The Great Ancestral Hall was built to intimidate.
High, black-gilded stone pillars held up a vaulted ceiling painted with the heroic deeds of the Lin Clan's founders. Below them, arranged in a precise semicircle around the central altar, sat the governing body of the estate—a rigid hierarchy defined by age, blood, and cultivation stage.
At six years old, standing at the center of the cold stone floor, Lin Xuan took in the full array of clan authority for the first time.
At the absolute center sat Patriarch Lin Feng, his presence heavy and suffocating at Level 2, Sub-Level 9 of Meridian Cleansing. To his left sat First Elder Lin Zhen, a sharp-eyed man at Level 2, Sub-Level 7 of Meridian Cleansing, whose family held the clan’s central administration and financial ledgers. To his right sat Lin Xuan’s father, Second Elder Lin Shan, resting firmly at Level 1, Sub-Level 9 of Qi Gathering, commanding the clan's martial guards and iron mine defenses.
Flanking them were the Third and Fourth Elders—both clinging to the middle sub-levels of Qi Gathering—and behind them stood the next generation: the clan’s forty-two young disciples and cousins, all vying for resource allocations, spirit-pills, and elder favor.
Among the youths, two stood out as the clan’s golden standard.
First was Lin Kai, the sixteen-year-old son of the First Elder, who had reached Level 1, Sub-Level 4 of Qi Gathering—the highest among the younger generation, marking him as the indisputable future candidate for clan leadership. Beside him was fourteen-year-old Lin Yan, who held Level 1, Sub-Level 2 of Qi Gathering, boasting the raw physical strength to shatter granite with his bare hands.
The rest of the cousins fell into the lower ranks or remained unawakened, watching the ceremony with nervous, sweating brows.
Five elders, forty-two young descendants, and a single elderly Patriarch holding up the entire roof, Lin Xuan analyzed silently, his dark eyes sweeping over the seated elders. The foundation is paper-thin. If Patriarch Lin Feng collapses, the First and Second Elders don't have the cultivation depth to hold off external rivals from the mountain trade routes.
"Lin Xuan, step forward!"
The call came from the Ritual Director, a gray-haired steward holding a heavy mahogany tray. At the center of the tray sat the Awakening Stone—a polished, egg-sized orb of dark obsidian, carved with intricate Qi-conducting runes designed to draw out latent spiritual roots.
Lin Xuan stepped up to the altar without a trace of the nervousness that usually plagued six-year-olds. He looked down at the dark stone, a quiet, cold confidence stirring in his chest.
Let us see what kind of hardware this world gave me, he thought.
He extended his small, pale hand and pressed his palm firmly against the stone's cold surface.
For three quiet heartbeats, nothing happened. The hall remained silent, save for the crackle of torchfire along the pillars. First Elder Lin Zhen leaned forward slightly, a faint, skeptical frown tightening his brow, while Second Elder Lin Shan’s knuckles turned white where he gripped his armchair.
Then, the stone reacted.
A low, vibrating thrum echoed through the hall as the obsidian orb burst into light. But it was not the steady, single-hued glow of standard talent.
First came a brilliant, scorching Crimson Red, burning with the dense, fiery frequency of high-grade Fire Spirit Roots. The heat radiated outward, warming the faces of the nearby elders. But before the crowd could even gasp, a second hue fractured through the stone—a sharp, piercing Azure Blue, swirling through the crimson like twin serpents locked in a high-speed orbit.
Dual Spirit Roots. Fire and Water.
The Ritual Director dropped his ceremonial scroll. First Elder Lin Zhen half-rose from his chair, his eyes wide with shock. Lin Kai’s smug expression instantly melted into a dark, disbelief-filled grimace.
"Dual Spirit Roots!" the Ritual Director shouted, his voice cracking with disbelief. "Top-tier dual elemental affinity! A genius root configuration!"
At the center of the semicircle, Patriarch Lin Feng stood up. His immense pressure flared briefly in excitement, rattling the copper incense burners on the altar. "Good! Excellent! In a thousand years, our Lin Clan has finally produced an elite talent!"
Second Elder Lin Shan let out a deep, chest-rattling breath, a rare, radiant smile breaking across his rugged face as he looked down at his son.
Standing at the altar, surrounded by the sudden clamor, the cheering elders, and the jealous glares of his forty-two cousins, Lin Xuan slowly withdrew his hand from the cooling stone.
His tiny lips curved into a faint, unseen smirk.
Dual spirit roots. High-frequency energetic conductivity across two opposing elemental axes, Lin Xuan calculated, feeling the surge of validation wash over his soul. Fire to generate thermal drive, Water to regulate cooling and fluid dynamics. It's a dual-core engine.
The terror of his infant birth, the claustrophobia of his fragile body, and the authority of the elders all dissolved in an instant. He looked at Patriarch Lin Feng, at the First Elder, and at his talented cousin Lin Kai.
To Lin Xuan, they were no longer mountains to respect. They were crude, single-core relics of a primitive age—and he was the undisputed architect of the future.