Qin Chen's fingers danced across the Celestial Bloodline Apparatus. The machine hummed to life, its crystalline surfaces shimmering with prismatic light. He sat cross-legged, breath steady, as the device's probing energies washed over him.

  Nothing.

  His veins remained dark. No ancestral echoes. No dormant power.

  "Impossible…" Cold dread coiled in his gut. Even the weakest bloodline should flicker beneath this apparatus' scrutiny. Yet his body lay barren—a desert without oasis.

  Have I truly been cursed with emptiness?

  Memories of his past life's betrayal clawed at him. Wind Shaoyu's blade. Shangguan Xi'er's mocking smile. No. Teeth gritted, he channeled the Nine Star Divine Emperor Art to its limits.

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  Blood Forbidden ArtCrimson sigils flared across his skin as forbidden techniques tore through his meridians. Pain—white-hot and purifying—flooded his senses. The apparatus screeched in protest, its sensors overloaded.

  A flicker.

  Blue as storm-churned seas.

  Qin Chen lunged for it mentally, a starved hawk diving for prey. The flicker darted, elusive, until—

  Clang!

  The ancient sword in his consciousness rang out.

  ThunderbornReality dissolved.

  He floated in an azure void, lightning weaving a cathedral around him. Each bolt sang with primordial fury, yet none struck him—they were him.

  High above the capital, the sky ruptured.

  BOOM!

  A web of lightning lit the heavens, painting day as night. Nobles cowered. Soldiers dropped weapons. Even the palace's protective arrays flickered helplessly.

  Within the Bloodline Sanctuary's restricted chamber, Qin Chen's eyes snapped open—pupils crackling with contained tempests.