"Ethan, this is your supreme bone. You were born with it, but you've never been able to awaken it. On you, this bone is nothing but a pearl buried in dust. So I made the decision for you. From now on, it no longer belongs to you."
Each word is like an ice-cold blade stabbing straight into your heart.
The one speaking is Chloe, the sister you love most, dressed in blue. Her face carries an almost fanatical resolve, her hands cradling a bone that glows with divine light. It's your supreme bone.
A trickle of blood spills from the corner of your mouth. The wound on your chest, deep enough to show bone, reveals exactly where it came from. The pain cuts to the marrow, but what hurts more is the betrayal.
You stare at her in disbelief. This is the girl who once trailed behind you as a child, timidly calling you brother, promising to protect you for life.
"Why?" Your voice comes out hoarse, every word trembling.
Chloe's eyes don't waver at all. Instead, they're full of pity and disdain. "Why, Ethan? Don't you get it yet? You hold the supreme bone in name only. Sixteen years, and you still haven't awakened it. Your cultivation is stuck at Chi Refining, third level. You can't even use its power. Our Reed family needs a real powerhouse. I, Chloe, the future empress, can't afford a brother who can't cultivate. You'd only hold me back. This bone can only shine on someone who's truly gifted, not waste away buried with you."
Every word cuts deep.
"Well said," comes a voice from the main seat of the hall. The family's grand elder slams the armrest and barks sternly. "Ethan, Chloe, this is for the family's greater good. As the elder brother, you never once shared the family's burdens. Instead, you've dragged your sister down. Do you understand your fault?"
"My fault." You suddenly burst into a shrill, bitter laugh.
You laugh until tears stream down your face. The blood soaking your chest spreads darker. You look around the hall. Elders, clansmen, outsiders here just to watch the show. Every single face is written with casual indifference and mockery.
"He should have given up that bone long ago. He's nothing but a burden on our Reed family."
"Chloe truly understands the greater good. She's a blessing to our family."
Each remark grinds your dignity further into the dust. Crushed over and over.
So this is all you ever were. A burden. A sacrifice. The elders who once smiled warmly at you. The sister you once shielded and protected. All of it was fake. The last shred of warmth in your heart is completely crushed. Only cold fury remains.
"Chloe, don't waste words on him." An elder in fine silk robes steps forward, holding a jade box. His face oozes flattery. "Master Julian is still waiting in the back hall. This supreme bone is meant for him. We can't keep him waiting."
Your eyes widen. Now you understand. The mastermind behind all this is Julian, the outsider who recently arrived at the Reed family. With nothing but sweet talk and a handful of pills, he's wrapped Chloe and every elder around his finger, the so-called chosen one. He wants your bone just to hand it to another man. How laughable.
"Ethan, Julian is the real thing. A true dragon among men. He'll take me to a bigger stage. You'll only ever be a stone in my way." Chloe looks at you, her tone tinged with pride. "Giving him your bone is its best possible fate. Consider it your final contribution to me."
"My final contribution." You laugh, dripping with irony, and force out the last of your strength. You grind the words out through clenched teeth. "It's not your call."
A cold glint flashes in the grand elder's eyes. A mountain of pressure crashes down on you. You're already gravely wounded. Your organs are damaged. Your mind starts to blur.
Humiliation. Resentment. Rage.
Was I, Ethan, born just to be someone else's stepping stone?
No. You refuse to accept it.
Just as your consciousness is about to sink into darkness, a voice utterly devoid of emotion explodes in your mind.
Ding. Detecting player at a turning point of fate. Betrayed by kin, harboring intense resentment. Conditions met for the Fated Villain System. System activation successful. Divine grade rebound system at your service.
Rookie choice. Please select.
Option one. Accept reality. Accept the family's compensation, a low-grade item, and cultivate in peace. Reward: full recovery, cultivation raised to Earth Realm, first level.
Option two. Refuse the scraps thrown at you. Walk the villain's path. Activate the billionfold rebound. Anything you willingly give up, reject, or have stolen from you can trigger a critical rebound. This is your cheat power.
Your fading consciousness jolts awake as you stare at the two choices before you. Not a moment's hesitation.
Accept the compensation and cling to life? Impossible. You refuse. Even in death, you will never eat scraps thrown at you.
Besides — your gaze sweeps over the elders looking down on you, the sister who's shown no mercy, and finally lands on the supreme bone that once belonged to you, still glowing with divine light. A mere supreme bone. Is that supposed to be worthy of me? The fated villain.
"I choose option two." You roar inside your mind. A roar loud enough to shake the heavens.
Ding. Player has chosen. The billionfold rebound function is now active. Rookie starter pack incoming. The first rebound is guaranteed to trigger a billionfold critical hit.
As the system's chime fades, a mysterious force wraps around your soul. Your fading life force flares back to life.
Slowly, painfully, you lift your head from the ground. Your once gentle eyes now hold nothing but cold indifference.
"You want my bone." You look at Chloe, spacing each word deliberately. "Fine. I'll give it to you. But you better be able to catch it."
The moment you finish speaking, the entire hall falls dead silent. Everyone freezes. This man, with his pitifully weak cultivation. A man barely clinging to life. Where does he get the nerve?
"The ramblings of a dying man. Hm. Still talking tough at death's door." The elder in fine silk sneers, his face full of contempt. "Miss Chloe, ignore him. Hurry and hand over the supreme bone. Don't keep Master Julian waiting."
Chloe snaps out of her daze, meets your icy stare, frowns slightly, then turns her head away. Still putting on an act. She stops looking at you, turns, and moves to hand the supreme bone to the elder.
That's when you move.
Gathering every ounce of remaining strength, you rise from the ground. Inch by inch, the wound in your chest still throbbing with pain. Your body sways, yet you stand straight.
"What's mine is only given when I say it's given."
Ignoring everyone's reaction, you walk straight toward Chloe. Each step drags a faint mark across the floor. Yet the presence radiating off you keeps building.
"What are you trying to do?" Chloe, startled by your look, takes a step back and shouts sharply. "Ethan, I'm warning you. Don't humiliate yourself."
You say nothing. You simply walk up to her and reach out a hand covered in dust.
But your target isn't the supreme bone everyone covets. It's the low-grade spirit bone the elder had carelessly tossed on the ground earlier as your compensation. A dull grey bone, its spiritual energy pitifully thin.
Under everyone's watch, you pick it up. Then, without a second thought, you toss it back at the silk-robed elder's feet.
"Something like this doesn't deserve to insult my eyes." Your voice rings through the hall.
And the instant you toss the spirit bone away, a heavenly chime bursts through your mind.
Ding. Player has refused and discarded a low-grade spirit bone. Billionfold critical rebound triggered. Congratulations, player. Mythic grade physique acquired. The chaos body.
Boom.
An indescribably vast surge of energy detonates inside your body. It sweeps through your limbs and bones like a tidal wave, reforging your meridians from the ground up. The horrific wound on your chest, nourished by the chaos energy, heals at a speed visible to the naked eye. Flesh regrows. Bone regenerates. In an instant, the wound vanishes without a trace, the new skin smooth and flawless as jade. All the pain in your body fades away, replaced by a boundless power like nothing you've ever felt.