. "Who embarrasses you? Whose very existence reminds everyone that the 'genius' second son needed to cripple a ten-year-old to secure his position?"

The hall went silent.

Darius's face flushed red. "You dare—"

"I dare speak truth," Kael continued, his voice carrying the cold certainty Marcus had used in interrogations. "Five years ago, during a training 'accident,' my meridians were damaged. You were my opponent. No one else was present. Curious, isn't it?"

"Enough!" Magnus stood, his aura pressing down on everyone present. Kael felt like a mountain had been placed on his shoulders, driving him to his knees. "You have no proof of such accusations."

[System Alert: Killing Intent Detected][Host's body cannot withstand this pressure][Emergency Protocol Activated][Assassin's Will: Temporarily resist one mental/spiritual attack][Cost: 10 years of accumulated killing intent]

Suddenly, the pressure felt like nothing. Marcus Chen had faced down warlords, crime bosses, and monsters in human skin. One angry father with magical powers? Please.

Kael stood up.

The entire hall gasped. A cripple with no cultivation shouldn't have been able to move under a Core Formation expert's aura, let alone stand.

Magnus's eyes narrowed. "Interesting."

"I propose a wager," Kael said, his voice cutting through the shocked whispers. "Give me thirty days. If I can reach Qi Refinement Stage Three—just the third stage—I remain a Thornwood and receive the resources due to a direct descendant."

"Impossible," Darius scoffed. "Your meridians are destroyed."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Kael replied. "Unless you're afraid I might succeed?"

Darius's hand went to his sword. "You little—"

"Accepted," Magnus interrupted, a calculating look in his eyes. "Thirty days. Qi Refinement Stage Three, demonstrated publicly at the clan tournament. Fail, and you leave with nothing but the clothes on your back."

"And if someone interferes with my cultivation? Sabotages my efforts?"

Magnus's gaze shifted to Darius. "Then they'll answer to me personally. You'll have thirty days of protection under clan law. No one may harm you directly."

"Indirectly?"

A cold smile. "Survive your own schemes, boy. That's part of cultivation too."

[Main Quest Updated: Reach Qi Refinement Stage 3 in 30 days][Reward: 1000 System Points, Clan Resources, Random Gold-tier Gacha Pull][Failure: Exile and loss of System]

[Hidden Quest Updated: Survive Darius's schemes][Reward: Variable based on methods used]

Kael bowed properly this time. "Thank you for the opportunity, Father."

As he turned to leave, he caught Ava's eye. She made a subtle gesture—meet her at the alchemy pavilion. At least one person might help him.

But it was Vale who surprised him. The eldest son stepped forward as Kael passed.

"Interesting accusation about the training accident," Vale said quietly, adjusting his glasses. "I was away at the sect when it happened, but I've always wondered... Darius's sword had traces of Meridian Severing Powder that day. He claimed it was from a previous training session, but..."

"But?" Kael prompted.

"But Mother died from Meridian Severing Poison two years before that incident. Father had all of it destroyed. So where did Darius get it?"

Vale walked away before Kael could respond, leaving that bombshell of information hanging in the air.

[Secret Quest Unlocked: The Truth of Aria Thornwood's Death][This quest chain will span multiple stages][First Stage: Investigate the source of the Meridian Severing Powder][Reward: ???]

As Kael left the hall, supported by the faithful Bei Chen, his mind raced with possibilities. This world had cultivation, magic, and powers beyond imagination. But it also had schemes, betrayals, and mysteries.

Marcus Chen had thrived in that kind of environment.

Kael Thornwood would too.

[System Shop Unlocked][Daily Quest System Unlocked][Gacha System Unlocked][Tutorial Period Active: All rewards doubled for next 7 days]

"Young Master," Bei Chen whispered as they walked, "how did you stand against the Patriarch's pressure? That's impossible without cultivation!"

Kael smiled, an expression that would have been foreign on the original's face but came naturally to Marcus.

"My dear Bei Chen," he said, patting the boy's shoulder, "I've survived worse than impossible. Now, let's go see what Ava wants. We have thirty days to achieve a miracle."

"And if we can't?"

Kael's smile turned sharp, reminding himself of the predator he'd once been.

"Then we'll cheat. Creatively."

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