Chapter One: A Family of Three Profligates

“I’m not going. I refuse. My talent is poor—sixteen years old and still haven’t opened my veins. I’m not cut out for cultivation.”

In the Lin family’s council hall, a youth in purple robes waved his arms in indignation, his voice full of righteous fury.

Lin Zhennan, head of the Lin family, looked at this unambitious, pampered scion before him and could only feel a headache coming on.

Beside him, the Grand Elder chuckled and said, “Ah Hao, the Tai Xuan Sect has granted our Lin family just one place. The entire Tianbao City has only this single spot. I don’t need to tell you how precious it is. Since this quota has been given to you, you should cherish it. With demons running rampant these days, the sons of the Lin family should be filled with integrity and compassion for all under heaven. Remember what a peerless hero your father once was—”

“Stop right there!”

Lin Hao waved dismissively, cutting the Grand Elder short with a sneer. “Speak plainly, and don’t mention my father. Besides, if the spot is so precious, why not let your son Lin Yang go?”

Cultivation? It’s far too arduous for my taste. I, Lin Hao, am not cut out to suffer. The Lin family is a martial household in Tianbao City. Living as a second-generation scion here, free and easy, is a far more pleasant fate.

At that moment, a boy on crutches hobbled in, leaning heavily on one leg. He offered Lin Hao a ‘simple-minded’ smile. “Brother Hao, my leg’s broken.”

The Grand Elder laughed slyly. “I knew you’d say that. I broke my son’s leg yesterday—he’s not going anywhere.”

Lin Hao nearly popped his eyes out in disbelief and didn’t know what to say. He could only curse. Damn! To break your own son’s leg and still laugh about it—these two are ruthless, truly impressive!

Helpless, Lin Hao turned to the Second Elder. “Second Elder, don’t tell me your son Lin Shuang broke his leg too?”

The Second Elder said nothing. Lin Hao stared at him with an expression of deep admiration, slowly giving him a thumbs-up. “Boss, you’re savage.”

“Who’s calling me?”

A mischievous-looking youth sneaked into the hall, tiptoeing as he exchanged glances with Lin Hao and the limping Lin Yang, then bowed to Lin Zhennan before going straight to the Second Elder. “Dad, I heard someone calling my name just now.”

“Lin Shuang, you’re just in time.” The Second Elder gritted his teeth.

Useless brat—what a time to show yourself!

“Dad, what’s up? I haven’t caused any trouble lately.” Lin Shuang barely finished speaking before the Second Elder smashed the table beside him with a palm, wrenched off a leg, and, with lightning speed, brought it down hard on Lin Shuang’s shin.

A pig-like wail echoed through the council hall as Lin Shuang rolled on the ground, clutching his leg, howling in agony.

“Take him away,” the Second Elder said, tossing the table leg aside with panache. Two servants came in, picked up Lin Shuang, and whisked him away in a flash.

“My son’s leg is broken too. He’s in no condition to go to the Tai Xuan Sect. What a pity, such a rare opportunity wasted,” the Second Elder sighed dramatically, his face full of ‘regret.’

Lin Hao was speechless, itching to punch the Second Elder’s smug face.

Fine, so this is how you want to play it!

Lin Hao opened his mouth several times but couldn’t utter a word. The two elders had been so ruthless with their own sons—what more could he say?

He glanced at the table leg lying on the ground, gritted his teeth, and considered breaking his own leg, but finally gave up.

He just couldn’t do it. It hurt just thinking about it.

Damn it, this whole family is insane.

The emissary from the Tai Xuan Sect would arrive the next day. Of the Lin family’s younger generation, only three remained—all infamous wastrels in Tianbao City. Now two were crippled, and only Lin Hao was left unscathed.

“Such disgraceful behavior,” Lin Zhennan thundered, slapping the table. “Everyone out. Close the door. Ah Hao, stay.”

The two elders left in a flash, disappearing from the main hall. As Lin Yang hobbled past Lin Hao, he grinned cheekily. “Congrats, Brother Hao.”

“Get lost.” Lin Hao kicked Lin Yang's good leg.

Once the doors closed, only Lin Zhennan and Lin Hao remained.

“Patriarch, I’ll speak frankly. Is there something wrong with Tai Xuan Sect? Look at the Lin family’s sorry state: me, Lin Yang, Lin Shuang—not a single one fit for cultivation. The other two great families in Tianbao City have prodigies, yet Tai Xuan Sect gives the quota to us. I don’t get it. Or did you pay a price for this?”

Lin Hao’s words were sincere; he truly didn’t understand why the quota fell to the Lin family, known far and wide for its three notorious wastrels.

Lin Zhennan rose slowly and approached Lin Hao, sighing before replying, “Perhaps this quota isn’t for the Lin family at all, but for you.”

“Don’t joke,” Lin Hao almost laughed. “Who am I to deserve that?”

But then he grew serious. “You said ‘targeted’? Not chosen, but targeted? There’s more to this than meets the eye?”

Lin Zhennan smiled, somewhat approving of Lin Hao’s sharpness.

“The Marquis of the Nation sent word,” Lin Zhennan said, producing a letter and holding it between two fingers.

At the mention of the Marquis, Lin Hao's gaze turned icy.

The Marquis of the Nation—Great Xia’s God of War, granted his title for legendary feats, a hero of unmatched renown. And this famed figure was Lin Hao’s own father.

“When your father brought you and your mother here, you were only six. I know you’ve harbored resentment all these years, but this is your past. Sooner or later, you must face it,” Lin Zhennan said quietly.

Lin Hao said nothing, his eyes colder than ever. Six years old—ten years had passed, and he’d never seen the man again. The legendary God of War, absent for a decade. Now the Tai Xuan Sect’s quota arrives—had his father suddenly remembered the son he’d abandoned? Was this pity?

Back then, burdened by war, his father had sent Lin Hao and his mother to the Lin family in Tianbao City. Two years later, showered with honors, he’d married a noblewoman in the capital. Upon hearing this, Lin Hao’s mother had died of grief, her heart broken and her end lonely. That man had not returned, not even for her final moments.

From that day, the towering figure in Lin Hao’s memory had grown distant and blurred.

To the world, the God of War was a hero. To Lin Hao, he was a faithless man who had abandoned his wife and child—the deepest pain buried in his heart.

All these years, Lin Hao could never forget his mother in her last days, sitting alone each night by the window, gazing silently into the distance.

“What does the letter say?” Lin Hao asked, his tone eerily calm.

Lin Zhennan raised a hand to pat Lin Hao’s shoulder. “From the capital: your younger brother, Lin Han, fourteen years old, recently shook the Great Xia Academy and is hailed as the number one prodigy in the realm.”

“My brother?” Lin Hao’s gaze grew colder.

“Yes, your half-brother. We didn’t tell you before, for fear of hurting you. Recently, Lin Han learned of your existence and, in public, declared that he felt ashamed to have a brother like you—a stain on his life’s record.”

Ignoring Lin Hao’s reddening eyes, Lin Zhennan continued, “Not only Lin Han, but also his mother’s family are displeased with your existence. That’s why the Tai Xuan Sect’s sudden quota is aimed at you.”

Lin Hao said nothing, his fists clenched and knuckles cracking.

Well, well, well. The Great Xia’s God of War—absent ten years. And his half-brother is already fourteen.

A sourness flooded his heart. He’d thought this was a rare moment of paternal pity, but in fact, he wasn’t even worthy of that.

Lin Han, heir to a noble house, a prodigy of Great Xia.

Lin Hao, a notorious wastrel in Tianbao City—useless, discarded.

“So they won’t even tolerate a cast-off like me, afraid I’ll shame them,” Lin Hao said, his voice ice.

Lin Han, his stepmother—they weren’t just targeting him, but the lowborn mother and son they wanted erased from the Marquis’s past.

His mother was gone. Only Lin Hao remained.

“Yes, and they need not act themselves. All they have to do is send a signal, and others will do the job—people in the Tai Xuan Sect, for instance. What must come, will come,” Lin Zhennan said. “Today is your sixteenth birthday. I give you two choices: take the path of cultivation and shine your own light, or stay in the Lin family as a carefree young lord. I will protect you for life!”

With that, Lin Zhennan swept his sleeve and left. After a few steps, he paused and glanced back. “To tell the truth, I never believed you were useless.”

He departed, leaving Lin Hao alone in the council hall, the letter lying at his feet.

With a snap, Lin Hao stamped on the letter, eyes flashing with cold fire.

Once, he and his mother had been discarded as worthless.

Now, he was an object of their disgrace.

He was nothing but a cast-off.

Even if he wasted his days as a wastrel, they would not leave him be.

Tianbao Mountain stood not far behind the Lin residence, the tallest peak in Tianbao City.

Lin Hao, holding yellow paper, climbed to the lonely grave atop the mountain.

“Mother, you asked to be buried at the highest point, so you could gaze toward the capital. But in the end, your trust was misplaced.”

“In truth, I’m doing well now, as long as they don’t return.”

“I have made my decision. I’ll walk that path. What we lost, I will reclaim. One day, I’ll make that faithless man kneel here and beg your forgiveness.”

Lin Hao burned the yellow paper, bowed before the grave, then rose, gazing at the heavens, feeling the faint stirrings in his veins—a dragon long dormant within him, ready to break free.

A surge of emotion swept through him. He drew a deep breath. “At last, sixteen! The time has come. It’s my turn… to rise!”

[The new tale begins—brothers, add it to your collection!]