C3: Massacre in the Ancestral Hall

The alarm bells of the Lin Clan rang frantically through the night, their urgent tolls slicing through the silence like desperate screams. Torches flared to life across the sprawling estate as guards and disciples rushed toward the inner sanctum. Lin Xiao moved like a ghost among them, his long black hair — now tied in a high, flowing ponytail that whipped behind him in the wind — swaying with every Shadow Step.

Red and black chaotic energy faintly crackled beneath his skin, visible only when he circulated the Primordial Chaos Breathing Method. It matched the ruthless power surging inside him, a visual echo of the storm on the horizon of his destiny.

【System Notification: Quest Log Updated】
【Sub-Quest: “Clan Reckoning” – Eliminate the corrupt leadership of the Lin Clan. Reward: 3000 System Points + Hidden Vault Key.】

Finally, Lin Xiao thought, his inner voice a cold abyss. The rats are gathering.

He had spent eighteen years as their plaything. Now they would learn what happened when the prey became the predator.

Flashback – Seven years ago, Ancestral Hall.

A twelve-year-old Lin Xiao had knelt in the center of the grand hall, tears streaming down his face. His father’s funeral tablet had just been placed. The current Clan Head — his uncle Lin Zheng — stood above him in ornate robes, surrounded by the twelve elders.

“From today, you are no longer the young master,” Lin Zheng had declared with fake solemnity. “Your father’s treasures and techniques will be sealed for the good of the clan. A weak heir like you would only bring ruin.”

One elder, a greedy old fox named Elder Huo, had smirked. “The boy’s talent is mediocre at best. Better we control the resources.”

When Lin Xiao had protested, they beat him in front of his father’s tablet. Lin Feng had been the one delivering the kicks while the adults watched approvingly. That day marked the true beginning of his hell.

The memory fueled the red lightning arcing across Lin Xiao’s eyes as he stepped into the brightly lit Ancestral Hall.

Dozens of clan elites had already gathered. At the center, on the elevated throne, sat Lin Zheng — his uncle. A calculated, ambitious man in his fifties who maintained the facade of a wise patriarch while secretly practicing forbidden dual cultivation techniques and slowly poisoning potential threats. Beside him stood the remaining powerful elders, each with their own sins.

Lin Zheng’s eyes narrowed the moment he saw Lin Xiao. The useless nephew who should be dead or broken was standing tall, covered in fresh blood, with an aura that made the air itself feel oppressive.

“Lin Xiao!” Lin Zheng’s voice boomed with practiced authority. “You dare slaughter your own clansmen?! Have you gone mad?!”

Elder Huo, the same one from the flashback, pointed a trembling finger. “Seize him! This demon has been possessed by an evil spirit!”

Inner monologue surged through Lin Xiao like venom:

Mad? Possessed? No. I am finally sane. For the first time in my miserable life, I see clearly. You are all parasites who fed on my father’s legacy and my suffering.

Lin Xiao stepped forward. The red-black chaotic energy around him intensified, small arcs of lightning dancing across his shoulders and arms — exactly as depicted in the epic covers of legends.

“Uncle,” he said softly, his voice carrying across the hall. “You killed my father. You fed me poison disguised as medicine for three years. You let Lin Feng and the others treat me worse than a dog. And now you call me a demon?”

A ripple of shock went through the elders. Some of the younger disciples who had only heard rumors looked confused.

Lin Zheng’s face twisted. “Nonsense! Guards! Kill this traitor!”

Twenty elite guards — all at Body Refining 7th to 9th Stage — charged at once. Their weapons gleamed under the hall’s lanterns.

The fight erupted violently.

Lin Xiao became a whirlwind of death. Shadow Step combined with his newly plundered strength made him a blur. He met the first guard head-on. His iron sword, now infused with chaotic energy, sliced through the man’s spear and torso in one brutal motion. Blood and viscera sprayed across ancient floor tiles.

Another guard swung a heavy axe from behind. Lin Xiao spun, his ponytail whipping like a banner of war. He caught the axe blade with his bare hand — chaotic red lightning exploding outward, shattering the weapon and charring the attacker’s arms. A follow-up palm strike to the chest caved in ribs and sent the man flying into a pillar, dead on impact.

【Plunder activated. Multiple low-level essences absorbed. +420 System Points.】

The System’s voice was music to his rage.

Elder Huo, a mid-level Spirit Condensing expert, decided to act personally. He had always been the most sadistic — the one who suggested “testing” Lin Xiao’s limits with increasingly cruel punishments to “toughen him up.”

“You little bastard!” Elder Huo roared, summoning a flaming palm technique. The air heated dramatically as a giant fiery hand descended.

Lin Xiao looked up, eyes glowing with red lightning. He circulated the Primordial Chaos Breathing Method at full power. The chaotic energy around him surged, forming a protective vortex.

Boom!

He punched upward. The collision created a shockwave that cracked the hall’s pillars. Elder Huo’s flame technique shattered like glass. Lin Xiao closed the distance in an instant and grabbed the old man by the throat.

“Remember when you made me eat spirit beast feces because I ‘disrespected’ you during a lesson?” Lin Xiao whispered darkly. “You laughed while I vomited for hours.”

Elder Huo’s eyes bulged in terror. “P-please… I can give you treasures… secrets about your father—”

Lin Xiao squeezed. The neck snapped with a wet crunch. He then plunged his hand into the elder’s dantian, forcibly extracting the cultivation base in a shower of red-black energy.

【High-quality Plunder! +1,200 System Points. Fire Attribute Talent Fragment acquired.】

The other elders panicked. They realized too late that the “trash” had become something far worse than a genius — a merciless reaper.

Lin Zheng, seeing his power base collapsing, tried a different approach. He stood up dramatically, spreading his arms.

“Xiao’er! I admit I made mistakes. But we are blood! Your father would not want you to destroy the clan he built. Join me. We can rule together. I will even give you Lin Feng’s woman and all the resources—”

Lin Xiao laughed. It was a low, chilling sound that echoed through the hall.

“Blood?” He took slow steps forward, sword dripping. “You mean the blood I spilled tonight? The blood you spilled from my father?”

Two more loyal elders attacked simultaneously — one with sword qi, the other with a whip-like energy chain. The battle intensified.

Lin Xiao danced between their attacks with terrifying precision. God-tier Comprehension let him predict every move. He severed the sword elder’s arm with a counter-slash, then used the momentum to duck under the whip and drive his elbow into the second elder’s spine, paralyzing him.

He finished both with cold efficiency, plundering their essence while they screamed.

The remaining disciples and guards began dropping their weapons, kneeling in terror. The smell of blood and fear filled the ancestral hall.

Only Lin Zheng remained standing, backed against his throne, his face pale and sweating. The calculating patriarch who had orchestrated years of subtle evil now looked like a cornered rat.

“You… you cannot kill me,” Lin Zheng stammered. “I have connections to the Heavenly Cloud Sect. If I die, they will investigate and destroy you!”

Lin Xiao stopped a few feet away. Red and black lightning continued crackling across his body, making his long hair float slightly with static power.

“Connections?” He smiled cruelly. “Good. I was planning to visit them anyway. You can pave the way for me… in hell.”

With blinding speed, Lin Xiao thrust his sword through Lin Zheng’s shoulder, pinning him to the throne. The Clan Head screamed in agony.

Lin Xiao leaned in close. “Tell me everything. Every secret. Every hidden vault. Every person you conspired with. Or I will make your death last until sunrise.”

Under torture and the threat of complete Plunder, Lin Zheng broke completely. He revealed hidden family treasures, the location of his father’s sealed inheritance, the demonic cultivator contacts, and even plans to sacrifice Lin Xiao later for breakthroughs.

Every confession only deepened Lin Xiao’s hatred.

When the uncle had nothing left to give, Lin Xiao ended it by crushing his dantian and absorbing everything.

【Major Quest Progress: “Clan Reckoning” Completed!】
【Rewards: 3000 Points + Hidden Family Vault Key + Primordial Chaos Breathing Method Unsealed (Stage 1)]
【System Level → 3】

Power flooded Lin Xiao once more. He broke through to the early Spirit Condensing Realm in one go. The chaotic energy around him exploded outward, cracking the roof of the ancestral hall.

He stood alone amid mountains of corpses and kneeling survivors. The once-proud Lin Clan was broken in a single night.

Lin Xiao looked at the terrified survivors — mostly lower-level disciples and servants who had never directly harmed him, though many had mocked him.

“Spread the word,” he said coldly. “The Lin Clan has a new ruler. Those who are loyal will live. Those who resist… will join the others in feeding the dogs.”

He turned and walked toward the hidden vault his uncle had revealed, his long ponytail swaying, red lightning slowly fading from his form.

The Eternal Grind continued.

But tonight, the first major chain of his past had been shattered in blood and fire.