When Zhang Chen solidified his resolve for vengeance, a profound sense of weakness washed over him. He felt his power slowly slipping away. Normally, the shattering of the Dantian does not render a person useless instantly; rather, their power begins to diminish gradually. For an ordinary martial artist, the loss of cultivation would mean their strength vanishes within seconds, but Zhang Chen was a warrior without equal.
At just 19 years old, he had reached the summit of the martial world—the Supreme Golden Immortal realm—a height that the world's greatest masters took centuries to achieve. Beyond this realm lay an unknown territory where no one had set foot in thousands of years. His name was spoken alongside those legendary figures who had cultivated for millennia, a testament to his unmatched intelligence, wit, and genius. Not only was he a peerless combatant, but he was also a peak-level Alchemist. At that time, no one could rival him in the art of alchemy. His sheer resilience was evident: despite being poisoned by treachery and ambushed by five bloodthirsty enemies at the peak of their power, he had survived the void and made it here.
Using his remaining energy and mental fortitude, Zhang Chen began treating his injuries. As for the poison, he was also a Body Cultivator, meaning his physical strength was equal to his cultivation base. However, with his Dantian destroyed, his body had been unable to withstand the spatial blades and storms within the void. The flesh and bones he had forged through grueling discipline—once strong enough to clash with the world's elite—had been ravaged.
As he used his final scraps of energy to heal himself, the body that remained was weaker than that of an average man. To say he had fallen below the level of a commoner would not be an exaggeration. All he had left were his memories and his vast experience, but that was enough. He was certain that no matter how far he had fallen, he would rise again, surpass his former peak, and reach heights no one had ever seen to claim his revenge.
After a long period, once his energy had stabilized his condition, only a few minor injuries remained. They were "minor" only to him; to an ordinary person, they would still be considered severe. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the broken section of the ship he was resting on. When he had first crawled out of the water, he hadn't noticed, but now he saw another person. More than half of this person's body was submerged in the water, with only their hand and face hanging onto the edge of the floating wreckage.
When Zhang Chen looked at him, he knew at a single glance that the person was dead; there was no spark of life left within him. Turning his gaze away, he refocused on treating his own injuries, attempting to use every bit of his remaining energy to heal as much as possible. The energy in this world was incredibly sparse; had he not used his own internal reserves and relied instead on the natural energy of this world, there was no telling how long his recovery would have taken.
After a while, once his wounds were about 60 to 70 percent healed, something suddenly crossed his mind. He opened his eyes and looked once more toward the lifeless youth. Surveying his surroundings and contemplating his situation, he decided to stop his self-healing process and stood up. Though he was using his last remnants of power to stabilize himself, he was so severely wounded that even if he had possessed all his energy, there was no guarantee of a hundred percent recovery even after months. However, since his cultivation had collapsed, the energy being released was immense; he realized it was more beneficial to use that energy for immediate recovery rather than letting it go to waste.
But now, driven by a new thought, he halted his treatment and walked toward the deceased boy. Zhang Chen placed his finger directly between the boy's eyebrows and began to use his Mental Power to read the person's memories. Due to his extreme weakness, the process was agonizingly slow, taking nearly six to seven hours.
Had he been at his peak, this task would not have taken a single moment. But after the brutal battle and the journey through the void without his cultivation, he had overexerted his mental strength alongside his physical body. The mental power he had cultivated to its summit over a lifetime was now so damaged that it would take a long time to fully recover. If his mental power were intact, he could have spread his consciousness across this entire world in an instant, uncovering all its secrets and assessing its nature. Now, however, his mental reach could not extend beyond ten meters. Forcing himself to read these memories had put an even greater strain on his mind, meaning he wouldn't be able to use his mental power to sense his surroundings for several days.
Whether this would be for better or worse remained unknown until he could find specialized medicines or regain his strength through rigorous mental cultivation. Despite the strain, he did not regret reading the dead man's memories. He reasoned: 'I am wounded. To understand the ways of this world and to regain my peak power, I must be familiar with this environment. As I recover my strength, I will inevitably draw attention. If I do not have an identity or a name, people will become suspicious, creating new dangers for me in this world.'
Having already been betrayed and nearly killed, he refused to repeat such mistakes. He possessed both pride and confidence in his abilities, but he was no fool. Where one could avoid trouble by using their intellect, it was not wise to invite unnecessary complications through blind arrogance.
After Zhang Chen finished reading the memories of the one resting in the embrace of death, he looked at the corpse and let out a deep sigh. "I pity your condition," he whispered. "You were so helpless and fragile. Your story is truly tragic."
The man's name was Ye Xuan. He was the heir to a prestigious lineage, but with great families come great troubles, and inheritance disputes are often the most lethal. More than ten years ago, the Ye Family—a titan of the Dragon Country with assets in the trillions—held influence over every corner of the nation. With family members stationed as high-ranking officials in the military and government, their foundation was unshakable.
However, a decade ago, a catastrophe decimated Ye Xuan's life and claimed his parents, forcing him into an orphanage in a small, distant city. Upon turning eighteen, he was sent out to earn his own living. Despite his noble blood, his upbringing had left him with an exceptional character and a complete lack of arrogance. He worked as a laborer, carrying bricks and sweeping floors, keeping only enough money for basic survival while sending the rest back to the orphanage that had raised him.
While working at a construction site, Ye Xuan saved the life of the building's owner. Impressed by the youth's integrity and demeanor, the owner—a wealthy man himself—decided to marry his granddaughter to this poor laborer. One reason for this union was that the granddaughter suffered from facial blemishes and scars that modern medicine could not cure.
Coincidentally, having spent his early childhood around his family's elders, Ye Xuan possessed knowledge of ancient medicinal formulas that surpassed modern science. As a live-in son-in-law, he endured constant mockery and insults from his in-laws, who looked down on him as a "useless parasite." Even his wife treated him with contempt. Yet, he bore it all, hoping that time and kindness would bridge the gap. He used his hard-earned savings to buy rare herbs and successfully cured his wife's face. Once her beauty was restored, however, her arrogance only grew.
A year after the marriage, following the death of the grandfather who had protected him, his wife divorced him. Not satisfied with merely casting him out, they eventually lured him to a high cliff by the sea and threw him into the depths to ensure his permanent disappearance.