Skyspine Ridge. A Blood Moon hung overhead, and a deep crimson night draped itself across an unremarkable little village. At the village center, a chubby boy squatted in front of a black medicinal cauldron, sulking. The thought of the coming Divine Radiance Awakening only made his stomach sink further. He clung to the old man beside him, trying to bargain the standards down. "Old Clan Chief Grandpa, please don't cripple my Divine Radiance again this year. I really think being an ordinary cultivator is fine." Duke Jaynes still missed the four kinds of Divine Radiance he had awakened before. Unfortunately, the Old Clan Chief had taken one look and dismissed them as worthless, crippling every last one. The Old Clan Chief's gray hair fell loose around his shoulders. He wore a black robe stitched from some unknown beast hide, his frame broad and towering. A glossy white bone club rode his back as he poured demon treasure blood into the cauldron. "Spineless," he said. "What talent does ordinary Divine Radiance give you? Don't you want to reunite with your parents?" His voice carried the weight of years. Divine Radiance was a requirement for cultivation, and the awakening ritual came once a year. Duke Jaynes had endured it for five straight years. When his parents were mentioned, he lifted his head and stared toward the Blood Moon on the horizon. As a child, he had spent countless days and nights asking after them, running from house to house, only to find no answers. Just himself, alone. Later, the Old Clan Chief had finally told him, gently, that his parents had been taken by demons and dragged into the Blood Moon. When the Blood Moon Gate opened, once Duke Jaynes had cultivated enough strength, he could force his way in and reunite with them. Back then, he had not believed a word of it. Even the oldest people in the village had never seen a Blood Moon, much less a gate inside it. Until that Mid-Autumn Festival, during his first Divine Radiance Awakening, he had suddenly seen a Blood Moon stretched across the heavens. Only then had his life gained something like hope. "The awakening elixir is ripe," the Old Clan Chief said. "Get in the cauldron." Four Black Turtle Clan Elder descended from the sky. They were an Azure Dragon, a White Tiger, a Vermilion Bird, and a Black Turtle, each tiny in size. They settled on the Old Clan Chief's shoulders and watched Duke Jaynes closely. Duke Jaynes lowered his head in shame, unable to meet their eyes. An awakening cost a fortune, and the resources he required were hundreds of times what others needed. Just the demon treasure blood alone demanded three thousand different kinds. "The elders haven't given up on me," he thought bitterly. "I'm the one getting absurd treatment, and I'm still trying to quit?" He wanted to slap himself. Gritting his teeth, he leaped into the cauldron and gulped down the awakening elixir in huge swallows. As time passed, white mist began to spray from the crown of his skull. Blue Divine Radiance spilled outward, gathering into the shape of a turtle that crouched atop his head. The Black Turtle Clan Elder lit up with delight. "Black Turtle Divine Radiance! Our village's inherited life-bound Divine Radiance. This time, we're steady." Duke Jaynes shot to his feet, joy flaring. Then he saw the Old Clan Chief swing that massive bone club straight at the Black Turtle Divine Radiance. Duke Jaynes sagged, dazed, his head dropping as if it weighed a thousand pounds. Five years. Five straight years of failure. Misery churned in his chest. He watched the Black Turtle Clan Elder drop with a thud to his knees, clinging to the Old Clan Chief's leg and pleading. "Old Clan Chief, mercy! This kid's fourteen already. You can't keep delaying him. Besides, Black Turtle Divine Radiance is already powerful!" The Old Clan Chief's face hardened. "Little Three, take off. Get Little Four rolling far away." Duke Jaynes looked at the third elder with pleading eyes. If it was powerful, why not keep it? The Vermilion Bird pretended not to notice. With a flap of her wings, she rose into the air. Her little claws clenched around the Black Turtle Clan Elder's shell. "Old Clan Chief," she asked dutifully, "how far should I roll him?" "The Northwest Devil Sea." Duke Jaynes almost thought he had misheard. The Northwest Devil Sea lay more than three thousand li from Black Turtle Village. Yet the Vermilion Bird seemed to take it seriously. She even measured the distance with her gaze, circled in midair three times, and then hurled the Black Turtle like a meteor, sending him vanishing into the horizon. Duke Jaynes stared, dumbstruck. That was allowed? The white mist above his head suddenly boiled. Four beams of Divine Radiance flashed out, the same ones he had awakened before. The Divine Radiance that had been crippled reignited from dead ash. They transformed into a five-colored bird, a black-gold little sword, pure-yang golden radiance, and silver lightning. Together with the blue Black Turtle, five Divine Radiance in all. Duke Jaynes felt no joy at all. He only saw the Old Clan Chief's bone club coming again, as if he meant to cripple every last one. Instinct took over. Duke Jaynes recoiled and dodged, humiliation burning hotter because it felt unfair. Unbearably unfair. His body turned scorching. Inside him, another Divine Radiance was born. A sixth. The Vermilion Bird froze in shock. At the start of cultivation, awakening two kinds of Divine Radiance already counted as genius. This was something else entirely. That new Divine Radiance looked like an unfathomable Purple Mist. It rose from his spine, burst through the crown of his skull, and carried an ancient, desolate weight, as though it had drifted from some far-off world. The Purple Mist moved without a sound, eerie and otherworldly, as if it meant to abandon him. But in the end, it kept slipping in and out along the crown of Duke Jaynes's skull, circling him like a tide that refused to leave. The Old Clan Chief studied it and nodded, faintly satisfied. Then he turned to scan the Blood Moon. Something had changed. The Blood Moon glowed with an even deeper crimson, like a colossal blood-colored savage beast standing in the sky, inhaling and exhaling torrents of yin-sinister miasma that flooded the vast mountain range and spread toward Black Turtle Village. Duke Jaynes stared at the world beyond the village, soaked in blood-red light. He sensed something terrifying approaching, something that wanted to snatch his Purple Mist away. The Old Clan Chief slammed the bone club into the ground. Rumble! The village shuddered and released a mysterious, clear radiance that sealed off every danger outside. Before Duke Jaynes could even process the sudden shift, the Purple Mist surged. It rolled over the five Divine Radiance in succession and began to devour them. "After all these years of fuss," the Old Clan Chief said, laughing openly at last, "the life-bound Divine Radiance of the Primitive Sacred Body finally woke." His gaze landed on Duke Jaynes with unmistakable approval. He had observed the boy for more than a decade. Duke Jaynes had eaten like a tiger since childhood because the Primal Divine Radiance needed energy to crack its shell and awaken. Primitive implied the oldest, the first. Its potential might be weak, or it might be terrifying. Even so, the Old Clan Chief had not expected the Primal Divine Radiance to possess devouring power. If it kept consuming different Divine Radiance, could its potential be pushed to heights never seen before? "Old Clan Chief Grandpa," Duke Jaynes cried, voice sharp with panic, "don't celebrate yet! The Purple Mist drained all the elixir in the cauldron. It's using my life force as fuel to devour the five Divine Radiance!" "Then we need a heavier dose," the Old Clan Chief said calmly. "Which of you will make a trip and fetch some demon treasure blood?" "Me, me, me!" The clan elders, starved for action, bickered back and forth until someone finally declared, "Rock, paper, scissors!" The Vermilion Bird won. She was delighted. Taking off again, she opened her beak and spat out a water vat. "Old Clan Chief," she asked brightly, "how many vats of demon treasure blood should I collect?" The Old Clan Chief stared at her for a beat. "Half a vat is enough. Also, with the Blood Moon overhead and demons running wild, those barnyard beasts are getting noisy. Make them all quiet." "How quiet?" the Vermilion Bird asked with perfect elegance. Duke Jaynes was so anxious he felt ready to combust, yet he did not dare rush her. Everyone in the village knew the truth: a thousand years ago, the Old Clan Chief had smashed the Vermilion Bird's head. Ever since, no matter what she did, she followed instructions with stiff, literal precision. "If they don't listen to advice," the Old Clan Chief said impatiently, "the whole clan eats at a funeral feast." "Understood." The Vermilion Bird shot out of the village. Her body rapidly expanded. She spread her wings, blotting out the night sky, wreathed in searing firelight. From afar, she looked like a gigantic city of burning lamps. Across mountains and ravines, demons stared up at the super-giant bird beating toward them, terror freezing their thoughts midstream. The Vermilion Bird regarded all life with indifference, yet she frowned in confusion. They had already gone quiet without even being advised. The task completion felt imperfect. She locked onto several hundred powerful demons scattered through villages and towns, all trying to raze settlements and eat the people. With a cold snort, she made the void tremble. Hundreds of demons dropped dead on the spot. From their chests floated beads of life essence blood, dripping, dripping, dripping into the vat. Not too much, not too little. Exactly half a vat. She flung the vat back toward the village. Then she shook once and transformed into a woman. A red dress flowed around her as she walked. Her dark hair fell like a waterfall to her waist. Her swanlike neck was pale and fine. Beautiful enough to seem like a demon-immortal, she strolled through the wilderness on long, slender legs. Her face was too stunning. When she tried to persuade demons to be quiet, it failed. Some of the lust-addled monsters even began to covet her body. The Vermilion Bird smiled. If Duke Jaynes heard about a funeral feast, he would probably follow her to the banquet with glee. She opened her mouth and spat out a magic sword. Gripping it, she danced with the blade. Sword Light erupted, dazzling and immense, tearing open the night and illuminating countless villages and towns, chilling the heavens around them. Inside the black cauldron, Duke Jaynes's skin prickled with pain. He thought, hazily, that Vermilion Bird was probably dancing the sword to encourage him. Thankfully, the Purple Mist drank its fill. It finished devouring the Divine Radiance and surged to a higher state. High above, an anomaly appeared: boundless Purple Mist spreading for thirty thousand li, echoing and interweaving with the Vermilion Bird's Sword Light. "This opening isn't bad," the Old Clan Chief said. With a flick of his finger, the anomaly scattered. Black Turtle Village returned to stillness. Purple Mist coiled around Duke Jaynes from head to toe. Before he could test what ability this Divine Radiance had granted him, he rose with a frown and stared suspiciously at the Blood Moon. It was impossibly far away. And yet there were voices inside it, like curses being hurled at him. The noise scraped at his nerves until he wanted nothing more than to somersault straight into the sky and smash the Blood Moon to pieces. "Why are you cursing me?" he snapped. "So damn annoying!"