I become stronger by sacrificing my lifespan, becoming invincible in the world.

The sound of chains rubbing together mingled with the bumps of wheels rolling over gravel.

When Lin Chen regained consciousness amidst excruciating pain, the first thing he smelled was a pungent musty smell and the stench of blood.

He opened his eyes, his vision blurry—the dim oil lamp swayed overhead, casting dappled light and shadow on the rough texture of the wooden fence.

Prison van.

This realization felt like an ice pick piercing my brain.

He tried to move his body, but the pain from all over his body made him groan.

Looking down, I saw heavy iron shackles on my wrists and ankles, chafing my skin raw, with scabs mixed with dirt forming a clump.

What sank him even further was the emptiness he felt in his dantian.

Broken.

The dantian, which once contained profound internal strength, is now like a porcelain plate shattered by a hammer, covered with cracks, and can no longer hold even a trace of true energy.

The meridians were congested and blocked, and the internal energy was breaking down inch by inch within them.

"Finally awake?" A rough voice came from the other side.

Lin Chen looked up and saw a burly soldier with a fierce face, holding a knife, grinning at him with mockery in his eyes: "Seventh Prince, how was your journey?"

Seventh Prince... Your Highness...

This name is like a key, unlocking the floodgates of memory.

Two torrents of memories collided and merged violently in my mind.

A feeling came from his past life—he was Lin Chen, the descendant of an ancient Chinese martial arts family. He was ambushed while fighting for the ancestral treasure "Blood Sacrifice Divine Jade". Before he died, he only remembered that the ancient jade turned into a bloody light and entered his chest.

The other one... comes from this life.

Lin Chen, the seventh prince of the Kowloon Dynasty. His mother died early, and he was betrothed to Su Qingxue, the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, from a young age.

Sixteen years of childhood sweethearts, he once thought she was the most precious person in his life.

Until three months ago, at his father's birthday banquet, he was accused of colluding with foreign tribes and plotting a rebellion. The most crucial evidence actually came from Su Qingxue!

His martial arts were publicly crippled, and his dantian was shattered. He was thrown into prison and severely tortured.

Had it not been for the royal blood flowing through his veins, he would already be a corpse. Final verdict: Exile to Ghost Cry Pass in the north, to guard the border for eternity.

On the eve of his departure from the capital, Su Qingxue came to the prison to "visit" him.

In my memory, she was dressed in white, her face still beautiful and ethereal, but those eyes that once held tender affection were now as cold as the ice of the North.

"Brother Chen," her voice was soft, like a feather brushing against the heart, "Don't blame me. If you have to blame someone, blame yourself for blocking their way, and blame yourself for... the crime of possessing a treasure."

She reached out, her icy fingers tracing his chest—there, since childhood, there had been a dark red birthmark, shaped like ancient jade.

"You shouldn't have this jade."

As she got up to leave, she left with the final words: "The road to the North is long and cold. Brother Chen, have a safe journey."

The words still echo in my ears.

Lin Chen closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the surging hatred deep within his heart. Two betrayals, past and present, both because of this jade. The Blood Sacrifice Divine Jade… what secrets does it hold?

"Pah!" the soldier spat, impatiently knocking on the fence. "What are you pretending to be dead for? We're almost at Black Wind Gorge. After that, Ghost Cry Pass won't be far. But..."

He paused, a cruel smile appearing on his face: "Whether Your Highness can make it to Ghost Cry Pass alive is another matter."

Lin Chen felt a chill run down his spine.

The prison van suddenly stopped.

A few short bird calls came from outside—three long and two short, like some kind of signal.

"They're here." The soldier grinned, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

He stood up, took out his keys, opened the back door of the prison van, and deftly unlocked the iron shackles on Lin Chen's feet, but left the handcuffs on.

"Get down."

Lin Chen was roughly dragged off the prison van.

It was dusk, and the setting sun, like blood, dyed the desolate mountains of the North a dark red.

They stopped at the entrance to a narrow canyon, with sheer cliffs on both sides, the wind howling through the cracks in the rocks.

The escort team consisted of ten people, led by Captain Chen Hong, who rode on horseback. He had a fair complexion but a sinister look in his eyes.

He waved his hand, and the remaining eight soldiers quickly dispersed, forming a circle that trapped Lin Chen in the middle.

Chen Hong rode forward, looking down at Lin Chen, his voice calm: "Seventh Prince, we've come this far, so we've done our duty."

Lin Chen raised his head, his gaze calm: "Is it Su Qingxue, or the First Prince?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Hong's eyes, then he smiled. "Your Highness is a clever man. However... who it is doesn't matter. What matters is that someone wants something about you. Of course, they want your life along with it."

He raised his hand.

Three dark figures leaped down from the cliffs on either side, landing silently. They were all dressed in night clothes, their faces covered with black cloths, revealing only a pair of cold eyes.

The three stood in a triangular formation, their auras locked onto Lin Chen.

The murderous aura spread out as if it were a tangible force.

Lin Chen's heart sank to the bottom. The aura of these three people... even the weakest one was at the fifth level of the Acquired Realm! And he, now, with his dantian shattered and his meridians blocked, was even weaker than an ordinary person.

"Stop struggling, Your Highness," the man in black in the middle said in a hoarse voice. "You're just a cripple, why suffer any more pain? Just accept your death obediently, and we'll give you a quick death."

The man on the left chuckled, "What a waste of such a handsome face. I heard that this Seventh Prince was once a famously dashing figure in the capital, but now he's going to die in this godforsaken place."

"Enough with the nonsense," the man on the right said coldly. "Hurry up and finish this. This place is gloomy; staying here too long will bring bad luck."

The three of them moved at the same time.

There were no fancy moves, only the most direct killing intent. Two short swords and a dagger were thrust at Lin Chen's throat, heart, and dantian respectively—sealing off all escape routes.

That's too fast.

Lin Chen didn't even have time to think; his body instinctively retreated to the side and backward. Although the shackles were removed, the handcuffs remained, restricting his movement. Moreover, his body was extremely weak, making his movements significantly slower.

puff!

The dagger pierced his left shoulder first, and a sharp pain shot through him.

Immediately afterwards, the dagger slashed across his waist, spraying a spray of blood.

The final blow was aimed straight at the heart.

On the brink of life and death, Lin Chen twisted his body suddenly, and the knife grazed his ribs and pierced his chest. Although it did not hit his heart, it was still a fatal wound.

Scalding hot blood gushed out, instantly soaking the tattered prison clothes.

Even worse, blood soaked through his clothes on his chest, seeping into the dark red birthmark—

hum!

An indescribable burning sensation suddenly exploded from my chest!

It felt as if molten lava was flowing into my limbs and bones, or as if an invisible force was awakening me from the depths of my soul.

Lin Chen's consciousness became incredibly clear in that instant, and everything around him seemed to slow down.

He could see the fleeting look of surprise in the eyes of the three assassins.

You could see the cruel smile on Chen Hong's face freeze.

You can see the last rays of the setting sun shining obliquely on the cliff face, creating dappled light and shadow.

The burning sensation on his chest grew stronger, and a crimson light faintly shone through his clothes.

Immediately afterwards, a cold and eerie current surged from the "birthmark," flowing down his arm and toward the hand holding the knife that was pressed against his chest.

"What the hell..." The man in black holding the knife suddenly sensed something was wrong.

His hands were visibly withering away! His skin lost its luster and wrinkles appeared, as if he had aged ten or twenty years in an instant!

"Ah—!" He tried to pull his hand back in terror, but found that his hand seemed to be stuck and he couldn't move it.

It wasn't just his hand. All his vital energy and life force were flowing wildly out of that hand and rushing towards Lin Chen's chest.

The other two assassins were horrified when they saw this and hurriedly swung their knives at Lin Chen's neck.

But Lin Chen made a move.

He abruptly raised his hand—his shackled hand—and precisely gripped the left wrist of the murderer. The same suction force came, and the man was horrified to discover that he, too, was aging rapidly.

As the assassin on the right slashed down, Lin Chen dodged by turning his head and punched him in the chest with his other hand. The moment they made contact, the Devouring Power activated again.

The three men in black slumped down like dried scarecrows. Their hair turned gray, their skin became wrinkled, and the life in their eyes quickly faded, until they became three withered corpses.

From a desperate situation to a counterattack, it only took three breaths.

The entire room fell silent.

Chen Hong's smile froze completely, his eyes filled with disbelief and horror. The surrounding soldiers were so frightened that they retreated one after another, their hands gripping their swords trembling.

Lin Chen stood there, the dagger still embedded in his chest, blood gushing out. But he felt little pain; instead, a warm current coursed through his body, healing his wound.

At the same time, a clear thought flooded into my mind:

【Blood Sacrifice to the Divine Jade - First Awakening】

[Absorb the lifespan of living beings and use it for your own benefit]

[Currently Consuming: Human Lifespan, Totaling Fifteen Years]

[Potential uses: Repairing the physical body, evolving martial arts techniques, nourishing the soul]

[Warning: In the initial awakening stage, the daily limit for consuming is three times, with a single consumption limit of fifty years of lifespan. Excessive consumption will result in a backlash of resentment.]

The divine jade... it really is it.

The secret treasure he fought so hard for in his past life had already been integrated into his soul, and he was reborn in this world with it.

Lin Chen slowly raised his head, his gaze falling on Chen Hong's face.

The despair and deathly stillness of the past were gone from those eyes; only a cold, unfathomable chill remained.

Chen Hong's heart skipped a beat under his gaze, and he involuntarily took half a step back, shouting with feigned bravado but underlying fear, "Demon... demonic magic! What kind of demonic magic is this?!"

Lin Chen did not answer.

He reached out, grasped the hilt of the dagger embedded in his chest, and slowly pulled it out.

Fresh blood dripped from the tip of the knife, but the flesh at the wound writhed and began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye—consuming part of the lifespan that had just been absorbed.

Clang.

The dagger was thrown on the ground.

Lin Chen cracked his wrists, the iron shackles rattling. He looked at Chen Hong, his voice eerily calm:

"Captain Chen, now..."

"It's my turn to ask you."

The wind in the canyon suddenly became biting.

As the sun completely sank behind the mountains, the last ray of light disappeared, and darkness washed over the cliff face like a tide.

In the distance, the faint howls of wolves could be heard.

The body beside the prison van was rapidly growing cold.