The cold wind howled across Iron Mountain Sect.
In the outer disciple courtyard, a crowd gathered like wolves smelling blood.
At the center of it all stood a thin boy, his clothes torn, his face bruised, his breathing heavy.
Arjun.
The weakest outer disciple.
A useless trash.
And today…
He was being humiliated again.
A tall disciple stepped forward with a smirk, flipping a small jade bottle in his hand like it was nothing.
"You dropped this, Arjun?" he said lazily.
Arjun clenched his fist.
That bottle was his monthly reward: Body Tempering Pill x1.
Without it, he wouldn't even be able to recover from training.
"I… I didn't drop it. You stole it," Arjun said, voice low.
The crowd laughed.
The tall disciple—Karan, an outer disciple ranked in the top fifty—raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? So you're accusing me?" He leaned closer. "Trash like you should be grateful I even touch your things."
Arjun's eyes burned with rage, but his body trembled.
Not from fear.
From helplessness.
Because he truly was too weak.
Karan suddenly slammed his boot into Arjun's stomach.
BAM!
Arjun flew back and rolled in the dirt.
His mouth opened, blood spilling out.
Karan walked over slowly and crouched down.
"You know your problem?" Karan whispered. "You still believe you matter."
He poured the pill out and crushed it under his fingers like dust.
Arjun stared at the crushed pill…
His heart sank.
It felt like someone crushed his entire future too.
Karan stood up and spat.
"I'll give you one chance. Crawl and lick my shoe clean. Then I might spare you today."
The crowd roared.
"DO IT!"
"TRASH!"
"HE'S NOTHING!"
Arjun's nails dug into the dirt.
His eyes filled with tears.
Not sadness…
Hatred.
But before he could move—
A loud voice echoed from the sect hall.
"Outer disciple Arjun! You are summoned to the Spirit Root Examination."
Instant silence.
Everyone's expression changed.
Spirit Root Examination?
That was the test that decided a cultivator's future.
If you failed…
You stayed trash forever.
If you succeeded…
You rose.
Karan laughed.
"Oh? The trash has an exam?" He pointed at Arjun. "Go. Fail like always."
Arjun dragged himself up, wiped the blood from his lips, and walked away without looking back.
But inside his mind, he swore something.
'One day… I'll kill every person who laughed today.'