At the back mountain of the Hao Prince's Manor, a young man with refined features, around seventeen or eighteen years old, sat cross-legged atop a large boulder, cultivating.
After a while, he slowly opened his eyes and let out a helpless sigh.
"Ah… I still can't gather qi. Could it be that in this lifetime, I truly won't be able to draw spiritual energy into my body?"
"My Three-Revolution Golden Body Art has already reached perfection. Without a better body-refining technique, my physical strength won't be able to improve much further."
"And now… Father is gone as well. What should I do next?"
As these thoughts crossed his mind, a trace of stubborn defiance surfaced in the young man's eyes.
His name was Hao Yu, the only son of the Third Elder.
Previously, the Third Elder had sacrificed his life while resisting the beast tide.
Hao Yu had been born with a congenital defect in his dantian, rendering him incapable of normally drawing in spiritual energy. Within the Hao Prince's Manor, he was the definition of a true "waste."
While the Third Elder was still alive, he had consulted countless ancient texts and taken Hao Yu to visit renowned physicians, hoping to cure the dantian defect.
Without exception, all attempts failed.
Yet Hao Yu—who yearned deeply for strength—never gave up on himself. Since he could not cultivate techniques that required drawing qi into the body, he instead turned his focus to external cultivation, tempering his physique.
Thus, from the age of fifteen onward, Hao Yu began walking the path of body refinement.
After several years of arduous training, although his physical strength improved only marginally, he never once abandoned his efforts.
Until three months ago.
By chance, he had obtained a mysterious crystal stone.
To his astonishment, he discovered that he could extract life essence from the crystal. Not only did it replenish his qi and blood, it could even repair injuries.
With the assistance of this mysterious crystal, his Three-Revolution Golden Body Art finally reached perfection a few days ago. In terms of raw physical strength, he could now contend with cultivators of the Fourth Star Realm without falling far behind.
However, without a more advanced body-refining technique, even with the crystal in his possession, he could not fully unleash its potential.
This left him at an impasse.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared, landing in front of Hao Yu.
Hao Yu looked up, and a familiar face was reflected in his pupils. His heart jolted in shock.
"Hao Yu greets the Prince!"
He immediately stood up and bowed to Hao Meng, while inwardly wondering, Why has the Prince come here all of a sudden?
At that moment, a worrying thought surfaced in his mind.
Could it be… that my treasure has been exposed?
The moment that thought arose, Hao Yu's heart became restless.
Hao Meng smiled faintly. "No need for formalities."
Hao Meng was not unfamiliar with the young man before him.
After all, the Third Elder belonged to the direct lineage as well. Hao Meng had a general understanding of the members of that branch.
He immediately activated the Eye of True Sight, and a transparent panel appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Hao Yu]
[Cultivation: First Star, Ninth Level]
[Aptitude: Half-Wasted]
[Comprehension: High]
[Physique: Mortal Body]
[Fortune: Born with a congenital dantian defect, unable to draw spiritual energy into the body. Three months ago, on a star-filled night when a meteor fell, he fortuitously obtained a meteor-like mysterious crystal that fused into his body. With the aid of this crystal, the cultivation speed of his body-refining techniques greatly increased.]
Good grief!
Seeing Hao Yu's fortune, Hao Meng immediately thought of a certain "protagonist template" from his previous world.
This was practically identical!
At that moment, the system's voice rang out again.
[Ding! The current investment target can trigger Gold-tier returns!]
[Invest a High-Grade Earth-tier body-refining technique Eight Gates Escaping Art → Obtain a High-Grade Heaven-tier technique Nine Revolutions Heavenly Art and a High-Grade Heaven-tier martial skill Heaven-Piercing Sword Art.]
[Invest a Mid-Grade Earth-tier artifact Five-Colored Profound Light Wings → Obtain a Mid-Grade Heaven-tier artifact Seven-Colored Profound Light Wings and a Mid-Grade Heaven-tier artifact Cold Soul Silver Moon Sword.]
[Invest two bottles of Golden Essence Pills → Obtain two flasks of Violet Extreme Pills, two bottles of Profound Communication Golden Pills, and a Profound Communication Golden Pill Formula Scroll.]
There was no denying it—the returns from a Gold-tier investment were truly astonishing.
The grades were all exceptionally high. Even Hao Meng could not help but feel amazed.
In this world, techniques, martial skills, pills, artifacts, formations, and the like were classified from low to high as: Yellow, Mysterious, Earth, Heaven, King, Emperor, Saint, and beyond…
Below the King tier, each grade was further divided into Low, Mid, High, and Peak.
As for King and Emperor tiers, there were only two distinctions: Ordinary and Top-tier.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Hao Meng looked at Hao Yu and said encouragingly:
"Not bad. Even though you cannot draw qi into your body, you have never abandoned your determination to grow stronger."
"I can see that your path of body refinement has reached a bottleneck. I happen to have a body-refining technique here that suits you quite well."
As he spoke, Hao Meng took out the Eight Gates Escaping Art and handed it to Hao Yu.
"This is a High-Grade Earth-tier body-refining technique that I obtained while traveling outside. Its cultivation method is somewhat special—each step requires immense willpower. I believe that with your unyielding perseverance, you will surely succeed."
Hearing this, Hao Yu's heart shook violently.
"This…"
Looking at the technique before him, his throat bobbed as shock filled his eyes.
He was a nobody within the manor—someone the clan regarded as useless. Yet the Prince had personally come to give him a technique.
And not just any technique, but a High-Grade Earth-tier body-refining art.
One had to know that the Three-Revolution Golden Body Art he previously cultivated was only a Mid-Grade Mysterious-tier technique, and even that had cost his father a great price to obtain.
Now, a High-Grade Earth-tier technique lay right before him.
To say he was not tempted would be a lie. What he lacked most at this very moment was precisely a high-level body-refining technique.
With such a technique, combined with the mysterious crystal within his body, he firmly believed that no matter how difficult the path of body refinement was, he could walk it through.
This sudden turn of events left him at a loss.
Should he accept it… or not?
"Take it," Hao Meng said calmly. "In my eyes, you have never been a waste—only a Hao family member who never gave up on becoming stronger."
"I hope that one day, you will become a powerhouse capable of shielding the family from storms, just like your father… or even surpass him."
"Cultivate this technique well and prove to everyone that even without drawing in spiritual energy, you are no inferior to those so-called peerless geniuses!"
These words struck Hao Yu like thunder.
A blazing fire ignited in his heart, making him wish he could begin cultivating immediately.
He never imagined that someone like him—a transparent nobody—would be valued so highly by the Prince.
After a long moment of turbulent emotions, he finally reached out with trembling hands and accepted the technique.
"Thank you for Your Highness's great kindness. Hao Yu will work even harder from this day forth and will not fail your expectations!"
Hao Meng smiled faintly and nodded.
Then, he took out the Five-Colored Profound Light Wings and two bottles of Golden Essence Pills, handing them to Hao Yu as well.
"Take these as well. The wings will give you an added layer of safety, and these body-refining pills will be of great help to your cultivation."
Seeing the Prince give him artifacts and pills yet again, a mist formed in Hao Yu's eyes despite himself.
From childhood to now, aside from his father, no one had ever treated him like this.
At this moment, his heart was filled with warmth and gratitude, and Hao Meng's figure grew incomparably tall and majestic in his mind.
"Thank you, Your Highness! Hao Yu will never disappoint your expectations!"
Holding the pile of artifacts and pills, Hao Yu solemnly vowed once more.
[Ding! Investment successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining: High-Grade Heaven-tier technique Nine Revolutions Heavenly Art, High-Grade Heaven-tier martial skill Heaven-Piercing Sword Art, Mid-Grade Heaven-tier artifact Seven-Colored Profound Light Wings, Mid-Grade Heaven-tier artifact Cold Soul Silver Moon Sword, two flasks of Violet Extreme Pills, two bottles of Profound Communication Golden Pills, and a Profound Communication Golden Pill Formula Scroll!]
Hao Meng did not immediately inspect the system rewards.
He looked at Hao Yu, reached out, and patted him on the shoulder in encouragement.
"Cultivate well. If you lack anything, go seek out the Second Elder."
"I look forward to the day you surpass your father."
With that, Hao Meng turned and left.
Watching Hao Meng's departing figure, Hao Yu felt the warmth of family for the first time in his life. His resolve to pursue the path of strength became firmer than ever.
Moments later, he steadied his emotions and immediately began studying the Eight Gates Escaping Art.
At the same time, Hao Meng—who had already left—was examining the system rewards from the investment return.