In the Veiled Mist Forest, a young boy practiced his martial arts. At twelve years old, a faint aura radiated from his body.

“Li Jian! How deep did you go into the forest?! You know it’s forbidden to go past the river! I almost thought a beast had eaten you..” This voice belonged to his cousin Li Mu.

“I was just cultivating! The people in the village are too noisy and prevent me from focusing.”

Li Jian was in the 1st level of the Mortal realm and had been stuck for almost two years. His talent and cultivation were too low and he would often be looked down upon and played around with by his fellow clansmen.

“When you reach the 3rd level, they’ll shut up forever and you can make them kowtow before you, hmph! Come on Li Jian, we have to get home right now or else my father will punish us.”

In this Strong Winds Continent, mortals were able to step into the martial world by progressing through the realms of cultivation: Mortal realm, Spirit realm, and Martial realm. Each realm contained nine ranks, and with each ascension of a rank or realm their strength would increase immensely. Strength meant power, and power meant everything.

The two sprinted towards Falling Leaf Village; home of the Li Clan. Li Jian had lived with his uncle and cousin his whole life. He had no parents, and when Li Jian had asked his uncle about them, he was told his parents were dead and to never bring them up again.

Upon reaching their small wooden house, a bulky man stood with his arms crossed. This was Li Chen: blood uncle of Li Jian and father of Li Mu. He was in the 5th level of the Mortal realm, which wasn’t too high nor too low. For comparison, Clan Master Li had a cultivation in the 9th level of the Mortal realm, but that was due to him being a prodigy when he was younger. Elders usually peaked at the 7th level of the Mortal realm.

“Uncle Chen, I can feel myself moving closer and closer to the 2nd level of the Mortal realm.”

“That’s good Jian’er, continue to strengthen yourself and maybe one day you’ll surpass even me hahaha. Now, I have great news for the both of you! In a months time, the Jade Moon Sect will be holding a recruitment exam for young cultivators in Jade Moon City. They are only allowing applicants who are twelve to fourteen years of age. I overheard the Elders speaking and Clan Master Li said that he will be having all of the children, who are qualified, go and participate.”

“I’ve never been to Jade Moon City, but they say any child accepted into the Jade Moon Sect will have a bright and amazing future. Jian’er, Mu’er, the other children and several Elders will be leaving tomorrow. The trip to Jade Moon City will be long and arduous, so sleep well tonight.”

The boys walked to their room and laid in bed shaking with excitement. Li Jian stared out the window into the starry sky and couldn’t stop thinking about Jade Moon City.

“Li Jian, when we get to Jade Moon City we will both pass the exam, so don’t even think about failing. We’ll become Jade Moon disciples and work our way to become inner disciples. Maybe even become a core disciple!”

Li Mu had always looked out for Li Jian because the latter was weak and constantly bullied. Although they were the same age, Li Mu acted as the elder brother.

It was already very late, and the two started to fall asleep.

'...We will definitely pass, Li Mu.'

— Next Day —

Waking up before dawn, many children lined up outside the main entrance of the village. There were ten carriages and ten Elders.

An old figure walked out of the first carriage and faced the crowd.

“Members of the Li Clan, we will only be taking children who are twelve to fourteen years of age. According to the Jade Moon Sect, participants must also be at least in the 2nd level of the Mortal realm. This trip will take up to a month travelling around the Veiled Mist Forest. We will arrive in Jade Moon City a day before the exam is held. Please form a line in front of Elder Xu and do not make any trouble because we are scheduled to leave in two hours.”

Hearing this, Uncle Chen’s face fell as he looked at his nephew. Li Jian was still in the 1st level of the Mortal realm and had been stuck for a long time. All the children who were at least twelve had already broken through to the 2nd or 3rd level.

“Jian’er..”

“I know Uncle, don’t worry about me. My talents are low and it would have been a miracle for me to even pass the exam. This opportunity belongs to Li Mu since he is already in the 3rd level.”

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“Li Jian.."

Li Mu was frustrated and angry.

With a smile on his face, Li Jian turned around and walked back towards the village.

Uncle Chen’s heart hurt while watching him leave because Li Jian was like another son to him.

While walking back home, Li Jian didn’t want to accept this reality, but there was nothing that could be done. It was his own weakness that allowed this opportunity to slip by.

Currently, Li Jian’s main goal was to become stronger.

'Power is everything and can change anything..'

Arriving back at home, as he headed towards the door, he paused and looked around. 

“Strange.. I thought I heard something, but I guess it was just the wind..” He stared at the Veiled Mist Forest for a moment before entering his home.

A few days later while training in the forest, Li Jian miraculously broke through and was now in the 2nd level of the Mortal realm. 

'I’ve finally broken through.. I wonder how Li Mu is doing right now.' Although Li Jian now met the qualifications, he would not be able to make it to Jade Moon City in time for the exam. He also didn’t have a carriage or a protector.

Sighing, Li Jian sat down and began meditating. When one broke through to the next rank or realm, they had to consolidate their cultivation or else the instability would backlash and potentially hurt their cultivation permanently.

A few hours laters..

'My body feels lighter and stronger. Let’s test out my strength now.'

In front of Li Jian was a thin tree that had been worn down in the center. It had been used as a training dummy for Li Jian to practice martial arts on. He didn’t know anything but the Four Palm Strike. This art allowed the practitioner to strike four times consecutively and accurately. It was a very basic skill that had been taught to him by Uncle Chen.

“Four Palm Strike!”

The first strike landed on the tree and broke through a couple layers. After the second, third, and fourth, a hole tore through the center, splitting the tree apart. The difference between one rank had been drastic. His usual Four Palm Strike could only wear down the tree little by little, but this time it had actually punctured the tree and split it.

Looking up at the sky, Li Jian didn’t realize it had already become so dark!

'Uncle is going to kill me!'

But when Li Jian had gotten home, Uncle Chen was gone; there was only a letter. Reading the letter, it stated that Uncle Chen would be gone for a week because he was going with the merchants to a few villages nearby to protect them and their cargo.

'Uncle usually goes on these missions from the clan, but to think the day I breakthrough Uncle is gone...'

— Next Day —

Li Jian woke up early and decided to go into the forest again to continue training.

'Now that I’m stronger, I’m confident I’ll be able to survive a little deeper into the forest. I’ll ride this wave of luck and maybe get closer to the 3rd level.'

After swimming across the river, Li Jian caught sight of a beast. This beast was a Spotted Bronze Deer who had both high agility and high defense. It didn’t really have much other abilities so it was safer to fight than a more offensive-type beast.

Magical beasts were classified into three tiers to represent their strengths: Earthly, Spiritual, Divine.

The Spotted Bronze Deer was a beast in the 2nd level of the Earthly realm.

Li Jian pounced at the deer and began exchanging blows. Feeling stronger than ever, Li Jian defeated the beast and went off to find more. Since these deer would run in herds it wouldn't be much longer until he found some. However, after slaying three more, Li Jian met eyes with a deer who had iron horns. Blazing with fury, the deer charged at him.

'A mutated deer!' The Iron Horned Deer was enraged because of how many of its herd Li Jian had killed in his territory. This Iron Horned Deer was a beast in the 4th level of the Earthly realm .

Sensing the danger he was in, Li Jian ran deeper into the forest because the Iron Horned Deer was closing in on him.

'Shit! If I can’t turn back, I’m only going to run into stronger beasts!'

Running away as fast as he could, Li Jian sprinted deeper into the forest.

This deer not only had a higher speed and defense, but also had iron horns: its offensive capabilities weren’t to be laughed at.

Catching up to Li Jian, the deer knocked him into the air causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood. Without wasting a breath, Li Jian stood up and kept running.

The area became more and more congested and soon a thick mist began to blanket the area. In a matter of minutes, Li Jian couldn’t see anything but the mist.

'This is dangerous... I can't see a thing!'

Li Jian started to slow down because he couldn’t find his sense of direction anymore. The mist was too thick, so he chose to turn around, but as he took his next step, he fell off a cliff.

As he was falling, Li Jian maintained a calm expression.

'I guess this is it. I’m going to die.'

“Thank you Uncle for taking care of me, and thank you Li Mu for always being there for me."

'Now that that’s settled, I can die peacefully...'

Awaiting his inevitable death, Li Jian finally reached the end of his fall, however, rather than hitting ground he hit water. At the point of contact, he lost consciousness and passed out.

While unconscious, Li Jian was lost in his dreams. In this dream of his, he stood at the peak of the martial world. Behind him stood an onyx panther with crystal white eyes and by his side was the most beautiful woman in existence. Before the dream ended, he and the woman made a promise to each other before disappearing.

'Xiu’er..'

Was this truly a dream? Was it the future? Was it a memory? Li Jian couldn’t tell.. He couldn’t even remember what the promise was.

Li Jian floated soundly onto the shore, and within his dantian a small white crystal awakened.