The Secondary Inheritance

Chapter 49 — The Secondary Inheritance

The chamber remained still after the ancient projection shattered.

Fragments of pale light drifted through the air before gradually fading into darkness.

Aether stood before the circular platform, studying the symbol engraved at its center.

An eye.

Surrounded by broken rings.

The same symbol had appeared throughout the entire underground structure.

Nyx remained close to his side, her golden eyes fixed on the platform. Aria held Starfall loosely in one hand, while Lyra's fingers occasionally sparked with faint blue-white lightning.

Nobody moved.

Then the platform activated.

[Origin Heir recognized.]

[Secondary Inheritance Sequence unlocked.]

Aether's gaze sharpened.

"Secondary?"

The system responded immediately.

[The Primary Inheritance is unavailable.]

[Reason: Authority insufficient.]

Aether frowned.

"So even though I'm recognized as the Origin Heir, I'm still not qualified for the main inheritance."

[Correct.]

That answer didn't surprise him.

If anything, it made him more cautious.

Ancient civilizations rarely left behind something this elaborate without safeguards.

Aether stepped closer to the platform.

"Then what exactly is the secondary inheritance?"

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then another line appeared.

[Secondary Inheritance: Origin Heir Foundation.]

[Purpose: Establish the foundation required to inherit higher Origin authority.]

Aether's expression became thoughtful.

"So this isn't the inheritance itself."

[Correction.]

[It is the first layer of the inheritance.]

Aether's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Better."

Lyra glanced at him.

"You're not surprised?"

"I expected a trap before I expected a treasure."

Aria gave a faint smile.

"That sounds like you."

Aether ignored the comment and continued examining the platform.

A thin line of silver light appeared beneath his feet.

The entire chamber trembled.

Ancient formations hidden beneath the floor began illuminating one after another.

The eye symbol rotated.

Then the broken rings around it separated.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Seven.

Finally, the seventh ring stopped directly beneath Aether.

[Inheritance Trial initiating.]

Aether immediately became alert.

"What kind of trial?"

[Three conditions detected.]

[Condition One: Origin Recognition.]

[Condition Two: Origin Resistance.]

[Condition Three: Origin Choice.]

Aether stared at the final condition.

"Origin Choice?"

No explanation came.

Instead, the chamber changed.

The walls disappeared.

For a brief moment, Aether found himself standing somewhere completely different.

A vast battlefield stretched beneath a crimson sky.

Mountains had been split apart.

Countless ancient structures floated above the ground, burning with strange flames.

The earth was covered in enormous cracks.

And everywhere he looked—

There were bodies.

Humans.

Beasts.

Unknown beings.

Some were so enormous that their corpses formed mountains.

Aether slowly turned his head.

The Executioner's Blade in his hand began vibrating.

Its synchronization rose slightly.

[Adaptive Resonance: 35% → 36%]

Aether immediately noticed.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"This is connected to the blade."

A voice suddenly came from behind him.

"You recognize it."

Aether turned.

There was nobody there.

The voice continued.

"The final war."

Aether's expression changed.

The ancient woman's words echoed through his mind.

The Executioner's Blade had been created during the final war of the Origin Domain.

But this battlefield was different from what he had imagined.

It wasn't simply a war.

It looked like the remains of an entire civilization.

A massive shadow suddenly passed across the crimson sky.

Aether looked upward.

Something enormous moved beyond the clouds.

He couldn't see its body.

Only a pair of silver eyes.

Watching.

Aether immediately recognized them.

The same silver eyes he had seen through the strange mark.

The same presence that had been observing him.

The Watcher.

Aether tightened his grip around the blade.

"So you're the one behind the mark."

The silver eyes remained silent.

Then the battlefield froze.

Every corpse.

Every flame.

Every drifting fragment of stone.

Everything stopped.

Only Aether could move.

A line of text appeared before him.

[Condition One: Origin Recognition.]

[Identify what you are.]

Aether stared at the message.

He almost laughed.

"That's the test?"

There was no response.

He thought for a moment.

"I could say I'm human."

Nothing happened.

"Origin Heir."

Still nothing.

"A cultivator."

Nothing.

"Bearer of the Infinite Origin Physique."

Nothing.

Aether's gaze became colder.

Those were descriptions.

None of them answered the question.

What was he?

He remembered the countless things that had happened since entering this world.

The system.

Nyx.

The ancient Guardian.

The shrine.

The Executioner's Blade.

The strange mark.

The people who already knew his name.

And now this inheritance.

Something connected all of them.

But Aether wasn't willing to accept an answer simply because an ancient civilization had prepared it for him.

He raised his head.

"I am Aether Draven."

The battlefield remained frozen.

Aether continued.

"I don't know why I was chosen."

"I don't know what the Origin Heir truly means."

"And I don't know what happened to the people who built this place."

His grip tightened around the blade.

"But I know one thing."

"I won't become someone else's successor just because they decided I should."

The silver eyes above the battlefield seemed to brighten.

Aether's voice remained calm.

"If this inheritance wants me, then it will have to accept me as I am."

The world trembled.

[Condition One...]

[Accepted.]

Aether's eyes narrowed.

The first ring beneath his feet illuminated.

[Origin Recognition complete.]

A second ring activated.

[Condition Two: Origin Resistance.]

The battlefield suddenly collapsed.

A wave of pressure descended.

Aether's body sank several centimeters into the ground.

His muscles tensed.

The pressure wasn't physical.

It was Origin.

Ancient, overwhelming Origin.

It entered his body like an ocean attempting to crush a single piece of stone.

Aether's Infinite Origin Physique immediately reacted.

[Foreign Origin detected.]

[Adaptive Resonance activated.]

His physique began absorbing small amounts of the pressure.

0.39%.

It remained unchanged.

The pressure increased.

Aether's knees bent slightly.

He didn't resist through brute strength alone.

Instead, he analyzed it.

The Origin wasn't attacking his body.

It was attempting to force his Origin to acknowledge a higher authority.

"So that's the trick."

The pressure doubled.

Aether's breathing became heavier.

The Executioner's Blade trembled violently.

His Origin Core began circulating energy faster.

[Adaptive Resonance: 36% → 37%]

Aether smiled faintly.

"You want me to submit?"

The pressure surged again.

Aether slowly straightened his back.

"No."

His Origin erupted.

Not wildly.

Not explosively.

It spread through his body with controlled precision.

The pressure crashed against him.

Aether remained standing.

[Condition Two: Origin Resistance.]

[Progress: 41%...]

The pressure continued.

52%.

67%.

81%.

Aether's body began bleeding from several small wounds.

Lyra's voice suddenly reached him from somewhere far away.

"Aether!"

The battlefield flickered.

For an instant, he saw Lyra and Aria standing outside the inheritance formation.

They were watching him.

Aether realized something.

Time inside the inheritance was different.

Only a few seconds had passed outside.

He raised one hand.

"I'm fine."

Aria stared at him.

"You're bleeding."

"That's not the same as losing."

His words barely left his mouth before the pressure reached its peak.

100%.

The entire battlefield shook.

Aether's Origin trembled.

For one moment, his body nearly collapsed.

Then the Infinite Origin Physique reacted.

A tiny stream of foreign Origin entered his body.

Instead of rejecting it—

Aether adapted.

The pressure vanished.

[Condition Two: Complete.]

[Origin Resistance confirmed.]

The second ring illuminated.

Only one remained.

The seventh ring.

Aether looked toward it.

"Origin Choice."

The silver eyes above the battlefield finally moved.

They looked directly at him.

Then a voice echoed across the ruined world.

"Power."

A vision appeared.

Aether saw himself standing above countless enemies.

No one could challenge him.

Another vision.

"Protection."

He saw himself surrounded by people he cared about.

Aether.

Lyra.

Aria.

Nyx.

And countless others.

But behind them stood an endless army.

A final vision appeared.

"Beyond."

Everything disappeared.

No throne.

No army.

No civilization.

No rules.

Only Aether standing alone beneath an endless sky.

The voice returned.

"Choose."

Aether remained silent.

The choice sounded simple.

But he understood the hidden meaning.

Power.

Protection.

Or something beyond both.

The same choice the ancient Guardian had once mentioned.

The same choice the ancient wolf had spoken of.

Aether slowly lowered the Executioner's Blade.

"I reject the choice."

The battlefield went completely silent.

Even the silver eyes seemed to pause.

Aether continued.

"Power is a tool."

"Protection is a responsibility."

"And whatever lies beyond them isn't something I can choose before I even understand it."

He looked directly at the Watcher.

"I'll decide what I become."

The seventh ring began cracking.

Aether's expression hardened.

The entire inheritance formation shook violently.

For a moment, he thought he had failed.

Then—

[Condition Three: Origin Choice.]

[Accepted.]

Aether's eyes widened slightly.

The voice returned one final time.

"Then walk your own path."

The battlefield shattered.

Aether returned to the underground chamber.

The platform beneath him was glowing.

A small crystal floated above it.

Unlike the ancient Origin Crystals he had encountered before, this one contained no visible energy.

It was completely transparent.

The system analyzed it.

[Secondary Inheritance acquired.]

[Item: Origin Heir's Seed.]

[Type: Inheritance Foundation]

[Grade: Unknown]

[Function: Unknown]

[Compatibility: 100%]

[Restriction: Cannot be forcibly removed.]

Aether stared at the crystal.

"So that's the inheritance."

[Clarification: This is only the first inheritance foundation.]

Aether's expression became serious.

"Only the first?"

[Higher inheritance layers remain sealed.]

[Required conditions unavailable.]

He reached toward the crystal.

The moment his fingers touched it, the transparent seed dissolved into silver light.

It entered his chest.

Aether's body shook.

For a brief moment, countless ancient symbols appeared across his Origin Core.

Then they disappeared.

His system status changed.

[Origin Heir Foundation established.]

[New Authority: Origin Inheritance Access.]

[Secondary Inheritance Layer One unlocked.]

Aether immediately checked his status.

[Origin Awakening — Stage 4]

[Origin Points: 200/300]

[Origin Adaptation: 22.1%]

[Infinite Origin Physique: 0.39%]

[Potential: ∞]

[Executioner's Blade Synchronization: 9%]

[Origin Severance: 14%]

[Adaptive Resonance: 37%]

[New Authority: Origin Inheritance Access]

No sudden breakthrough.

No enormous increase in cultivation.

Aether nodded.

"Good."

Lyra looked confused.

"Good?"

"I'd rather gain something I can build on than power I don't understand."

Aria stepped toward the platform.

"What did you inherit?"

Aether looked toward the now-dark chamber.

"Foundation."

Nyx suddenly growled.

Aether turned.

Her golden eyes were fixed on the wall.

The eye symbol had changed.

One of the broken rings was no longer broken.

A faint silver line had appeared across it.

Then the system displayed a warning.

[Warning.]

[External observation detected.]

Aether's expression immediately became cold.

The silver mark he had stored back at the cave had been destroyed earlier.

But the feeling was unmistakable.

Someone—or something—was watching them again.

This time, however, the system identified a direction.

[Observation source: North.]

Aether slowly looked toward the eastern passage.

The Northern Seal.

The Watcher.

And whatever had begun waking beyond the northern region.

The inheritance hadn't answered his questions.

It had created more.

Aether wasn't bothered by that.

Questions were useful.

They gave him something to pursue.

He turned toward the exit.

"Let's go home."

Lyra blinked.

"Already?"

"We've learned enough for today."

Aria nodded.

Nyx followed Aether without hesitation.

As they walked away, the ancient chamber became silent once again.

But deep beneath the structure, something moved.

A single silver eye opened in the darkness.

And for the first time in thousands of years—

the Watcher smiled.