The chirping of birds filled the air as the morning sun rose, illuminating the Tsang Lan region. Within the palace of the great general Wei Tsang Lan himself, in one of the servants' rooms, lay a blond young man with blue eyes and average features—neither ugly nor handsome. He was resting on a bed, his right arm and leg wrapped in white casts, while his entire body was covered in bandages.
That young man was Finn Colonil.
Sunlight fell upon Finn's face, and he slowly opened his eyes, looking around.
Finn groaned in pain and frustration when he realized he couldn't even get up from the bed.
Three days.
It had been three days since his insane fight with Wei Qingqing.
Finn had broken several bones and suffered multiple internal injuries as a result of that battle.
What was worse, he hadn't felt anything at the time—he had continued punching, kicking, and screaming until the brutal training session ended. How? He didn't know.
Logic from his previous world had been thrown out the window on his very first day in this world, so Finn had adapted and followed Jay from Ninjago's famous plan:
When things stop making sense, don't think about them.
Honestly, not thinking about what was possible or impossible had helped him a lot.
More importantly, during those three days, several very important things had happened to Finn.
First and foremost, it turned out that General Wei Tsang Lan had witnessed Finn's entire fight with Wei Qingqing and was shocked by Finn's performance in battle.
Second, after discovering Finn's newfound strength, the general spoke with his daughter, Wei Qingqing, and asked her why she had trained a complete stranger for six whole months and even given him a second-grade cultivation technique.
Wei Qingqing answered that she wanted to make Finn a personal guard for her brother, Wei Bin. She also stated that Finn had great potential due to his rubber-like and unique body.
The general pondered his daughter's words, then smiled at her way of thinking and admired the idea for several reasons.
First, Finn was the same age as his son and had already befriended him, which meant Wei Bin would be happy to have Finn by his side at all times—unlike the other personal guards, who were much older than Wei Bin.
Second, Finn was suitable as a personal guard because of his unique body, making him the perfect living shield for his son.
Third, although Finn's talent in cultivation was zero, as his daughter had said, his combat power was strong and astonishing due to his strange skills and rubber-like body. If Finn were invested in and given enough time, resources, and proper techniques, he could become a powerful figure capable of standing against anyone from the Black Waters region—except, of course, the Black Venom King.
Thus, General Wei Tsang Lan decided to support his daughter's investment in Finn as Wei Bin's personal guard. He granted Finn a third-grade Yuan Qi cultivation technique, four Yuan combat techniques, first-grade Yuan food, and a first-grade Qi Development Pill.
Naturally, many officers objected, saying such resources and techniques should not be wasted on a stranger. However, they were immediately silenced by the tyrannical authority of General Wei Tsang Lan.
What did all this mean for Finn?
It meant he had obtained many resources and techniques that would help him grow stronger, bringing him one step closer to his goal—returning home to his world and his family.
Yet, Finn wasn't particularly happy about it.
Because there was no such thing as free food in this world.
The price for all these resources and techniques was absolute loyalty to the Wei family and remaining Wei Bin's personal guard for the rest of his life.
Finn simply could not stay in the Tsang Lan region for long.
He knew that Tsang Lan was merely a military frontier region of the Great Chu Empire, and that the Great Chu Empire itself was just a small and weak empire on the Tsang Ming Continent.
The Tsang Ming Continent, in turn, was merely a small and insignificant continent—one among countless infinite continents under the Tsang Xuan Heavens.
And the Tsang Xuan Heavens themselves were just one of the Nine Heavens of the entire Tian Yuan World.
Moreover, Tsang Xuan was the weakest and most pitiful of all the heavens, as it did not possess a single Saint-level expert.
A vast world existed beyond Tsang Lan—one filled with opportunities, treasures, resources, and cultivation techniques that the small Tsang Lan region or the Chu Empire could never provide.
And since Finn had read and completed the Yuan Zun manhua, he knew of many opportunities and treasures he could exploit to become stronger. He had to seize them before Zhou Yuan, because those opportunities were originally designed for Zhou Yuan—the protagonist and hero of Yuan Zun.
For this reason, Finn could not stay here for long. Less than a year and a half remained before the main story and events Finn knew would begin. By then, he had to leave Tsang Lan behind.
But if he tried to do so after being given all these techniques, training, and resources, he would be executed immediately—labeled a traitor and doomed to a fate worse than death.
Finn hadn't asked for any of this.
He hadn't asked them to train him or give him these techniques and resources. He certainly didn't want to become a lowly servant or Wei Bin's personal guard.
But they had made the decision on his behalf, determining his future and path without giving him the right to express his opinion.
Because he was simply too weak to control his fate or make decisions for himself.
Finn smiled bitterly as he thought about his situation.
In truth, because of his unique rubber body, things could have been far worse if he had fallen into the hands of cruel and heartless people like the Black Venom King.
He was certain they would have subjected him to countless experiments and tortured him for entertainment, merely to uncover what made his body special.
Staying in Tsang Lan was not in his best interest, but escaping now, in his current state, would be tantamount to courting death.
Tsang Lan was a military frontier region of the Great Chu Empire, and nearby lay the Black Waters region—one of Chu's greatest enemies and the most dangerous area of all.
If he were captured by cultivators from that region, his fate would be worse than death.
Moreover, Finn was certain he couldn't escape with his current weak strength.
Thus, Finn made his decision.
He would exploit the Wei family and grow as strong as possible. He would devour every resource they gave him, train in and master every technique they provided. And when the time came, he would escape, leave the Great Chu Empire entirely, and head deep into the Tsang Ming Continent—specifically toward the Saint's Ruins region.
This might seem like betrayal—a stab in the back—but to Finn, the ends justified the means.
He would do anything to gain power, no matter the method or consequences.
Because he wanted to survive and return to his world—his home, his family—safe and sound.
---
Ten days later.
Finn exhaled slowly as he stood before a massive iron wall.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!!"
Finn stretched his arm forward and punched the metal wall with tremendous force.
Boom!!
The Yuan Qi–reinforced steel wall exploded instantly, and Finn's fist blasted a hole straight through it.
Finn smiled in satisfaction.
Just over ten days ago, he wouldn't have been able to do this.
But now? He could do it with ease.
Finn sighed as he recalled the past week.
First, his body had fully recovered after only five days of rest. This absurd healing ability gave Finn a headache and made others fear him even more, viewing him as a monster.
He spent the remaining time training relentlessly. His control over Yuan Qi had increased significantly, and he could now use it efficiently and precisely in combat.
Now, it was time to take the next step in his training.
Finn grabbed a small pouch hanging at his waist and opened it.
A faint blue light spilled out as he reached inside and pulled out a rolled scroll emitting a soft green aura.
It was a third-grade Yuan Qi cultivation technique.
Naturally, Finn couldn't read the contents due to the language barrier, so he once again relied on Wei Bin to read it to him, just as he had done with the Star Absorption Technique.
Finn sighed tiredly as he thought about his lack of mastery over this world's language.
He had studied this cursed language and tried to learn it as much as possible over the past six months, but he had only mastered the basics and was still considered a beginner.
He suffered from the same problem with Monkey D. Garp's training records, which were written in Japanese.
And Garp's handwriting was… terrible, filled with many incomprehensible sentences.
Anyway, this technique was called the Cloud King Technique, a third-grade Yuan Qi cultivation method with no special requirements.
Its unique feature was that it added the attributes of wind and storms to the user's Yuan Qi, greatly increasing their speed—exactly what Finn needed.
Finn opened the translated booklet in English and began chanting the technique, attempting to learn it.
After three cursed days of repetition, trial, failure, and sitting on his ass, Finn's Yuan Qi changed from deep crimson red to emerald green.
His Yuan Qi rank rose to the third grade, becoming thicker and stronger.
Finn opened his sapphire-blue eyes and exhaled slowly.
He smiled in satisfaction as he felt his cultivation speed increase threefold.
The difference between the Cloud King Technique and the Star Absorption Technique was like the difference between heaven and earth.
He could finally cultivate at any time of the day, not just during daylight.
Finn opened his palm, and his Yuan Qi danced above it.
His Yuan Qi had changed in quantity, quality, and density—it was far stronger and superior.
Finn was confident that his combat strength had increased significantly and that he could now withstand a cultivator who had opened six meridians without any problem.
And all this was achieved with only third-grade Yuan Qi.
Finn couldn't imagine how it would feel once he trained in an even higher-grade technique.
The grades of a person's Yuan Qi corresponded to the level of their cultivation technique.
If someone trained in a first-grade Yuan Qi technique, their Yuan Qi would be first-grade, and so on.
Yuan Qi grades were divided into nine levels, just like cultivation techniques.
First-grade Yuan Qi was the weakest, while ninth-grade Yuan Qi was the strongest.
The higher the grade of a cultivator's Yuan Qi, the greater its density and power—allowing them to fight opponents with higher cultivation levels.
That was why cultivation techniques were so vital and indispensable to an individual's strength.
Finn clenched his fist, then sat down and immediately began cultivating.
He had no time to waste.
With the Cloud King Technique, he felt that he could open his second meridian within two months instead of six.