In the world of Xan Nao, the path of cultivation was divided into tiers of power that dictated the fate of every living being. The ranks were clear, but ascending them required talent, resources, and unbreakable will:
* Initiate (1-4 Stars): The foundational stage, where one awakens their qi and strengthens their body.
* Qi Refinement (1-4 Stars): The cultivator purifies their energy and expands their meridians.
* Spiritual Qi (1-4 Stars): Qi merges with the soul, unlocking supernatural techniques.
* Ancestral Heaven (1-4 Stars): Mastery of elemental qi, capable of altering the environment.
* Celestial Dominion (1-4 Stars): Control over natural laws, bordering on immortality.
* Divine Supremacy (Unique Tier): The pinnacle of power in Xan Nao, reserved only for legends.
The Yan Clan, one of the great cultivation dynasties, had produced geniuses over the centuries. But none like Yan Chao. By age four, he had reached Initiate 1-Star. By seven, he ascended to Initiate 4-Stars—a feat that typically took decades. The clan’s elders dubbed him the "Scion of the Stars", believing he would break into Qi Refinement before adolescence.
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Yet fate is cruel. When Yan Chao attempted to breach the barrier to Qi Refinement 1-Star, his qi rebelled. No matter how he meditated, fought, or consumed essence pills, his body rejected advancement. By twelve, he remained stuck at Initiate 4-Stars, while his cousins and rivals had already reached Qi Refinement 2-Stars.
“He is a failure!” declared the Yan Patriarch, a Spiritual Qi 3-Star cultivator, during the Clan Council. “We wasted resources on a child who cannot even enter Qi Refinement.”
The clan shunned him. They cast him into the servants’ quarters, where even Initiate 2-Star guards mocked him. By sixteen, Yan Chao carried the shame of being the only Yan in centuries unable to surpass the most basic tier.
“Father, let me try again,” Yan Chao begged one night, kneeling outside the Patriarch’s hall. “There’s something inside me I don’t understand!”
“Enough!” roared the Patriarch. “Today, we cast you out. If you cannot serve, at least stop tarnishing our name.”
They ripped the clan emblem from his robes and threw him beyond the walls with nothing but tattered clothes and a falsified map leading to the Forest of Cursed Whispers—a place even Qi Refinement 3-Star cultivators feared to tread.