Feng Lin closed his eyes for a brief moment before declaring in a cold voice:

  — Bring me some water.

  The old servant bowed respectfully and left the room without asking any questions. As soon as she was gone, Feng Lin sat cross-legged and took a deep breath. He needed to check the state of his spiritual root.

  In his past life, he would have used a high-level artifact for this kind of examination, but today, he didn’t need one. With his experience and understanding of celestial laws, he could probe his own body at a level no mortal could ever hope to reach.

  He delved his mind into his damaged meridians, going even deeper until he reached the very essence of his cultivation: his spiritual root.

  What he saw froze him.

  It was half-destroyed.

  A surge of black fury overwhelmed him instantly. He, a former Celestial Emperor, reduced to this miserable state? He had never suffered such an affront, not even in the most brutal wars he had fought.

  But suddenly, something strange caught his attention.

  Despite the obvious damage, his spiritual root emitted a terrifying energy.

  — What is this…

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  His eyes snapped open, filled with incomprehension. This root… he had never seen it before. In all his past existence, in all the ancient texts he had studied, never had such a spiritual root been mentioned.

  Even mutilated, it radiated an unfathomable power.

  A chill ran down his spine.

  What did this mean?

  Feng Lin calmed himself and decided to inspect the rest of his body. If his spiritual root was this unusual, who knew what other anomalies he might discover?

  He directed his mind toward his meridians. Some were broken, others obstructed, yet instead of being entirely useless, they seemed to contain traces of a strange energy. Not only had it not completely dissipated after so many years, but it even seemed to be nourishing his spiritual channels in an unknown manner.

  He frowned. Such a thing was impossible. A poison or a curse would have left only ruin behind. Yet, though his meridians were severely damaged, they showed signs of adaptation.

  Then, he examined his bones.

  — Hm?

  His bones… they had undergone a transformation. Contrary to what he expected from a weakened body that had been inactive for so many years, his skeletal structure was not only intact but seemed reinforced. Even more, it bore traces of a peculiar refinement, as if his body had absorbed an unknown force during his long slumber.

  He clenched his fist and felt slight resistance within his own flesh.

  — My body… it’s not as weak as it seems.

  This realization left him deep in thought. He didn’t have the answers yet, but one thing was certain: he had not returned to life in an ordinary form. There was something special about this new existence, something he needed to understand before planning his next steps.

  Perhaps it had something to do with his new identity. After all, despite the limited information he had gleaned from his predecessor’s memories, he knew that the Feng clan was special. But in what way?

  He frowned. The previous Feng Lin’s memories were too fragmented on this subject. He knew nothing about the true origins of the clan or the reason for its downfall. The only thing he had was a certainty: this clan was not ordinary.

  If his transformations were linked to his heritage, then he needed to learn more. But for that, he first had to rebuild himself.

  He slowly reopened his eyes. The servant would soon return with the water. For now, he needed to hide his discoveries and play his role. There was no point in revealing his true nature too soon.

  He decided to leave the room to explore the surroundings. Why wait for her return? She would likely inform the rest of his family. Without further delay, he opened the door, and the sunlight blinded him for an instant, forcing him to squint.

  He found himself on the balcony of a high pavilion, the sunlight momentarily forcing him to narrow his eyes. Before him stretched a panoramic view of the clan—a vast network of buildings that once testified to great prosperity but had now become nothing more than a collection of abandoned ruins.

  Collapsed roofs, cracked walls, and deserted courtyards stretched as far as the eye could see, each silently telling the story of an inexorable decline. Wild vegetation had taken over: vines climbed along the old stones, and grass sprouted between the cracks of the dilapidated structures, as if trying to erase the traces of a glorious past.