The Transformed "Trash"

Night, slowly settled over the sky above Wutan City.

Within a dilapidated small courtyard, Su Chen sat cross-legged upon his bed, his entire being like a lifeless stone statue.

His breathing was faint to the extreme; were it not for the barely perceptible rise and fall of his chest, he would have been indistinguishable from a corpse.

This had already become his daily routine.

When darkness descended and the entire Wutan City fell into a deep slumber, that was the moment he began his work.

His mind, like mercury spilling onto the ground, sank silently and soundlessly into that void located in the deepest reaches of his consciousness.

After the backlash from that failed experiment, the light of the Stone Platform had dimmed significantly, much like an old crystal that had exhausted its energy.

But Su Chen knew very well that its core functions remained undamaged.

Especially its most fundamental, and also most heaven-defying, ability—perception.

Su Chen's consciousness hovered before the Stone Platform, without a hint of hesitation.

He issued a single thought.

Hum—

The dim Stone Platform lit up with a faint, ghostly glow.

That illusory needle, composed of countless runes, emerged once more, stubbornly pointing toward a fixed direction in the city.

The Xiao Clan.

There, lay his only current "target."

Su Chen's mental energy transformed into invisible tentacles, following the guidance of the needle, cautiously extending like a hunter prowling the deep sea toward that brilliant lighthouse representing the Bone Chilling Flame.

He had repeated this process for several days, and he was already well-versed in it.

It was both to continuously strip away and capture strands of origin aura data from that "lighthouse" to accumulate for his next experiment.

And it was also for surveillance.

To monitor the greatest, and most uncontrollable, "variable" within Wutan City.

As always.

His perception easily pierced through the thick courtyard walls of the Xiao Clan estate.

That "lighthouse" representing the Heavenly Flame still sat quietly in a room deep within the estate, radiating a pure and noble aura.

For the past few days, although this aura was powerful, it had always carried a sense of dead silence and slumber, like duckweed without roots.

It was like a divine weapon sealed in amber; though its edge was restrained, it lacked a true "soul."

But tonight...

Su Chen's consciousness suddenly faltered.

"Something is wrong!"

His perception instantly focused.

The aura belonging to the Bone Chilling Flame had changed!

It was no longer dead and silent.

It... had come alive!

If the previous aura was a pool of deep, cold, stagnant water.

Then at this moment, this stagnant water had begun to flow slowly and orderly!

It was like a tamed, gentle stream, being guided by an invisible dam, beginning to circulate around a core in a profound and rhythmic manner.

With every cycle, that aura became more refined and more stable.

It was as if that sealed divine weapon had found a scabbard that fit it perfectly.

Or perhaps, as if a dragon that had slept for thousands of years had finally opened its eyes!

This discovery made Su Chen's heart skip a beat.

Who was it?

Who was guiding this power?

Was it that mysterious soul hidden within the ring?

Had he awakened?

Su Chen forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart and pushed his perception to the limit.

His mental tentacles did not touch the flowing Heavenly Flame aura; instead, they bypassed it and probed even more cautiously toward the existence serving as the "vessel" itself.

Xiao Yan.

With this probe.

Su Chen's entire consciousness space shook violently!

He had "seen" it!

He clearly "saw" the aura that belonged to Xiao Yan himself!

It was no longer that murky, stagnant pool of an aura from the past, mixed with unwillingness, repression, decadence, and despair.

Replacing it...

Was a spark!

A faint, yet incredibly resilient spark, one that had just been fiercely ignited amidst the endless darkness and ruins!

That aura, though still pitifully weak and not yet truly formed.

Its core, however, had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation!

The former decadence had been swept away, replaced by a sharpness and tenacity like a new sprout breaking through the soil!

It was an unyielding will that, even if suppressed by boulders or ravaged by gale-force winds, swore to push aside everything above it to greet the sky that belonged to itself!

Two vastly different changes in aura.

One was the "Bone Chilling Flame" that had been awakened and begun to circulate.

The other was the "useless youth" who had broken through and stood again, rekindling his hope.

Between these two, there existed some kind of inevitable connection!

In Su Chen's mind, countless bolts of lightning seemed to roar and explode!

An incredibly clear conclusion instantly surfaced in his heart.

That old monster hidden within the ring had awakened!

Not only had he awakened, but he had already reached some unknown agreement with Xiao Yan!

He had begun to formally guide Xiao Yan in his cultivation!

That "useless youth," once mocked by the entire Wutan City and trampled underfoot by countless people, was beginning a true... metamorphosis, at a speed beyond imagination, in a corner unknown to everyone!

"Trouble..."

Su Chen's consciousness slowly descended from above the Stone Platform.

He did not continue his investigation.

Further probing was already meaningless.

He forcibly severed his perception of the outside world, his mind abruptly pulling away from that void space.

Thump! Thump!

In the real world, Su Chen's heart began to beat violently and uncontrollably within the deathly silent room.

A cold chill crept silently up the back of his neck along his spine.

It was not fear.

It was a warning sign, the kind a hunter feels when their prey suddenly grows fangs and claws overnight!

A rapidly growing Child of Destiny.

A soul entity with a mysterious and unfathomable background.

The chemical reaction produced by this combination, and the danger coefficient it represented, would grow exponentially and crazily!

All his previous plans were built on the foundation that "Xiao Yan is a useless person who cannot resist."

But now, this foundation had been shaken.

Su Chen slowly opened his eyes; in those pitch-black pupils, there was not a hint of panic, only a cold, abyss-like silence.

He was rapidly weighing the situation.

On one hand, Xiao Yan becoming stronger meant that the "Bone Chilling Flame" within him would be triggered more frequently, and its aura would become more active.

For him to "steal" data and conduct simulation experiments, this was a tremendous boon.

But on the other hand...

As a genius grows at high speed, their perception will also rise accordingly.

Could his "non-contact scanning" behavior still remain as unnoticed and secret as before?

Once discovered...

Su Chen did not doubt that that mysterious old monster would, without the slightest hesitation, swallow him—the "thief" lurking in the shadows—whole, skin and bone alike!

After a long while.

Su Chen let out a long, heavy breath.

His violently beating heart returned to a steady rhythm.

He stood up from the bed, walked to the dilapidated window, and looked through the cracks toward the direction of the Xiao Clan estate.

The night was still thick.

But in his eyes, that area was no longer a safe "resource point."

It had become an active volcano... ready to erupt at any moment.

* * *

The next day, early morning.

The broad main thoroughfare of Wutan City was bustling with crowds.

Su Chen had changed into the most inconspicuous gray short-sleeved shirt and wore a tattered bamboo hat that obscured most of his face, blending into the crowd without drawing a single glance.

Like a true phantom, he waited quietly in the shadows of a street corner.

Soon.

A lean figure emerged from an alleyway in the distance.

It was none other than Xiao Yan.

Su Chen's gaze locked onto him instantly, sharp as a hawk's.

Although the boy's attire remained as simple as ever, even washed to the point of fading, Su Chen confirmed all his suspicions from the previous night with just a single glance.

He had changed.

He had changed completely, from the inside out.

It was a transformation that originated from the very marrow of his bones.

In the past, when Xiao Yan walked down the street, he would habitually keep his head slightly bowed, his footsteps unsteady and his eyes evasive, as if he wanted to completely isolate himself from a world filled with mockery and cold stares.

But now.

His spine was as straight as a javelin piercing the blue sky.

His gait was steady and powerful; with every step he took, it felt as if he were resonating with the very earth beneath his feet.

His eyes, in particular, had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.

There was no more evasion, no more inferiority.

Those black pupils were calm and profound.

When he looked at his surroundings, his gaze was no longer aimless; it was a cold, emotionless observation, as if everything around him were merely scenery in his eyes, no longer capable of stirring his heart in the slightest.

It was the confidence and composure belonging solely to the strong—sublimated after suppressing all humiliation and pain, and turning it all into fuel!

Xiao Yan did not linger on the main thoroughfare.

He walked straight across the street, heading toward the mountains behind the city.

That place had been his only sanctuary for the past three years.

It was also the training ground where he had now been reborn.

Su Chen stood in the shadows, motionless, until that figure had completely vanished around the corner.

Only then did he slowly withdraw his gaze.

"The storm is about to rise."

Su Chen's mind was perfectly clear.

He knew that his own plans would have to change accordingly.

Continuing to act as a "treasure hunter" to sell information on low-level magical beasts was no longer enough to support his upcoming schemes.

Nor could it provide a reasonably plausible origin for the "new products" he was about to unveil.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly beneath the shadow of his bamboo hat.

Perhaps...

It was time to pay a visit to that shrewd, beautiful, and equally ambitious... business partner.

He needed to leverage the power of the Mite'er Family to lay a larger trap—both for himself and for that "trash" who was currently undergoing his metamorphosis.

A trap... that would shift everyone's gaze away from himself.