The Azure Cloud Sect towered above the mountain range, its stone platforms carved into sheer cliffs like steps leading toward the heavens. Spiritual mist flowed endlessly through the air, wrapping the sect in an aura of authority and indifference. To mortals, this place was sacred. To disciples, it was a battlefield where talent decided everything.
Every year, countless hopefuls climbed the mountain.
Every year, most were crushed by reality.
Lin Feng stood quietly among the outer disciples, his expression calm, his hands hidden inside his sleeves to keep them from trembling. The massive Spirit Testing Stone loomed before him, its crystal surface reflecting distorted faces filled with anxiety, pride, or fear.
He had stood here before.
Three years in a row.
Each time, the same result.
"Next."
A disciple stepped forward confidently, placing his palm against the stone.
"Zhao Chen, Grade Six Spirit Root. Above average."
Bright light flared. Applause followed.
Another disciple stepped up immediately.
"Wang Tao, Grade Seven Spirit Root. Excellent."
Cheers echoed across the platform. Elders nodded in satisfaction.
Lin Feng watched in silence. Each announcement felt like a reminder of the invisible wall separating him from everyone else. He knew what would happen when his name was called. He knew it better than anyone. Yet some foolish part of him still hoped.
Then the elder spoke again.
"Lin Feng."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Soft laughter spread through the crowd.
"He's still here?"
"Didn't he fail every single year?"
"Some people really don't know when to give up."
Lin Feng took a slow breath and stepped forward. The Spirit Testing Stone felt colder than before as his palm touched its surface. He focused, circulating what little spiritual energy he possessed.
Seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Then, finally, a faint glow appeared—weak, thin, and barely visible.
The elder frowned slightly. "Grade One Spirit Root."
For a brief moment, there was silence.
Then ridicule exploded.
"Grade One? That's not even worth cultivating!"
"A waste of sect resources!"
"No wonder he's still trash after three years!"
Lin Feng withdrew his hand slowly. His face remained expressionless, but his ears rang. He had imagined anger, humiliation, even despair. Instead, there was only emptiness, as if something inside him had already died.
The elder's voice was cold and final. "Lin Feng, lowest aptitude. You may remain an outer disciple, but you will never enter the inner sect."
A single sentence sealed his fate.
At that moment, a woman stepped forward from the crowd.
She wore flowing white robes trimmed with silver, her figure slender, her face beautiful yet distant. Wherever she stood, attention followed naturally.
Su Mei.
Lin Feng's heart tightened despite himself.
"Elder," Su Mei said clearly, her voice calm and emotionless, "I request to dissolve my engagement with Lin Feng."
Gasps rippled across the platform.
"So decisive."
"She's right to cut ties early."
"How could she bind herself to trash?"
Lin Feng looked at her, disbelief flashing in his eyes. "Su Mei…"
She did not look back. "Our engagement was arranged when we were children. Now our worlds are different. I refuse to waste my future."
The elder nodded without hesitation. "Approved."
Su Mei finally glanced at Lin Feng. Her eyes were indifferent, as if looking at a stranger. "This is for the best."
She turned and walked away, her back straight, never slowing her steps.
That night, Lin Feng was summoned to the outer disciple sparring grounds.
The moon hung low in the sky, pale and cold.
His opponent was Liu Kang, a favored disciple with a Grade Six Spirit Root and a cruel smile that never reached his eyes.
"You should be grateful," Liu Kang said softly. "I'll help you understand reality."
Lin Feng barely had time to raise his arms.
A heavy strike smashed into his chest. Bones cracked loudly. Pain exploded through his body as he was sent flying into the stone platform, coughing blood.
Liu Kang stepped on his chest, grinding down mercilessly. "Trash should stay at the bottom."
The elder overseeing the sparring turned his head away.
No one intervened.
With one final blow, Lin Feng felt a hollow pain spread through his body, sharp and irreversible.
His dantian shattered.
He was thrown off the mountain like discarded refuse. His body rolled down jagged rocks, blood staining the stone as his consciousness faded.
So this is my life, he thought weakly. Born useless. Dying useless.
Then—
"Host detected."
Lin Feng's consciousness snapped awake.
He floated in a boundless black void. Strange glowing symbols formed before him, sharp and unmistakable.
"Analyzing host… Dantian shattered. Spirit Root: Grade One. Status: Trash."
The word echoed painfully in the darkness.
"Conditions met. Infinite Growth System activating."
Light exploded outward, devouring the void.
"What… is this?" Lin Feng whispered.
"System function: Infinite Growth. No limits. No bottlenecks. Growth through cultivation, combat, absorption, and survival."
"Trash Spirit Root detected. Effect: Infinite potential unlocked."
Agony tore through him as his body was rebuilt from the inside out. Bones reforged. Meridians widened violently. His shattered dantian condensed again, larger and denser, beating like a second heart.
"Reconstruction complete."
"Current realm: Body Tempering, First Layer."
A translucent panel appeared before his eyes.
Host: Lin Feng
Realm: Body Tempering (1/10)
Growth Rate: Infinite
Multiplier: x1
Lin Feng stared at the word Infinite.
Something ignited deep within his chest.
"So I'm not trash," he said quietly.
"Correct," the system replied. "Trash is merely a starting state."
The void shattered.
Lin Feng gasped and sat upright at the foot of the mountain. Strength flowed through his limbs, steady and overwhelming. His breathing stabilized unnaturally fast. When he clenched his fist, the air cracked softly.
Real power.
He stood slowly and looked up at the Azure Cloud Sect, its towering silhouette unchanged.
But he was no longer the same.
"Liu Kang. Su Mei. Azure Cloud Sect."
His eyes were calm, cold, and unwavering.
"With infinite growth," he said softly, "this world will kneel."
END OF CHAPTER
Author's Note
If you enjoyed this chapter, please add this book to your library and leave a comment. It helps the novel get recommended and directly supports future updates.
This is a long-form cultivation + system novel focused on fast power growth, ruthless progression, and heavy face-slapping. Lin Feng will not remain weak for long.
Updates will be daily as long as support is strong.
Thank you for reading.