He was once the Martial God of Ten Thousand Realms, a legend who shattered heavens with a single strike. But betrayal sealed his divine soul into the frail body of Lin Feng—a scorned, beaten son-in-law of a crumbling clan. Mocked as trash, humiliated by his wife’s family, and cast aside like a broken tool, he endured it all with a smile. Why? Because beneath his ragged exterior burns the heart of a god, waiting to unleash chaos on a world that forgot his name.

Divorced and discarded, Lin Feng walks away from the Lin Clan’s sneers, his steps leading him to the downtrodden Ye Clan—a family of outcasts clinging to survival. They see a wanderer. He sees a canvas. With cunning sharper than any blade and secrets deeper than the abyss, he begins to mold them in the shadows, turning weaklings into warriors, paupers into kings. Every insult fuels his resolve. Every enemy becomes a stepping stone.

But the seal on his power is cracking. Ancient foes sense the tremor of a god’s return. Arrogant young masters, ruthless sects, and even the heavens themselves will tremble when the Shadow Patriarch rises. From a forgotten village to the celestial thrones, Lin Feng—Zhan Tian—will carve his name in blood and fire, proving one truth: those who scorned him will kneel, and those who dared to challenge him will break.

Cultivation? Unmatched. Revenge? Ruthless. Destiny? His to rewrite. The world thought it buried a nobody. It awoke a nightmare.

The Ye Clan estate trembled beneath a twilight sky shrouded in gray mist and enigma, the air thick with a resonant hum that drowned out the fading radiance of the Eternal Light's retreat. The courtyard pulsed with unease, the fire crackling faintly as Ye Hua clutched a patched cloak, her gray eyes wide with dread at the rift where a figure in gray mist emerged, its qi a swirling balance of infinite power casting shadows that danced in perfect equilibrium. Ye Qing gripped his spear at the gate, his grizzled face pale with exhaustion, his voice a hoarse growl as he urged Ye Jun and Ye Mei to huddle behind the barricade, their small figures trembling in the enigmatic haze. Ye Chen knelt by the western wall, his ward-stone clutched tight, his twisted leg braced as the earth quivered beneath a force of timeless balance. Ye Ling paced the gatehouse, her dagger a restless gleam, her braid snapping with each tense stride, her breath sharp with defiance and curiosity.


Chapter 40 - The Balance of Destiny