The Slumbering Sovereign of Ashes

Rain slashed through the weeping bamboo forest as Meng Ruohan fled the clan executioners, clutching his ruined chest. His own father had violently torn out his Azure Marrow bloodline, discarding him as a crippled outcast. But as Ruohan collapses in the mud, his spilled blood awakens a seemingly useless stone pagoda he kept in his pocket, dragging his consciousness into a realm of primordial fire. Inside, the deranged spirit of a legendary alchemist, Old Master Gu, forces Ruohan to swallow explosive, agonizing prototype pills just to rebuild his shattered meridians. Ruohan’s heart is too kind to seek bloody murder, but his mind is sharp enough to orchestrate absolute social ruin. Enrolling in the White Heron Alchemical Pavilion, he begins a campaign of cold, calculated humiliation against the arrogant young masters who mock his crippled state. His revenge reaches a legendary peak during the Grand Crucible Tournament when, exhausted from surviving Gu’s torturous nighttime experiments, Ruohan passes out at his cauldron - only for his muscle memory to automatically refine a flawless, heavenly-grade pill. But as Ruohan systematically dismantles his father's empire, he uncovers a terrifying anomaly in his stolen bloodline. Was his father's ultimate betrayal actually an act of desperate sacrifice?