The sky was bleeding.

  Dark clouds rolled over the Skyblade Sect as thunder cracked like the rage of the heavens. Lightning lit up the towering cliffs, where disciples stood gathered in a circle—silent, tense, watching.

  At the center knelt Li Feng, the once-proud heir of the sect.

  His white robe, once a symbol of his unmatched talent, was now stained with blood and betrayal. His dantian had been shattered. His limbs trembled, not from pain—but fury.

  Before him stood Yu Xuan, his childhood friend. Once the sworn brother who vowed to protect him, now the traitor who had struck him from behind.

  “Why, Yu Xuan?” Li Feng spat blood. “I treated you like family…”

  Yu Xuan’s smirk was cold.

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  “And that was your greatest mistake.”

  Next to Yu Xuan stood Elder Mo, his master—no, his executioner. The very man who taught him swordsmanship now gazed at him as if he were trash.

  “You were growing too fast, Li Feng. Too powerful. Even the Sect Leader feared what you'd become,” Elder Mo said. “And power… must be controlled.”

  Li Feng laughed. A bitter, broken laugh.

  “So you crippled me? Betrayed me for balance?”

  Elder Mo gave a subtle nod.

  “For harmony. For the greater good.”

  Thunder cracked again.

  Without warning, two inner disciples grabbed Li Feng by the arms. He struggled, but his shattered meridians screamed with pain. They dragged him to the edge of Heaven’s Cliff—a thousand-meter drop into the abyss where beasts roamed and no cultivator returned.

  “Exile him. Let the beasts finish what we started.”

  Yu Xuan stepped forward.

  “Goodbye, Brother. Try not to haunt me in your next life.”

  And with a swift push—

  Li Feng fell.

  The wind howled like a wailing spirit. Rocks blurred. The world spun.

  “This is how I die?”

  As darkness closed in, a voice whispered—not from the world around him, but from deep within.

  [System Booting… Initiating Heaven’s Wrath Protocol…]

  [Welcome, Reclaimer.]

  Then—nothing.

  Li Feng awoke to the stench of rot, sweat, and damp earth.

  He lay in an alley, covered in rags. His body felt weak, unfamiliar… but he was alive.

  The system voice returned:

  [Reincarnation Complete.]

  [Host: Li Feng]

  [Body: Crippled Beggar – Qi Level 0]

  [Objective: Reclaim your strength. Avenge your fall. Rewrite fate.]

  His eyes narrowed.

  “So this is my second life…”

  His fists clenched.

  “Then I’ll rise—stronger than ever. And this time, I’ll burn the heavens if I have to.”

  End of Chapter 1