Twelve years passed in the blink of an eye.
Deep within the misty, dangerous upper forests of the West Mountain, a young boy crashed through the thick brush. He was fast, light on his feet, and his eyes were locked onto his target.
Ahead of him bolted an Orax — a terrible, mutated beast with six muscular legs and three crimson eyes. But it wasn't the beast that interested the boy; it was what the Orax held in its half-opened jaws. A radiant, golden feather gleamed in the sunlight, pulsing with a pure, mystical energy.
"Don't you dare run, you oversized lizard!" the boy yelled, a confident grin on his face.
Sensing the threat, the Orax skidded to a halt. Its three eyes flashed with rage. It stomped its front legs, and a violent ball of red lightning coalesced in front of its chest, crackling with destructive power. With a roar, it launched the crimson thunder ball straight at the boy.
The boy didn't even flinch. His reflexes were razor-sharp. With a sudden, explosive jump, he vaulted completely over the lightning ball. Mid-air, he twisted his body, channeled every ounce of his raw physical strength into his right fist, and slammed it directly into the beast's skull.
Boom
A single punch. The massive Orax's eyes rolled back, and it crashed heavily into the dirt, completely unconscious.
The boy landed gracefully, wiping a speck of dust from his cheek. He walked over, snatched the golden feather from the beast's mouth, and burst into laughter. "Hahaha! How does it feel to be beaten by me? This golden feather is mine now!"
This boy was Feng Kail. Even without a single shred of cultivated Qi, his natural physical strength was already monstrous.
Down at the foot of the mountain, in a humble, rustic village, a man was tirelessly swinging an axe. Thwack! Thwack!*He chopped wood with rhythmic precision, stacking the logs into a growing pile.
A middle-aged woman stepped out of a small wooden cabin, her eyes filled with gentle concern. "Take a rest, husband. Isn't that enough for today? Your hands are blistering."
The man, Geng Wan, paused to wipe the heavy sweat from his brow. He gave a weary but determined smile. "No, it's not enough. We need to save every coin we can for Kail's future. He deserves a better life than this."
The woman, Feng Wuan, sighed softly, walking over to squeeze his arm. "I know, but look at your health. You are getting weaker by the day. Don't worry so much. Our child is a natural genius. I just know he will find a way to become a cultivator."
"Mom! Dad! Look what I found today!"
A cheerful voice broke their conversation. Kail came running down the dirt path, waving the glowing golden feather high in the air.
Feng Wuan smiled warmly, pulling her son into a quick embrace. "Kail, you're finally back. Where have you been all day?"
"Look, Dad!" Kail beamed, holding out the feather.
Geng Wan took the feather, and the moment his rough fingers touched it, his eyes widened in absolute shock. His hands began to tremble. "This... this is a feather from a royal-blooded Phoenix! It is written in the old legends that whoever refines this feather can directly open their meridians and enter the path of cultivation! My boy, you've found a true treasure!"
Kail's eyes lit up, but then he scratched his head. "But Father, I don't know how to refine it. I don't know any cultivation techniques."
Geng Wan's expression softened into a look of profound regret. "I am sorry, my child. I do not know how to refine it either. I am just an ordinary man who could never step onto the path. But you are young, and your talent is vast. You will find a way."
Geng Wan turned, walked into the cabin, and returned a moment later holding a weathered, dusty pouch. He handed it to Kail like it was a sacred relic. "If you manage to become a cultivator, this will surely help you. Take this storage bag. Years ago, I risked my life and found it in the highest cave of the West Mountain."
"Wow... a real storage bag? Thank you, Dad! I'll keep it safe forever!" Kail said, his heart swelling with gratitude.
From the doorway, Feng Wuan shook her head fondly. "Alright, if you two are finished with your grand treasures, come inside. Dinner is served."
"Ah, look at the time, it's already dark," Geng Wan laughed. "Let's eat before it gets cold."
Inside the warm cabin, the family of three sat around a modest wooden table, sharing a simple meal. Laughter echoed within the walls. They possessed no wealth or status, but in that moment, they were completely, utterly happy.
The next morning, the sun had barely risen when Kail tied his new storage bag to his waist. "Mom, Dad, I'm heading back up the mountain!"
"Be careful, Kail!" his mother called out, watching him run off.
Neither Kail nor his parents noticed two shadowy figures hidden high in the branches of a massive tree just outside the village. Both men wore dark robes, their hands resting ominously on the hilts of their swords.
"Send a message to the Clan Head immediately," the first man whispered, his eyes narrowed maliciously. "Tell him we found them. The last remaining rats of the fallen Feng Clan."
The second man scoffed, a bloodthirsty smirk crossing his face. "Why waste time messaging? Let's just slaughter them now and bring their heads back as a pleasant surprise. The Clan Head will reward us handsomely."
The first man paused, then grinned. "Hmm... good idea. Even if we report it, they'll just send us back to do the dirty work anyway. Let's finish this quickly."
Meanwhile, high up on the West Mountain, Kail had reached the deepest, darkest cave.
"Father said he found the storage bag here," Kail muttered, stepping over jagged rocks. He grinned eagerly. "Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and find another treasure!"
An hour passed as he ventured deeper into the abyss. The cave was unnaturally massive, illuminated only by the faint, eerie glow of scattered light crystals.
Suddenly, a violent wave of atmospheric pressure swept through the cavern, nearly knocking Kail off his feet.
Whoosh!
"Huh? What is this? Where is this energy coming from?" Kail gasped.
Then, out of the pitch-black depths of the cave, a raspy, ancient voice echoed directly into his mind.
"Come... come to me... help me break free from this wretched place..."
Kail shivering. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to run away. This place was dangerous. But then, he thought of his father's blistered hands from chopping wood, and his mother's tired smile. If he wanted to protect them, he needed power.
"Whatever is down there... I have to check it out," Kail muttered, hardening his resolve. He stepped into the deepest chamber.
At the center of the cavern stood an ancient, rusted sword, driven deep into the stone floor. It looked completely broken and worthless.
"Wait, did I come all this way for a broken piece of junk?" Kail murmured. He walked over and grabbed the hilt, trying to pull it out. To his shock, the sword didn't even budge. It felt heavier than a mountain.
As he let go, his foot brushed against something. He looked down and saw a tiny, star-shaped stone glowing with a brilliant blue light.
"What's this? A glowing blue rock?" Kail picked it up, inspecting it closely. It smelled vaguely sweet. "Is it a fruit? It looks shiny... and kind of delicious."
Being a curious 12-year-old boy, he placed it between his teeth and bit down. The stone was hard as iron. He kept shifting it around his mouth, trying to crack it, when suddenly, his foot slipped on a wet rock.
"Gulp!"
Kail's eyes widened in horror. He had accidentally swallowed the stone.
Instantly, an apocalyptic explosion of energy erupted inside his stomach.
"Arrrrgggh!"
Kail fell to his knees, screaming in agonizing pain. It felt like a volcano had erupted inside his veins. The blue light became so intense that it literally burst out of his eyes and open mouth. The spiritual Qi of the entire cave began to violently violently swarm into his body, tearing his meridians apart and putting them back together.
The pain was too much for a mortal body to bear. With one final, throat-shredding scream, Kail's vision went black, and he collapsed onto the cold stone floor, unconscious. Yet, the blue stone inside him continued to pulse, remolding his entire anatomy.
In the darkness of his unconscious mind, Kail suddenly opened his eyes.
He wasn't in the cave anymore. He was standing in a colossal, pitch-black palace. At the end of the hall, resting upon a towering throne shrouded in absolute darkness, sat a terrifying, mysterious silhouette.
The figure shifted, and a voice that sounded like grinding tectonic plates echoed through the void:
"The time has not yet come..."
With those words, a powerful force blasted Kail backward.
Gasps!
Kail snapped awake, sitting straight up in the cave. Sweat poured down his face as he clutched his chest. "What... what was that place? Who was that man on the throne? Why can't I remember his face?!"
He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. "Ah, forget it. I need to get home."
But as he stood up, he froze. "Huh?"
His body felt weightless, yet packed with an explosive, dense power. He sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes to focus inward. For the first time in his life, he felt a river of glowing, spiritual force flowing beautifully through his veins.
"This is... Qi! I can feel the spiritual energy!" Kail jumped up, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Yaaaahoooo! Let's goooo! Hahaha! I'm a cultivator! I finally did it!"
He paused, remembering the words his father had told him about the world. "Wait, Father said there are fifteen ranks of cultivation. To become immortal, you have to reach the True God realm. Based on the amount of Qi I have... I've only entered the 1-Star Qi Profunding Stage."
He clapped his hands together, undeterred. "Well, who cares! Every grand master starts from the beginning. Now, let's go home and give Mom and Dad the surprise of their lives!"
Before leaving, he glanced back at the rusted, broken sword. He ran over and gave it a confident pull. "Hehehe, now that I have Qi, you're going to be mine!" But to his frustration, the sword still didn't move an inch. "Tch, whatever. I'll come back for you later!"
By the time Kail sprinted back to the village, night had fallen.
"Mom! Dad!" Kail called out excitedly as he approached the wooden cabin. "I'm back! I have an incredible surprise for you!"
He reached the front porch and stopped dead in his tracks.
The heavy, metallic scent of iron filled the night air. Illuminated by the moonlight, a thick, dark trail of blood smeared across the wooden doorframe and leaked out onto the dirt floor.
Kail's heart dropped into his stomach. The excitement drained from his face, replaced by a cold, suffocating dread.
He pushed the door open slowly, his hands shaking. He stepped inside, and his legs immediately gave out. He fell to his knees.
The cabin was dead silent.
Tears instantly blurred his vision, spilling over his cheeks. Kail opened his mouth, but only a horrific, choked gasp came out. His mind flashed with memories—his mother's warm laughter, his father's proud smile, the three of them eating together at the table just last night.
Now, that very same table was smashed to pieces. And lying in a pool of dark, cooling blood were the lifeless bodies of his mother and father.
"Noooooooo! Daaaaadd! Moooomm!" Kail screamed, a sound of absolute, soul-shattering agony that ripped through the quiet night. He crawled toward them, weeping hysterically, clutching his parents' cold hands.
"Swish"
The sharp whistle of cutting air sliced through the dark. Kail's combat instincts, honed from years of hunting in the mountains, kicked in. He instinctively rolled to the side.
A gleaming silver blade slammed into the floorboards right where his head had been.
Two men dressed in pitch-black robes and dark masks stepped out from the shadows of the cabin.
"Tch, the brat has good reflexes," the first man muttered, pulling his sword from the floor. "We've been waiting for you all day, kid."
The second man drew his weapon, his voice cold and indifferent. "Don't waste time talking to a corpse. Kill him quickly, send him to join his pathetic parents, and let's burn this place down."
Kail didn't hear a single word they said. The grief in his heart had instantly twisted into something monstrous, something volatile. His eyes turned entirely bloodshot. A dark, suffocating rage consumed his mind. He glared at the murderers, his teeth grinding until they bled.
"Kill... kill... kill... I will KILL YOU!" Kail roared, his voice sounding entirely unhuman.
The two assassins laughed. "Kill us? Kid, you just broke into the 1-Star Qi Profunding Stage. Do you know what we are? We are masters of the Earth Realm! You are nothing but an ant!"
The two Earth Realm cultivators moved like lightning, their blades coated in a terrifying, heavy aura. Kail charged forward blindly, driven by pure madness. He tried to fight, throwing desperate punches, but the gap between Tier 1 and Tier 4 was a bottomless abyss.
Within seconds, Kail's body was covered in deep, bleeding gashes. He was thrown against the wall, coughing up blood. His vision blurred, his muscles tore, but he refused to stay down.
"I'll... kill you..." Kail wheezed, pushing himself up using the broken leg of the dinner table.
"Miserable brat, you aren't even worthy of being executed by our blades. Just die!"
The lead assassin lunged forward, his sword pointed directly at Kail's heart. The gleaming tip of the blade came closer and closer, mere inches away from piercing his flesh.
Suddenly... everything stopped.
The wind died. The dust motes froze in mid-air. The assassin's blade hovered completely still, frozen in time.
Kail's consciousness was violently violently ripped away. Once again, he found himself in the vast, pitch-black palace. But this time, the mysterious man on the throne was standing.
The absolute darkness surrounding the throne began to swarm forward, pouring violently into Kail's soul.
A deep, ferocious, and god-like voice echoed through the void:
"Since you seek vengeance... I shall lend you a fraction of my strength."
Boom.!
Back in the real world, Kail's eyes snapped open. But they were no longer human. They burned with a terrifying, abyssal black flame. A cataclysmic, divine pressure exploded out of his 12-year-old body, shattering the assassin's sword into a million pieces.
Before the Earth Realm cultivators could even comprehend what was happening, Kail instinctively thrust his right fist forward.
He didn't just punch the assassin. He punched the fabric of reality.
Crack!!!
An apocalyptic shockwave of black and blue energy erupted from his fist. The power was so terrifyingly vast that the entire mountain range groaned and buckled. The assassin in front of him evaporated instantly—his head, torso, and arms turned to absolute dust, leaving only his boots behind.
The blast didn't stop. It ripped through the cabin, tore the mountain apart, and shot out into the horizon. A blinding, roaring beam of pure destruction vaporized everything in its path, burning the earth to a crisp and completely erasing 1,000 kilometers of land in front of Kail's eyes. Forests, rivers, and hills were replaced by a smoking, blackened crater of absolute nothingness.
When the light finally faded, the silence returned.
Kail stood in the ruins of his home. The two assassins were entirely gone, completely obliterated from existence.
Among the ashes, a small leather pouch fell from the sky, landing with a soft thud near Kail's feet. It was the storage bag of the leading assassin.
Kail stared at the 1,000-kilometer scar he had just carved into the world. His mind was blank, his heart hollow. "Who... who were they? Why did they kill my parents? We had nothing... we were nobody... why?"
The dark aura suddenly receded from his body like a pulling tide. The moment the borrowed power left him, the severe backlash struck.
"Puah"
Kail sprayed a massive fountain of blood from his mouth. His bones cracked and shattered under the stress of holding such divine power. The muscles in his arms tore apart, and an agonizing, paralyzing pain crippled his entire body.
His legs buckled. As darkness closed in on his vision, Kail managed to reach out and clutch the assassin's storage bag in his bleeding hand.
I will find out who did this... he swore in his fading thoughts. And I will make them bleed.
With that final vow, Feng Kail collapsed into the ruins, losing consciousness.