The sword hums echoed for hours. The Thorn family's ancestral mansion lay in ruins, its protective arrays shattered by the Celestial Vault's awakening. Leon stood atop a floating crystal sword, watching his former tormentors tremble.
"Leon, my boy!" Patriarch Marcus Thorn crawled through debris, his once-proud robes stained with blood. "The family wronged you! Name your price—riches, the lordship, even Cedric's head!"
A sword flickered. Cedric's severed head rolled to Leon's feet, frozen in disbelief. The "prodigy" who stole his Primordial Core now looked... *pathetic*.
"Too late." Leon tossed the family crest into the dust. "Your throne is cheaper than a copper coin."
Marcus' eyes bulged. "Then why show mercy?!"
"Mercy?" Leon grinned, holding up a grimy pill. "I just found this under my mattress. Recognize it?"
The patriarch gasped. "The Nine Revolutions Rebirth Elixir?! But our alchemists said the recipe was lost!"
"Oh, this?" Leon popped the pill like candy. "Mining tunnel check-in reward. Tastes like lemon drops."
Golden light erupted. Wrinkles vanished from Leon's face as his body rejuvenated to a teenager's. The System notification flashed:
*"Ding! Age Reset (16 years old) complete. Primordial Core purity upgraded to 99.9%."*
A portal ripped open above. Three figures descended on winged swords—their robes embroidered with frostblade emblems.
"Who dares awaken the Celestial Vault?!" The lead cultivator, a silver-haired woman, froze mid-sentence. Her detection jade exploded upon scanning Leon.
"Impossible..." She stared at the teenager roasting marshmallows over a floating divine flame. "A Nascent Soul cultivator... at sixteen?!"
Leon shrugged. "Want one?" He offered a charred treat. "Heavenly Fire makes them extra crispy."
The frostblade envoy's icy composure cracked. "The Frostblade Order formally invites you—"
"Declined." Leon crushed a jade token from his pocket. "I'll take the entrance exam. Normal procedures, please."
Gasps erupted. The token—stamped with **"Celestial Vault Inheritor"**—was the stuff of legends.
Marcus whimpered. "That's... that's just a mining tunnel pass!"
"Oops." Leon winked. "Turns out your 'trash mines' were the Vault's backdoor."
As the frostblade envoys bowed, a shadow stirred in Leon's mind. The sword spirit's voice purred:
*"Master, shall we teach them how a real 'prodigy' shines?"*