On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the cold still bit deep. It was time for Stellar Gale Academy's yearly exam again. For the academy's students, this was the most important assessment of the year. Fail it, and you would be kicked out with nothing but the clothes on your back. Early that morning, all one hundred seventy-six students stood on the training grounds, waiting for the testing to begin. The academy was divided into three branches: Heaven Academy, Earth Academy, and Human Academy. Today's exam belonged to the Human Academy. In the crowd, sixteen-year-old Evan Norman stood out at a glance. He was tall and long-limbed, half a head taller than most his age. His features were sharp and clean, as if carved from stone, handsome to an almost unfair degree. Even though everyone knew this genius was a half-cripple these days, admiring gazes still found him, some shyly, some brazenly. It made the male students burn with jealousy. In the past, they had only swallowed it down. Today, they finally dared to say it out loud. "After this yearly exam, that guy's getting expelled, right?" "Yeah. Last year he even fought in the Imperial Capital Tournament for the academy. He was our pride. This year he won't even qualify to stay." "He lost in the finals and got crippled. He can't cultivate anymore. Forget improving. He'd be lucky if his strength didn't keep dropping." "Academy rules say your strength has to increase by thirty percent compared to last year, or you're out." "Heh. Serves him right. He used to be so arrogant. Fell straight from the clouds into the mud." The boys chattered without restraint, tearing into Evan's sore spots. So what if he was good-looking? He was just a cripple. Evan's expression stayed cold. He had heard this kind of sneering for nine straight months. He had learned to ignore it. Even so, his fists tightened on their own. They weren't wrong about one thing. Last year, he had represented Stellar Gale Academy in the Imperial Capital Tournament for fifteen-year-olds. He had fought his way all the way into the finals, only to fall short at the very end. But it hadn't been because he was weaker. The night before the finals, someone had slipped poison into his food. It wasn't lethal. It only drained his strength to a fraction by the next day. In that match, his opponent, Ronan Linnit, didn't just defeat him. He crippled him, destroying the meridians in one arm and one leg. Worse still, when Ronan stood over him with a foot on his chest, he revealed the truth with a sneer. The one who had poisoned him was Ronan himself. He had been shamelessly arrogant about it, not a trace of guilt or fear. Only indifference and contempt. Why would Ronan go that far? Because if you won the finals, you could enter Imperial City Academy directly. It was the finest academy in Splendid Origin Kingdom, a cultivation holy land every young person dreamed of. When Evan returned to Stellar Gale Academy, the chosen one became a half-cripple who could no longer cultivate. The people who used to crowd around him changed faces overnight. They mocked him, trampled him, and made sure he tasted just how cold human hearts could be. Over the next nine months, Evan still trained every day. It didn't matter. With the meridians in his hand and foot ruined, he couldn't practice Physical Art at all. Not only did his strength fail to improve, it steadily regressed. This should have been his last yearly exam. Once the results came out, he would leave the academy with nothing but regret. Evan didn't argue back, but the girls reacted like mother hens protecting a chick, jumping in one after another. "How do you know Evan won't recover?" "You're all just jealous!" That only made the boys hate him more. Just because he looked a little better? Spit. "Hey, what's that?" someone shouted, having glanced up at the sky. Whoosh. A streak of white light fell, impossibly fast, plunging straight into the crowd. What was that? Everyone stared, curious. The white flash flickered, then vanished as if it had never existed. Evan, however, went ice-cold from head to toe. A crawling terror rose in him, as if something had forced its way into his body and was trying to strangle his soul. He struggled desperately, even though he had no idea how to fight it. "Boy, don't resist. Let this venerable one perform Soul Possession!" a voice thundered inside his mind. "Your fragile Soul Power is nothing. This is pointless!" "Relax. Let this venerable one take control of your physical body." "You don't need to be afraid. Your soul will vanish forever, yes, but your physical body will become this venerable one's vessel. In the future, it will shake the world and rule a domain!" Evan couldn't resist at all. A powerful, ancient soul forced its way into his mind, crushing him into a corner until he lost all control over his body. Even more terrifying, his soul was being ground away bit by bit. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he disappeared from the world entirely. "No!" he roared in his mind, furious and unwilling. "Rest assured. This venerable one will avenge your grudges and fulfill your long-cherished wishes!" The soul remained cold and unmoved. Then, in the very next instant, it turned violently afraid. "How is this possible? You should be dead! No! No! No!" As if it had encountered something unspeakably horrifying, it let out a shriek that made Evan's scalp prickle. The invading soul immediately shattered. Fragments of memory slammed into Evan in a flood so vast it was impossible to measure. Evan let out a muffled groan and blacked out on the spot. "Ha, ha, ha!" The boys around him burst into laughter. "What a coward. He actually fainted from being scared." "Look, he's even sweating." "This guy used to be called our academy's pride? He even represented us in the Imperial Capital Martial Arts Tournament. What a disgrace." They didn't laugh for long. The girls rushed over, surrounding Evan one by one, faces full of worry and concern. He wasn't your father or mother. Was it really necessary? … Evan dreamed a dream. In it, he became someone else, a man named Colin Umpleby. His life stretched endlessly long, filled with countless experiences, yet everything felt blurred, like memories seen through fog. As Colin Umpleby, he learned many things. Medical Art, Talisman Art, Pill Art, and more. He dabbled in all of it, and he was skilled. In the end, he entered an ancient ruin to explore and obtained a Cultivation Method called the Nine Cycles Heaven-Plundering Scripture. The moment he took it, he triggered a seal. His physical body was shredded and erased on the spot, and only his soul escaped. Even then, his soul was heavily damaged. He had no choice but to immediately find someone to possess. And so Evan saw the familiar scene again: a streak of white light falling from the sky, plunging into "his" body. Huff! Evan jolted upright. When he saw the familiar surroundings, he finally let out the breath he'd been holding. Had it been a nightmare? No. His mind held countless new memories, all belonging to Colin Umpleby: understanding of the Martial Way, insights into Medical Art, and knowledge of Talisman Art, Pill Art, Formation Art, and a dizzying mix of other disciplines. But Colin Umpleby had been gravely wounded, and the memories were incomplete. Evan didn't receive clear images of the man's life, only scattered fragments. It wasn't a dream. It was all real. A fierce confidence surged through Evan. He had obtained a powerhouse's Martial Inheritance. "Trash, you're awake?" someone beside him sneered. Evan turned his head. It was Bowen Bennitt. Nine months ago, this guy had been his Bowen, hovering at his side all day, flattering him at every chance. The moment Evan became crippled, Bowen was the fastest to turn on him. He immediately ran to Evan's former rival, Lucian Sabey of Heaven Academy, becoming a loyal dog with a shamelessness that barely seemed human. Was this really a boy who had just turned sixteen? "Heh." Bowen's face twisted with contempt as he leaned close, lowering his voice by Evan's ear. "Sixteen more people, and it'll be your turn." His smile sharpened. "Once you're expelled and lose the protection of being an academy disciple, Lucian can come after you without holding back. He might even… kill you."