The cave was illuminated by the faint glow of Qi as Xuan Tian meditated. His thin frame was trembling from exhaustion, but his eyes were like sharpened blades.
He could still feel the Silverfang Wolf's fangs grazing his throat, the weight of death only an inch away.
> "I can't rely on luck… I need a technique I can trust."
The broken sword lay beside him, its fragments scattered like his former weakness. He picked up the largest piece and stared at it.
---
Forging the First Technique
Xuan Tian replayed the moment of the wolf's death in his mind—the explosive release of Qi that had shattered his weapon and nearly destroyed his arm.
> "I forced my Qi to erupt outward… but it was uncontrolled. If I can focus it, refine it…"
He took a slow breath and began experimenting.
He gathered all the Qi in his body into his right hand. At first, it was like holding fire. The energy was wild, unstable, threatening to tear his meridians apart.
Blood trickled from his lips, but he didn't stop.
Hour after hour, he tried. Each failure left burns on his hands, his body shaking violently, but he endured.
Until, finally, a faint glimmer appeared in his palm—a blade made of pure condensed Qi.
It flickered weakly like a candle flame.
But it was there.
"This… this is mine"
---
The Test
The next day, Xuan Tian left the cave and ventured deeper into the mountains.
This time, he didn't search for small prey. He was hunting a Steelhide Bear, a Spirit Beast known for its near-impenetrable defense.
He found it by the riverbank, its hulking frame towering like a mountain. When it noticed him, its roar shook the trees.
> "Perfect."
The beast charged, the ground trembling beneath its weight.
Xuan Tian didn't retreat. He planted his feet firmly, summoned his Qi, and formed the blade once more.
It was sharper this time, more refined.
> "Qi Blade… cut through the heavens!"
He slashed.
---
The Breakthrough
The glowing blade of energy met the Steelhide Bear's charge with an ear-splitting crack.
At first, it seemed the beast's armor would hold. But the Qi Blade didn't shatter—it dug deeper, brighter, slicing through the thick hide.
The bear collapsed with a final roar, its massive body shaking the earth.
Xuan Tian staggered backward, panting heavily, but he was alive.
And he had won.
> "This technique…"
He stared at his trembling hands, still glowing faintly with residual energy.
> "I'll call it the Blade of Creation."
It was the first true offensive technique of his path—a technique born from his own hands, unborrowed from any master or sect.
---
The Path Ahead
That night, Xuan Tian sat by the bear's corpse, absorbing its Qi core. His cultivation surged; the flow of Qi in his meridians was faster, steadier.
He was no longer the weak boy who had fled his sect.
> "One day… I'll stand at the peak and shatter the heavens that abandoned me."
The stars above the mountain glimmered faintly, as if the heavens themselves had felt the presence of the boy who would one day defy them.
> "I am the Dao Creator."