Night.
Dragon Abyss Continent, Wu Kingdom, Black Star City, Shi Residence
Inside a room with elegant decorations, a delicate-looking twelve-year-old boy dressed in white sat in a lotus position. In his hands, he held a red-covered book, while the dimples on his cheeks tightened in displeasure.
"Why?!"
Shi Yun stared at the book in irritation, gripping its cover tightly. He couldn't understand why he couldn't sense spiritual power, even though he was doing everything correctly.
"One more time!"
Shi Yun's eyes shone with determination. He opened the book again and carefully examined the illustrations on its pages. They depicted a faceless human figure sitting cross-legged, controlling their breathing.
Turning the page, the next illustrations showed the man with his breathing perfectly adjusted, in complete harmony with heaven and earth. Above him, colorless particles fell like rain.
Flipping another page, the man drew those particles in through his mouth, swallowing them. In the following image, they were guided into the meridians. After a long purification process, they descended to the dantian, located a few centimeters below the navel.
Within the dantian, the particles fused, forming a tiny strand the size of a hair. In the next images, that strand grew until it reached the maximum limit the dantian could withstand. After that, the content ended.
After finishing reading, Shi Yun closed the book and placed it on the mattress. Then he shut his eyes and entered a meditative state.
Inside himself, Shi Yun saw nothing but darkness. He felt no special kind of energy in the air. Even after adjusting his breathing to a perfect level, nothing changed.
"Again! Again!"
Shi Yun clenched his teeth tightly, completely losing his concentration. In the next moments, he tried to cultivate again, but it was impossible. No matter how hard he tried, the situation didn't change.
Pah!
Unable to contain his frustration, Shi Yun clenched his right fist and slammed it against the mattress, producing a muffled sound.
The sensation of the impact temporarily calmed his thoughts. He let out a heavy sigh.
Tomorrow would be a dark day for him.
His grandfather would surely be disappointed to see that he hadn't cultivated even a trace of spiritual power.
"Haa..."
Sighing once more, Shi Yun recalled the expectant smiles of his grandfather and uncles as they handed him the spiritual energy absorption technique—a gift for turning twelve that day.
'I'm not as talented as Li Wushuang, who managed to cultivate a complete strand and enter the first Qi Refinement realm in a single night...'
Thinking about this, Shi Yun's mood soured.
Li Wushuang was the greatest genius of Black Star City.
Two years ago, upon turning twelve, he began cultivating and, on his very first day, awakened the Immortal Sword Body, directly entering the first Qi Refinement Realm.
The news spread like the wind. In less than seven days, the Eastern Sword Sect—one of the ten most powerful sects on the Dragon Abyss Continent—came to recruit him. Since then, the Li family had become the most prosperous in the city.
'I even arrogantly said back then that his fame only spread because he was two years older than me...'
Remembering this, Shi Yun felt even more bitter.
He had exaggerated. The next time he met Li Wushuang, he might not even have the courage to face him. No—he wouldn't even be worthy of looking at him. To the current Shi Yun, Wushuang was like an unreachable mountain.
"I refuse! A real man doesn't go back on his word!"
Thump! Thump!
Refusing to accept his own inability, Shi Yun began punching the mattress again, the muffled sounds growing louder with each strike.
"Aaaaa!"
With his blood boiling, he let out a shout from the depths of his chest and gathered all his strength for one final blow.
Bam!
This time, the mattress failed to muffle the impact. His fist sank deeply into it, leaving only a thin layer between his hand and the wood beneath. His face twisted from the shock of pain, and his fingers went numb.
'I overdid it...'
Shi Yun realized he had gone too far. However, it wasn't entirely bad—his chaotic emotions had been vented with that strike.
'I'll tell my grandfather that I'm incapable of sensing spiritual energy... Maybe I'm doing something wrong... or maybe I really can't cultivate—'
Before finishing the thought, he felt something strange rising through his fingers.
His eyes widened. He raised his right hand and looked at it.
To his shock, his reddened fingers were drawing in colorless particles, absorbing them through his pores. The phenomenon vanished as soon as the redness faded.
"...?"
A series of question marks appeared in his mind.
"I... absorbed spiritual energy? But not through my mouth, and I didn't enter harmony with heaven and earth... so why was I able to cultivate? Could it be because I got hurt?"
Shi Yun tried to process the situation. At the same time that it seemed clear, it was also hard to believe.
He had never heard of such a method.
'Could it be that I have a special body, like the Immortal Sword Body?'
At that thought, a crooked smile appeared on his face.
Finally, he had a chance to fulfill the words he had spoken two years ago.
But soon, he hesitated.
Did he really need to hurt himself?
"Maybe this is wrong..."
He shook his head from side to side.
Before jumping to conclusions, he needed to test it further.
Stopping his thoughts, he looked at his own body, noticing no change in his dantian.
'Is the spiritual power being stored in my meridians? With this amount, it's still impossible to form even a tiny strand...'
Reaching that conclusion, Shi Yun decided to try again.
His eyes turned toward the mattress—and gleamed with a dangerous light.
He was about to strike.
"Aaaaa!"
Staring at the mattress as if it were a mortal enemy, Shi Yun began punching it with both fists.
Each blow only increased his desire to continue.
As he struck, he watched his hands grow hotter and hotter, as if they were boiling or being burned. It was painful—but there was a benefit.
Before his eyes, spiritual particles rushed toward him. Inside his body, something spun, devouring all the energy that approached.
"I understand! I don't need to hurt myself—I just need to hit something!"