Astrid was in an alleyway, fighting off a young city guard in Violet Blossom City. She had stolen a backpack full of food and was being chased by him. Despite being only 12 and having no cultivation, she dodged his spear strikes with ease. The guard was new and in the third stage of Body Tempering, but even he was struggling to keep up. For a girl her age to hold her ground against a cultivator was no small feat. She deflected his attacks using just her raw physical strength, a sight impressive enough to catch the attention of a woman watching from above.
Lysander "Lys" Anderson, the woman observing from the sky, was intrigued by Astrid's ability to fend off the guard. She had been walking through the air and had been looking around for anything interesting as she passed above the Violet Blossom City. With her spirit sense , she had watched the entire sequence of events of the girl fighting off the young city guard. She was impressed by the girl , so she decided to pick her up.
She descended to the ground so swiftly that it appeared she had teleported. In an instant, Lys grabbed the guard’s spear with one hand and produced a lowest-grade spirit stone with the other.
“This lowest grade spirit stone should cover whatever this girl did, right?” she asked calmly. Her tone was even, but the young guard was visibly shaken. Seizing the moment, Astrid darted away, climbing up the side of a building with remarkable speed.
The guard, stunned and holding the spirit stone, watched as Lys quickly scooped up Astrid and vanished into the air. When he finally came to his senses, he realized that the spirit stone he had been given was worth far more than anything Astrid had stolen. He was left in awe of her ability to fend him off.
The guard hurried back to the City Guard Office, where he reported the incident and handed the spirit stone to his supervisor. The supervisor, a seasoned cultivator in the early Meridian Opening Realm, listened carefully to the young guard's account. After hearing the full story, the supervisor sighed and said, “Mark this as resolved for now. Keep her on the list of juvenile delinquents, but don’t actively hunt her unless she causes trouble again.”
The supervisor rubbed his temples, clearly frustrated. Despite being a powerful cultivator, he still had to deal with the complications caused by the antics of higher-level cultivators.
The woman, who had scooped up the girl, carried her to the top of a nearby building. She pulled out two chairs, sat in one, and placed the girl on the ground. Still confused and startled by the situation, the girl attempted to run but was quickly caught by the woman who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
The girl stood up and bluntly asked, "Why did you interfere? I could have gotten away from him..." She stared the woman in the eyes but quickly looked away when she saw the sheer power behind them. Astrid knew her survival now depended on the goodwill of the woman before her.
The woman calmly responded, "My name is Lysander Anderson. I’m an inner elder of the Silver Star Sect. So, tell me, why were you stealing food?"
Feeling compelled to tell the truth, Astrid said, "The orphanage I grew up in is struggling. The kids don’t have enough to eat, so I steal food for them. I left the orphanage when I was ten because I eat too much. Even eating just enough to get by, I was taking the portion of at least three adults. The head of the orphanage tried, but I knew staying would hurt them financially. After more kids arrived, I ran away so they could have enough. I survived by hunting low-level Tier 1 beasts outside the village. No one would hire a child, so I lived in an abandoned house and learned to prepare the meat myself. I got sick a lot at first, but I managed. The beasts I hunted got stronger, but I could still get by. The orphanage, though, had even less food, so I had no choice but to steal for the kids. One of the older ones works now, but it’s still not enough. Big Sis doesn’t know, and the other kids keep quiet."
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"Interesting," Lys mused. "Your constant hunger is likely due to both malnourishment and your high innate divine strength. That strength demands much more energy to fully awaken, which means your nutritional needs are far greater than the average person’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could eat three or four times what a normal mortal could and still feel hungry. And by the way, just call me Lys."
"Innate divine strength? What’s that? Is it why I always need more food? It feels like my energy drains faster than normal—I’m always hungry. Is that why eating Tier 1 beast meat, saturated with spirit energy, made me feel fuller than regular food?" Astrid asked, puzzled.
"Yes. Innate divine strength is rare, especially in a mortal who hasn’t even begun cultivating. It’s rare in humans, period. Despite your malnourished state, you have a lot of it. The Tier 1 beast meat you’ve been eating is saturated with spirit energy, which temporarily satisfies your hunger more than regular food, but it’s only a stopgap. You’d need a consistent supply of energy-rich food to keep that hunger in check. However, once your innate divine strength fully awakens, your energy requirements will stabilize. Until then, though, your hunger will remain a problem, and regular food just won’t cut it. I can only imagine how strong you’d be if you were fully nourished and grown. Most people with divine strength can reach the 3rd sub-realm of Body Tempering without even starting formal cultivation. You have a lot of potential, but all I can offer you is a chance—it’s up to you to decide what you’ll do with it."
Astrid sat down, still processing everything, and asked, "I get that, but why did you step in during the chase?"
Lys smiled. "Would you like to join the Silver Star Sect? I can take you under my wing as one of my disciples. You’ll officially enter when you're 15, but you can stay with me until then. Your talent for energy cultivation is quite low, but with your innate divine strength, you could excel in body cultivation, and that might eventually improve your energy cultivation as well. Keep in mind, though, body cultivation is expensive. So, let me ask you again: would you be willing to join the Silver Star Sect and become my disciple in the future?"
"No. If I leave, Big Brother Ceaser will have to take on all the responsibility. He’s just a scholar, and he doesn’t earn much. I can’t abandon the orphanage and the kids now..." Astrid replied.
Lys chuckled. "So, you want to join, but you don’t want to abandon them. How noble." Despite her words, there was a hint of displeasure in Lys’s tone. She had already scanned Astrid’s body with her spirit sense and was surprised the girl was even alive, given her malnourished state. Lys believed Astrid had been hunting and eating Tier 1 beasts, but if she wasn’t able to hunt often, her malnourishment made sense. That would make her recovery more difficult. Her talent for energy cultivation was below average, but her potential for body cultivation was exceptional. In Lys’s eyes, “below average” would still make her a core disciple in a small sect or an inner disciple in a medium or large sect. However, for a hegemonic sect like the Silver Star Sect, that talent would only qualify her as an outer disciple—but Lys’s standards were much higher than most.
"I’ll arrange a subsidy for the orphanage that will provide food for the kids for the next decade if you agree to come with me." Lys offered in a completely monotone tone.
Astrid, clearly overwhelmed, managed to say, "I’ll come, but I want to see it happen. And give the money to the City Guard Office supervisor; he’s a good person."
"Alright. Also, you never told me your name, kiddo," Lys said.
"Astrid. My name is Astrid," she replied. Lys scooped her up again, and they took off into the air. The chairs vanished from the rooftop as though they never existed. "Let's get you cleaned up. No student of mine will remain filthy," Lys said.