Beautiful and haunting—the memory of Tian Jue's previous life now merges with the excruciating tempering of his current body. Here's a detailed continuation scene with poetic resonance and raw pain, laying bare Tian Jue's tragedy, purpose, and rebirth.
The cauldron boiled like a pot of rage.
The blood essence of imperial beasts roared through the thick red brew, fusing with herbs forged by heaven and time. Tian Jue's body was immersed to the neck, and every nerve in his frame screamed.
He had refined his blood before. He had tempered his marrow.
But this...
This was deeper.
This was the forging of his very skeleton.
His bones—his deepest core—were cracking and reforging beneath the surge of power. His tendons twisted, breaking and reforming, preparing for a lifetime of carrying techniques that would shake mountains and tear skies.
The pain was... unbearable.
He didn't scream. He didn't flinch.
He stared ahead, mind drifting—drawn into the past, where another version of him sat frail in a sunless room.
Flashback
He was only three years old when the doctor first told his parents: "Your son has late-stage lymphoma."
At five, he could no longer walk. His body weakened so fast that technology could only slow the descent, not reverse it.
No one believed he'd survive beyond ten.
But the world was changing.
Just decades earlier, the spiritual energy awakened—the first signs of Qi returning to Earth. The first few cultivators emerged, and people slowly shifted from science to spiritual power.
By sixteen, he had become a research subject for an underground clan who believed that cancer-ridden bodies might adapt better to chaotic Qi.
They weren't entirely wrong.
"You'll either die in weeks... or live long enough to break fate itself."
At sixteen, he began cultivating.
At eighteen, he was still weak.
At twenty, he could finally walk again—barely.
But his world was never kind.
His parents died in a car explosion during a political power struggle between cultivation factions. It was a planned hit, wrong place, wrong time.
The only one who remained was her.
She was there when he was still in a wheelchair.
There when his veins bled from unstable Qi flow.
There when he nearly died during his first meridian opening.
She was the only one who looked at him and didn't see a cripple.
She saw... hope.
Her name was Mei Qingyan.
Engaged at fifteen. Married at eighteen.
She defied her clan's orders—because she loved him.
He remembered their tiny home built beside the Spirit-Tech Research Facility.
He remembered her hands glowing with borrowed Qi as she tried to soothe his pain at night. She wasn't a cultivator. She had no Qi root. But she tried.
"If it's pain that helps you live longer, then I'll suffer it with you," she once said.
She gave him purpose.
She was the fire in the storm.
But fate wasn't satisfied with stealing his youth.
It took her too.
At thirty-three, she was taken by immortals of the upper realm. They called her a Heaven-Destined Soul Vessel, a once-in-a-thousand-year soul resonance. And when they left, they didn't look back.
Before she disappeared, she kissed him on the forehead and said:
"Wait for me. I'll come back when your soul no longer suffers."
She never came back.
Present – Tian Jue's New World
"Qingyan..." he whispered aloud, steam pouring from his lips.
His bones cracked again—like thunder in a canyon. His tendons stretched, twitching uncontrollably as the herbal brew fused with the three blood essences. His skin glowed faintly red-gold.
Pain reached a new crescendo.
But Tian Jue's eyes were clear.
His will, unbending.
His heart... still grieving.
"In my past life... I was too weak, too late, too cursed."
"But not this time."
This time, he would cultivate in his prime.
This time, he had his mother.
This time, he had opportunity.
And this time... he had power.
The cauldron boiled harder.
Suddenly, his spiritual sense surged—breaking past its previous 5-meter limit, now extending to 12 meters in all directions. The formation around him pulsed in harmony.
His bones turned dense—like silver-forged steel.
His tendons tightened—like bowstrings drawn by giants.
His flesh became solidified Qi.
[Body Tempering Stage Complete: Bone Refinement & Tendon Rebirth Achieved.]
[Constitution +10 | Strength +7 | Dexterity +5]
The system rang quietly in his mind.
But Tian Jue ignored it.
He was already climbing out of the cauldron, steam rising off his body like mist off a volcano. His flesh glowed faintly, hair wet, eyes sharp as swords.
"The next time someone calls me weak..."
"...they'll cough blood before they finish the sentence."
As the golden sun rays pierced the cave's entrance, the last of Tian Jue's turbulent qi settled.
His eyes slowly opened, and for the first time, the world felt… slower. Every sound, every flicker of energy, every breath from the trees outside registered with unfiltered clarity. He stood up, his body cracking softly like polished jade reshaping itself.
Ding!
[System Notification]
Level: 27
Constitution: 65
Strength: 35
Dexterity: 30
Spiritual Power: 127
Intelligence: 67
Wisdom: 60
Tian Jue blinked at the numbers. "This is no longer Qi Refinement-level growth… this is approaching the root of transformation."
His muscles were defined yet lean, his veins pulsing with spiritual vitality. He glanced at his reflection in the cauldron water—his once delicate frame now held the shape of someone standing on the edge of becoming a true cultivator.
He rubbed his wrist. I'm only seven years old. But this… this body feels like it belongs to a war-hardened genius in his twenties.
He turned toward the entrance, his steps now silent as mist. As he walked past the soul refinement formation outside, he checked the qi fluctuation and adjusted the flag without thought. Everything was easier now. His spiritual perception was so refined, even minor ripples in the air whispered their origin to him.
Then—
A cough echoed from deeper inside the cave.
Tian Jue's gaze shifted, sharp and focused. He stepped inside, the calming incense still softly glowing. On the simple bed made from spiritual moss, Xu Lin stirred, his face pale but his aura finally stabilizing.
Tian Jue approached and placed two fingers on his wrist. A moment later, he nodded slightly. "You'll live. Good foundation."
Xu Lin's cracked lips trembled, "Who...?"
"Don't talk. Rest," Tian Jue said, eyes calm. "We found you under a demonic beast attack. Huan Tao just made her breakthrough. You were lucky."
Xu Lin's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Huan Tao. "That tigress… is terrifying…"
Tian Jue smirked faintly and stood up. "Tell me something I don't know."
He walked to the cauldron again and poured a ladle of warm medicinal broth into a small cup. The herbs from the second day's harvest still had potent healing properties. He handed it to Xu Lin.
"Drink this. I made it myself."
Xu Lin hesitated. "You… a herbalist?"
Tian Jue gave him a look. "Tier 2."
Xu Lin looked at him like he was hallucinating.
Tian Jue didn't explain further. Outside, the sunlight filtered through the leaves, and the faint chirping of spirit birds resumed.
He took a deep breath, then glanced at the system interface.
You're on the edge of a storm, he thought. Peak of 8th Qi Refinement… soon, Level 30.
Xu Lin stared at the ceiling of the cave, his lips dry and voice hoarse.
"I'm… alive. Feels like I crawled out of a nightmare."
Tian Jue didn't speak—he simply listened, his arms crossed, eyes calm and watchful.
Xu Lin turned his head slowly, grimacing at the pain. "Junior Brother Tian… thank you. If not for you and Huan Tao, I'd be fertilizer by now."
Tian Jue waved it off. "Just sip your broth and tell me what happened. We found you alone—barely breathing—and only one demonic beast at the scene."
Xu Lin frowned deeply. "There were two."
That made Tian Jue's brows furrow. "Two?"
Xu Lin nodded slowly, wincing from the movement. "I was scouting near the outer border when I noticed a ripple in the formation field—very faint, but detectable. I thought it might be a cracked barrier or an old herb garden. Instead… I found a hidden inheritance ground, half-submerged in fog and locked under ancient array lines."
Tian Jue's expression grew serious. "What kind of inheritance?"
"I didn't get the chance to see." Xu Lin exhaled slowly. "But the spiritual pressure felt… ancient. At least Nascent Soul level, maybe higher."
Tian Jue's gaze sharpened. That explains why demonic forces would act so boldly.
Xu Lin continued, "I was about to mark the area when two demonic beasts emerged. Not spirit beasts gone mad—true demonic-bloodline beasts. At first, I thought I could escape after testing their strength… but then a third presence—human—appeared from the shadows. A cultivator in black robes. Masked. Strong enough to remain hidden until the moment he struck."
Tian Jue's eyes narrowed. "Demonic sects… this deep in sect-monitored forest?"
Xu Lin nodded. "I played the prey. Showed false weakness and let them close in. When they committed, I burned two trump cards. Injured one of the demonic cultivators and one beast. But I was already exhausted. I activated the emergency contact beacon before blacking out."
Tian Jue crossed his arms. "We only sensed one demonic beast when we arrived… and no trace of a human cultivator."
Xu Lin's lips curled bitterly. "Then he either fled… or is still watching."
The cave fell into silence, only broken by the low wind outside.
Tian Jue turned to look toward the entrance. A cold glint passed through his pupils.
"If someone's bold enough to act near the sect's borders, things are worse than they look," he muttered.
Xu Lin forced a weak chuckle. "And here I thought this expedition would just be spirit beast hunting."
Tian Jue shook his head. "Forget the inheritance for now. Focus on healing. If you die, you're not taking any secrets with you."
Xu Lin smiled weakly. "You sound like an elder."
"No," Tian Jue replied, rising to his feet. "Just someone who has died before."
He left the last sentence hanging in the air and stepped toward the entrance of the cave. Morning sunlight was already pouring across the treetops.