In the middle of a forest lay a young man covered in the falling autumn leaves. The yellow and orange leaves that fell on him made it a beautiful scene.

At least that's if the observer ignored his gaping wounds and the headless animal accompanying him.

"Aargh!!" Martin groaned in pain as he gained consciousness.

The injuries were inflicted by a low ranked monster wolf which he mistook for a normal wild wolf. When he came across the small silver wolf, he realized it was guarding a yet to ripen blood ginseng. A herb he needs to break through from the last stage of body refinement, he knew this was a chance he simply couldn't miss.

Martin had been living in this forest for months. He had killed many wild animals so he thought it'd be a piece of cake. But when he fought the wolf, he found out that he couldn't have been more wrong, this wolf was of a monster bloodline and it had formed its monster core to become a 1'st order monster beast.

Being an arrow already shot from a bow (with no way of backing out), also desperately needing the herb, he decided to take the risk and fight.

A decision that almost cost him his life. He was suppressed the entire fight, got many wounds, couldn't even manage to kill the wolf, and somehow lost consciousness during the fight.

'I was probably saved by a passerby or something. I must remember this lesson to never underestimate foes by just looking at appearance' he thought as he let out a sigh.

"Since the person saved me from the wolf why couldn't he just finish the job properly. He should have at least bound my wounds, fed me expensive medicine, and left me a few million spirit stones " he shamelessly said before he forced down the cheap medicinal powder he prepared before his expedition down his throat.

'Maybe I was saved by a charming older beauty. Come back! I want to devote the rest of my life to you. I honestly don't being a house husband…' his last thoughts before passing out again.

…

While passed out Martin had a dream. It was a dream of memory when he was a kid.

"Hey wait up!", Martin shouted towards the back of a 23-24-year-old looking man but was ignored.

"you are walking too fast please slow down", he pleaded only to receive silence in response as the man kept his pace which he considered fairy slow.

"uncle cultivator I'm talking to you!" he yelled.

The man involuntarily straightened his back like a cat with a tail that got stepped on turned around and righteously yelled,

"I told you not to call me uncle I'm only 312 years old! don't you see how suave, young and graceful I look? You are probably the reason I have been single for long!"

Martin rolled his eyes and said, "But I have only known you for a month how could I have caused you to be single for 312 years?", while rushing to catch up.

This 'uncle cultivator' was a man Martin met in the village he lived. The man claimed to be in the mortal world for some experience that would help him in his cultivation path.

One of his favourite pass times was boasting to Martin about how powerful he was. He claimed to be able to turn mountains into valleys with a flip a hand. Although Martin was sceptical, he still listened to his stories with relish. That was because this man talked about the most interesting things that sounded as if out of a fantasy novel, things that made his blood boil in excitement.

The man had only spent 3 months in the village, but that was enough time to influence Martin into wanting to be a cultivator. When he asked the man to teach him cultivation, the man just laughed and said,

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Although your potential is not bad you are still too young ".

Of course, this only increased Martin's scepticism and made him look at the man as if he was a swindler.

At least that was until he turned 16 and he found that he had been left an inheritance. He found out that he had unknowingly been imparted some cultivation techniques and basic information of things in the cultivation world.

…

Martin was able to wake up at dusk. He found out that his saviour did not take the spoils of his effort. No one else came by as the herb and wolf were still there, which let him sigh in relief.

The ginseng had yet to ripen, but he was not going to wait for it to ripen since it could attract the attention of another monster beast. So he carefully dug it up, making sure not to harm it in any way, then directly stuffed the herb in his clothes.

Taking a deep breath, he turned his gaze to the dead wolf. He dug out its monster core with a smile, then wearily dragged it to the nearest water stream to process the meat as he said,

''Although I can't bring back this wolf to sell, as I would draw attention and possibly have it robbed. Sigh. I can make a meal out of it. Monster beast meat should be quite spiritual. If I eat it along with the ginseng, the effect should be good''.

...

Later at night, under a moonless star-filled night. Marin sat in front of his small wood cabin he had stayed in for the last three months whilst practising from mortal to his current stage 9 body tempering.

"I have been roasting meat in this forest for a few months now. How could I possibly still be this bad?" Martin asked with a dark expression looking at the half-burnt half-raw meat on skewers emitting a foul smell. He also took note of the fact that all spirituality was lost.

"Could it be the stories that Marco told me of, where someone could eat the meat of a high-level monster beast and breakthrough several levels were lies?"

"Forget it," he said as he threw the thoughts at the back of his mind and prepared the wild fruits and vegetables in his cabin to eat.

...

While gorging himself, he started thinking about his dream, goal, the reason he left the comfort of his village and decided to go on this adventure.

During the time he spent with Marco, Martin learnt about all kinds of legends, heard about all types of experts, sects, kingdoms and even bandits. But there was only one thing that left the biggest impression on him that he often thinks about to this day. That is a legendary man by the name 'Steven Winchester', history's strongest rogue cultivator.

In a time where people must join sects to become experts, in a time where sects monopolized resources such as spirit stone mines, secret realms, alchemists, e.t.c). Steven Winchester became someone that could rival powerful factions as an individual. There are countless tales of him destroying powerful sects, him being pursued by numerous experts from the three most powerful human sects in the world yet managing to escape. And in his escape, a large number of the experts died.

According to legend, when the race wars nearly razed half of the planet in their wake, he was the one that forcibly stopped the fighting and made all the major races sign an agreement. He then arrogantly said

"Whichever race breaks this agreement, I will exterminate!"

Famous for his quote, "If you are a real man, then you must live free and unfettered. "

It just makes Martin's blood boil in excitement, and he sprouts goosebumps when he thinks about this man's life. And that's his life's goal, to live his life with his fate in his own hands, free and unfettered. To go on an adventure across the world, see all the sceneries it has to offer, the mountains, seas, valleys, rivers, and even the cities. To see what's in the sky to what's in the depths of the sea. And to eat all delicacies he can.

To pursue his dreams, he first needs strength! Otherwise, he'd die way before accomplishing anything. Forget about his dreams of being adventuring. Martin doesn't even know how he survived the clutches of the wolf he fought earlier.

...

After having his fill, he decided to try for a breakthrough.

With his cultivation of 9th stage body tempering, he could vaguely sense the surrounding spiritual qi but was just unable to absorb it into his body. Only by reaching the initial element foundation stage could he absorb spiritual qi and use it to refine his body further and purge impurities.

Martin took out the ginseng then ate it as if a carrot. He couldn't ask an alchemist to make it into pills as he wasn't from a sect, which could get the most out of the herb. But all he could do now was to eat it as is.

After he ate, he could feel his blood qi increase, and his physic enhance. He quickly got up and executed his mortal body refining technique <>.

Fifteen minutes later, he felt a tingling sensation all over his body. What followed by rapid expansion and contraction of his muscles. It made him feel as if power was being compressed and stored in his muscles. Then finally, impurities were excreated through his pours.

With soot-like impurities covering his body, he passed out with a smile on his face.