Realm of Infinity-Chapter 110: The system is activated

The white light was not a gentle transition.

It was a violent, soul-tearing velocity that made Noah feel as if his very essence was being put through a celestial meat grinder.

The laws of the universe he had comprehended, the mana, the gravity, the very fabric of space, shredded away like old parchment.

Then, there was darkness.

A warm, suffocating, yet peaceful darkness.

For a moment, Noah's consciousness flickered.

He felt the faint, rhythmic thrumming of a heart that wasn't his own.

He heard muffled voices, vibrating through a wall of flesh and spirit.

"I am... reincarnating," he thought, the realization slipping through his mind like sand.

"I am becoming... small."

Then came the pain.

It was the pain of birth, the transition from the infinite potential of the womb to the harsh, cold reality of a world that didn't care for his previous titles.

In the Aurelion Manor,

Alen Aurelion, a man whose face was etched with lines of premature worry, paced the hallway outside a room.

Once, Alen had been a genius of the kingdom, a man whose sword-light could split clouds.

Now, his cultivation was a stagnant pond, his foundation fractured by a blow from a Royal Protector years ago.

"Please," he whispered, his knuckles white as he gripped a jade pendant.

"Just let them be safe."

A piercing cry shattered the silence.

It was the high-pitched, fragile wail of a newborn infant.

The door creaked open.

An old midwife, her face a map of a thousand stories, stepped out.

She looked tired, but a small smile touched her lips. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Master Alen, congratulations. It is a boy. He is healthy, and Mistress Elina is safe."

Alen felt a weight lift from his chest that he hadn't realized he was carrying.

He fumbled with his spatial ring, pulling out a handful of shimmering spirit crystals.

"Thank you, Granny. Please, take these. It is all I have prepared for the moment."

The old woman looked at the crystals and then at the man.

She knew the state of the Aurelion family.

She knew they were being squeezed by the Royal Family, their businesses seized, their allies turned into enemies.

To take these crystals would be to take the food from their table.

"Keep your money, Master," she said softly, pushing his hand away.

"The Aurelions were once kind to me. I do not charge for a debt of the heart. Just raise him well. In these dark times, a new life is the only light we have left."

Alen watched her leave, a lump in his throat.

He entered the room to find his wife, Elina, pale but radiant, holding a small bundle wrapped in silk.

She was a Golden Core cultivator, a beauty of the kingdom, but now she looked like a fallen immortal, her power suppressed by the very world that once adored her.

"He's beautiful, Alen," she whispered.

A knock could be heard on the door. Elina immediately arranged her clothes properly.

"Father, please come in."

Arthur Aurelion, the Patriarch, walked in.

His hair was snow-white, and he leaned on a staff made of spirit-wood, but his eyes still held the sharpness of a hawk.

He looked at the child, and for a fleeting second, a spark of hope flared in his pupils.

He reached out a weathered hand and touched the baby's forehead, sending a sliver of warm, probing energy into the infant's meridians.

His face fell.

The spark died.

"Father?" Alen asked, his voice trembling.

Arthur sighed, a sound like dry leaves skittering across a tomb.

"The curse... it holds true. Five-elemental spirit veins. The 'Trash' grade. The Heavens truly wish to see our bloodline extinguished."

Alen closed his eyes.

In this world, spirit veins determined everything.

A single-elemental vein was a genius.

A dual-elemental was a talent.

But a five-elemental vein?

It was a sieve.

It could take in energy, but it could never hold it.

It was the mark of a commoner, a "waste" who would spend his whole life struggling to even reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Give him a name, Father," Elina said, her voice defiant despite the news.

"He is an Aurelion. He deserves a name of strength."

Arthur looked at the baby, who was staring back at him with strangely calm, deep eyes.

"His name shall be Noah. Noah Aurelion. May he find the peace that we could not."

Deep within the subconscious of the infant Noah, a voice echoed.

One that no one else could hear.

"So, he has appeared in the lowest level of this world? And a declining noble family at that? His luck is not that good after all," Lumina's voice mused, drifting through the void of his mind.

She peered through Noah's infantile senses, scanning the spiritual signatures of the people in the room.

She saw the fractured foundation in Alen.

The suppressed core in Elina.

And the lingering poison in Arthur's blood.

But more than that, she saw the invisible threads of a curse woven into the family's very destiny.

"A bloodline curse? Every child born to this generation is destined to be a waste? How petty. Someone in that Royal Family really wants to see this lineage crawl in the dirt. Interesting... an exciting journey is waiting for you, Noah. Let's see how you dive here."

With a final shimmer of ethereal light, she began the process of integration.

"I am going to merge with your system now. Until the awakening... sleep, little Sovereign."

Eight years passed in the blink of an eye.

But for the Aurelion family, it was a slow crawl through humiliation.

The estate grew quieter.

The hundreds of servants who once maintained the grounds had long since fled to serve more prosperous masters.

The grand feasts were replaced by simple meals.

The Aurelions survived on the meager profits of a single medicinal herb shop.

The only business the 4th Prince had allowed them to keep, mostly so he could watch them struggle.

Noah grew up in this atmosphere of faded glory.

To his parents, he was a quiet, obedient boy.

He didn't complain about the lack of toys or the ragged state of his robes.

He spent his days in the family library, reading old scrolls about the history of the Ancient World.

He learned that they were in the Luminous Kingdom, a vast territory, but only a tiny dot in the Mega Mana Empire.

He learned that power was the only currency that mattered.

On the morning of his eighth birthday, the day of the Spirit Vein Awakening, Alen sat Noah down.

"Noah," Alen said, his hand resting on his son's shoulder.

"Today, we officially open your meridians. I won't lie to you. We already know your talent is... difficult. The five-elemental veins are a heavy burden. But you are my son. Even if you only reach the Golden Core realm in your lifetime, I will be proud of you. You can take over the shop, live a quiet life, and maybe... maybe find happiness away from the eyes of the Empire."

Noah looked up at his father.

He saw the pain in the man's eyes.

The pain of a father who couldn't protect his son's future.

"I understand, Dad," Noah said, his voice unusually steady for an eight-year-old.

"Don't worry. I'll work hard. I'll make the Aurelion name mean something again."

Alen smiled, a bittersweet expression.

"Spirited as always. Come. Your grandfather is waiting."

The ancestral hall was cold and damp.

The statues of the Aurelion ancestors stood like silent sentinels, their stone eyes watching the last remnants of their bloodline.

Arthur Aurelion stood before a ritual circle carved into the floor.

Beside him stood Elina and the old midwife who had stayed with the family through their downfall.

There were no guests.

No drums.

No celebration.

"Seat yourself, Noah," Arthur commanded.

Noah stepped into the center of the circle.

As he sat cross-legged, he felt a strange sensation in the back of his mind.

A ticking clock reaching zero.

Arthur began to channel his remaining Nascent Soul energy into the array.

The floor began to glow with a faint, pulsing blue light.

"By the blood of our ancestors, awaken the hidden paths!"

The energy surged into Noah.

It was like a flood of fire entering his veins.

In a normal child, this would be the moment their elemental affinity showed itself.

Suddenly, five distinct lights erupted from Noah's body.

Red (Fire), Blue (Water), Green (Wood), Gold (Metal), and Brown (Earth).

They were dim, flickering, and disorganized.

"The Five-Elemental Vein," Arthur whispered, his shoulders slumping.

"Confirmed."

But inside Noah's head, a different ritual was taking place.

A screen of light, invisible to the others, snapped into existence.

[The 10,000x Cashback System is activating...]

[System successfully integrated with the Throne of Eternity essence.]

[Welcome, Host. I am Lumina, your System.]

Noah's eyes widened.

"It's time to wake up, Noah," a voice rang out, sharper and more real than the world around him.

"Eight years of playing house is enough.You need to start his journey to the peak. I am unlocking your memories now. Brace yourself."

"Ah!"

Noah let out a sharp cry as a torrent of information crashed into his young mind.