Chapter 3: Blood of the Emperor, Ling Feng's Origin!

After an unknown amount of time, Ling Kun woke up leisurely, his brow furrowing involuntarily at the pungent smell of blood.

Corpses lay everywhere, and rivers of blood flowed!

The entire Su family estate had almost turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Ling Kun's eyelids twitched violently as he scrambled up from the ground, his hands trembling. "The Eye of the Son of Heaven... Heavens, has his Eye of the Son of Heaven finally opened after all?"

Ling Kun rushed into the Su residence. The torrential rain poured down, yet it could not wash away the thick scent of blood.

Ling Feng sat atop a pile of corpses, his gaze vacant, mechanically repeating under his breath, "Kill... kill... kill..."

"Feng'er!" Ling Kun's eyes welled with tears as he lunged toward Ling Feng. "Child, the bad people are dead, they are all dead! Don't kill anymore! Stop killing!"

"Grandpa..." A flicker of clarity returned to Ling Feng's eyes, and the vertical pupil on his forehead finally closed.

"Grandpa! You're not dead!"

Ling Feng struggled to lift his right hand and pulled the golden needle from the top of his head, a wave of intense weakness sweeping through his heart.

No power appears out of thin air.

When that vertical pupil opened, although Ling Feng seemed to possess inexhaustible strength, it was all power traded for by using the golden needles to stimulate his own life force.

If he continued to keep the vertical pupil open, his vitality would be rapidly overdrawn until death.

"Child, poor child!" Ling Kun wailed loudly. "It is all Grandpa's fault. If I hadn't been chasing pleasure, you wouldn't have encountered the City Lord and his daughter, and you wouldn't have opened the Eye of the Son of Heaven. It's all my fault, all my fault!"

"Grandpa, you're not dead, that's... that's great..." Ling Feng was already too weak to even keep his eyes open. His vision went black, and he finally lost consciousness.

"I'll take you away! I'll get you out of here!"

Gritting his teeth, Ling Kun helped Ling Feng up, crawled out from the pile of corpses, hoisted an inconspicuous medicine box, and began the arduous journey of walking out of Kaiyang City, step by step.

Every step left a bloody footprint!

Perhaps because the thunder was truly too loud, during that bloody night, not a single soul heard a sound.

The next day, when passersby passed the City Lord's manor, they discovered in horror that over a hundred people in the manor, from top to bottom, had all died violent deaths!

Every corpse bore claw marks as if torn apart by beasts, making it impossible for anyone to associate the carnage with human actions.

Consequently, rumors spread that the City Lord's manor had been wiped out by an unknown demonic beast. The entire Kaiyang City went into lockdown to prevent that terrifying "beast" from entering the city again.

...

After an unknown amount of time, Ling Feng finally opened his eyes. Every muscle in his body felt as though it had been snapped.

Pain!

A pain so intense it felt unbearable!

"Feng'er, you're awake?" His grandfather's kind voice drifted to his ear. Ling Feng's eyes scanned his surroundings before finally locking onto Ling Kun's figure.

He could see! He could really see again!

"Feng'er, are you feeling better?" Ling Kun brought over a bowl of congee and said softly, "You've been unconscious for half a month. Come, have some congee first."

Ling Feng nodded slightly. Recalling that bloody night, even he felt a sense of fear.

Was that monster that knew nothing but slaughter truly himself?

"Grandpa..."

Ling Feng took a sip of the congee, his eyes fixed on Ling Kun as he asked in a heavy voice, "Grandpa, are you hiding something from me? You keep talking about the Eye of the Son of Heaven—what exactly is it?"

"I originally thought I could keep this secret for a lifetime." Ling Kun clenched his fists, tears welling in his eyes. "I thought your Eye of the Son of Heaven would never open."

"Grandpa, what are you talking about? Please tell me, I want to know everything!" Ling Feng's emotions grew agitated.

Anyone would find it impossible to remain calm after discovering they could turn into such a monster.

"Perhaps it is all Heaven's will." Ling Kun let out a long sigh. "Once your Eye of the Son of Heaven has opened for the first time, there will be a second and a third. If I didn't tell you, it would actually be harming you."

Ling Feng stared at his grandfather, listening intently.

"I am not your grandfather! In fact, I was merely an old servant by your grandfather's side." Ling Kun took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "Feng'er, your parents had to leave you when you were just born due to certain reasons, so they could only leave you with the Master."

"However, the Master also passed away from a serious illness when you were only one year old. After that, he entrusted you to me."

"Before the Master died, he told me that there is a special bloodline within your body called the Blood of the Son of Heaven. Once stimulated and combined with the piercing of acupoints with golden needles, it will open the Eye of the Son of Heaven, triggering a bout of madness!"

"Blood of the Son of Heaven? Eye of the Son of Heaven?"

Countless thoughts flashed through Ling Feng's mind. He had a vague feeling that his parents' departure and his grandfather's death might both be related to this Blood of the Son of Heaven.

"What is the Blood of the Son of Heaven?" Ling Feng asked solemnly.

"The Master only told me that the Son of Heaven is the Child of the Heavenly Dao."

Ling Kun paused, then continued slowly, "The Master instructed that if you eventually opened the Eye of the Son of Heaven, I should tell you that the secret to your origins is hidden within two volumes of the *Taixuan Acupuncture Scripture*."

"Two volumes of the *Taixuan Acupuncture Scripture*?" Ling Feng was momentarily stunned. "Is there a second volume in this world?"

"Yes." Ling Kun nodded. "The Master once told me that he placed this medical book in the Yan family of the Eastern Capital. However, since the Master's death, our Ling family has gradually declined, and we, grandfather and grandson, have had to wander and practice medicine. As for the Yan family, they turned their backs on us long ago and certainly won't acknowledge what happened back then."

"The Yan family of the Eastern Capital?" Ling Feng suddenly remembered that when he was young, Ling Kun had once taken him to the Eastern Capital, only to rush out briefly and return covered in injuries, cursing loudly—seemingly cursing the people of the Yan family.

"Feng'er, you have already opened the Eye of the Son of Heaven. You must walk the path of martial arts. Only when you become a powerful martial artist might you have the chance to learn your full history."

"Walk the path of martial arts?"

Ling Feng took a deep breath. He had drifted around with his grandfather for all these years and had never practiced martial arts; his grandfather had never allowed him to touch it.

Perhaps, he was simply afraid that the Eye of the Son of Heaven would open.

Cultivators strive to snatch life from Heaven, and danger to one's life is inevitable, which naturally increases the likelihood of the Eye of the Son of Heaven opening.

"Yes. Opening the Eye of the Son of Heaven will rapidly overdraw your life force. Only by cultivating to become a powerful martial artist can you avoid dying young because of it!"

"I understand."

Ling Feng gritted his teeth. Not only for the sake of survival, but also for the second volume of the *Taixuan Acupuncture Scripture* that held the mystery of his origins—he must reclaim it from the Yan family of the Eastern Capital!

Ling Kun sighed and said slowly, "Your grandfather was once known as the Medical Saint, one of the top physicians in the world. Countless martial artists were treated by him. I believe there should be sects willing to take you in!"

"Perhaps." Ling Feng gritted his teeth. After the incident with Su Lin and his daughter, he realized how ugly human nature could be.

Without status or position, how many people would care about old ties?

No matter what, he could never easily trust others again—especially women!

(End of Chapter)