The timeline indicates that approximately three days remain until the official start of the first chapter.
Tang Yu's destination is Black Cloud City, where the family of this book's protagonist, Lin Xuan, resides.
The four great families in the world of web novels are Ye, Lin, Xiao, and Chu. Simply having the surname Lin increases the chances of this family producing a Son of Destiny.
Black Cloud City, where they live, is located in a relatively remote area in the south of the Nine Heavens Continent.
This is also a standard setting in fantasy and cultivation novels.
The protagonist cannot be invincible from the start; he is either reborn or begins as a genius who turns useless and suffers a broken engagement, then starts from the lowest level and gradually climbs up—a process commonly known as "killing monsters and leveling up."
By the time he reaches the Nine Heavens...
Basically, three thousand chapters will have passed.
And then, he will move on to a new map to continue leveling up.
"Nowadays, everyone prefers to give up and lie flat. Relying on suffering to become stronger really doesn't fit the trends of the era. Even having a system would help!"
On his journey to Black Cloud City, Tang Yu couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Immediately, he heard the laughter of the little girl from the Divine Tree, who chuckled in amusement.
"Systems are a scam too."
Recalling his previous lousy system, Tang Yu suddenly couldn't laugh anymore.
Upon reaching the outskirts of Black Cloud City, Tang Yu disguised his cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Realm instead of his true Nascent Soul Realm, to avoid drawing too much attention and frightening others.
After all, within the Seven Great Sects, the Nascent Soul level is nothing special.
But elsewhere, a Nascent Soul cultivator is considered an ancient monster.
After completing his disguise, Tang Yu finally entered Black Cloud City.
Black Cloud City has three major families.
Among them, the Lin family, to which the protagonist Lin Xuan belongs, ranks second and has eight cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage.
The current head of the family, Lin Shicong, has reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
In a small city like Black Cloud City, a Foundation Establishment cultivator is already a highly significant figure.
The other two major families are the Qin family and the Ning family.
The Ning family has a cultivator at the Golden Core Realm, putting both the Qin and Lin families in a difficult position.
To resist the Ning family's pressure, the Qin and Lin families decided to form an alliance.
Thus, eighteen years ago, both families agreed to an arranged marriage. One of the key figures in this agreement is, of course, Lin Xuan, thus initiating the classic "broken engagement arc."
Ever since "Battle Through the Heavens" became famous, any decent fantasy novel must start with the scene where the fiancée belittles and abandons the protagonist.
It's like in urban novels, where the story begins with the protagonist discovering that his girlfriend is cheating on him with a rich young man.
Familiar with these plotlines, Tang Yu approached the Lin family residence and checked into a nearby inn.
Then, he used his divine sense to explore the Lin family.
Divine sense is an essential element in cultivation novels; it allows the user to perceive their surroundings using spiritual energy, somewhat like an enhanced combination of radar and a surveillance system. Tang Yu only obtained this ability after reaching the Golden Core Realm.
Upon advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm, his divine sense was greatly amplified.
Tang Yu once tried using it to scan the hot springs frequented by the female disciples of the Hehuan Sect, but the place was protected by defensive formations.
Fortunately, in the Nine Heavens Continent, not all sects are as powerful as the Hehuan Sect.
In a family like the Lin family, which doesn't even have a Golden Core Realm cultivator...
Naturally, they could not detect Tang Yu's divine sense.
After scanning with his divine sense undetected, Tang Yu almost gouged his own eyes out.
Initially, he had hoped to catch sight of some beautiful young lady bathing...
But instead, he saw a fat, fleshy old woman bathing.
"Damn it."
After cursing in a low voice, Tang Yu decided that unless he had a specific target, he would avoid using his divine sense indiscriminately to avoid ruining his eyesight.
Upon scanning again with his divine sense, Tang Yu quickly found the protagonist, Lin Xuan.
At that moment, Lin Xuan was cultivating inside the Lin family's energy-gathering formation.
This type of formation is fairly easy to construct, but it requires a constant supply of spirit stones to remain active. Its purpose is to enhance the disciples' cultivation efficiency.
The Lin family invested in this formation, which continuously consumes resources,
primarily to train the new generation of cultivators.
Alongside Lin Xuan, more than ten Lin family disciples were also cultivating.
All of them were at the mid-stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Only Lin Xuan remained stuck at the initial stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.
As expected, after a while of cultivation, a young man with an average appearance entered the formation with a displeased expression.
He looked at Lin Xuan with obvious irritation and said, "Lin Xuan, who gave you permission to sit in the center to cultivate? Be sensible and move to the outermost area."
Interrupted in his cultivation, Lin Xuan opened his eyes, glanced at the young man, and sneered coldly.
"And what if I refuse?"
"Do you have the right to refuse? If it weren't for the family head taking pity on you, you wouldn't even be allowed to enter the formation with your cultivation level."
The young cultivator responded angrily.
"Yeah, what right does he have to train here if he's only at the initial stage of the Qi Refinement Realm?"
"He's just wasting resources."
"That's right. His future is worthless anyway. Does he still think he's a genius?"
The other disciples joined in the mockery, making it clear that their resentment toward Lin Xuan was not recent.
Faced with their jeers, Lin Xuan clenched his fists and stared at them coldly.
"When I was advancing rapidly in my cultivation, have you all forgotten how you flattered me? If one day I regain my talent..."
After saying this, Lin Xuan snorted coldly.
Eight years ago, he had already reached the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm, just one step away from the Foundation Establishment Realm.
At that time, the Lin family head was still his father, Lin Shimo.
Given his exceptional talent, everyone considered him the future patriarch.
He lived in glory until one day his father mysteriously disappeared.
At the same time, his cultivation collapsed without any apparent reason and regressed overnight to the initial stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Since then, his cultivation progress had become extremely slow.
He went from being the greatest genius in Black Cloud City to a useless waste.
After years of training, he had failed to advance.
Just as Lin Xuan was about to leave, an elderly steward of the Lin family hurriedly arrived and said to him:
"Young Master Xuan, the head of the family wants to speak with you about an important matter."
Lin Xuan said nothing and followed him.
Upon arriving before the head of the family, Lin Shicong, he calmly greeted him: "Uncle."
"Didn't the Qin family arrange a childhood marriage for you? Now, so many years have passed, the situation is no longer the same, and your Uncle Qin believes this engagement should be annulled."
"I discussed this with the elders of the clan, and we all think there is no problem..."
Before Lin Shicong could finish speaking,
Lin Xuan immediately interrupted him with a cold laugh and said: "Of course, it's no problem for you because you're eager for your son to become Qin Weiwei's dao companion."
The Qin Weiwei he spoke of was precisely the beautiful young woman standing to the side.
The young woman had bright eyes, gleaming teeth, and was sweet and adorable. Upon hearing Lin Xuan's words, her face showed an expression of guilt, and she said:
"Brother Lin Xuan, I was the one who proposed this. It's my fault, I'll compensate you."
"That's right, our Qin family is willing to offer fifty mid-grade spirit stones and five qi-replenishing pills as compensation. We hope you won't take it to heart. After all, a watermelon forced to ripen doesn't taste sweet."
The patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Songshan, sighed bitterly, took out a storage ring, and handed it over.
Altogether, it was roughly equivalent to the value of a high-grade spirit stone. For their family, it wasn't a huge amount, but it wasn't insignificant either.
Lin Xuan took the storage ring they offered and threw it to the ground. With a furious laugh, he said:
"Do you think Lin Xuan needs your charity? Don't worry, I'm not interested in the woman from your Qin family either. But today's humiliation—Lin Xuan will remember it forever."
Upon hearing his words, the faces of the Qin father and daughter darkened.
"Lin Xuan, why do you have to hurt with your words? Besides, all these years, you've barely seen Weiwei a few times. If you had no interest in her, then why...?"
At that moment, Lin Qin, Lin Xuan's cousin, could no longer hold back.
But before he could finish speaking, Lin Xuan was already looking at him coldly and said:
"That doesn't justify her breaking the engagement and humiliating me. Don't make excuses for her. Today, you have all delivered this humiliation to me, and I will make sure to return it little by little."
"At the coming-of-age ceremony in seven days, I will return this humiliation first."
With that, Lin Xuan left with a cold expression.
Upon returning to his room, Lin Xuan, his face filled with rage, sat on his bed, growing angrier by the moment. Suddenly, he felt a sweet taste in his throat and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The blood fell right onto a box beside him.
Inside the box was a green jade pearl. His mother had left him this object when he was a child, before she passed away.
When Lin Xuan's blood fell upon it, the green jade pearl quickly absorbed the blood and began to emit a faint red glow.
Seeing the red light in the pearl, Lin Xuan was stunned and quickly reached out to touch it.
As soon as the warm pearl made contact with his skin, it fused into his hand and disappeared.
Immediately afterward, Lin Xuan collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.
In the instant he fainted, he seemed to hear a woman's voice whispering in his ear.
Tang Yu, who was observing all of this with his spiritual consciousness, was also forced to interrupt his observation.
"Classic of classics: activating the 'cheat' with a blood vomit."
He murmured to himself, not showing much surprise.
In fantasy and cultivation stories, having an elder guide was traditional.
Having a powerful goddess as a battle companion was something more innovative.
Lin Xuan's 'cheat' evidently belonged to the second category.
As for him, having one as a companion was already material for a lifetime in prison.
"The woman inside his pearl is the remnant soul of an Immortal Empress. Be careful."
At that moment, the voice of the little girl from the Divine Tree sounded in his ears.
"I know, I know."
Tang Yu nodded. This was a standard operation in fantasy and cultivation stories.
If they directly gave an Immortal Empress as a guardian, it would be too exaggerated.
It wouldn't fit with the logic that the protagonist should advance with their own talent, effort, and endurance.
That's why, in these stories, it was always established that the soul was incomplete, usually guiding in cultivation and teaching skills.
And in critical moments of life or death, it would launch a single devastating attack.
After recovering his spiritual consciousness, Tang Yu decided to continue waiting outside the Lin family residence.
Meanwhile, after Lin Xuan made his declaration and left,
Lin Shimó's group remained somewhat uncomfortable.
"Brother Lin, I will leave this storage ring in your hands for now. If you have the opportunity, find a way to give it to Lin Xuan. Today, the Qin family certainly damaged his honor."
Qin Songshan handed the storage ring to Lin Shimó.
He and Lin Xuan's father, Lin Shicong, had been good friends in the past.
Unfortunately, his old friend had disappeared without a trace. Offering this gift was his way of compensating him.
After all, his daughter had exceptional cultivation talent.
He couldn't marry her off to a small cultivator who might never reach the Foundation stage in his entire life.
"Alright, alright."
After a few words of comfort, Lin Shimó asked his son to escort the father and daughter out of the Lin residence.
Lin Qin accompanied Qin Weiwei and her future father-in-law out, walking with them for a good distance.
"Lin Qin, you don't need to continue accompanying us. Go back. When you manage to advance to the Foundation stage, we can celebrate your wedding."
Qin Songshan smiled and waved his hand before leaving with his daughter.
Lin Qin stood where he was, clenching his fists. He was already at the peak of the Qi Refining stage; in one year at most, he could advance to the Foundation stage.
Just as he was about to return to continue cultivating diligently, a man dressed in black blocked his path.
Lin Qin looked at him cautiously, but to his horror, he couldn't clearly see his face.
The man released a faint trace of spiritual pressure, and Lin Qin's face turned pale as he struggled to breathe.
The mysterious individual in front of him was, at the very least, a great cultivator of the Golden Core stage.
With that level of power, he could completely sweep through the Black Cloud City.
"What advice do you have for me, sir?"
After forcing his mind to calm down, Lin Qin lowered his head and asked respectfully.
"Hehehe, I see you have a good eye, your talent and roots are quite good. I've considered taking a disciple. What's your name?"
Tang Yu deliberately imitated the voice of an elderly man with a raspy voice.
"I answer to the elder, my name is Lin Qin. I am a disciple of the Lin family from Black Cloud City."
Hearing that the person was looking for a disciple, Lin Qin trembled with excitement.
Being accepted by a cultivator of the Golden Dan stage was a unique opportunity for him!
"Lin Qin?"
Upon hearing this name, Tang Yu felt that something was wrong.
However, he didn't think much about it, and after taking Lin Qin to a secluded spot, he chuckled softly.
"I'm still somewhat satisfied with you, but to take a disciple, I must observe your character. My first test for a disciple is the heart test."
"Being decisive and fierce is indispensable, and you must have a winning mentality. You can die, but you cannot lose. These two things, I will observe slowly in you."
"Also, I'll give you a treasure to save your life. The moment you are about to lose, you can use it. As my disciple, to win, you must be willing to do whatever is necessary. Only by constantly winning can you become a true strong one."
With that said, Tang Yu took out a palm-sized flying sword and threw it to Lin Qin.
Lin Qin almost couldn't avoid shouting as he caught it.
It was truly a treasure!
It should be known that the treasures used by cultivators come in different levels.
The lowest level are magical instruments, then there are spiritual artifacts, and after that, true magical treasures.
As for the most powerful ones, like ancient spiritual treasures, he had only heard of them.
The Lin family had existed for hundreds of years, and after depleting their reserves, they barely possessed two magical treasures.
"I've already removed the restriction, you can start refining it anytime. If you pass my test, in three years, you won't lose a single time, then after I become your master, countless opportunities will be waiting for you."
"Also, you must not let anyone know about me. Today's events must be kept secret."
After saying this, Tang Yu disappeared.
Lin Qin, who was left standing there paralyzed, quickly stored the flying sword in his storage ring.
After paying respects and bowing in the direction where Tang Yu had been, he left, excited.
After Lin Qin left, Tang Yu smiled broadly.
At the seven-day coming-of-age ceremony, Lin Qin should have been trampled by Lin Xuan, who had surpassed him.
Now, who would lose and who would win, that was no longer clear.
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