Kael's courtyard was a study in deliberate neglect.
Located in the outer section of the Thornewood estate, it had once belonged to a favored concubine a century ago. Now, weeds grew between cracked stones, the roof leaked in three places, and the cultivation mat in the meditation room had mold growing on it. The original Kael had lived here for five years, slowly drowning in despair as the clan literally let his world crumble around him.
Marcus Chen saw defensive positions, hidden spaces, and potential.
"Young Master," Bei Chen said apologetically as they entered, "I've tried to maintain it, but without funding..."
"You've done well with nothing," Kael assured him, cataloging the space. The courtyard formed a square around a dead garden, with four buildings—living quarters, meditation room, a study, and servant quarters where Bei Chen lived. "Tell me, why did you stay? The original... I wasn't worth serving."
Bei Chen's plain face flushed. "Three years ago, when I first arrived, the other servants were beating me for sport. I was new, weak, an orphan with no backing. You stopped them. You were already crippled, but you stood between me and five outer disciples and told them that harming your servant was harming you."
"They beat us both," Kael said, the memory surfacing.
"Yes. But you could have walked away. You didn't." Bei Chen straightened. "I swore that day I'd serve you until death. A beating shared is still better than a beating alone."
Marcus's tactical mind immediately recognized the value—absolute loyalty was rarer than cultivation treasures. But something else, something that might have been Kael's genuine emotion or Marcus's long-buried humanity, appreciated the simple devotion.
"Then we rise together," Kael said. "But first, I need information. Everything about the clan's current situation."
As Bei Chen talked, Kael explored his memories more deeply, painting a picture of the world he'd been reborn into.
The Thornewood Clan controlled Silverleaf City, a mid-sized city of perhaps half a million people in the Azure Domain of the Eastern Continent. They were considered a second-tier power—respectable but not exceptional. The clan had about three hundred direct members and three thousand branch family members, with influence over a dozen smaller families.
Their strength came from three sources: the Thornewood Lightning Bloodline (which manifested rarely), control of three spirit stone mines, and a secret realm that opened every five years for clan disciples.
The political structure was brutally simple:
- **Magnus Thornewood**: Patriarch, Core Formation Stage 9, approaching Nascent Soul
- **First Elder**: Magnus's brother, Maximus, Core Formation Stage 5
- **Second Elder**: Grandmother Elara, Core Formation Stage 7, currently in closed-door cultivation
- **Third Elder**: Uncle Cyrus, Core Formation Stage 3, handles clan finances
The younger generation that mattered:
- **Vale**: Eldest son, already established at Azure Cloud Sect
- **Darius**: Second son, the clan's "genius" approaching Foundation Establishment
- **Kael**: Third son, the crippled shame
- **Lyra Thornewood**: Cousin, Maximus's daughter, Qi Refinement Stage 7, publicly supportive of Darius
- **Marcus Thornewood**: Another cousin (the name made Kael twitch), branch family genius, Qi Refinement Stage 8
"The tournament in thirty days," Bei Chen continued, "isn't just about you, Young Master. It's the clan's younger generation competition. The top three get to enter the secret realm. Darius is expected to take first place easily."
"What's in this secret realm?"
"Inheritance sites from the clan founder, a Nascent Soul expert who ascended to the Spirit Realm eight hundred years ago. Cultivation techniques, treasures, pills—everything a cultivator needs to reach higher realms."
Kael nodded, filing the information away. A knock at the courtyard gate interrupted them.
Ava Moonwhisper entered, and Kael got his first clear look at his only ally. She was prettier than the original Kael's memories suggested—delicate features with high cheekbones, skin pale as moonlight, and those striking jade-green eyes that seemed to hold depths of knowledge. Her black hair was bound in an alchemist's practical style, with silver pins that were actually needle weapons (Marcus's assassin training immediately recognized). She wore dark blue robes embroidered with silver crescents, and carried a medicine box that probably cost more than Kael's entire courtyard.
But it was her expression that caught him—genuine worry mixed with something else. Guilt?
"Kael," she said, then caught herself. "I mean, Third Young Master—"
"Kael is fine. We're alone here except for Bei Chen, who's trustworthy."
She relaxed slightly, then held out a pill bottle. "Meridian Soothing Pills. They won't fix the damage, but they'll reduce the pain when you try to cultivate."
**[System Analysis]**
**[Low-Grade Meridian Soothing Pill x5]**
**[Effect: Reduces meridian strain by 30%]**
**[Note: With System optimization, efficiency can be improved to 90%]**
"Why?" Kael asked directly. "Why help me? Your father is Darius's supporter."
Ava bit her lower lip, a gesture that would have seemed calculated on anyone else but appeared genuinely nervous on her. "Because I know what really happened five years ago."
Both Kael and Bei Chen went still.
"I was there," she continued, voice dropping. "Hidden in the alchemy storage room. I saw Darius put Meridian Severing Powder on his blade. I saw him target your specific meridian points. It wasn't an accident—it was assassination that failed only because you were tougher than expected."
"And you said nothing?" Bei Chen's voice held unusual anger.
"I was eleven!" Ava's eyes flashed. "My father had just sworn loyalty to Darius's faction. If I'd spoken, we'd both be dead. But I've been trying to help since—every pill I've given you, every 'chance' encounter where I warned you about ambushes..."
"You've been protecting me," Kael realized. "Subtly, carefully, but protecting nonetheless."
She nodded, then pulled out a second bottle. "This is different. Spirit Gathering Pills, high-grade. They're meant for those at Qi Refinement Stage 5 or above, but..." she hesitated, "your situation is unique. Your meridians aren't truly destroyed—they're locked in a pattern I've never seen. These pills might force enough qi through to break the blockage."
**[System Analysis]**
**[High-Grade Spirit Gathering Pill x3]**
**[Warning: Using without proper cultivation base may cause severe damage]**
**[System Recommendation: Combine with assassination techniques for controlled breakthrough]**
"Or they might kill me," Kael noted.
"Yes," Ava admitted. "But you're going to die anyway if you can't cultivate in thirty days. Darius won't let you survive as a mortal."
"Speaking of Darius," Kael said, "tell me about my mother's death."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Ava's face went pale, and Bei Chen actually stepped back.
"That's... that's not something we discuss," Ava whispered.
"Vale mentioned Meridian Severing Poison. The same substance Darius somehow had access to years later."
Ava was quiet for a long moment, clearly wrestling with something. Finally: "Lady Aria Thornewood wasn't from here. She came from the Northern Wastes, from a clan that supposedly didn't exist anymore. She was... different. Her cultivation technique wasn't lightning-based like the Thornewood tradition. It was something else. Something that scared people."
"What kind of technique?"
"Shadow and death," Ava whispered. "They say she could kill with a touch, that shadows obeyed her commands. She was already Foundation Establishment Stage 9 when she married your father at eighteen. By twenty-five, she was Core Formation Stage 3, advancing faster than anyone in clan history."
"Then she died," Kael prompted.
"Then she was poisoned. Officially, it was a rival clan's assassination. But..." Ava glanced around nervously, "she was poisoned at dinner. Family dinner. Only clan members present."
The implications hung heavy in the air.
**[Memory Fragment Unlocked]**
**[Original Kael's suppressed memory: A woman with silver hair and kind eyes singing a lullaby. "Remember, little shadow, death is not the end. It's a doorway. Our bloodline doesn't fear it—we befriend it."]**
Kael gasped as the memory surfaced—not his, but the original Kael's, somehow preserved despite the soul transfer.
"Young Master?" Bei Chen moved closer, concerned.
"I remember her," Kael said slowly. "Just a fragment, but... she called me 'little shadow.'"
Ava's eyes widened. "The Shadow Phoenix Bloodline. There were rumors, but... it's supposed to be extinct. The Nether Phoenix clan was destroyed a thousand years ago for practicing death arts."
**[System Alert: Hidden Bloodline Detected]**
**[Shadow Phoenix Bloodline (Sealed)]**
**[Unsealing Requirements: Reach Foundation Establishment, Obtain Bloodline Awakening Stone, Discover True Heritage]**
**[Warning: Bloodline is 95% sealed by foreign technique]**
Now things made sense. Darius hadn't just attacked him randomly—he'd deliberately sealed a potentially powerful bloodline. And their mother's death...
"My father knew," Kael said with sudden certainty. "He knew what she was and either killed her for it or allowed someone else to."
"You can't prove that," Ava said quickly. "And even suggesting it..."
"Would be treason. I know." Kael stood, his weak body protesting. "But it explains everything. Why Vale stays away at the sect. Why Darius was so eager to cripple me. Why Father barely acknowledges my existence."
He looked at the pills Ava had brought, then at his status screen that only he could see:
**[Status]**
**Name: Kael Thornewood**
**Cultivation: Mortal (Damaged Meridians)**
**HP: 45/45**
**Qi: 0/0**
**Strength: 3**
**Agility: 4**
**Constitution: 3**
**Intelligence: 18**
**Wisdom: 16**
**Luck: 7 (Hidden)**
**System Points: 0**
Pathetic numbers for a cultivator. But he'd worked with worse.
"I need a cultivation technique," Kael said. "The clan won't provide one until I prove I can cultivate, but without one..."
"Catch-22," Bei Chen muttered, using a phrase that didn't exist in this world but somehow made sense.
Ava reached into her robes and pulled out a jade slip—a data storage device for cultivation knowledge. "Basic Qi Gathering Technique. It's the simplest, most widely known technique in existence. Even mortals can sometimes sense qi with it. But for you..."
"It's a starting point." Kael took the slip, noting how Ava's fingers lingered against his for a moment. The original Kael's memories stirred—he'd been in love with her, though he'd never said anything.
Marcus Chen recognized the look in her eyes too. Not love, not yet, but interest. The kind that could be cultivated (pun intended) into something useful.
"Thank you," he said, meaning it. "Both of you. But you should leave now. Being seen with me too much will draw Darius's attention."
After they left, Kael sat in the moldy meditation room and accessed the System shop for the first time:
**[System Shop - Daily Refresh]**
**- Mortal Grade Healing Pill: 10 SP**
**- Rusty Iron Sword: 15 SP**
**- Basic Cultivation Manual (Random): 100 SP**
**- Qi Gathering Formation (1-day): 50 SP**
**- Mystery Box (Bronze): 25 SP**
**- [LOCKED - Requires Qi Refinement]: ???**
Everything required System Points he didn't have. But there was another option:
**[Daily Quest Available]**
**- 100 Push-ups: 0/100**
**- 100 Sit-ups: 0/100**
**- 100 Squats: 0/100**
**- 10 Kilometer Run: 0/10km**
**- Reward: 10 System Points, +1 Random Attribute**
Kael almost laughed. The System wanted him to do basic training in a cultivation world. But then again, the original Kael's body was so weak that this might actually be life-threatening.
"Fine," he said to the empty room. "Marcus Chen learned to kill starting with push-ups. Kael Thornewood will learn to cultivate the same way."
He dropped to the ground, his weak arms shaking as he attempted his first push-up. He managed three before collapsing.
**[Achievement Unlocked: The First Step]**
**[Even the longest journey begins with a single step—or in your case, three push-ups]**
**[Reward: 5 System Points, Recovery Potion (Small)]**
A small vial materialized in front of him. Kael drank it immediately, feeling strength return to his muscles.
Ninety-seven push-ups to go.
As he continued, forcing his weak body through exercises that would have been trivial in his past life, Kael's mind worked through the puzzles:
1. His mother was from an extinct clan with death-based powers
2. She was murdered at a family dinner
3. Darius had access to the poison used
4. His own bloodline was deliberately sealed, not accidentally damaged
5. Vale knew something but stayed away for safety
6. His father either orchestrated it all or allowed it
The picture forming was one of deep conspiracy within the Thornewood clan. The original Kael had been too weak and naive to see it.
But Marcus Chen had spent twenty years navigating betrayal and shadows.
**[Daily Quest Progress: Push-ups 10/100]**
His arms burned, his lungs screamed, but he continued. Each push-up was a small rebellion against fate. Each movement declared that Kael Thornwood would not go quietly into the night.
Outside, storm clouds gathered over Silverleaf City. The Thornwood clan's lightning bloodline resonated with storms, and somewhere in the main estate, Darius was probably cultivating, drawing power from the tempest.
But in a decrepit courtyard, in a moldy meditation room, something else was beginning. Not lightning, but shadow. Not a genius's rise, but an assassin's rebirth.
**[Hidden Quest Updated: Unlock the Shadow Phoenix Bloodline]**
**[First Step: Survive the next 30 days]**
**[Reward: Bloodline Partial Awakening]**
Thunder crashed overhead as Kael collapsed at fifty push-ups, his body failing despite his will.
But tomorrow he'd do fifty-one.
And the day after, fifty-two.
Marcus Chen had become Ghost through pain and persistence.
Kael Thornwood would become something even greater.
He just had to survive long enough to prove it.