Chapter 1: The Young Xu Xuan

The vast sky blazed with the scorching sun, draping a layer of fiery heat over the remote and desolate “Yangmu Village.”

Clang, clang, clang...

In the mines owned by the Da Xu family, dozens of robust miners labored with all their might, swinging pickaxes with practiced strength.

Along the pathway, a dozen tall, swarthy men trudged back and forth, sweat streaming down their faces as they struggled to carry “yellow rock,” a stone highly prized for its many uses in the cultivation world.

Suddenly, amidst the crowd, a slender young boy stumbled and crashed to his knees on a slab still radiating the day’s residual heat.

The boy’s features were delicate, his eyes bright—about fifteen or sixteen years old. Unlike the other miners, his skin had not been darkened by long years under the sun.

At this moment, a massive rock, nearly the size of a millstone and weighing two or three hundred pounds, bore down on his back, crushing the breath from him. His thin torso trembled and bent like a bow, as if on the verge of collapse.

Witnessing this, the nearby laborers—brawny practitioners of body refinement—glanced over, their eyes filled with either sympathy or ridicule.

“He can’t even reach the second level of Body Refinement. Only someone who can wield two hundred pounds with one hand should attempt work in these mines, even if it’s just simple hauling.”

A fellow porter, also bearing a heavy stone, sneered.

“This boy looks unfamiliar. Whose child is he? At his age, he ought to be at the village school.”

Hearing the whispers around him, Xu Xuan’s lips curled into a bitter smile.

It was his first time working at the Da Xu family’s mine—indeed, his first time laboring at all.

He had never imagined that, as a mere “Body Refinement Novice,” he would find it so grueling to earn a few spirit coins to support his family and keep food on their table.

A Body Refinement Novice was a commoner at the lowest tier of the cultivation world, struggling in the first of nine stages of body cultivation. Most of the laborers here were at the second or third stage—still low among the ranks of practitioners.

They eked out a living through cheap, backbreaking work for clans, sects, and other powers, earning a meager number of spirit coins.

Three days before, Xu Xuan, like his peers, had been studying at the village school. But, pressed by his family’s poverty, he’d abandoned that safe, carefree life to join his father at the mines.

Yet with only the first stage of body refinement, the work was far too much for him. Even the lowest laborer in the mines should be at least at the second stage.

“Wait, isn’t this the cripple Xu’s son?”

A voice suddenly piped up.

“Xu the Cripple? Oh, I remember now—he’s that silent, limping fellow at the mine.”

“So it’s his son. I recall their family was once well-off in Yangmu Village, but look at them now…”

Mention of Xu Xuan’s father brought only sarcasm from the miners.

Even though they were all at the lowest rungs of the cultivation world, there were still degrees of difference. At least they managed to survive in hardship—better than Xu Xuan’s family.

“I can’t give up. I can’t bring shame to my father. I must not let them look down on me.”

Bitter and indignant, Xu Xuan felt a surge of strength well up within. His body, nearly broken, slowly straightened.

That thin frame, against all odds, lifted the massive stone and stood firm.

Seeing this, the sneers and mockery in the porters’ eyes abated.

Just then, a miner exclaimed, “Get back to work! Xu Da Hu is coming!”

No sooner had the words been spoken than a towering figure strode down the path—imposing, fierce-faced, his eyes shining like blades, his presence oppressive.

“Why are you all standing around? Get moving! Delay the schedule and every one of you will taste the lash!”

Xu Da Hu’s thunderous voice rang out, shaking all present.

The laborers shuddered and hastily redoubled their efforts.

Xu Da Hu was a tyrant in the village—vicious and quick to fight, possessing at least the fourth level of Body Refinement.

Once a practitioner reached the fourth stage, their strength and physique leapt to another tier—enough to inspire awe in those below.

Xu Da Hu was a favorite of fortune; the moment he broke through to the fourth level, the Da Xu family hired him as a guard, and he married a beautiful wife, making others envious.

A year ago, he’d been promoted to overseer of this mine.

Any miner caught slacking off by him would not escape the whip.

At his shout, the path cleared, leaving only the struggling, slender youth.

“Not good!” Xu Xuan felt a chill. Forcing himself to take a step, he found his strength utterly spent, his body swaying.

Xu Da Hu’s face darkened, his gaze growing icy as he advanced.

Crack!

A fierce wind howled as a whip lashed out with a sharp snap.

Xu Xuan grunted, feeling a flaming line of pain across his cheek, but he gritted his teeth and didn’t cry out.

But in the throes of agony, his legs buckled and he collapsed, drained to the bone, unable to muster any strength.

“Slackers are to be punished with up to fifty lashes according to the Da Xu family’s rules,” Xu Da Hu said, eyes glinting, raising the whip high.

Fifty lashes!

The miners around stiffened, concern and pity on their faces.

“Fifty lashes from Xu Da Hu could half-kill even a third-stage adult, let alone this cripple’s boy.”

Many drew sharp breaths, unable to hide their sympathy.

“I’ve heard Xu Da Hu and this boy’s father were both outstanding youths once, but there’s bad blood between them. With Xu Da Hu’s vengeful nature…”

“This is cruel. Three years ago, Xu the Cripple was disabled by an accident, and now Xu Da Hu wants to destroy his son too.”

The miners’ faces were etched with anger and compassion.

But not one dared to intervene.

Offending Xu Da Hu meant losing any hope of work in the area. And with his strength, even all of them together might not be a match for him.

Every three stages of Body Refinement marked a threshold, and at the fourth, Xu Da Hu could look down on these second and third stage miners with ease.

“Is this how my first day at the mine ends? Beaten half to death?”

Xu Xuan lay on the ground, hopeless, his hands clawing at the earth.

He’d heard much of Xu Da Hu’s cruelty and knew him well.

As overseer, Xu Da Hu was free to “exercise judgment” in punishing workers, so long as no one died. To torment someone was child’s play for him.

“Xu Da Hu, stop!”

A limping, middle-aged figure approached.

It was Xu Xuan’s father.

“Xu Zheng, you’re a cripple now, your cultivation fallen to the third stage. What can you do against me?” Xu Da Hu sneered, lowering his whip, his gaze mocking.

“As his father, I failed to teach him discipline. Let me take the rest of his punishment.”

Bowing, Xu Zheng forced a smile.

“Very well, then!”

A wicked grin curled Xu Da Hu’s lips, his eyes growing fiercer.

He and Xu Zheng had once been rivals; if he could inflict this punishment on Xu Zheng, he would find true satisfaction.

Xu Da Hu’s whip whistled even more viciously through the air.

Xu Xuan saw his father’s aging, familiar back blocking out the scorching sun, shielding him from Xu Da Hu’s cruel glare and the punishing whip.

“Father…”

His heart ached, his eyes reddening as he gazed at the usually stern man—now all he could see was that solitary, stooped figure, and he was deeply moved.

Only now did he truly understand how hard it was for his father, crippled, to labor here every day.

Crack! Crack! Crack...

The whip struck again and again.

Xu Zheng curled on the ground, arms over his head, enduring the lashes in silence.

Even so, bloody welts quickly appeared on his back.

Xu Xuan’s heart shook—his own punishment borne by his father!

A man must stand tall, bear his own burdens.

How could he let his family suffer for his mistakes?

Fury and shame welled within him, a sudden surge of energy flooding his exhausted body. Leaping up, he roared, “Xu Da Hu, don’t you dare harm my father—!”

In that moment, he broke through the limits of his body, hurling himself at Xu Da Hu.

“Xuan’er, no—!”

Xu Zheng’s face changed as he endured the whip.

“Foolish boy,” Xu Da Hu sneered, not even turning his head. He extended a single finger.

That finger, hard as iron, sliced back with a sharp wind.

At the fourth stage, one could harness “inner strength,” a power that boosted might far beyond the lower levels.

Bang—

Xu Xuan’s body flew like a ragdoll, sent tumbling several meters by a single finger, landing in a dazed heap.

Crack! Crack! Crack!...

The whip fell again. Xu Da Hu’s lips curled in derision. “Xu Zheng, you pathetic cripple.”

“Yes, I am a cripple,” Xu Zheng rasped, bowing his head. “Please, Overseer Xu, forgive my son’s offence.”

Seeing his father thus humiliated, Xu Xuan, powerless, felt a bitter ache in his heart.

How much had his father endured here, just to survive?

And he himself, with only the first stage of refinement, couldn’t even withstand one finger from Xu Da Hu.

“My strength is sorely lacking. Even ten or twenty of me couldn’t best Xu Da Hu… Why didn’t I train harder? Why am I so weak?”

He was overwhelmed by the sting of his own frailty and a burning resentment.

“Overseer! There’s some strange ore here that we can’t break through!”

Just then, a miner shouted.

“Oh?”

Xu Da Hu lowered his whip and inspected the dark greenish-black stone at the worker’s feet.

Its surface was etched with mysterious patterns, and it felt icy cold to the touch.

Could this be the legendary spirit ore?

Excitement surged in Xu Da Hu’s heart.

Here in Yangmu Village, most were only novice practitioners, scraping by at the bottom of the cultivation world.

Spirit ore was said to be the material used by immortals and sages to forge magical weapons.

“You lot, come here! Dig around it!”

Xu Da Hu licked his lips, face alight with greed. If he unearthed rare spirit ore, what rewards might the Da Xu family bestow?

Clang, clang, clang—

Seven or eight miners swung their pickaxes together, revealing more and more of the mysterious stone.

Excitement quickened everyone’s heartbeats.

Even Xu Xuan, about to leave, was drawn closer by curiosity.

Boom—

Suddenly, the strange stone exploded into dust, releasing a dazzling ring of dark light that blasted all eight miners into the air.

Screams echoed as they slammed against the cliffside, dying instantly, their bodies shattered.

Xu Da Hu reacted swiftly, but even he was struck by a wisp of the black light, flung several yards and gravely injured.

As for Xu Xuan, the shockwave swept his frail body aside. He cried out, rolling to the ground before losing consciousness…

“Xuan’er!”

“Oh no! Someone’s dead—!”

Panic and chaos erupted across the mines.

No one noticed that a sliver of the black radiance, after striking Xu Xuan, was absorbed into his body and vanished without a trace.

(A new book begins—thank you, friends, for your continued support. From this moment, we start anew and set forth on our journey…)