Late night.
A sputtering lamp.
The scent of medicine hung heavy in the air.
When Shen Fan awoke from the searing pain, a cold draft snaked through the crack in the door.
The lamplight swayed, casting his face in a pallid glow.
‘Looks like I’m seriously injured.’
He pressed his lips together, his gaze scanning his body.
He was wrapped head to toe in white bandages.
A dull, stabbing pain emanated from his chest; seven of his ribs were dislocated.
Fortunately, his attacker had been skilled enough not to pierce any internal organs.
Still, he would need over half a month to recover, which meant another long period of wasted time.
The Outer Courtyard assessment was in three months.
For him, this was a devastating blow.
“Zhang Qiang, I won’t let you get away with this!” Shen Fan gritted his teeth, clenching his fists despite the pain.
He was a disciple of the Outer Courtyard of Black Water Academy, one of the three great academies in the Black Water Kingdom.
He was also the most famous piece of trash in the entire Outer Courtyard.
For a full year, his Cultivation had been stagnant at the First Rank of Meridian Opening.
Compared to the geniuses who could reach the Third Rank of Meridian Opening in the same amount of time, he was utterly pathetic.
Because of this, he endured endless bullying from the other Outer Courtyard disciples.
This was especially true of the scions of the Imperial City’s elite.
Their families consisted of high-ranking court officials or had military backing, and they acted like tyrants in the Outer Courtyard, preying on the weak.
From the day he entered the Outer Courtyard, he’d been subjected to their taunts, kicks, and slaps…
He had always endured it, remembering his father’s advice: ‘Patience brings peace.’
Shen Fan stared at the sputtering lamp, his thoughts drifting back to the Martial Arts Hall earlier that day.
He had been cultivating when Zhang Qiang suddenly grabbed him in front of the other disciples and the instructor.
Slapping him across the face, Zhang Qiang had bellowed, “You damn Useless Shen! How dare you steal the Chong Mai Pill I needed to break through to the Third Rank of Meridian Opening!”
Zhang Qiang was the heir of the Zhang Family, one of the Seven Great Families of the Imperial Capital.
With a Cultivation at the Second Rank of Meridian Opening and an illustrious family background, he was a tyrant in the Outer Courtyard.
A Chong Mai Pill was an exceedingly precious Elixir, worth ten thousand taels of Silver.
For a disciple like Shen Fan, who earned a meager ten taels of Silver a month, it would take nearly a century of saving without eating or drinking to afford a single one.
The Outer Courtyard had a strict rule: any disciple guilty of major theft would be expelled from the academy!
Zhang Qiang’s accusation drew a crowd, especially his usual cronies—the other hedonistic sons of the Imperial City’s elite—who began to clamor loudly.
Facing the crowd’s contemptuous sneers, Shen Fan felt his eyes burn with rage.
‘I can’t let this stand.
I can’t admit to it.
If I do, I’ll be expelled from the academy and lose everything!’
He was no longer the boy who meekly accepted his fate.
He retorted, his voice booming, “Zhang Qiang, with which eye did you see me steal your things?!”
It was the first time in a year he had shouted like that.
He could feel his blood boiling, and he felt that this was his true self.
A sixteen-year-old boy was supposed to be bold and assertive.
Zhang Qiang was stunned.
Shen Fan, who had always taken his beatings and verbal abuse without a peep, was actually fighting back.
The shock quickly turned to fury.
He landed another vicious kick on Shen Fan.
“You piece of trash!” he roared, continuing his assault.
“You steal my things and still won’t admit it! Your father really is a useless piece of crap. Ever since his foundation was destroyed, he’s done nothing but live like a dog! And the son he sired is nothing but a common thief!”
Shen Fan was motherless.
His father, Shen Cangsheng, had raised him single-handedly and was the person he respected most in the world.
For Zhang Qiang to insult his father in front of everyone was to strike at Shen Fan’s very life.
His eyes turned bloodshot.
With a roar, he charged forward, swinging his fist at Zhang Qiang.
…
The outcome was predictable.
Shen Fan was covered in wounds, seven of his ribs were broken, and he had coughed up a bowlful of blood.
Zhang Qiang was at the Second Rank of Meridian Opening, while Shen Fan was only at the First Rank.
With a full Small Realm separating them, it would have been a miracle if he hadn’t been injured.
On the Barbaric Continent, the Martial Dao reigned supreme.
Martial Artists were revered, Sects stood in great numbers, and the strong were as common as clouds in the sky.
The Meridian Opening Realm was the first realm of the Martial Dao.
Through Cultivation, one could open the Primordial Veins within their body and embark on the path of a Martial Artist.
Meridian Opening was divided into nine ranks.
The first to third ranks were known as Martial Disciples.
They focused on tempering their muscles and bones to strengthen their bodies.
Compared to ordinary people, they could shatter stone tablets and possessed incredible strength.
The First Rank of Meridian Opening granted a thousand jin of force, the Second Rank two thousand, and the Third Rank three thousand.
With his two thousand jin of force, Zhang Qiang could defeat the one-thousand-jin Shen Fan without breaking a sweat.
The fourth to sixth ranks were for Martial Artists.
At this stage, their bodies were powerful and their Primordial Veins resilient.
They could absorb the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi to generate Yuan Jin within their bodies, causing their strength to soar.
A Martial Artist using Yuan Jin to power a Martial Technique could shatter an entire rock garden with a single punch.
The seventh to ninth ranks were for Martial Masters.
Not only was their Yuan Jin abundant, but they could also project it outwards, killing foes from a hundred paces away.
They stood at the apex of the Black Water Kingdom.
It was said that the deans of the three great academies were all at the Ninth Rank of Meridian Opening.
When angered, they could shatter even the hundred-foot-tall walls of the Imperial City.
Even the Black Water Country Lord had to be deferential and respectful in their presence.
“Fan’er, you’re awake?” a concerned voice asked.
Shen Cangsheng appeared before Shen Fan, looking like a rusted sword.
Though not old in years, he had the weary air of a man in his twilight.
“Father,” Shen Fan said softly.
“I’m sorry, I made you worry. I didn’t listen to you, but I… I just couldn’t hold back! They said you were…”
“Don’t say any more. I know,” Shen Cangsheng said with a bitter smile.
He stroked Shen Fan’s hair, his face filled with guilt.
“Your father is useless. You’ve suffered so much this past year because of me.”
Sixteen years ago, Shen Cangsheng had been a once-in-a-century genius of Black Water Academy.
At the age of just seventeen, he had taken first place in the joint tournament of the Black Water Kingdom’s three great academies, earning the right to enter the Taihang Sect.
There, his steady accumulation of power paid off, and he broke through to the Cave Profound Realm.
The three great academies might have been the strongest institutions in the Black Water Kingdom, but they paled in comparison to the Taihang Sect.
The Taihang Sect was a Sect on the Barbaric Continent that had truly Entered the Grade.
It was filled with countless experts, any one of whom could annihilate the entire Black Water Kingdom.
As the primary power presiding over a territory spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, it controlled more than a dozen kingdoms and was ranked among the Five Great Sects of the Sunset Mountain Domain.
The so-called three great academies were nothing more than affiliate organizations of the Taihang Sect.
In those days, he had been glorious, a heroic figure with a sword in hand.
All the nobles of the Imperial City scrambled to curry favor with the Shen Family.
For the Shen Family patriarch’s eightieth birthday, the Black Water Country Lord himself had appeared with lavish gifts to pay his respects!
A year later, during the Taihang Sect’s Inner Sect tournament, the Five Great Sects all gathered to spectate.
There, on Taihang Peak, amidst the praise of geniuses from numerous Sects, Shen Cangsheng fought his way into the top ten of the Inner Sect.
Many believed he could even take one of the top three spots.
But tragically, in the match for third place, he faced Guo Yaoshi, then the leader of the Inner Sect’s Top Ten Disciples.
He was grievously wounded in a single move, and his Martial Dao foundation was destroyed.
This Guo Yaoshi had entered the Taihang Sect at age nine, became a Martial Master at fifteen and the number one disciple of the Outer Sect, then stepped into the Cave Profound Realm at sixteen, becoming the leader of the Taihang Sect’s Top Ten Disciples.
He was a dazzling new star.
News came a year ago that Guo Yaoshi had reached the Peak of Middle Stage of Cave Profound, becoming one of the youngest of the Ten Core Disciples.
His fame was unmatched.
As for Shen Cangsheng, his foundation destroyed, he was sent back to Black Water Academy.
Out of respect for their past friendship, the academy’s dean arranged for him to work as a handyman at the Black Water Institute, offering him a form of protection.
‘Father!’ Shen Fan cried inwardly.
He couldn’t bear to see his father looking so defeated and old.
He didn’t want his own injuries to drag his father back into the painful memories of the past and sink him further into despair.
Taking a deep breath, he said in a hoarse voice, “Father, I will be the one to avenge you! One day, I will step onto Taihang Peak, and in front of all the assembled Sects, I will personally cripple Guo Yaoshi!”
Shen Cangsheng’s body trembled.
He never imagined that his quiet, reserved son harbored such a fierce ambition.
An imperceptible light flashed in his eyes.
“Good boy,” he said, a gratified warmth in his voice.
“I will wait for that day. My son… you’ve finally grown up.”
After sighing emotionally, he seemed to remember something.
He went into the inner room, and after a bout of rummaging through chests and cabinets, he emerged holding a Jade Box.
The Jade Box was pure white, carved with lifelike Phoenixes in flight.
“Your mother once said that when you grew up, this Jade Box was to be passed on to you.” As Shen Cangsheng spoke the word “mother,” his expression became infinitely gentle, as if he could see a peerless beauty gazing at him with love.
“Mother…” Shen Fan whispered.
He took the Jade Box with trembling hands and clutched it to his chest.
“Father, where is she?”
His mother had left on the day he was born.
Strangely, he could remember the sight of her back as she departed, but not her face, even though he had been nothing more than a crying infant at the time.
“Don’t ask any more questions,” Shen Cangsheng said, slowly shaking his head.
He changed the subject.
“Fan’er, the Outer Courtyard assessment is in three months. With your current Cultivation, it will be very difficult for you to pass.”
“Father…” Shen Fan’s expression fell.
His Talent was poor, and his Cultivation progressed at a glacial pace.
If things continued like this, he was certain to fail the Outer Courtyard assessment.
Failure meant expulsion from the academy.
If that happened, all his talk of the future would be meaningless.
“This is an Essence Mushroom,” Shen Cangsheng said, pulling a Wooden Box from his robes and handing it to Shen Fan.
“Take it. Not only will it heal your injuries quickly, but it can also help you break through to the Second Rank of Meridian Opening within three months.”
The Essence Mushroom was the key herb Shen Cangsheng used to maintain his own strength at the Third Rank of Meridian Opening.
It was worth a hundred thousand taels of Silver and was incredibly precious.
Such is the heart of a parent.
For Shen Fan’s sake, Shen Cangsheng had spared no expense.
Shen Fan accepted the Wooden Box with tears in his eyes.
He knew his father must have endured great hardship to obtain this Essence Mushroom.
“Father, I won’t let you down!” Shen Fan clutched both boxes, making a silent vow.
One day, he would find a Spirit Medicine to restore Shen Cangsheng’s Martial Dao foundation and allow his father to cultivate once more.
“From now on, you make your own decisions. I believe in you…” Shen Cangsheng offered a few more words of comfort before rising to leave.
As a handyman, he had to work day and night just for the chance to survive at Black Water Academy.
「The next day.」
At the first light of dawn, Shen Fan rose, washed his face, and stepped out into the courtyard, feeling completely refreshed.
The Essence Mushroom truly was a precious medicine.
It had healed his injuries overnight and left a considerable amount of medicinal power accumulated in his body, ready to aid his Cultivation.
‘I can’t let Father down,’ he thought.
‘I have to break through to the Second Rank of Meridian Opening as soon as possible!’
He began practicing the Basic Martial Skill, Monument-breaking Palm, to refine his Flesh Body.
When cultivated to the Perfect Realm, the technique could shatter a foot-thick stone tablet.
Its movements were grand, powerful, and domineering.
He settled into a horse stance, exhaled sharply, and activated the Primordial Veins in his body.
As he began to practice, move by move, a powerful aura seemed to fill the courtyard.
THUD!
At some point, the Jade Box hidden in his clothes had fallen out, interrupting his practice.
He stared blankly at the box as it began to glow with a white light under the sun.
The white light intensified, sparking his curiosity to open it.
He had been too exhausted last night, falling into a deep sleep immediately after taking the Essence Mushroom, so he hadn’t had the chance.
He found himself hoping it contained a letter from his mother explaining why she had left.
Or maybe a portrait of her—a peerless beauty, like an Immortal Goddess…
The instant he lifted the lid, a half-yin, half-yang Ancient Coin inside began to glow.
It looked like a miniature Yin Yang Taiji Diagram, covered in profound and ancient Divine Patterns that seemed almost alive.
“This is… Agh!”
The Yin-Yang Divine Coin suddenly transformed into a thumb-sized Light of Yin and Yang and shot into the space between his eyebrows!