C2: The hambinger of their nightmares

Lin Xiao moved through the moonlit paths of the Lin Clan estate like a shadow given form. The iron sword at his waist felt light, almost eager. Every step echoed with the weight of eighteen years of suppressed rage. The System’s blue interface hovered at the edge of his vision, a constant, cold reminder of his new reality.

【System Explanation: Plunder Module】
The cold mechanical voice spoke directly into his mind.
【By killing those who have caused you significant harm or possess usable cultivation, you may extract a portion of their life essence, talent fragments, and cultivation base. Efficiency increases with Host’s System Level and the target’s resentment toward you. Warning: Excessive Plunder without sufficient willpower may cause inner demons.】

Good, Lin Xiao thought, his inner voice laced with venom. I have more than enough resentment to fuel an ocean of inner demons.

A vivid flashback hit him as he passed the training grounds where he had been humiliated countless times.

Three years ago.

He had just turned fifteen. Excited to finally show his father’s old training manual, he demonstrated a basic fist technique in front of the clan’s outer disciples. Lin Feng, already at Body Refining 7th Stage, had laughed loudly and stepped forward.

“Watch how a real genius does it, trash.”

One casual palm strike had shattered Lin Xiao’s shoulder and sent him flying into the dirt. While he lay there groaning in pain, Lin Feng had pressed a foot on his chest and spat on his face. The surrounding disciples roared with laughter. Even the servants who once served his father joined in.

“Son of the previous Clan Head? More like the clan’s eternal shame!” one had shouted.

His uncle — the current Clan Head, Lin Zheng — had watched from a pavilion above without a word. Their eyes had met for a brief moment. Lin Zheng’s gaze held not pity, but cold calculation. Keeping the “useless nephew” alive maintained the illusion of family unity while he slowly devoured the true power and treasures left by Lin Xiao’s father.

The memory burned like acid in Lin Xiao’s chest. His grip tightened on the sword hilt until his knuckles turned white.

No more.

He reached Lin Feng’s luxurious courtyard. Lanterns still burned brightly. Laughter and the sound of wine cups clinking spilled into the night. Lin Feng was celebrating his “victory” with two outer sect guests and several beautiful servant girls.

Lin Xiao kicked the courtyard gates open with a bang. The wooden doors splintered.

Everyone inside froze.

Lin Feng sat at the head seat, his handsome face flushed with alcohol, right arm still wrapped from the earlier beating he had given. When he saw Lin Xiao standing tall and uninjured, his expression twisted from shock to mocking disbelief.

“Well, well. The dead dog crawled out of his kennel. Come to beg for mercy, cousin?” Lin Feng laughed, but there was a flicker of unease in his eyes. He wasn’t stupid — something was very wrong. The useless trash should still be coughing blood and broken.

One of the outer sect guests, a thin man named Zhang Mu with a snake-like smile, sneered. “Young Master Feng, this is the famous waste of your clan? He looks almost presentable after you ‘educated’ him.”

The other guest, a burly man called Hu Wei, cracked his knuckles. “Shall we help you finish the job properly this time? I’ve always wanted to cripple a former young master. It’s good sport.”

Lin Xiao’s lips curled into a slow, dark smile. His inner monologue raged:

*Look at them. So comfortable in their cruelty. They don’t see a person — they see entertainment. Livestock to be stepped on. I will teach them what true fear tastes like.*

【System Alert: High resentment detected from targets Lin Feng, Zhang Mu, and Hu Wei. Plunder efficiency +45%.】

“Beg for mercy?” Lin Xiao repeated softly. “No, cousin. I came to collect.”

He moved.

Shadow Step activated. His figure blurred, leaving afterimages. In a heartbeat he was in front of Zhang Mu — the one who had suggested crippling him for sport.

The iron sword flashed upward in a clean, merciless arc.

Sching!

Zhang Mu’s right arm severed at the shoulder before he could even raise his guard. Blood sprayed across the feasting table like dark wine. The man screamed.

Lin Xiao didn’t stop. He spun, driving his elbow into Zhang Mu’s throat, crushing his windpipe with a wet crunch. As the man fell, Lin Xiao’s sword plunged downward, pinning him to the floor through the chest.

【First Plunder in combat initiated… Extracting…】
【+180 System Points. + Body Refining 6th Stage essence fragment. Minor talent shard acquired.】

The rush of energy flooded Lin Xiao. He felt stronger, sharper.

Lin Feng shot to his feet, knocking over his wine cup. “Impossible! You— what kind of sorcery is this?!”

Hu Wei roared and charged like an enraged bull, pulling out a heavy iron staff. “Die, you freak!”

The fight exploded.

Hu Wei swung his staff with crushing force, aiming to smash Lin Xiao’s skull. The air whistled. This was no simple bully — Hu Wei was a veteran Body Refining 9th Stage fighter who had killed multiple opponents in underground arenas. His attacks were brutal and experienced.

Lin Xiao dodged with Shadow Step, but the staff grazed his shoulder, tearing his robe and drawing blood. The pain only fueled his rage.

Flashback hit again.

Last year, during the clan’s annual hunt. Lin Xiao had managed to kill a low-level spirit beast after hours of effort. Before he could claim the valuable core, Hu Wei — invited as an honored guest — had snatched it and kicked him into a ravine filled with poisonous thorns. “Trash doesn’t deserve rewards,” he had laughed while Lin Feng clapped.

Lin Xiao’s eyes turned bloodshot.

“You like breaking people?” he hissed.

He closed the distance inside Hu Wei’s guard. The sword became a storm. Detailed slashes rained down — one across the thigh, severing muscle, another across the chest, opening ribs. Hu Wei bellowed in pain and tried a desperate counter-swing.

Lin Xiao caught the staff with his bare hand, bones creaking but holding thanks to the recent breakthroughs. With God-tier Comprehension, he instantly analyzed Hu Wei’s fighting style — full of brute power but riddled with openings.

He headbutted Hu Wei, shattering the man’s nose, then drove his sword upward through the jaw and into the brain.

Hu Wei died standing, eyes wide with disbelief.

【Major Plunder successful!】
【+650 System Points. Body Refining 9th Stage essence absorbed. Strength talent fragment acquired.】

Power surged through Lin Xiao. He broke through to Body Refining 9th Stage on the spot. His muscles swelled slightly, veins bulging with newfound vitality.

Only Lin Feng remained.

The once-arrogant cousin had backed against the wall, face pale. Two servant girls huddled in the corner, trembling. Lin Feng’s usual cruelty had cracked, revealing the spoiled, cowardly core beneath the bravado.

“W-wait, cousin! We’re family! Whatever I did, it was just jokes! Uncle put me up to most of it — he wanted you weak so he could control the clan’s hidden treasures from your father!”

Lin Xiao walked forward slowly, sword dripping blood.

Inner monologue:
Family? You dare speak that word now? You enjoyed every second of my suffering. You made sure I had no allies, no resources, no hope. Even now, you try to shift blame instead of facing your sins.

“Jokes?” Lin Xiao’s voice was ice-cold. “Every broken bone, every public humiliation, every time you stole my share of resources and women I never even wanted — those were jokes to you?”

He grabbed Lin Feng by the throat and lifted him off the ground effortlessly. Lin Feng kicked and struggled, but it was useless.

Lin Xiao activated the breathing method at full power. Dark, chaotic energy swirled around him.

“I will not kill you quickly,” he whispered. “That would be too merciful.”

He slammed Lin Feng onto the table and systematically broke both his arms and legs with precise, agonizing strikes — the same way Lin Feng had done to him many times, but slower. Each crack was accompanied by Lin Feng’s guttural screams.

【Resentment at maximum. Plunder efficiency 90%.】

As Lin Feng begged and sobbed, revealing more ugly truths — how the Clan Head had poisoned Lin Xiao’s father, how they had spread rumors that Lin Xiao was cursed, how they planned to sell him off as a human cauldron to a demonic cultivator next month — Lin Xiao’s heart only grew colder.

He plunged the sword into Lin Feng’s dantian, twisting slowly.

【Full Plunder executed.】
【Gained significant cultivation base. Talent: Minor Spear Mastery. Hidden family technique fragment acquired.】

Lin Feng’s eyes dimmed. The proud genius died not with dignity, but whimpering like the bully he truly was.

The two servant girls screamed and tried to flee.

Lin Xiao’s gaze turned to them. They had willingly warmed Lin Feng’s bed while knowing what he did to others.

“No witnesses tonight.”

The sword flashed twice.

Silence fell over the courtyard. Blood pooled on the expensive tiles.

Lin Xiao stood amid the carnage, breathing steadily. The System chimed.

【Chapter Progress: Main Quest “Rise from the Ashes” – 2% completed.】
【System Level increased to 2. New function unlocked: Quest Log. New Shop items available.】

He cleaned his sword on Lin Feng’s expensive robe and looked up at the moon.

This is only the beginning. The clan, the sect that Lin Feng bragged about connections to, the entire continent that allowed such trash to rule… I will grind them all into dust.

More flashbacks flickered — years of isolation, stolen medicines, public beatings during clan meetings where elders laughed and called him “the shame of the Lin bloodline.” Each memory fed the darkness growing inside him.

He was no longer the meek young master.

He was the harbinger of their nightmares.

As distant alarm bells began ringing across the clan estate, Lin Xiao smiled darkly and vanished into the shadows using his improved movement technique.

The real reckoning with the Lin Clan elders — and his treacherous uncle — would come before sunrise.