On the trial platform, Ye Yun knelt.
Not because he had lost—but because everyone forced him to kneel.
His orange battle robe was trampled into the mud as surrounding disciples laughed and hurled broken stones at him. "Natural ruler? What a joke! Couldn't even withstand the second move—how dare you claim supremacy?"
"Get down from there! A stray dog like you, with no sect or lineage, dares to compete in the Sect Selection?"
He said nothing, his knuckles white with clenched fists, his forehead pressed against the cold bluestone. His lightning灵root raged within his meridians, tearing through flesh like electric currents—but no one knew this was the curse sealed by his mother with her dying breath. To them, he was just a monster, an abomination that should never have existed.
Just as an adjudicator raised his flag to disqualify him, a bell rang out.
Nine chimes.
The entire arena fell deathly silent.
An elder with white hair descended from the sky, followed by the sect’s so-called “Chosen One,” its top disciple. The crowd immediately dropped to their knees, shouting, “Master!”
But the elder didn’t spare a glance for those bowing. His eyes locked solely on the boy in the mud.
“Who is today’s number one?” he asked.
The air froze.
A trembling voice answered, “M-Master… it was Senior Brother Chen—he won in a single move, sweeping through sixteen rounds…”
The elder sneered. “I asked—who shook the Trial Stele?”
At his words, everyone turned sharply.
The ancient bronze stele, unmoved for a thousand years, now bore a jagged crack, lightning flickering within. Characters glowed upon its surface: **The True Dragon Stirs**.
And at the base of the stele, reflected in shimmering light, was a single name—**Ye Yun**.
"Impossible!" Senior Brother Chen roared. "He didn't even pass the second round!"
"But he endured until the ninth breath," the elder said calmly. "The Trial Stele does not judge victory or defeat—it judges the fire in one's heart."
"You see failure. I see a man nearly crushed, yet still holding up the heavens with nothing but his bones."
Wind rose, flapping Ye Yun’s tattered battle robe.
Slowly, he stood, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth—and smiled.
The elder stared at him, then suddenly dropped to one knee, holding forth a jade insignia engraved with a dragon pattern:
"Three hundred years ago, our founding ancestor also knelt in dust and shame. Today, I welcome our new king—in the name of the world."
Silence swallowed the heavens.
Those who once mocked him collapsed in terror, while the boy once called 'monster' took one step forward—cracking every bluestone tile beneath his feet.
In the next instant, thunder split the sky, as if heaven itself were parting the clouds for his ascent.
Yannick Young thought he was just another weak disciple. But when he aces a deadly sect trial, the truth hits—he’s anything but ordinary. Jealous rivals, secret mentors, and ancient enemies stand in his way. Is he ready to claim the power he never knew he had?
