In the quiet thatched house, Lin Ming remained seated cross-legged on the straw mat. His breathing was even and slow, sweat faintly beaded on his forehead, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and his eyes were unusually calm.
At this moment, he was focused on controlling his Destiny Lightning Attribute force, guiding it from his dantian to the main points of his body. This task was not physically arduous, but it demanded a high level of concentration and meticulous sensitivity to spiritual power.
Inside his dantian, the lightning Qi was like a stream of electrical liquid, moving slowly, with every step carefully guided by him through the major meridians. When the electric current first reached his chest, he felt a slight tightness but gritted his teeth and endured. When it threaded down to his shoulder, arm, and finally radiated to his fingertips, his eyes immediately lit up.
He quietly clenched his fist. A sharp crack like an electrical spark sounded.
"Let's test it…"
The thought moved, and he abruptly spun around, throwing a punch straight toward the earthen wall in front of him.
"Whoosh!!!"
The sound of wind roared; his hand sliced through the air, forming a sharp arc. The force of the punch was far more explosive than it was this morning. The impact with the air scattered dust throughout the room, and the straw chair beside him trembled.
What startled him was not the force, but the speed.
In the instant he threw the punch, he felt as if his entire arm was accelerated, his reaction speed many times faster. A faint purple lightning Qi flickered around his forearm, flashing like electrical threads, coiling in bursts like the wind beneath a heavenly thunder. Only when the punch's momentum dissipated did the small electrical current gradually dim and vanish into the air.
He retracted his hand, taking a deep breath. Sweat streamed down his back.
"As expected…" he muttered. "...It's not something to casually play with. Every punch drains spiritual power like wind sweeping water. "
Jade, who had been silently observing, finally spoke. She hovered in mid-air, her arms crossed, the corner of her mouth slightly curved:
"Your rate of comprehension is faster than I anticipated."
Lin Ming looked at her, smiling:
"I suppose I'm not entirely hopeless. After all, I've been used to hard labor since I was a child. My limbs aren't made of wood or stone."
Jade tilted her head slightly, murmuring as if to herself:
"Normal cultivators must go through a phase of sensing the spiritual meridians, then gradually opening them to channel their Destiny Attribute. Even a genius would need at least three or four days to accomplish the initial step. Yet he…"
She paused, clicking her tongue, her eyes complicated:
"…Only took half a day."
Lin Ming stretched his back, grimacing:
"But it's exhausting. Using this a few times would probably leave me completely spent."
"The Lightning Attribute is characterized by its explosive power but high consumption rate. To utilize it frequently in combat, you must first raise your foundation of spiritual power. Otherwise, you'll be exhausted after just three moves."
Lin Ming nodded:
"So, I know how to fight now, but I don't have enough stamina to fight for long, correct?"
Jade smiled:
"You could say that."
Lin Ming retracted his hands and sat down, taking a deep breath.
His heart pounded rapidly in his chest, but a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from afar. The sound grew closer, followed by heavy gasping, indicating someone had run a long distance in great haste.
"CRASH!"
The rustic wooden door was violently pushed open.
A youth about seventeen or eighteen years old rushed into the room, covered in dust and drenched in sweat. His face was withered by sun and wind, but his eyes conveyed clear sincerity and worry.
"A Long! A Long! Come out quickly! Xiao Gouzi is being bullied by the Zhang family lackeys!"
Lin Ming opened his eyes. In an instant, the original body's memories flashed through his mind like a fast-forwarded film.
The person standing before him was A Hung, a fellow laborer and his closest friend during his time at the Ma family. Both had humble origins, having been sold into the large clan as servants from a young age. They worked together, endured beatings together, fostering a brotherhood. And Xiao Gouzi, the person A Hung was referring to, was the same—though timid and weak, he was utterly sincere and never abandoned his brothers, no matter the circumstances.
The three, though mere servants, considered each other sworn friends, sharing bowls of gruel and thin clothes through many cold spells and times of hunger.
Lin Ming stood up, looking at A Hung.
The other's face was smeared with mud, his eyes filled with urgency, unable to conceal his panic.
The room was still dusty from the earlier training punch, but A Hung seemed utterly oblivious.
"How is Xiao Gouzi?" Lin Ming asked, his voice deeper than usual.
A Hung gritted his teeth, slapping the door frame:
"The Zhang family servants intercepted him on the path near the bamboo forest, claiming he deliberately encroached on their land to cut firewood, and then they attacked him. Some of them even brought Dharma Artifacts! He couldn't fight back and is being cornered and beaten by them!"
Hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Lin Ming's eyes.
According to his memory, the Zhang family was also a powerful force in Chao An Village. The Patriarch, Zhang Xia, was a Middle Stage Golden Core cultivator, on par with Ma Chao, the Ma family Patriarch, who was also a Middle Stage Golden Core cultivator. The two clans already had deep conflicts over business, fiercely competing for the right to purchase medicinal herbs and spiritual wood from Qingmu Mountain. This led to increasing antagonism between the two families' servants; a minor grudge could quickly become a reason for a vicious attack.
Incidents like today were not uncommon.
A Hung clenched his fists tightly:
"If we don't get there in time, I fear Xiao Gouzi will be beaten into a cripple."
No more words were needed.
Lin Ming simply nodded, his eyes growing as calm and steady as water before a storm.
"Lead the way."
...
By the time Lin Ming and A Hung arrived, the sky had darkened to a pale gray.
The sounds of blows and kicks mingled with the mocking laughter of several young men.
Beneath the old magnolia tree, a scrawny youth lay sprawled on the ground, his face bruised purple, blood seeping from the corner of his lips. He clutched his head with both hands, trembling, not daring to look up. He wore a ragged blue cotton garment, his shoulder torn, his back smeared with mud and the clear impression of a shoe.
Next to him were five servants dressed in light gray, thicker fabric, more carefully tailored than the Ma family's cloth. They held wooden clubs; one sneered, another spat on the ground, their tone full of contempt.
The leader among them was a tall, skinny man with an angular face, narrow, elongated eyes, and a habitually contemptuous smirk pulled up at the corner of his mouth. He held a smooth black wooden club, its shaft etched with a few rough runes, glowing with a faint spiritual light. He glanced down at the figure writhing at his feet, then lifted his head and spoke slowly, his voice somewhat lazy:
"You Ma family dogs sure are bold. The land in this bamboo forest was marked by Steward Zhang at the beginning of the month, yet you dare send someone to cut firewood here today? Are you ignorant of the rules, or are you looking for death?"
One of the men beside him chimed in mockingly:
"I hear the Ma family hasn't collected enough wood for their medicine frames recently, so they let their dogs wander around and gnaw on whatever they find. Who knew they'd stumble upon the edge of our Zhang family's forest."
The leader continued, his voice unchanged, not bothering to look at Xiao Gouzi again:
"I heard the Ma family has a few old cultivators, but sadly they're only good for sitting still and discussing the Dao. Their servants are so cowardly and weak; they deserve to be trampled upon."
Contemptuous laughter rang out from all sides.
Lin Ming stepped out from the bushes. A Hung followed beside him, panting while growling out each word:
"Stop that."
The command rang out clearly, causing all five Zhang family servants to turn their heads.
The leader frowned, his eyes sweeping over them before stopping on Lin Ming.
"Oh? Who do we have here? It's A Long and A Hung from the Ma family, right? The two who spend all day pouring tea, emptying slop buckets, and hauling wood? You have the nerve to open your mouths and stop us today?"
He chuckled softly, turning to his companions behind him:
"Look, the Ma family really has no one left worth using. One piece of trash wasn't enough, so they sent two more pieces of trash to join the fun."
Another interjected, laughing:
"I hear A Long only knows how to carry firewood; his shoulders are always swollen with scars. I wonder what divine art he learned today that makes him dare to speak so loudly."
Xiao Luzi—the leader—lowered his club to the ground; the head of the club hit a rock, making a dry thud. He narrowed his eyes, looking at Lin Ming, his voice dropping a few degrees:
"I remember you, A Long. Three months ago, you were kneeling by the well for breaking a rule, beaten until your ribs were broken, yet you didn't dare utter a sound. Now you're brave enough to come here and block the Zhang family'sway?"
Lin Ming did not answer immediately. He glanced at Xiao Gouzi lying curled up on the ground, his eyes closed, his back faintly trembling.
Then he settled his gaze on Xiao Luzi and slowly spoke, his voice not loud, but every word distinct:
"If you want to beat someone, beat me. He is out of strength. Hitting him more won't prove anything."
Xiao Luzi curled his lip, a cold glint flashing in his eyes:
"Beat you? Of course, I will beat you. But I want to beat the weakest one first; that's the only way to feel… superior."
Lin Ming tightened his hand, his gaze never leaving Xiao Luzi.
Before the scoffing laughter of the Zhang family servants could subside, a deep, mechanical, unmistakable sound suddenly echoed in Lin Ming's mind.
[Ding!] [Dragon-Fairy Lineage System activates introductory mission.] [Host has taken the first step onto the path of cultivation, opened the dantian, and awakened the Destiny Lightning Attribute.] [Challenge: Defeat a cultivator of the same realm in a real-world combat situation.] [Requirement: Defeat Middle Stage Qi Condensation cultivator - Xiao Luzi.] [Reward: One random combat skill summon attempt.] [Failure: The System will immediately unlink and seek a new Host.]
The sound ceased, and the space in his mind returned to its former silence. No one around them knew what had just happened; his eyes gleamed.
"Oh! Let's give it a try then."