“Nishang, Nishang.”
By dusk, two battered figures leaned on each other as they returned to Yun Nishang’s small courtyard. Qin Xiu’s clothes were covered with footprints, while Yun Nishang’s swollen face still bore traces of blood.
“Qin Xiu, please listen to me. Find a chance and escape. The Gao family is powerful, and my sister has the Heavenly Profound Sect backing her. We can’t fight them.”
Along the way, Qin Xiu had heard Yun Nishang urge him to leave countless times. He retrieved healing herbs and, with trembling hands, carefully wiped the blood from her face.
“Nishang, stop saying that.”
“If I kneel to apologize to Yun Xuerong, it’s just once. But if I abandon you to save myself, I’ll never be able to stand up straight again.”
Seeing her about to speak again, Qin Xiu gently pressed a finger to her lips.
“What you need now is to sleep well. Believe me—when you wake up tomorrow, no one will ever be able to force us to bow again.”
He found some calming herbs and helped Yun Nishang take them. Watching her slowly fall asleep, Qin Xiu stepped outside the room.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, he saw that his fingers were already caked with dried blood, and his palms were filled with wounds from clenched nails.
“Nishang, believe me, not only will I not leave—I will marry you!”
“Your sister used you as a tool to frame me. On the day I marry you, I’ll make them both publicly kneel and apologize to you.”
A cold light flickered in Qin Xiu’s eyes. “Yun Xuerong, and you too… this world may value strength above all, and I accept that.”
“But that doesn’t mean a Water Radiance Spirit Body gives you the right to take everything from me and pretend you’re showing mercy.”
Qin Xiu turned his focus inward. In his dantian, a pitch-black object resembling a jujube was lodged where the dantian and meridians intersected.
That was the divine seed his father had gifted him.
After tonight, he would begin his cultivation path.
And not just begin it—Qin Xiu had no doubt in the word “miracle” that his father once spoke of.
He remembered as a child, watching Yun Xuerong embark on cultivation, he had cried to his father.
“Father, I don’t want the divine seed, I want to cultivate. At eighteen, I’ll be left far behind everyone else.”
His father had only patted his head and promised, “Don’t cry, Xiu’er. Do you know how rare this divine seed is? It’s a great fortune our Qin family has awaited for generations.”
“If I had your luck, I’d wait not just ten years—eighty years would be worth it.”
Just moments ago, Qin Xiu had already felt a strange stir in the divine seed.
He sat cross-legged. His dantian was like fertile soil, bearing the root of the divine seed.
“Father, when I was young, you told me Yun Xuerong wasn’t a suitable match, but because of Uncle Yun, you let me decide when I grew up.”
“Everything you said came true. But Nishang… she was willing to risk her life’s reputation for me.”
The image of Yun Nishang being humiliated filled his mind. At that moment, Qin Xiu had regarded her as the first woman of his life.
“Let it come. After tonight, there will be no cripple named Qin Xiu in this world.”
Qin Xiu closed his eyes and focused. For the first time in years, he actively absorbed spiritual Qi.
Within moments, mysterious patterns on the surface of the divine seed began to crack slightly.
Crack…
A faint sound of a sprout breaking through soil echoed inside him, but above the Yun residence, thunderclouds gathered, blotting out the sky.
Under the night sky, inside Gao Wanhua’s room in the Yun household…
“Aunt, didn’t you say you’d help me win over Nishang? Why did that useless Qin Xiu end up getting her instead?”
Gao Yang was filled with confusion and rage. He was Gao Wanhua’s nephew and had trained under her for years. With solid talent, he had already reached the peak of 4th stage Qi Refining Realm at a young age and was highly favored by her.
Everyone in the Yun family knew he liked Yun Nishang, and his aunt had even promised to help him.
He had been managing the family’s businesses all day, and upon returning, he heard that Qin Xiu had taken Yun Nishang’s first time.
But Gao Wanhua sipped her tea calmly. “Yang’er, isn’t this already helping you?”
Gao Yang was stunned. Everyone knew he saw Yun Nishang as his woman. How could this be helping him?
Seeing through his thoughts, Gao Wanhua sneered, “Foolish boy, tell me—if you want to marry Nishang, can you get past your uncle?”
“Besides, if she refuses to marry, not even I can do anything.”
“But now everyone knows she lost her purity to Qin Xiu, that useless trash.”
“Tell me, who would dare marry her now? So forget being your wife—even as your personal servant girl, it’s not impossible.”
Gao Yang’s eyes lit up immediately.
“So that’s how it is. Aunt, you’re brilliant!”
He had heard of the scheme from some Yun family members, but he didn’t dare confront the Water Radiance Spirit Body Yun Xuerong.
Damn that Qin Xiu—he hadn’t even touched Nishang’s hand, and now…
“If it were up to me, I’d crush that useless trash under my foot and take everything from him.”
Gao Yang gritted his teeth. But it didn’t matter—one day, the woman Qin Xiu tried to protect would be his servant girl.
Gao Wanhua chuckled, “You’re about to break through to the 5th stage Qi Refining Realm. Here, take these spirit herbs and work hard.”
“The stronger you are, the easier it will be for me to speak to your uncle.”
Gao Yang gratefully bowed. “Thank you, Aunt. I’ll follow you loyally forever.”
He took the herbs and returned to his courtyard, only to be startled by a deafening bolt of thunder tearing through the night sky.
“Is the world ending or what?”
“Damn it! If only we had thrown Qin Xiu out today. I’d love to see him huddled with stray dogs in the rain.”
Little did he know, in the adjacent courtyard, the divine seed in Qin Xiu’s body had already sprouted roots, intertwining with his dantian.
Each root and branch radiated blinding divine light, as if alarming the entire universe.
Bolts of lightning surged as spiritual Qi scattered and roared in reverse, as though the heavens themselves rejected the birth of this defiant existence.
But the divine light quickly solidified, forming a dazzling little tree that grew rapidly with Qin Xiu’s every breath.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a thunderous, awe-inspiring voice roared in Qin Xiu’s ears. Compared to it, even the raging thunder sounded like ants whispering.
“Chaotic Divine Tree! So you really smuggled the Chaotic Dao Seed into the mortal realm!”
“No matter who you are! If you dare steal our clan’s fortune, there is no place for you across all heavens and realms!”
Qin Xiu’s mind was instantly plunged into chaos. His soul was nearly torn apart. But the divine tree within his dantian glowed with vitality and protected him.
He endured, fighting to survive despite the agony that nearly ground him into dust.
“Hold on! I must endure! Nishang is still waiting for me! And I will never let those two vipers take what my father left me!”
Shattered again and again, only to be reborn stronger each time.
Through this torment, every meridian in Qin Xiu’s body widened like a vast ocean, his bones became fierce as wild beasts, and even his blood turned blazing and potent.
Thunder ravaged the heavens. Within moments, screams echoed across Lingqu City as terrified people stared up, thinking a catastrophe had befallen them.
Even the grand array of Heavenly Profound Sect, thousands of kilometers away, began to quake.
Sect Master Jiang Qianhe stood trembling, staring at the vortex that tore the sky like a rag.
“Impossible. How could such a disaster be born in our little Heavenly Profound Sect territory?”
Wait—if it’s not a calamity, then maybe it’s a heaven-defying treasure or a rare bloodline awakening.
“A phenomenon?!”
Jiang Qianhe’s eyelids twitched wildly. He vaguely recalled another anomaly not long ago in the same direction.
“What kind of divine blessing is this? Our Heavenly Profound Sect is truly favored!”
As he trembled with excitement, a figure flew over—it was the Heavenly Profound Sect’s grand elder.
“Sect Master.”
Clearly, the grand elder had sensed the phenomenon too. But Jiang Qianhe’s eyes turned shrewd, and he quickly spoke first.
“Senior Brother, no need to say more. You accepted the Water Radiance Spirit Body as a disciple last time. This time, the opportunity must go to me.”
What a joke—the Water Radiance Spirit Body caused only some river flow reversal in Lingqu City, and they sensed only some faint mist from afar.
But this thunder tore the night apart like daylight, shredding the heavens like fabric.
Compared to that, it was like comparing a firefly to the moon, a flea to the sky.
“You!”
The grand elder’s lips twitched. Fine, if you want to play dirty…
“Sect Master, I was actually going to say… the Water Radiance Spirit Body doesn’t quite match my lineage’s legacy.”
“Shut it! Don’t make me use the sect master’s decree on you!”
They rolled up their sleeves, ready to fight, unaware that far beyond them, atop the imperial city…
This was the capital of the Great Li Empire, overseeing vast lands and countless subjects.
In this city full of powerhouses, stood a majestic and solemn academy.
Not far from the academy was the imperial palace. Such proximity made the academy a dream for every proud genius across the empire.
An elderly man stood high in the air, dressed in black robes with silver hair. His expression was sharp, dignified, and utterly unfathomable.
“That Water Radiance Spirit Body came from this direction too. And now, this massive disturbance again…”
He looked skyward, eyes penetrating the clouds, yet even he trembled at the thunder splitting the starry sky.
One after another, the academy’s powerhouses rose into the air.
“Dean, that looks like it’s coming from the Heavenly Profound Sect’s direction.”
Although shocked, someone voiced their unease.
The Heavenly Profound Sect was a top-tier force in the Great Li Empire. By tacit rule, any prodigy or treasure born within a faction’s territory belonged to that faction first.
But the elder immediately glared.
“Nonsense! The Royal Academy is responsible for nurturing the empire’s finest talents.”
“I let the Water Radiance Spirit Body go, but this level of phenomenon? The Heavenly Profound Sect isn’t worthy!”
“Take my command token. No matter the cost, bring that person back!”
“Tell Jiang Qianhe—if he has a problem, I’ll deal with him personally!”
The black-gold token flew from his sleeve, making all the gathered experts tremble.
That was the Royal Academy’s supreme token—wielding it was equal to the dean’s personal presence.
Even the empire’s top geniuses, including the princess herself, had battled fiercely for years to become the dean’s successor.
Yet now, for someone they hadn’t even met, the dean had drawn it out.
The experts obeyed without hesitation.
Such a phenomenon hadn’t been seen in the Great Li Empire’s entire history.
Meanwhile, in another region of the empire, atop a towering white pavilion that reached the clouds and overlooked the starry sky as if one could pluck the stars…
A woman stood, veiled in silk, exuding the grace of a moon goddess. Her amber eyes sparkled, and her voice, though soft and elegant, carried undisguised awe.
“Can a mere spirit body really cause such a phenomenon?”
Behind her, several figures knelt on one knee, shocked.
“Pavilion Master, do you really intend to go yourself? The Heavenly Profound Sect might—”
She turned back, like a goddess descending to the mortal world, her stunning beauty unable to hide her overwhelming presence.
“That’s why I must go. Otherwise, how could I compete with Jiang Qianhe and that old man from the academy?”
Her Starseizing Pavilion stood equal to the Heavenly Profound Sect and the Royal Academy as one of the empire’s three great powers because its founder possessed the legendary Star Spirit Body.
And even among spirit bodies, there were vast differences—wider than the gap between man and beast.
The Star Spirit Body was the most powerful one the Great Li Empire had ever seen.
When her ancestor fully awakened it, she reigned supreme across the empire.
In those days, only those rejected by Starseizing Pavilion turned to the academy or Heavenly Profound Sect.
“Even our ancestor’s awakening only summoned radiant stars forming a galaxy around her.”
“But now, the sky is torn, and the stars themselves tremble.”
“If this person joins my Starseizing Pavilion, we could once again shine like the moon above all.”
Her amber eyes blazed with resolve. Even if it cost the entire foundation of the Starseizing Pavilion—this time, she would not fail.