Rain poured relentlessly over the cliffs of Azure Cloud Sect.
Lightning split the sky as hundreds of disciples gathered in the outer arena. Their eyes were fixed on the young man kneeling in the center, his white robe stained with blood and mud.
"Kai Ren," the Grand Elder's cold voice echoed across the arena, "do you admit to stealing the Heaven Spirit Fruit?"
Kai Ren slowly raised his head.
His face was pale, but his eyes burned with determination.
"I didn't steal it."
A loud scoff came from the crowd.
"Liar!"
"A cripple dares to deny it?"
"Throw him out!"
For three years, Kai Ren had endured ridicule. Born with a crippled spiritual root, he couldn't absorb spiritual qi like ordinary cultivators. While his peers advanced through realms, he remained stuck at the lowest level.
To them, he was nothing more than a burden.
Yet only Kai Ren knew the truth.
His late father had once been the strongest elder of Azure Cloud Sect before being branded a traitor and executed. Since then, Kai Ren had lived under suspicion, hated for a crime he never committed.
Today...
Someone had finally found the perfect excuse to get rid of him.
A handsome young disciple stepped forward with a sorrowful expression.
"Junior Brother Kai," he sighed. "I trusted you."
"It was I who found the Heaven Spirit Fruit in your room."
Kai Ren's fists clenched.
Lin Hao.
His senior brother.
The man he had trusted most.
"You framed me."
Lin Hao merely shook his head.
"I hoped you would confess."
"But I didn't expect you to lie until the very end."
The surrounding disciples looked at Kai Ren with disgust.
"So it was really him."
"I always knew something was wrong with that cripple."
"He should have been expelled years ago."
Kai Ren laughed bitterly.
Not a single person believed him.
Not one.
His gaze shifted toward the beautiful woman standing beside the Sect Master.
She was dressed in flowing blue robes, her expression calm and distant.
Mu Qingxue.
His childhood friend.
The woman everyone believed would one day become his wife.
Kai Ren met her eyes.
"You know I didn't do it."
Silence.
After several long breaths, Mu Qingxue finally spoke.
"I only believe the evidence."
Those words struck harder than any sword.
Kai Ren's heart sank.
Even she...
Didn't stand beside him.
Or perhaps...
She had chosen not to.
The Grand Elder rose from his seat.
"The evidence is overwhelming."
"Kai Ren stole a sacred treasure."
"He has brought shame upon Azure Cloud Sect."
"I hereby abolish his cultivation and cast him into the Forbidden Abyss."
Gasps spread through the arena.
The Forbidden Abyss.
No one had ever returned alive.
Kai Ren struggled to his feet.
"I am innocent!"
His voice echoed through the mountains.
"I didn't betray this sect!"
"I didn't steal anything!"
"I am innocent!"
But his cries were drowned by the thunder.
The Grand Elder waved his hand.
Several enforcement elders rushed forward.
A powerful strike landed on Kai Ren's chest.
Boom!
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His meridians screamed in agony.
Before he could recover, another elder seized him.
"You should've accepted your fate."
They dragged him toward the edge of the cliff overlooking the Forbidden Abyss.
Below...
Nothing could be seen except endless darkness.
A cold wind rose from its depths, carrying strange whispers.
Kai Ren looked back one final time.
His eyes searched the crowd.
No one stepped forward.
Not his fellow disciples.
Not his teachers.
Not Mu Qingxue.
Lin Hao smiled faintly.
It was the smile of a victor.
At that moment...
Kai Ren understood.
This had never been about the Heaven Spirit Fruit.
Someone wanted him dead.
And the entire sect had become their weapon.
The Grand Elder's voice rang out one last time.
"Kai Ren."
"From this day onward..."
"You are no longer a disciple of Azure Cloud Sect."
An elder shoved him hard.
Kai Ren's footing slipped.
His body plunged over the edge.
The world spun.
The rain disappeared.
The screams above faded into silence.
Only darkness remained.
As he fell deeper into the endless abyss, countless memories flashed through his mind.
His father's smile.
His mother's gentle voice.
The promise he made to become the strongest cultivator and restore his family's honor.
Was this...
The end?
Suddenly—
A blinding golden light exploded from deep within the abyss.
A mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.
[Detecting compatible host...]
[Conditions fulfilled.]
[Infinite Cultivation Protocol... Activating.]
Kai Ren's eyes snapped open in shock.
"What...?"
The golden light swallowed him whole.
To be continued...
