Be Sure to read the Prologue in the novel's description before you start reading the first chapter!

Big thanks to Wytchlord for helping me with proofreading and editing the story!

Now... enjoy! ^.^

Chapter 1 - Sun Tao.

“So, is it as interesting as you thought it would be?” a black-haired man asked casually, whittling away at a piece of wood with a short, sturdy knife.

“More or less,” the twelve year old youth replied lazily, lying on the bed despite the late time of the day. He glanced at his uncle, then breathed out with a smile. “So relaxing,” the boy mused, stretching lazily. This little wooden house had a certain calming feeling to it, allowing him not to think about anything and simply rest, both in body and mind.

“As long as you are satisfied,” the man said somewhat teasingly, then put a small , wooden figurine of a tiger on the table and picked up another piece of wood.

The next moment, the door to their house opened all of the sudden and a long-haired, young girl stormed in. However, neither of the two appeared to be surprised or startled.

“Dai Yu!” the twelve year old youth called out merrily, happy to see his friend. “You could have at least knocked, you know,” he complained with a smile, already used to Dai Yu’s carefree behavior.

“Why would I, anyway? You are always sleeping, don’t you have anything better to do?” Dai Yu pointed out, then walked up to the bed on which her friend was lazing about. “Come on, stand up already, Sun Tao!” she urged and pulled on Sun Tao’s shirt after noticing that he wasn’t getting up at all.

“Okay, okay already,” Sun Tao chuckled, then sat down and scratched the back of his head. He tousled his hair by habit, making them even more of a mess than they were before. “So, why have you come?” he asked, gazing at Dai Yu’s face absentmindedly, feeling somewhat sleepy.

For a second, the thirteen year old girl lost the tongue in her mouth, mesmerized by the bright, silver eyes of Sun Tao’s. Ever since Sun Tao had moved to the village with his uncle two weeks ago, she couldn’t shake off those silver eyes from her mind.

In the country and at Dai Yu’s age, it was natural that she would start thinking and hearing from her father, the village Chief, about marriage. Dai Yu herself used to think that she would end up with a son of one of her father’s acquaintances in a few more years. She had even accepted that an eventful, exciting life wasn’t meant for her, but after all… she at least wished to marry someone she liked, not a person chosen by her father.

That’s why Dai Yu was so glad that Sun Tao turned out to be a very likeable person and that her father didn’t oppose them becoming friends. Perhaps, the two of them would end up together, or so she secretly hoped.

“Do I have something on my face?” Sun Tao asked with a laugh, a little troubled that Dai Yu had been staring at him for this past while without saying a word.

“No… it’s nothing,” Dai Yu shook her head and backed off by a step. At first, she considered telling Sun Tao what was on her mind, but after all, it was too embarrassing to say openly.

“Mm,” Sun Tao shrugged his shoulders and stood up from the bed. “So, what do you want to do?” he asked straightforwardly, pretty sure that Dai Yu came to hang out with him.

“Just walk around and chat?” Dai Yu neither asked nor answered. “There isn’t really much else to do in this place, maybe apart from when merchants come,” she said with a light sigh, then seeing that Sun Tao didn’t seem to have anything against the idea, she added in a bright voice. “Uncle Yusheng, I will be borrowing Sun Tao.”

“Oi, who will you be ‘borrowing’?” Sun Tao rebuked lightly, a bit annoyed to be treated like an object.

“You know, you sure tend to be mindful of strange things,” Dai Yu looked at Sun Tao, wondering if he wasn’t joking with her. It was just a manner of speech, could it be that he couldn’t understand it?

“Just go already,” Sun Yusheng said resignedly and gave the two a meaningful smile. He knew very well how quickly those little arguments between the two could escalate and he didn’t feel like listening to one of them at all. “Let me work in peace, I can’t concentrate when you two keep squabbling here every day,”

“We are sorry,” Dai Yu said quickly and lowered her head. Arguing with her peers was one thing, but one needed to be polite to their elders.

“’We’?” Sun Tao asked with a smirk, rising his eyebrows in question.

“Oh come on, stop being annoying!” Dai Yu rebuked, having enough of Sun Tao picking on every word she said. When he was nice, he was nice, but when he got into the mood to be annoying… Heavens!

Sun Tao chuckled, apparently quite aware of what he was doing. Truth to be told, he really wasn’t quite accustomed to such a language when he came here two weeks ago, but by now he understood enough to be conscious of the differences. However, he still found teasing Dai Yu in this way to be quite funny, so he couldn’t help but fool around.

Shaking her head, Dai Yu smiled bitterly. She had a hunch that Sun Tao was making fun of her the whole time, but trying to have this matter explained was such a hassle. Whenever she would ask Sun Tao about his family and hometown, he would change the subject and avoid telling her anything. Judging from Sun Tao’s clothes and the house he was living in now, he shouldn’t have had any prominent  ties, but his manner of speech and the way he tended to behave were definitely strange.

“Wow,” Dai Yu showed an honest surprise, noticing the figurine on the table. “Uncle Yusheng, what beast is that? It looks as if it was alive!” she asked excitedly and approached the table, taking a look from close up.

“A white tiger,” Sun Yusheng replied with a light smile. “You can have it, if you want,” he said rather indifferently, showing the same peculiar attitude that Sun Tao tended to have.

“Then, I will,” Dai Yu accepted the hand-sized wooden figurine without being needlessly shy about it. “Thank you, Uncle Yusheng,” she said contentedly, hiding the gift in the pouch of the fairly simple and plain coat she had on herself.

“Come on, Sun Tao, let’s go,” she called out and pulled Sun Tao out by hand, quickly disappearing from the house.

“Eh, what a troublesome nephew,” Sun Yusheng sighed. “He doesn’t see this girl as nothing but a casual friend, but she’s so obviously fallen for him… she’s even started calling me ‘uncle’…” he thought helplessly, knowing that it couldn’t be helped that Sun Tao was a little dense. The boy was only twelve, after all.

“It’s not a surprise, though. How could a mortal girl not fall for a young master like him,” Sun Yusheng chortled at the thought, then leisurely returned to sculptingg another wooden figurine.

---

“Say, how can you not be cold?” Dai Yu asked randomly. “Just looking at you makes me feel like I’m freezing, you know,” she added, eyeing Sun Tao’s pants and short sleeved shirt, both made from a fairly thin material.

“Well, if I’m not feeling cold, what’s the point of dressing up?” Sun Tao answered honestly. He could put more clothes on himself if he wanted and it would not inconvenience him, but he simply didn’t like to wear too heavy clothing.

“Anyway,” Sun Tao chuckled lightly. “Haven’t you asked me that like ten times already?” he pointed out with a smile.

“It’s because you never explain anything!” Dai Yu shook her head resignedly. Would Sun Tao tell her more about himself later, or did he not trust her enough? Or perhaps, he was a natural airhead…

Recognizing that Sun Tao had no intention of satisfying her curiosity, Dai Yu gave up on asking, at least temporarily. Without forcing herself to find a subject to chat about, she simply strolled around the outskirts of the village with Sun Tao, who by the way appeared to enjoy this kind of activity.

“He really doesn’t talk much,” Dai Yu thought silently and smiled to herself. She had enough of boys who would try to find any kind of subject to chat about just to avoid silence, for some reason being certain that if they don’t keep ‘entertaining’ the girl the whole time, then she will immediately get bored and dump them.

“Say…” Dai Yu spoke up quietly, then swallowed and blushed when Sun Tao looked at her with his silver eyes. “Are you going to stay here, or will you leave soon...?” she asked seriously, bringing up the question which laid in her heart. She could take knowing little to nothing about Sun Tao’s origins and past, but she really wanted to be sure whether he would still be here in a week, month, or in a year.

Sun Tao scratched his head. He couldn’t really tell Dai Yu that he would be staying here, as that would be a plain lie. However, he didn’t find it pleasant to say it outright. “Maybe I shouldn’t have made friends in this place after all,” he mused, feeling a bit guilty. Even though he was a bit of a sheltered young master, he could at least tell that Dai Yu was interested in him. He found it flattering, but…

Sun Tao’s thinking, however, got disrupted by a pitiful yelp of a dog, which came from the direction of the nearby line of trees. The yelp was soon accompanied by a few laughs, judging from the voices, belonging to some bored boys from the village.

Dai Yu was angered and already turned to head into the forest, however, Sun Tao sprinted ahead of her. During the split second when he passed by her, Dai Yu caught a glimpse of his face. If she was angered by the sickening display, then Sun Tao was thoroughly outraged.

“How can he run so fast?” Dai Yu murmured in amazement, trying to catch up to Sun Tao who already disappeared amongst the trees.

---

“What are you doing?!” Sun Tao shouted, trying his best to contain his anger. How could those three have thought that tying up a dog and kicking him around, throwing stones at him… and even piercing his side with some branches, was a good way to have fun and kill some time? At the very least, for Sun Tao, such a thing was unimaginable.

“What does it look like?” the oldest of the three rebuked sarcastically. He looked to be fourteen, maybe fifteen year old and at the moment, was smirking at Sun Tao.

“Or what, does Dai Yu’s new puppy sympathize with one of his kind?” the youngest one, who Sun Tao more or less recalled as Dai Yu’s cousin, commented provokingly. The youth himself always hoped to end up with Dai Yu, so as the girl of his dreams appeared to fall for another kid who appeared out of nowhere, he couldn’t not feel unjustifiably wronged.

As if to support his words, the youth kicked the half-dead dog, making it yelp pitifully one more time. However, seeing Dai Yu running to this place, the youth’s face sank.

Yet… suddenly, the three youths staggered and fainted, then fell to the ground, as if for no reason at all. Dai Yu, who had been a little further away from the scene, had seen everything turn dark as her legs gave away on her as she fell to the ground. Her hands and knees bruised, Dai Yu breathed heavily, wavering on the verge of consciousness.

“Uh,” Sun Tao groaned, quickly sweeping the place with his divine sense. “She’s okay, they aren’t dead either,” he breathed with relief, having confirmed that everyone was all right. He had been worried that he accidentally killed some innocent people just because he couldn’t control his power well enough and allowed a small portion of it to sip out from his body.

“Treat the girl and the dog if you want, we need to get going,” Sun Yusheng said calmly, having teleported to Sun Tao’s side. He no longer had the same clothes, nor was the aura emanating from him the same. The old, plain clothes of a carpenter were now gone, exchanged with a milky white robe with a golden rope belt tied up around Sun Yusheng’s waist.

“Why so soon? We were supposed to be here for a month,” Sun Tao asked, not appearing to be surprised or startled. Rather, he was a bit curious what could have happened. It couldn’t have been that because of this little blunder, uncle Yusheng would take him back home, or would he?

As he was wondering, Sun Tao produced two pills out of nowhere,  then sent one to the poor doggy and the other to Dai Yu. The pills shattered as they approached their targets, covering the two figures with a gently sparkling, white mist. In but a second or two, Dai Yu no longer felt as if she was about to faint, the bruises on her hands and legs were gone, too. The same thing went for the dog, who appeared to be confused and shocked to find out that he wasn’t hurting anymore and could move normally.

“The old Patriarch has called for you to come back,” Sun Yusheng explained with a smile. “You know what means, right?” he asked and tipped the air with his finger, causing a three meters long spatial tear to appear. After flicking an incantation gesture, the spatial tear stabilized and transformed into a pure white gate.

Sun Tao breathed in, his heart starting to beat faster in excitement. “Uncle, do you think that…?” he asked, quickly walking up closer to his uncle and grabbing the sleeve of his white robe. If they were to cross the dimensions through the White Gate to arrive directly in the sect, then sticking close to his uncle was the only option Sun Hao had. Otherwise, it would have been too dangerous, even for him.

“Yes, it’s very likely,” Sun Yusheng smiled. If the two of them were guessing right, then it was an occasion to celebrate!

“Change your clothes before we go, you’d embarrass our whole Sun family if you showed up in the sect like that,” Sun Yusheng chuckled as he pointed out the obvious fact, which Sun Tao seemed to have forgotten in his eagerness to go back.

“Uh, right,” Sun Tao stuck out the tip of his tongue and swapped the plain set of clothes. Unlike his uncle, he didn’t wear robe, but a set of white pants with a long sleeved shirt, along with a light blue, casual and fairly loose vest. However, just like his uncle, Sun Tao had a rope belt at his waist. The only difference was, that his was silver instead of being golden.

“Good, let’s go,” Sun Yusheng nodded to himself and led his nephew into the White Gate, heading back to the sect.

“W-wait!” Dai Yu called out after the two in the last second. Sun Tao and Sun Yusheng stopped and looked back at the thirteen year old, mortal girl.

Dai Yu held her breath, stupefied by the sight in front of her eyes. She had already thought that Sun Tao and his uncle were good looking and that there was something different about them. Yet, only now when the two no longer suppressed their auras, did she properly realize how incredible they were. She could even swear that their facial features changed in those few seconds, becoming smoother and more refined. Paired up with their white clothes… These two were very literally breathtaking.

“Thanks for those two weeks, I had fun,” Sun Tao smiled at Dai Yu, then tilted his head in a childish manner and added. “Sorry, I can’t stay any longer,” he said, partially referring to Dai Yu’s question from a few moments ago.

As Sun Tao turned around and walked away with his uncle, Dai Yu wanted to say something else, anything else, but no words came to her mind. She pursed her lips, already coming to accept that those two weeks would only be a nice memory of hers when she would grow older, but then, a book flew out of the closing white door and landed at her feet.

“Qi Refinement…” Dai Yu read the words on the white cover of the book aloud, then shivered a little. She could swear that before the two left, she saw uncle Yusheng gaze at her out of the corner of his eye, then slightly wave his hand.

Her hands shaking, Dai Yu carefully opened the white book and while forgetting about the whole world, she started reading.

Chapter 2 - Primal Fire Sect.

The formations surrounding the ground of the sect trembled slightly, barely noticeably. The old Patriarch in his Immortal Cave and the eight Elders present in the sect all noticed the subtle fluctuation in energy and from that, they knew that one of the Elders returned through the White Gate.

Sun Tao and Sun Yusheng walked out from the portal at the private sector near the central plaza of the humongous city, in the middle of which the Primal Fire Sect was located. The two of them breathed the air filled with rich spiritual energy, finally feeling at home. Well, the sensation of ‘being back’ was perhaps stronger for Sun Tao, who had only lived for twelve years, than for his uncle who despite his appearance, had seen tens of thousands of springs.

“Baobai!” Sun Tao shouted as a two meter tall white tiger jumped at him, practically throwing him down to the ground. “You were waiting here the whole ti- hahah, s-stop licking me, oi, stop it!” Sun Tao laughed and wiggled as his animal companion expressed just how much he missed his master by licking him all over his face and snuggling to him with his large body.

Sun Yusheng shook his head with a resigned smile, watching his youngest nephew cuddle with the powerful Heavenly Beast. However, as far as Sun Tao’s matters were concerned, having an exalted White Tiger Divinity chose him as his master was only the tip of a ridiculously huge iceberg.

He, Sun Yusheng, considered himself to have a very good talent and as a proof of it, he reached the early Ancient Realm and had become one of the thirteen Elders of the Great Primal Fire Sect. However, even in comparison to those achievements, that nephew of his was simply too monstrous. Even in the lands of Nine Mountains and Seas, Sun Tao was a never before seen prodigy. He truly was a child blessed by the Heavens!

And yet, that young prodigy was still a simple twelve year old child… a twelve year old who was at the peak of the Dao Seeking realm and currently, was laughing while being pinned down to the ground and licked on the face by the ‘exalted’ White Tiger Divinity.

Sun Yusheng sighed, unable to suppress a resigned laugh. Before he got to know Sun Tao, he was fairly jealous of him… He and his brother had to cleave their own paths in their lives to reach the place they were standing at these days! In contrast, Sun Tao had everything handed over on a silver plate. Safety, the best possible up-bring, a family that would take care of him and to top it all, an incomparably great talent for cultivation.

But now, after he spent quite a bit of time with this nephew of his, he no longer was envious of him. The boy was a good kid, he was honest and well-natured, and even hard working. One could only imagine what kind of dazzling future awaited this twelve year old, especially if the old Patriarch called them back for the reason the two of them were thinking about.

“Uncle, did the Patriarch want to see me immediately?” Sun Tao asked, pushing Baobai’s large head away to have a little break.

“He didn’t, but he very briefly mentioned something about looking forward to tomorrow,” Sun Yuesheng reached out with his hand and helped Sun Tao stand up. As a result, he got pushed to the side by Sun Tao’s white tiger, who apparently was unhappy to have his fun interrupted.

“You two can play later, we should go and greet your father since we are back,” Sun Yusheng reprimanded lightly. His elder brother, Sun Keung was the head of their Sun family. Even if Sun Tao disliked the stiff formalities, some things were too important to be omitted.

“He’s back already…?” Sun Tao frowned as he sat down and crossed his legs. From the looks of it, he didn’t feel like going anywhere at all.

“Really, why do you dislike your father so much?” Sun Yusheng crouched beside Sun Tao, asking a question which he knew had no specific answer to.

Thinking about his father, Sun Tao pulled his legs to his chest and hid his face. “He doesn’t like me, I know it,” he sent mentally, scared that somebody could be listening in to their conversation.

“He surely does,” Sun Yusheng reassured and patted his nephew’s head. “Elder brother just… has trouble coping with a son who will surpass him in strength in the near future,” he said, but even he himself found it hard to believe this excuse. His elder brother never was a weak-minded person. No one without stellar character could ever reach the level of Ancient Realm. However, he couldn’t think of any different explanation.

“Mm…” Sun Tao mumbled something inarticulate. He shook his head strongly, then mounted the white tiger with a leap.

Sun Yusheng nodded approvingly and smiled at Sun Tao, then flew through the air alongside him. In this gargantuan city with a population of two trillion people, any means of teleportation was restricted by the formations set up by the old Patriarch. As for flying… Not even ordinary Immortals were allowed to fly! Sun Tao, however, was an exception. After all, he was one of the nine personal disciples of the old Patriarch, the silver rope belt at his wait being an absolute proof of his position!

In the whole Primal Fire Sect, only the thirteen Elders and some of the most powerful cultivators, just a step away from the Ancient Realm, had a standing higher than the old Patriarch’s seven personal disciples!

Additionally, being a son of Sun Keung, the most prominent of the thirteen Elders, and having another of the thirteen as his uncle, Sun Tao was definitely within the group of the twenty most important people in the whole Primal Fire Sect!

Of course, it wouldn’t have been so with ‘just’ that… Perhaps most importantly, it was widely acknowledged that the old Patriarch heavily doted on Sun Tao! Many people already acknowledged this twelve year old monster-child at the peak of the Dao Seeking, to be the old Patriarch’s successor. In the whole Primal Fire Sect… no, in the whole world of Nine Mountains and Seas, one would be hard pressed to find people willing to offend that one twelve year old youth!

“Elder, young master,” the guards at the courtyard of the Sun family’s mansion clasped their hands and bowed their heads, greeting the two arriving personas.

Sun Tao, not being in the mood, ignored the guards and rode inside on his white tiger. Sun Yusheng smiled bitterly and gestured the guards to relax, then followed after his nephew.

“Little brother,” a young man appearing to be in his early twenties called out to Sun Tao. “Father said you came back with uncle, apparently the Patriarch called you back?” the black-haired, black-eyed amiable looking youth followed up with a meaningful smile. How could anyone who learned of this not be aware of what was going on? It was pretty much certain that the old Patriarch decided to officially announce his successor from among his seven personal disciples! And who else could it be but Sun Tao?

“Longwei, your little brother doesn’t seem to be in the mood for that,” Sun Yusheng commented in place of his nephew, who although felt happy to see his eldest brother, couldn’t not think about meeting his father face to face.

“Ah, that again, huh?” Sun Longwei sighed, recalling the few awkward family meeting they had have since Sun Tao started speaking for himself. “You know, it might not be as bad, though,” he mentioned mysteriously, glancing Sun Tao in the eye and causing his little brother to finally raise his head.

“Wen Hua will be coming, too,” Sun Longwei said after a second or two of silence.

“Really?!” Sun Tao nearly shouted, but then hurriedly covered his mouth with both of his hands mid-sentence.

Sun Yusheng and Sun Longwei laughed, exchanging a glance with each other. That girl, the old Patriarch’s only child, has always had this kind of effect on Sun Tao. She was something akin to a big sister to Sun Tao and had been spending a lot of time with him for as long as he could remember.

“You sure are attached to her, little brother,” Sun Longwei said cheerfully, then teased. “You sure you haven’t fallen for her, huh, little brother?”

Hearing such a comment, Sun Tao blushed and looked away. “What are you saying, big brother! H-how could I have…” he denied it quickly, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

“Okay, enough fun for now,” Sun Yusheng chuckled and started walking, then gestured the two nephews of his to follow him. “You know your father doesn’t like waiting,” he reminded, making the two brothers leave their chat for later.

“Apart from me and that girl, Sun Tao always got along well with his eldest brother,” Sun Yusheng mused silently along the way. “Perhaps he is treating Longwei more as a father than he does my brother,” he wondered, realizing that their Sun family wasn’t as perfect as people watching from outside might have thought.

---

“Stay here,” Sun Tao told his white tiger and slid down from his back. After a second of hesitation, he walked into the dining hall, followed by his uncle and his eldest brother.

“You are here,” Sun Keung said in a rather emotionless manner. “Sit,” he rather ordered than asked, showing signs of the stress that accumulated within him in the recent years.

Sun Tao barely heard what his father said, partially because he didn’t want to listen to him and partially, because he was looking at Wen Hua. The girl looked like a sixteen year old and definitely was mesmerizing, be it her features, her figure or the size of her chest. Her looks, paired up with her amiable character and great heritage definitely made her the most desired woman in the Primal Fire Sect and the greater part of Nine Mountains and Seas.

Having gotten somewhat absentminded, Sun Tao took his seat only after getting patted on the back by his uncle.

After Sun Longwei, the eldest of Sun Tao’s siblings, took his seat at the opposite side of the table besides the second and third brothers of the Sun family, Sun Keung waved his hand and caused multiple exquisite dishes to appear on the table. The seven present people all reached out for their glasses and after a silent toast, represented by a  simple rising of the glass, took a sip of red wine.

“How have you been, little one?” Wen Hua asked quietly, leaning towards Sun Tao and nearly brushing him with her long, silky golden hair.

“I rested well,” Sun Tao replied with an embarrassed smile, recalling his big brother’s words and getting a bit stressed over them.

“Really?” Wen Hua appeared to be surprised. “Lower realms are nothing interesting, but I guess they work if all you want to do is to laze around the whole day, huh,” she said and muffled a laugh after seeing Sun Tao’s pouting face.

“What are you getting so uptight about, I know you are a hardworking boy,” Wen Hua commented with a charming smile, gazing at Sun Tao with her emerald green eyes.

Sun Tao smiled awkwardly, happy to be complimented, but being painfully aware that his father also heard Wen Hua’s words. Although his father rarely spoke at all, Sun Tao was sure that right now, he was looking at him with an emotionless gaze.

“Good going, little bro,” the second oldest of the brothers commented with a laugh.

“I wonder how will he react when father tells him,” the third brother said with a chuckle, looking forward to seeing Sun Tao’s face when he learns of the news.

“About what?” Sun Tao asked, giving his father a careful look. Sun Keung took another sip of wine, then declared rather unexcitedly.

“Two days ago, Patriarch Wen came to me and asked if I’m willing to let his daughter marry into our Sun family,” he began saying unhurriedly. After a painfully long pause, he continued. “I of course agreed, but the final choice whom to marry, or if to marry at all, was left to Wen Hua,” he finished without making a conclusion, expecting the girl to speak for herself.

Sun Tao, hearing about this whole ‘marriage’ thing was fairly startled. After all, he was only twelve; he couldn’t keep his calm as well as the rest of his family. He was thinking of himself as a child, too, so anything akin to looking for a wife had never crossed his mind.

“Who do you think I picked, little one?” Wen Hua asked teasingly, then added with a smile, as if she realized something. “Hm, I guess I should be calling you by your name from now on, not just ‘little one’, huh,” she said with a laugh and couldn’t help but notice the shade of silver in Sun Tao’s eyes turning deeper. It always had when he was really nervous or excited about something, it really made the boy easy to read, as if the explicit emotions showing on his face weren’t enough.

Sun Tao fidgeted, too worked up to say anything sensible. If he were to go by Wen Hua’s words, he would guess that she picked him… but how could he bring himself to say something so embarrassing when he wasn’t even sure of it?

“Stop teasing him already,” Sun Longwei  said with a laugh, deciding that he and his two brothers had enough fun with observing Sun Tao’s amusing reactions. “Congratulations, little bro, she chose you,” he said happily, however, he couldn’t hide the apparent longing visible in his gaze. If only Wen Hua had chosen him, how great would it be? He was in love with her since the moment he saw her for the first time four hundred years ago, but regrettably, Wen Hua wasn’t interested in dating him. He even confessed to her… but she said that they should remain friends. It couldn’t be helped… the only thing left for him was to be happy for his little brother’s luck and wish him happiness.

“M-me?” Sun Tao was very happy, obviously, but above anything else, he was greatly surprised. He was only twelve, he and Wen Hua had really long lives before them. Why hurry it up so much? Or, did it have something to do with the old Patriarch? From what his father said, the Patriarch’s request came before Wen Hua’s choice, so it certainly was a possibility.

“Yes, you,” Wen Hua smiled and tousled Sun Tao’s hair, startling him awake as he had randomly fallen into a deep thought for a few seconds.

“Leave that for later,” Sun Keung frowned slightly. “Sun Tao, tell me what kind of progress have you made in the two years I was gone?” he asked, feeling fairly sick of this family meeting by now. Although it had been just three or four minutes… He couldn’t handle it after he learned of the other piece of news from Patriarch Wen, which he told him in secrecy.

Sun Tao lowered his head, wondering what he should say. In the back of his head, he recalled his uncle’s words, so he ended up replying in a different way than usually “I made some progress in my arts, but I couldn’t quite find a way to infuse them with my Dao…”

Sun Keung raised his eyebrows, then nodded and stood up. “You can finish eating if you want, I have some things to do,” he excused himself and walked out of the dining hall.

Wen Hua, Sun Yusheng and Sun Tao’s three brothers all stayed silent, unable to not notice that Sun Tao was feeling awkward. It was too surprising, though. He was still really young and such news were pretty much world changing for him. Something like marriage… it felt really strange.

“You don’t need to be worrying so much,” Wen Hua reassured. “We are only going to be engaged until you grow up some more. We won’t really marry until much later,” she chuckled cutely, seeing how Sun Tao visibly calmed down. Just as she thought, he jumped to conclusion and got stressed over something stupid. “Really, sometimes he can be such an airhead,” she mused quietly, shaking her head with a smile.

“Um,” Sun Tao spoke up, his face blushed red. “I think I will go rest,” he practically murmured, but was heard  well enough by everyone.

“So soon?” Wen Hua appeared a little sad, but she understood that Sun Tao wanted some time alone to think about everything in peace. “Okay, go have a good sleep,” she said and put her hand on Sun Tao’s cheek, then kissed him at the forehead.

Sun Tao stood up so quickly that he knocked the chair down. He didn’t say anything and simply ran out of the dining hall, blushing all the way to his ears. He jumped on top of his white tiger, then let Baobai bring him back to his room.

“I will also excuse myself,” Wei Hua said calmly, then nodded at Sun Yusheng and the three brothers and left, heading to her own house.

“Lucky bastard,” the second and third brother exchanged a look. The two of them also left, not interested in the food on the table.

Sun Yusheng and Sun Longwei didn’t feel like staying either, so after exchanging a few more sentences, they went to take care of their own matters. Thus, the bitter sweet family meeting ended in the span of time no longer than ten short minutes.

Chapter 3 - Legacy of the Old Patriarch.

Sun Tao breathed very slowly, calmly, taking short and shallow breaths as if he was sleeping. He was sitting cross legged on the soft sheets, his back leaning against the soft, white fur of Baobai who was napping at his side, curled into a half-crescent shape.

The Qi filling Sun Tao’s body circulated steadily as the youth further refined his White Tiger Incarnation body-strengthening art. If one were to look closely, then even in this dark room he would notice the numerous strands of Sun Tao’s hair which turned silver. If Sun Tao were to open his eyes, one would notice that his eyes turned more beast-like.

So far, Sun Tao hadn’t even mastered the first level of White Tiger Incarnation, so visible changes were limited to his eyes and hair. However, just this level of insight allowed Sun Tao’s naturally powerful body to become many times stronger. As for how mighty the fully mastered White Tiger Incarnation would be… even Sun Tao himself didn’t know.

The reason for this lack of knowledge was simple enough. The White Tiger Incarnation was a Divine Art which was never seen before! However, as it had been bestowed upon Sun Tao by the same white tiger that was now sleeping beside him, it couldn’t be anything but extraordinary.

As far as Sun Tao’s abilities were concerned, he was equipped with another powerful heritage since the moment of his birth. Just like Baobai, he wielded the power of Heavenly Lightning! For some reason, Sun Tao was sure that this unique ability to control Heavenly Lightning didn’t come from Baobai, but was something that he possessed from the very beginning. It could have been that this very ability attracted the White Tiger Divinity to him… or so Sun Tao believed it to be.

Heavenly Lightning Invocation… was the simple name Sun Tao gave to this ability of his. Similarly to the extent of his knowledge about the White Tiger Incarnation body-refining art, he understood little about the Heavenly Lightning Invocation. There were no manuals that could teach him how to use it, nor Cultivators who could give him some advices. Despite that, Sun Tao found a good way to practice this unique magic.

Even now, as he focused on White Tiger Incarnation, Sun Tao kept absorbing spiritual energy from the air into his body, then directing it to his soul. The marginally small amount of spiritual energy which flowed constantly into Sun Tao’s body, was then being transformed and refined by Sun Tao, turning into Heavenly Lightning and being absorbed into his soul. By now, Sun Tao was so used to this process that he didn’t need to pay it much attention, he was doing it mechanically, paying it as much attention as one needed to remember to keep his fist lightly clenched.

Slowly but steadily, Sun Tao’s soul was growing stronger, undergoing a qualitative change. It was becoming more powerful and at the same time, more pure. Along with Sun Tao’s soul, his divine sense was similarly being enhanced. With his cultivation base being at the peak of Dao Seeking, Sun Tao could boast a divine sense as strong as that of powerful immortals. He was still far away from the level of people at the Ancient Realm, not to speak of the legendary Dao Realm, but his divine sense was formidable nevertheless.

Suddenly, Sun Tao trembled. Boabai immediately raised his head, but calmed down as quickly after sensing that everything was alright.

With a pleased smile unconsciously surfacing on his face, Sun Tao enjoyed the waves of heat spreading through his body. The surging energy filled his skin, his muscles and bones, spreading throughout every part of his body and enhancing it completely. Sun Tao’s originally black hair now turned silver completely and even grew by a few centimeters, reaching down to his shoulders.

“Wow,” Sun Tao clenched his fists, experiencing a feeling of the seemingly boundless strength. “Even without transforming, I should be a lot stronger than before,” Sun Tao mused, wondering exactly how powerful his body had become. He would need to try it out later, but for now…

After taking a few deep breaths, Sun Tao returned to the state of meditation. He focused on his mind, calling upon his Dao. Instantly, the nearby air filled with ripples of the Dao, of the one truth that was deeply embodied in Sun Tao since the day he had been born. The great Dao of Yang! The Dao of everything that was righteous and just, warm and proper. It represented one of the two very primal sides of the coin based on which every intelligent being had been created upon!

Having had experience with imbuing his Dao into the Heavenly Lightning Invocation, Sun Tao found the process much easier than for the first time he attempted it. He already understood that only compatible magic or art could be imbued with the Dao. Luckily, Sun Tao felt that his White Tiger Incarnation and Heavenly Lightning Invocation were extremely suited to the great Dao of Yang.

It took him just a few moments to complete fusing his current insights into the White Tiger Incarnation and the great Dao of Yang. In result, the power of his body had risen exponentially once again.

Relaxing, Sun Tao released the White Tiger Incarnation, his hair returning to being black and his eyes turning more human-like. “It took me only three days. Well, it’s the middle of the night, so I might as well take a nap,” Sun Tao mused silently, liking the idea. He didn’t truly need to sleep, but he always felt refreshed when he did. Maybe it had something to do with how young he was, or maybe he simply liked to sleep, he didn’t know.

Yawning, Sun Tao laid down and snuggled against Baobai’s warm fur. With all the unnecessary thoughts gone, he fell asleep in but a short moment.

---

Another four days later, at the great plaza in front of the Patriarch’s residency.

An hour after the sun had risen, the Patriarch had sent a mental message to every member of his Primal Fire Sect. He had declared that today, he would choose his successor and bestow him with his legacy. It didn’t take long at all for the millions of sect members to start gathering in anticipation of the great event. They would learn who their future Patriarch would most likely be!

“So you came after all, huh?” a self-confident looking youth with an appearance of fourteen, fifteen years old snorted at Sun Tao.

“Why wouldn’t I, Ma Feng?” Sun Tao smiled, taking his spot in the line. He arrived as the last one of the Patriarch’s seven disciples and unlike the other six, probably wouldn’t need to stand here for too long while being watched by nearly a million people who tightly filled the whole great plaza.

“The Patriarch always takes his time, so there really was no need to hurry so much. Those six, however, chose to stand here for nearly an hour,” Sun Tao chuckled secretly. He often talked with the old Patriarch and was aware of some of his habits. For example, he loved to keep people waiting for him and would never arrive to the meeting sooner than an hour late.

“Maybe because it won’t be you who becomes the Patriarch’s successor,” Ma Fang said arrogantly from the opposite end of the line. The sight was actually quire strange, as the two youths, Sun Tao and Ma Fang, were standing at the opposite ends of the line and were the only two who weren’t tall and didn’t look like typical young adults.

Sun Tao was of course very young, thus his appearance was normal to him. However, Ma Fang was in in reality over five thousand years old and was the Patriarch’s very first disciple. Thus, he was standing all the way to the left, while Sun Tao’s place was all the way to the right.

Ma Fang’s confidence wasn’t all that unjustified, either. He was just a step away from the Ancient Realm and not only that, his cultivation base and insights into the Dao were so great that at the level of a common immortal, there existed not one person who could oppose him in a direct fight! Were it not for how well the Patriarch treated Sun Tao, people would consider Ma Fang  as the most likely choice for receiving the legacy of Primal Fire.

“Hmph, wait one thousand years, I will wipe the floor with you,” Sun Tao smirked back at Ma Fang, after his recent advancements being fairly confident in his ability to surpass him if given enough time.

“Sure,” Ma Fang laughed and shook his head, not taking Sun Tao’s words serious at all.

Meanwhile, the other five disciples who were standing in-between the two could do nothing but smile awkwardly. They were the Patriarch’s personal disciples, too, but compared to these two, they really tended to feel like commoners.

“Oh, everyone is here, good, good,” the Patriarch’s voice resounded throughout the great plaza as the old, wrinkled man himself teleported onto the podium leading to his residences where the seven disciples of his were standing and waiting for him.

“Your disciples greet you, Patriarch,” the seven said simultaneously and clasped their hands. The million immortal cultivators gathered behind the seven went into an uproar, excited to see the Patriarch who rarely ever showed himself in public.

“I’ve announced that today, I will choose a successor to my legacy,” the old Patriarch spoke with a smile, then without bothering to build any anticipation or caring to give a talk about the future of the sect, turned around and said.

“Sun Tao, follow me.”

The crowd gasped in astonishment. For a good few seconds everyone failed to process the information they have just heard. The old Patriarch teleported away with Sun Tao and then, it was over? Just like that?

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Choosing a twelve year old kid over me…” Ma Fang grit his teeth, but settled the grudge in his heart. With his ability, he could go wander the world of the Nine Mountains and Seas and acquire a suitable legacy by himself. Having learned everything he could from the old Patriarch Wen and knowing that he won’t receive his legacy, there was nothing more holding him back from adventuring.

“So, it’s time to leave, eh…?” Ma Fang said to himself and bowed respectfully in the direction of the old Patriarch’s Immortal cave. He then flew up into the air and turned into a streak of light, leaving the sect to look for enlightenments and treasures.

At the same time, at the foremost of the crowd, Sun Keung nodded to himself. Today’s events also marked the time for him to put his plan into action.

---

Sun Tao looked around the familiar, traditionally decorated Immortal cave. The place wasn’t that big, the walls were only forty meters apart and the ceiling was merely ten meters above the ground level. The whole place was truly what one could imagine when hearing the simple term ‘decorated cave’. The old Patriarch’s Immortal cave wasn’t extravagant, neither was it turned into something different. All in all, it was still… just a normal cave.

“Were you surprised?” the old Patriarch asked, sitting down in the dark brown armchair.

“Not really surprised, but I was worried you wouldn’t choose me,” Sun Tao answered truthfully, then sat down on a sofa in front of the old Patriarch.

“So honest, like always,” the Patriarch said with a laugh, but right afterwards, started coughing heavily. The aura of death surrounding him got even stronger and his physical body withered away, his appearance turned even more ancient and weak.

Sun Tao waited for the Patriarch to collect himself without asking any questions. He knew that the man had little time left and that his longevity was reaching its end. However, he didn’t expect the end to be coming so soon.

“Can you guess why I rushed to call you my successor when you are still so young?” the Patriarch asked quietly, leaning backwards in his comfortable armchair.

“Because you don’t have much time left,” Sun Tao stated outright, without being pointlessly apologetic about something that couldn’t be helped.

“You are right and wrong at the same time,” Patriarch Wan said with a light smile. “Originally, I should have been able to live for at least one hundred more years, however, even with your talent, I couldn’t be certain that you would be able to subjugate the Primal Fire Essence by yourself,” he explained calmly and seeing the look of comprehension in Sun Tao’s eyes, he knew that he didn’t need to say much more.

“I’m going to remove the Primal Fire Essence from my body and help you assimilate it. You don’t need to do anything, just relax and try to accept it,” seeing Sun Tao nod and reposition himself on the sofa, choosing to sit cross-legged, Patriarch Wan circulated the powerful energy in his body and controlled the fist-sized cluster of pure white flames to come outside from the middle of his chest.

Sun Tao gazed at the concentrated essence of Primal Fire which slowly moved through the air, approaching his own chest at a steady peace. As the flames were only a few centimeters away from him, Sun Tao suddenly felt a strong throbbing in every part of his body. It was a really strange feeling and it was certainly the result of the Primal Fire Essence being so close to him.

“Exceptional,” Patriarch Wan exclaimed quietly. “His affinity for Primal Fire is even higher than mine,” he noted, happy that his legacy will be passed on to someone he acknowledged. However Sun Tao would use the Primal Fire in the future, it mattered little.

Sun Tao tensed up as the cluster of fire forced itself into his chest. The feeling wasn’t unpleasant, it was as if a really strong wave of heat kept spreading through his body. Thankfully, it didn’t hurt at all. “A crystal?” Sun Tao murmured when about half of the White Flame Essence was absorbed. The crystal seemed to contain a power much greater than even the Essence Flame surrounding it and due to that, it was much harder for it to be absorbed.

Sun Tao began worrying a little, watching how the old Patriarch withered away with each second. “He told me to not do anything, but…” Sun Tao’s expression twitched as he decided to aid the process. He called upon the great Dao of Yang, surrounding himself with its majestic aura. As he did that, the crystal within the Primal Fire Essence trembled, then accepted him as its wielder and allowed itself to be absorbed.

In but a few seconds, the second half of the Primal Fire Essence sank into Sun Tao’s chest, the process being much faster and easier than originally. The moment the whole cluster was inside him, Sun Tao breathed in, his cultivation base and soul being engulfed by the Primal Fire and experiencing a qualitative uplifting.

The Qi in Sun Tao’s body accommodated the Primal Fire easily enough, but his soul was a different matter. As it had already been transformed by the Heavenly Lightning Invocation, it resisted being refined by the Primal Fire Essence. The whole process turned out to be unbelievably painful for Sun Tao, he started shaking all over, sweat started flowing down his forehead.

The old Patriarch could only watch as Sun Tao struggled. He had been able to assist him in absorbing the Primal Flame and making it his own, but if Sun Tao’s soul refused to accept the Primal Fire, then there was nothing he could do.

“Damn it, why don’t both of you just pipe down?!” Sun Tao shouted in his thoughts, pushing the two energies against each other and forcing them to merge.

Suddenly, the crystal which Sun Tao absorbed along with the Essence Flame, which at first remained dormant, surged with power which started flowing directly into his soul. “The multicolored Heavenly Lighting is being… refined!” Sun Tao discovered to his astonishment that the very Heavenly Lightning which would appear in Tribulations was being dissolved and recreated into an entirely new entity!

“This boy… his soul is growing in power at an incredible rate,” Patriarch Sun took a deep breath, smiling very contentedly. He watched Sun Tao’s spiritual transformation for a full hour, before it finally completed.

“Incredible, his soul is comparable to an early Ancient Realm Immortal…!” he mused silently, amazed by Sun Tao’s innate potential. Truly, a child blessed by the heavens!

“It’s turned silver-white,” Sun Tao murmured with his eyes closed. He could tell that due to this transformation, his Heavenly Lightning had actually gotten stronger than before! But, wouldn’t that mean that the Primal Fire was actually superior to even his Heavenly Lightning?

“Sun Tao, I don’t have much time left. A day or two, perhaps,” Patriarch Wan spoke up, looking at the twelve year old with a warm gaze. “My cultivation base had been nourished by the Primal fire for a very, very long time. As my life ends, a lot of this energy will naturally be released. Stay here with me and absorb it. You should be able to strengthen the Primal Fire which you absorbed by a large margin,” he said calmly, having long since accepted that his life was ending. Having said farewells to his daughter and having passed on his legacy, he didn’t have any regrets.

Sun Tao nodded, naturally accepting the old Patriarch’s request. He spent those hours with the Patriarch, talking with him about many things, some pointless, some important.

After one day and a half, the old Patriarch passed on much of his own personal wealth and treasures onto Sun Tao. A few minutes later, he passed away, his body turning into dust and his soul returning to the cycle of reincarnation.

Sun Tao stayed at the same spot, on the sofa for a very long time. Days, weeks, months passed as he simply sat there, meditating, training and imbuing his memories of  the old Patriarch deep into his soul.

Chapter 4 - Life Turned Upside Down.

Sun Keung flew through the lands of the  Nine Mountains and Seas, somewhat annoyed that the old Patriarch sent him to the Demon Immortal Sect for the purpose of negotiating something like a non-aggression treaty. True, the Demon Immortal Sect was the overlord of this world, but was it really necessary for them to go out of their way to the other end of the Nine Mountains and Seas to negotiate with them? He at the very least didn’t think so.

“It’s so far away, the journey will take one year to get there and one year to return, what a horrible waste of time!” Sun Keung complained, having spent the last seven months hurrying onwards to get this mission done as soon as possible. He could have spent this time trying to break through to the late Ancient Realm instead, but the old Patriarch insisted that it should be him who goes to negotiate…! What a terrible waste of time it was.

“A village, in a place like this?” on a whim, after discovering a village literally in the middle of nowhere, Sun Keung swept the place with his divine sense. He didn’t find anything too interesting there, apart from one woman who was at the level of a false Immortal. He wanted to leave and keep going onward, but for some reason, he decided to descend and take a look at the village and at that woman.

“Beautiful,” Sun Keung swallowed, seeing a tall, silver-haired and silver-eyed woman. She was just his type, he desired her! He couldn’t do anything but fly down and approach the silver-haired woman, following the path of his Dao. Of the Dao of Desire, for power, for wealth, for happiness… for fleshly pleasures. He cared little for this woman’s fate, but he wouldn’t act against his own Dao and harm his cultivation base for her sake.

He desired her.

---

The negotiations with the Demon Immortal Sect went smoothly, they didn’t take even one day. It had been quickly settled that their two sects would enter a non-aggression pact, just like the old Patriarch wanted. Sun Keung, naturally, hurried back to the Primal Fire sect.

As he was cutting through the skies, Sun Keung noticed something unusual. A Tribulation cloud like he had never seen before formed a few hundred thousand kilometers away. The mighty force of the Dao ripples spread in every direction, the ancient Dao contained within them shaking Sun Keung’s very soul.

“What kind of great Dao is that?!” Sun Keung gasped, not recognizing the Dao despite his huge amount of accumulated knowledge.

He immediately rushed to the center of the area which the Tribulation cloud covered. At his level, he didn’t need to worry about a foreign Dao harming him, or at least that was what he believed to be true. The closer to the epicenter, the stronger the pressure of the Dao on his soul got. By the time he arrived at the spot that was being bombarded with tens of thousands of Heavenly Lightning bolts, his soul was trembling, being in danger of dissipating had he stopped protecting it with his Qi.

“What could have caused this Tribulation? My divine sense can’t scan that spot at all. Is it a person breaking through to the Dao Realm…?” the sudden thought scared Sun Keung enough for him to consider fleeing immediately. However, that very moment, the dark clouds started dispersing and the Heavenly Lightning fell no longer.

Sun Keung couldn’t resist taking a look, but he didn’t dare to try and sweep the place with his divine sense in fear of offending a mighty figure. He waited for the dust cloud to slowly disperse and after a time required for an incense stick to burn, he finally saw the supposed target of the great Tribulation.

“Her?” he stared in surprise at the silver-haired, silver-eyed woman who was holding a newborn boy in her arms. “It has been around nine months…” he realized, then without hesitation, extended his divine sense.

“Dao Seeking?!” Sun Keung nearly fainted from surprise. “A newborn baby at Dao Seeking, a great Tribulation that didn’t harm him or his mother,” he teleported to the ground, already knowing that he wants to take this son of his with him and let him flourish in the Primal Fire Sect. A great, monstrous talent! How could he resist the fame and respect coming from having a son like that?

“You again!” The silver-haired woman shouted in anger. “What have you come here for?!” she backed away by a few steps, holding her child tightly against her chest.

“It’s simple enough. Hand over my son and your life will be spared,” Sun Keung said straightforwardly. He couldn’t not be aware of the hatred the silver-haired woman was feeling towards him. Because of that, he didn’t bother to try inviting her to come with him as his wife. There was no point.

“You come out of nowhere,” the silver-haired woman growled in a cold voice. “You rape me, return after I give birth and you DARE to tell me to hand over MY CHILD to you?!” she started yelling, rising the volume of her voice with each consequent word.

“In your dreams!” she shouted and attempted to launch an attack, but as a mere false immortal, how could she possibly be capable of resisting Sun Keung, who was at the peak of the middle Ancient Realm, just a step away from the late Ancient Realm?

Receiving a spiritual attack from Sun Keung, the silver-haired woman coughed up a mouthful of blood, her soul getting heavily damaged, just barely withstanding the assault.

“Hmm?” Sun Keung raised his eyebrows, surprised that the silver-haired woman’s soul didn’t shatter after he attacked it with the intent to do just that. However, he didn’t think much of it, guessing that she possibly had some type of precious life-saving treasure on her. He attacked for the second time and destroyed her soul for good.

After the silver-haired woman fell, the scenery suddenly changed. Sun Keung found himself in the cavern filled with a stench of death, standing in front of the old, withered witch.

“The boy will grow to be immensely powerful, his strength will benefit you in many ways. However, in the end, he will be the cause of your demise,” the witch spoke to him with an amused expression on her face.

“Now, leave, little child,” he heard the words, then opened his eyes, breathing heavily and sweating all over his body.

Sun Keung cursed silently. He must have fallen asleep while meditating and again, he had this annoying dream. “How long does that kid intend to stay in the old Patriarch’s Immortal cave?” he murmured angrily. It had already been half a year, but Sun Tao wasn’t showing any signs of coming out. Although control over the sect had been handed over to him by the old Patriarch and he could now manipulate the grand formation surrounding the sect, he was incapable of breaking through the defenses of the old Patriarch’s Immortal Cave.

“I must hurry, but what can I do?” Sun Keung cursed again. He was sure that the old Patriarch had gifted Sun Tao a large number of life-saving treasures. If Sun Tao were to stay in his Immortal Cave for a few dozen years, he could easily reach the level of a supreme immortal, but a step away from the Ancient Realm! By then, suppressing him would be incredibly hard, not to speak of extracting the Primal Fire legacy from his body.

“Hurry up and come out, brat, the moment you do, I will take care of you properly,” Sun Keung murmured, hoping for the time to come sooner rather than later.

“Patriarch, Sun Tao left the Immortal Cave. He is with the old Patriarch’s daughter,” a mental message from one of his subordinates made Sun Keung smile.

“Make sure they don’t leave the old Patriarch’s residency! We will be there soon!” he ordered, an apparent hint of excitement present in his voice. He began teleporting to various places in the sect, gathering the group of nine Elders who were under his direct control and whom he could trust not to betray him. The nine of them would set up a space restricting formation and he, would take care of the two kids trapped in it.

---

Sun Tao was sitting on the sofa and meditating on the truths of his Dao. From time to time, a surge of Dao ripples would appear around him, indicating every step of progress he was making.

“If I wanted to, I could break through to the Immortal Realm at any time,” Sun Tao mused half-consciously. “But, it will be much more beneficial for me to further stabilize and strengthen my cultivation base. I don’t need to hurry,” he thought to himself, acting by the old Patriarch’s advice.

“However unlikely, it’s possible for me to comprehend more Daos. For that, I would need to go and adventure the world. Yet, after I advance to being an Immortal, my Dao foundation will consolidate and take shape. It will be much harder to acquire new insights!” Sun Tao kept repeating this in his thoughts, resisting the urge to go with the flow and allow his cultivation base to surge to Immortal level.

“Old Patriarch told me to wait until I reach a bottleneck in my great Dao of Yang and only then go adventure,” he mused, wondering when this bottleneck would appear. He felt like this ancient, great Dao was a bottomless pit of insights and that he would never truly master it at all. He laughed, curious if the old Patriarch thought about the possibility of him not reaching any bottlenecks in the coming decades. Was he really supposed to simply train for so long?

He had three powerful techniques at his disposal and a Heavenly Beast as his companion! Apart from the venerated Ancient Realm experts, he had little he needed to fear in the whole world. As long as he was careful not to offend any powerful figures, his journeys should be fairly safe.

“Still sitting here, little one?” Wen Hua entered the Immortal Cave and asked with a bright smile. As the old Patriarch’s granddaughter, she wasn’t restricted by the protective formations and could enter and leave her grandfather’s Immortal cave whenever she wanted.

“As you can see, big sis,” Sun Tao replied leisurely. He wasn’t as nervous as he had been during this awkward dinner with his family, so he found addressing Wen Hua casually to be easier, too.

“Who in the world calls his fiancée ‘big sis’?” Wen Hua pointed out and laughed. In truth, she didn’t mind Sun Tao calling her that. He was still a kid and her grandfather really went too far with rushing their marriage. It was far too soon for an engagement, even though the two of them settled for that.

Sun Tao chuckled, then having noticed Wen Hua’s aura, commented happily. “Big sis, you advanced to the Dao Realm. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, little one,” Wen Hua smiled back at Sun Tao and for the time being, sat at his side. “Hey, you’ve been training here for months, don’t you want to go out somewhere?” she suggested, looking forward to the possibility of strolling around the Primal Fire sect with Sun Tao, who was pretty much bound to become its Patriarch after his father would die or step down from his position.

“Hmm, maybe for a little. It is slowly getting boring, sitting here all day long for months…” Sun Tao thought about Wen Hua’s proposal to hang out for a brief second or two, then agreed. “Sure, we can go,” he said happily and, after exchanging a few more sentences, he left the Immortal cave in Wen Hua’s company.

---

“Something is wrong,” Sun Tao frowned, sensing how the whole sector was filled with sparks of energy which destabilized space itself. “It’s some kind of restricting formation, but why has it been set up here?” he wondered aloud, having a really bad feeling about this situation.

“You are right, it’s a teleportation-restricting formation. From what I can tell, it’s really powerful. Even the treasures grandfather left us will most likely be useless, unless we get out of this place first,” Wen Hua pursed her lips, thinking about this one artifact that grandfather left to her and not to his favorite Sun Tao. If she were to use it, then perhaps she had a chance of teleporting away even from within this formation, However, that only applied to her. Under the restrictive power in here, she wouldn’t be able to take Sun Tao with her.

“No point in rushing things, unless it gets dangerous I shouldn’t act rashly,” she reminded herself, knowing that her life with Sun Tao would be much easier and much more pleasurable than without him.

“I’ve been worried,” Sun Keung spoke contently, flying into the space-restricted area. “That you would stay there until you reach the level of a supreme Immortal, or perhaps enter the Ancient Realm. I’m glad you didn’t though,” he said with a cold laugh and moved behind Sun Tao and Wen Hua with a speed which made it seem like he teleported. Thus, he blocked the two from the path leading to the old Patriarch’s Immortal cave.

“Father, what are you doing?” Sun Tao asked nervously. He had always thought that Sun Keung was acting cold towards him, but now for the first time could he sense such a strong contempt and freezing coldness from his father’s words and from the aura he was emanating.

“There’s no need for me to explain myself to you,” Sun Keung smirked, then turned his gaze to Wen Hua. “Girl, you have two options. Die here, or swear an oath to the Heavens that you will never inform anyone of what happened here today and you will never act against me in any way,” Sun Keung declared straightforwardly. He took precautions to keep the two from fleeing, but nevertheless, it would be quite a hurdle for him to suppress them, considering all the treasures they had on themselves. Were Wen Hua to agree to swear an oath, it would make things much easier.

“You must be joking with me, ‘Patriarch’,” Wen Hua replied with a snort. Her Dao was one of freedom, of being unrestrained! How could she act against it and do something like swearing an oath to the Heavens? Unless she was forced into a life-or-death situation, she would never do it!

“Think about it again, child. This space-lock formation is being sustained by nine Elders, all of whom are at the Ancient Realm. You won’t escape this formation and even if you miraculously manage to do that, you will have wasted most of your treasures. You don’t honestly believe that you two who are at the Dao Seeking stage, can harm me in any way, do you?” Sun Keung shook his head. At best, and only if they were willing to waste their treasures like there was no tomorrow, those two would have a one percent chance of escaping the space-lock formation. And even if they did, the nine Elders outside of it would prevent them from teleporting away before their life-saving items could activate. If Wen Hua didn’t understand it, then she was less smart than he gave her credit for.

“Or, I can sacrifice my strongest treasure and kill you right here, then leave this formation and teleport away,” Wen Hua retorted with a confident smile. However, Sun Keung only laughed and shook his head.

“I know you are bluffing, child. I did my research and Patriarch Wen wasn’t in the possession of any items that could threaten somebody at the late Ancient Realm.”

Wen Hua’s smile disappeared from her face as she cursed in her heart. She looked at Sun Tao, who was too shocked by what was going on to speak up to his father. She didn’t blame him, really. She would have felt the same if her grandfather suddenly decided to kill her when she was a child.

“Why do you want to kill your own son?” she asked, hoping to reason with Sun Keung. She really didn’t want to be forced to use this one treasure and abandon Sun Tao, but…

“As I already said, it’s not your business,” Sun Keung clicked his tongue, annoyed by the pointless question. The existence of the witch was a secret known to few, he wouldn’t ever tell about her to an outsider, much less for no good reason.

“Hurry up and decide. You have ten seconds before I start attacking,” Sun Keung declared emotionlessly. If Wen Hua were to be an obstacle to his desires and ambitions, then he wouldn’t hesitate to remove her from existence along with Sun Tao!

“Big sis?” Sun Tao asked nervously, seeing how Wen Hua’s expression changed three times in a very short period of time, to in the end turn into resignation. Could it be that she was going to swear the oath to the Heavens?

Saying it explicitly, at the moment Sun Tao was confused; the fact that his own father was speaking about killing him didn’t quite occur to him.  Yet, it certainly started feeling more real when Wen Hua gave him an apologetic look and withdrew a treasure in the shape of a golden seal…

“Sorry, little one. I liked being your big sis, but you are on your own now,” she apologized, then activated the seal and in an instant, disappeared. Sun Tao could only stare blankly at the spot where Wen Hua stood until a second ago, finding it hard to believe that she had abandoned him just like this.

“Damned girl, so that geezer hid something like that from me!” Sun Keung cursed, having been taken off-guard by Wen Hua being capable of teleporting away from within a space-lock formation this powerful.

“Luckily for me, it seems like she had only one such treasure,” he commented with a laugh, recognizing the expression of shock and despair on Sun Tao’s face. From the looks of it, his son didn’t have any rule-defying treasures to flee from his grasp.

“Now, why don’t you go down quietly? I don’t want to kill you too soon, I still need to extract the Primal Fire Essence from you,” Sun Keung declared heartlessly, accumulating energy to shake Sun Tao’s soul to the core in one hit in order to get him unconscious.

“Hrm?” Sun Keung frowned, sensing a disruption in the space-lock formation. The next second, he sighed, seeing his younger brother being pushed inside the restrained space by Sun Tao’s white tiger, which clawed at him ruthlessly, madness shining in his eyes.

“Calm down a little, won’t you?” Sun Longwei snorted, rousing his Qi and activating his Nine Heavens body strengthening art. He overpowered the beast without much effort and grabbing it by the neck, he slammed the white tiger to the ground and pinned it down with pure physical strength.

“Didn’t expect for it to be so strong when it is only at the level of an Immortal,” Sun Longwei said with a sigh. Nevertheless, even without him, eight Elders should have no trouble with keeping the formation active. The only thing he regretted was showing himself to Sun Tao… He would have preferred if his nephew didn’t know that he had chosen to forsake him after being persuaded by his elder brother.

“Uncle…?” Sun Tao moaned, seeing the world he knew until now crumbling in front of his eyes. First, his father, then Wen Hua and now even his uncle. Why were all the people he held dear leaving him or wanting him dead? What had he done wrong…?

Chapter 5 - I won’t accept it!

“Eh, nothing can be done,” Sun Longwei said bitterly, giving his nephew a saddened look. “Just accept it, everything will be more bearable this way,” he suggested, as if words such as these could reassure anyone and make him feel better.

“Baobai...” Sun Tao murmured, finally anger beginning to surge in his heart. “Father, uncle, do you really want to kill me…? Why…?” he asked in a low voice, his eyes glistening with tears he was holding back from flowing down his cheeks.

Sun Keung sighed, not intending to repeat himself for the third time. Sun Tao was an inevitable danger to him so he needed to get rid of him when he still could. If there was a possibility of him benefiting along the way, he wouldn’t shy away from it. Not using Sun Tao before killing him wouldn’t make the whole act less evil, so he couldn’t be bothered to lie to himself and hypocritically behave like a good person when committing a grave sin.

“If you continue existing, our Sun family will be in danger,” Sun Longwei explained in a roundabout way, not getting into details. He pitied his nephew, but he had been with his elder brother for hundreds of thousands of years. It was obvious who was more important to him, the person at whose side he had spent his whole life, or a youth whom he knew for a mere few years.

“Enough delaying,” Sun Keung released a powerful spiritual attack, taking into consideration that Sun Tao’s soul had grown stronger after he received the legacy of the Primal Fire.

“No,” Sun Tao clenched his fists, unfazed by his father’s technique. The basic level of his soul was already comparable to that of an expert at early Ancient Realm. However, due to the transformation caused by the Heavenly Lightning and then, by the Primal Fire, it was incomparably pure. Even if Sun Keung were to use his full strength to attack it, he wouldn’t achieve much at all.

“I don’t want to,” Sun Tao raised his gaze, his hair turning silver. He took a step, then exploded with lightning and in an instant, started fleeing outside the space-lock formation!

Attacking his father and uncle? Sun Tao wasn’t that delusional to think he stands a chance against them, even if his soul was capable of withstanding their attacks. He saw how powerful his uncle’s physical body was and instinctively knew that he couldn’t compete against him at all.

With a thought, Sun Tao released hundreds of offensive type treasures. He sent the precious items at his uncle, who was already closing in onto him from behind.

“Pointless resistance,” Sun Keung allowed his brother to take the explosion head-on, then sped forward and easily caught up to Sun Tao. He grabbed Sun Tao by his neck and poured his Qi inside Sun Tao’s body, invading it, destroying it. If spiritual attacks were not good enough, then he simply needed to cause Sun Tao enough pain to make him pass out!

Sun Tao felt the pain only for a split second before he lost consciousness. He was a genius, true. However, he never actually fought a real, harsh battle against anyone. He wasn’t nearly as used to pain as an average Immoral Cultivator, thus the experience of having his body ruptured from inside was more than enough of a shock for him to faint instantly.

“He had so many items, but he didn’t even make use of them,” Sun Keung said mockingly, taking all the treasures out of Sun Tao’s soul realm. Since the youth was unconscious, he couldn’t resist the action, so it was fairly easy to accomplish.

“Let’s hurry up and get it over with,” Sun Longwei frowned, wanting to have everything done as soon as possible. By now, he only wanted to forget that he was taking part in killing his own nephew

“Yeah, let’s prepare to extract the Primal Fire Essence,” Sun Keung waved his hand, causing a large building to appear. He couldn’t let Sun Tao out of the space-lock formation, so the whole process needed to be done where they were.

---

“What is going on…?” Sun Tao wondered half-consciously, unable to remember what happened. He didn’t know where he was and he couldn’t even open his eyes. He had never experienced being in a similar state, so even though he couldn’t think clearly, he was feeling scared.

What abruptly brought Sun Tao back to being fully awake, was an indescribable pain radiating through his whole body. He cried out involuntarily, his eyes snapping open. Confused, Sun Tao tried to focus his gaze and look around, but the sensation of his body being ripped apart from within was simply too strong for him to bear with it.

“He really woke up before we finished,” Sun Longwei said unhappily, listening to Sun Tao’s terrifying cries of anguish. “His injuries weren’t healed and since it was elder brother who inflicted them, he won’t be able to easily regenerate just with his own power. Not to mention that the process of forcefully removing Primal Fire Essence must be unimaginably painful not only in flesh, but also for the soul…” Sun Longwei cursed silently. Was his choice to sacrifice Sun Tao for the greater good of their family really a correct one? He wasn’t sure, but he could be certain of one thing. The nightmares about this day would haunt him in his dreams for a long time.

“Tch, getting unstable,” Sun Keung complained, putting more strength into the runic formation on the floor. Even though he chained his son properly, binding him to the walls of the estate so that he won’t trash around, the process of extraction got considerably more difficult after Sun Tao regained consciousness.

“Can’t you shut up for a bit? I need to concentrate,” Sun Keung murmured to himself, quite sure that no words would reach Sun Tao in the state he was in. “Eighty percent done, in an hour, it should be finished,” he mused, looking at the crystal ball floating five or six meters above Sun Tao. After two hours of work, four fifths of it were filled with the pure white Primal Fire Essence. Just a little more and a full, stable legacy would land in his hands.

“I can still trade it for something suitable if my affinity for Primal Fire won’t be good enough,” he mused happily, a heavy weight being taken off of his heart. Sun Tao had been captured and subjugated by him; there was no way anyone would invade the Primal Fire Sect to miraculously save Sun Tao within such a short timeframe. The girl who escaped was a troublesome entity… but he would take care of her later. In only two more hours, he would kill Sun Tao and the prophecy of the witch would be successfully turned around to his advantage.

The white tiger growled furiously, agitated by Sun Tao’s yelling, shouting and struggling in the chains. Yet, as he was still being held down by Sun Longwei, there was nothing he could do to help his master.

In this manner, the grotesque scene continued for over an hour, until Sun Tao stopped struggling and went limp, leaning onto the chains that were binding his body.

“About time,” Sun Keung said sternly, upset by how long Sun Tao struggled before fainting. He had actually been throwing his internal energy into such a tantrum that the extraction slowed down not by two times, but ten times over. During the last hour, he made barely any progress at all.

“Why…?” the sudden question of Sun Tao shocked Sun Keung. Not only was Sun Tao awake, a deep hatred resounded in his voice. The moment Sun Tao opened his eyes and looked at him, Sun Heung felt a very disturbing chill run down his spine. It no longer was the same kid, his honest and pure character had been shattered and reshaped through the betrayal and senseless torture.

“He can keep himself from going insane under this degree of pain and can even formulate thoughts and talk to me…?” although he had felt relieved not too long ago, Sun Keung began worrying again. He had been relieved when he captured Sun Tao and bound him, but now, he understood that unless Sun Tao truly perished, he won’t be free from the witch’s prophecy.

“You are a danger to me, to our family, so I am eliminating that threat,” Sun Keung replied to Sun Hao’s question, perturbed by the ice cold, hateful gaze of his son. Sun Tao’s appearance, his facial expression and even his aura were so different that Sun Keung himself started doubting whether the boy in chains was still Sun Tao, or perhaps another person.

From the perspective of an adult, especially an old immortal, what Sun Tao went through didn’t look like all that much. He was discarded, tortured a bit in order to have a legacy extracted from his body and then, he would be killed. Compared to what some unfortunate people in the boundless lands of the Nine Mountains and Seas went through, it truly was nothing. However! Sun Tao was a child. A twelve year old kid who lived a fairly comfortable life. How could he be prepared to bear so many negative emotions, so much pain, and not break as a result? He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

Sun Tao smirked, pulling on the chains in his fury, only to tremble from pain the next second. Shaking all over, dry tears flowing from his eyes, Sun Tao chuckled; quietly at first, then louder and louder, until finally his chuckling turned into a maniacal, hysterical laughter.

“Danger? Danger?!” Sun Tao growled furiously. “Tell me how was I any danger to you, how was I any danger to anyone?!” he shouted at his father, blood spilling from his mouth with each word he spoke.

Sun Keung’s face flinched. Yet, his expression quickly steeled as he answered. “I’ve paid with my Cultivation Blood and received a prophecy that you would bring us a disaster and cause our demise.”

Sun Tao showed a look of disbelief, mixed with emotions shock and ridicule. A prophecy? Some stupid prophecy was what brought all of this upon him?! He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his own misfortune.

“If previously I had no reason to bring you any harm, ‘father’, then now I surely do!” Sun Tao shouted, struggling in his bindings with all his strength while ignoring the mind-shattering pain filling his body and soul. Really, he would be killed by his own father because of some idiotic self-fulfilling prophecy?!

“Yes, and that’s why I need you to die here,” Sun Keung said emotionlessly, not feeling like explaining how that witch’s foretold future worked. There was no point in him telling Sun Tao how there were different paths to the foretold words coming true and how the only way to stop the prophecy from happening, was to sever all the variables involved in it.

Having been using his Qi with his body in this state, Sun Tao worsened his condition by another level. He vomited blood, then started coughing up even more of the crimson fluid. As he weakened, the pulling force which sought to rip out the Primal Fire Essence got stronger.

“Nearly everything,” Sun Keung said to himself, observing the crystal orb which kept absorbing the Primal Fire Essence. A minute or two longer and he would be able to kill Sun Tao and shatter his soul, then the danger would be no more.

“Primal Fire…!” Sun Tao growled, his eyes turning bloodshot, his body and soul crumbling from overexertion. “Is mine!” he yelled, stirring up all the energy available to him. He burned his longevity, he pulled energy directly from his soul and from his fleshly body. He called upon the Dao, causing the Primal Fire to resonate with him once more!

“This crazy…!” Sun Keung cursed, severing the connection between the crystal orb and Sun Tao in fear of the accumulated Essence going berserk. His body flickered as he swept with his hand and collected the treasure, right before Sun Tao’s body collapsed and imploded with an amazing power.

Sun Keung and Sun Longwei were both blown away by the explosion of Heavenly Lightning and Primal Fire. To their shock, before they could suppress the force from spreading, it managed to cause light bruises and burns to appear on their hands.

“The bastard chose to self-destruct,” Sun Keung frowned, scanning the spot with his divine sense. Apart from remnants bits of his energy and a few ripples of the Dao, there was nothing left from Sun Tao. In an explosion as powerful as this one, this was only natural. Sun Keung immediately assumed that Sun Tao was gone for good and stopped worrying about the prophecy.

As he gazed at his little brother, Sun Keung was glad that Sun Longwei was clear-headed enough to protect the white tiger from harm. This beast which was comparable to a Greater Demon would be a precious companion for anyone who could subdue it and his little brother was definitely up to the task.

“But more importantly,” Sun Keung smiled brightly, withdrawing the crystal orb filled with Primal Fire Essence from his soul realm. “It’s in my hand, the complete legacy of the old Patriarch Wen! That miniscule amount Sun Tao used to detonate didn’t affect the legacy much,” he thought contentedly, gazing at the pure cluster of white flames.

“Sun Tao…” Sun Longwei sighed in his heart. It was over, they acquired what they wanted and killed Sun Tao, but for some reason, he just couldn’t feel happy about this conclusion.

“No point in beating myself over it, I just have to forget it all,” he said to himself as he released the white tiger, who no longer struggled to get free.

---

Somewhere in the South Heaven, amidst a great storm…

The air itself trembled, then the space began folding and cracking. Out of the briefly formed tear in the space, a bloodied body of a youth emerged and fell two meters down, landing right on a muddy road. The black-haired youth convulsed, barely managing to turn himself over on his back to not suffocate in the dirt.

The youth tried to use his power to start healing himself, but to his horror, found out that his cultivation base had been thoroughly shattered and that his soul was damaged beyond recovery, at least not by any natural means. There was still some leftover Qi lingering in his previously mighty fleshly body, but it was seeping out, only a portion of it aiding with recovery of his internal injuries.

“It’s cold,” the youth complained wordlessly, experiencing the sensation for the first time in his life. He suddenly came to a terrifying realization; he was no longer a Dao Seeking Cultivator, In fact, he wasn’t a Cultivator at all… he had been reduced to being a mortal!

His mental strength reaching its limit, the youth fainted, truthfully not caring whether he dies on this road or if he lives. He lost everything… he would rather die than lead a worthless life like the one waiting for him, were he to try and survive…

---

“Oi, look, some brat is in the mud. Think he is dead?” a man on the cart asked loudly, shouting over the thunders of the storm.

“Looks alive to me, so move your ass and tug him with the rest. We will get paid more,”  another man shouted back, pointing at the cages full of people they bought or captured for their master.

“Sure, sure, stop being so annoying,” the first man moaned, jumping down into the mud and picking up the black-haired kid by his clothes. A minute later, the youth was nicely packed into the cage with the other slaves and the group continued moving onward.

AN: And thus, we arrived at the end of 'book 0'. The events which are going to follow are no longer a story of 'A Child Blessed by The Heavens', but a story about 'The Rise of a Vengeful Immortal'. Let me know if you are interested in seeing more content of this novel :)