The descent ended in silence.
No roots moved here. No echoes spoke. The tunnel Lin Fei followed gave way to a vast hollow chamber—circular, smooth, and quiet as a grave. Light emanated from no source, yet the chamber was dimly lit in pale gold.
It felt like a tomb.
His breath misted in the air. It was not cold, but something within the air stripped away warmth. And then he saw it.
A tree.
Or the ghost of one.
It stood at the center of the chamber. Small. Leafless. Its bark was pure white, bone-like, and its branches twisted upward in the shape of grasping fingers. Around it were nine stone thrones, all unoccupied.
Only one bore a sigil. The rune for Judgment.
This is the Ninth Trial, Lin Fei realized.
His token vibrated. The sixth rune appeared, glowing faintly on its edge.
Understanding.
But the moment it appeared, the chamber reacted. The tree pulsed. The air grew heavy. And something ancient awakened.
From the void above, a voice whispered—not aloud, but within his mind.
"Do you understand your path?"
Lin Fei stood still. "No," he answered truthfully.
"Then why do you walk it?"
He clenched his fists. "Because I can't go back."
A pause.
"Then kneel before the root and be judged."
The white tree's branches creaked. Roots slithered along the floor like serpents, forming a circle around the central altar.
Lin Fei stepped inside.
The moment he crossed the root-ring, time slowed.
The chamber dissolved into mist.
He stood in a field now—one he knew. The plains beyond Wu Ridge. The place where his mother died, torn apart by debt collectors hired by corrupt cultivators.
He was younger. Weaker. His hands were shaking.
"Run," said a familiar voice.
He turned. It was himself—but older, colder, and wearing robes stitched with golden roots.
"You can't save her. Not then. Not now. Not ever."
Lin Fei backed away. "This is an illusion."
The older version shook his head. "It's a reflection. A warning. You carry something now… something that will rewrite your fate."
"I'll bear it," Lin Fei said.
The older version smiled, bitter and wise. "And when it starts to change you? When the system awakens and tells you who to kill, what to claim, what to discard—will you still be yourself?"
Lin Fei didn't answer.
Because in truth, he wasn't sure.
The vision shattered.
He fell to his knees beneath the white tree. The ground trembled as if something massive breathed below.
Above him, the eighth rune ignited:
Remembrance.
And with it, something pulsed in his chest. A golden thread, buried deep in his soul, quivered—then reached upward like a vine toward the tree.
You're close now, something whispered. Not from the chamber. From inside him.
One more gate. One more step. And you will bloom.
Suddenly, the thrones lit—eight runes on each, and one empty.
A pressure descended. Spiritual. Cosmic. A force that felt like a tribunal of dead gods.
Lin Fei stood, blood trickling from his nose.
He looked at the ninth throne, and in his mind he saw it:
A system. Ancient. Buried. Watching.
It had judged others before him. Warriors. Emperors. Monsters.
And he was next.
The white tree creaked once more, and its branches lowered to touch his shoulders.
You will awaken.
🔻 Far above – Atop Heaven's Vein Sect
Mo Jingyi's jade cube began glowing red. The countdown had ended.
[100% Synchronization Reached][System Awakening Protocol: Activated][Host: Lin Fei][Initializing Core Function: Heavenroot System…]
She closed her eyes.
Let's see who you become, Lin Fei.
💀 Chapter End: The Bloom
In the Root Hollow, Lin Fei gasped as golden sigils surged from his skin.
The white tree vanished.The token burned white-hot.And in his mind, for the first time, he heard the system's voice:
[Welcome, Seeker of the Root.][Initializing cultivation interface…][Heavenroot System ONLINE.]