Tong Wen-Shi sat in a meditative posture as he followed the clans cultivation method to try and circulate his qi.

Faint blue mist formed around him as a slight wind picked up in the sealed space of his room

Clothes fluttering slightly he inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, building up the qi around him to try and force his passageways open. The wind grew stronger, picking up speed until the flapping of his clothes was as violent as the waves facing the rage of Tian Long

Years ago, he had been hailed as a genius of the Long clan for his ability to build up Qi around him for use, most cultivators in the Clan had to struggle to absorb even the tinniest scraps of Qi they could from the Air with their 2nd grade Cultivation Technique, while it was powerful enough to make them an Overlord in a small region of their Tang Empire due to possesing two foundational stage cultivators, the harsh truth was that non of them had a chance of ever reaching The Core Formation realm. But even with this Second Grade Manual, Wen-Shi had been able to achieve Sheng Hua, making Qi become visible before absorbing it, something unheard of for Cultivation manuals below 6th Grade, this miracle displayed his incredible talent, and he had been seen as the most likely of the younger generation to reaching Foundation Establishment, and maybe even Core Formation if the Heavens Permit

Yet Three years ago, he had noticed a problem with his cultivation, whenever he tried to absorb Qi into his passageways, the Qi would enter and begin to dissipate, slowly he noticed that not only was he unable to accumulate Qi, the Energy in his Dantian was slowly evaporating. He approached his Parents who met the elders of the clan for help after spending all their fortune on him, the elders tried everything they could but they discovered that nothing was working to stop his Qi from dissipating, and so over the course of a year, he went from being the Clan's Rising Dragon, First among his peers, to becoming the clan's greatest regret, losing his cultivation of the 5th Stage of Qi Condensation, half a step away from the 6th Stage, and falling back to the Houtian Stage of Body Refining.

His Parents, unwilling to watch their Dragon become a lizard had set out to find a way to help him, but the Jiang Hu is unforgiving and they had not returned since them, leaving him with the Clan who sent him to a quiet area to work as a servant since they did not want to be reminded of his tragedy which caused them to lose, not only a potential Dacheng Stage CUltivator, but two 7th Step Qi COndensation Cultivators who formed a large part of their power base, causing their Authority in Wu Ling City to fall from the Number one family and its Overlord, to the Third most powerful family.

Yet even with all this, Wen-Shi refused to give up and continued trying to Cultivate.

Finally after he had been sitting there preparing for the time it takes an Incense stick to burn, he emptied his lungs and began to suck in all the Qi around him, although Sheng Hua is impressive, the qi built up can only be absorbed by the person who built it, But the Heavens are not Unkind, so if the Cultivator who has achieved Shen Hua were to use th Qi to refine a medicinal pill, the person who swallowed the pill could absorb some of the qi contained within.

Back to Wen-Shi, at this point he had nearly inhaled all the Qi built up and most of it had already scattered, so he stopped and tried to start circulating the Qi according to the Pathways layed out in the Clans Cultivation manual. He moved the Qi cycling from Yin to Yang, focusing of Yin as he guided it into his pathways, but as soon as the Qi entered, before it could move, all the pores on his body open and heat rose from his Dantian which circulated through his body forcing all the Qi out.

He sat there for a few more minutes examining his Dantian as he checked for changes, soon a sigh escaped him as he slowly opened his eyes.

He was not a tall youth, his hair a normal black, his face manly but otherwise unremarkable, his eyes were not piercing and had no trace of unyieldingness, he did not resemble a Young Hero or Heavens Favoured Son, he just resembled another boy. But he was slightly special, he was a reincarnator, and had died in China before waking up in the at the time three years old Tong Wen-Shi who at the time was surnamed Long

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He stood up and walked towards the only things he had left which he had packed into a pack which he hefted up as he walked outside and headed towards the elder's residence. Once he arrived to the entrance, he bowed twice, then dropped to his knees and kow-towed three times to show respect

"Tong Wen-Shi pays his respect to the ancestors."

He stayed with his head to the ground and waited for their response. After a while, two long sigh sounded out from the Elder's residence, and an old sounding voice tiredly called out

"Tong Wen-Shi, must you leave us with no face? Not only do you want to leave the clan, but must you change your name as well?"

Wen-Shi stayed quiet for a while, before replying

"This one once had the ability to bear the name Long, but now that this one can only gather, he must bear the name Tong" he was silent for a while before he said again

"Maybe one day the Heavens may show favour and this Tong may become Long"

The Old voice was quiet, but then the door to the house opened to reveal an emaciated old man with wrinkled skin wearing a daoist robe, the man seemed regretful as he looked at Wen-Shi, he then said

"If Tong can become Long, then Long shall again cover the heavens, but where Long becomes Tong, to become Long again is as rare as  Phoenix Feathers and Unicorn Horns. Instead this Tong can stay and Wash his hands in a Golden Basin"

The Bowed figure did not move or speak as if contemplating the words of the emaciated elder, but after the time in take to drink a cup of tea, a resolute voice sounded from under it

"This Tong may have become a gathering place, but this Tong still has some pride, and cannot wash his hands."

The Old man said nothing more, his hands flahed perfomning incantation gestures as he rotated his Cultivation Base to provide Spiritual Qi to perform the technique

The Cultivation Method of a Clan is its most precious secret, every clan guards it carefully, Wen-Shi had been able to learn it due to his heaven defying talent, but now that he is no longer able to cultivate, for fear that he may sell it to outsiders the elders of the clan decided to use a technique to erase it from his memory, but who could have known that as soon as they informed him of their decision, without even making a complaint or getting angry as they had preicted he asked for permission to leave the Clan which they granted because in spite of Sheng Hua if he cannot store the energy in his Dantian, then there was no point in keeping him.

So the emaciated old man was performing the technique to erase the Clan's secrets from his mind, and sever the blood relationship

His fingers flshed as his robes flapped making the old man look as though a solid mountain admist the storms, yet the keeling figure never so much as glanced up, this continued for about a breath of time before the old man stopped moving and told him to rise, at which point Wen-Shi raised his upper body putting himself into a kneeling position

The Old man sighed once more, before reaching out and slapping the top of Wen-Shi's head

Suddenly a boom rang out in Wen-Shi's ears audible only to him as an intense pain flowed through his mind, he could feel something moving in his head as if searching for something, but at the same time he felt as if the blood in his veins were boiling, clenching his fists he fell down and spasmed on the floor while he fought back the screams that came up to his throat

The Old man stood there silently watching this happen when a sigh came from behind him

"What will-power, if only he hadn't lost his cultivation"

The Old man glanced back to see the other Foundational Cultivator of the clan, his wife as she watched the child as well. He sighed again then said

"The Heavens are Unjust."

Soon they walked back into their hut leaving the boy there on the floor

After the time it takes to eat a meal, Wen-Shi was finally able to get back up, he gave a bow towards the elders residence before turning around to leave, he had no time to waste, without the clans bloodline mark inside of him that the emaciated elder had burned away he no longer had the permission of the clans guarding formation to stay in the premises

He walked away, leaving the Clan's Residences, walked through the Town where people frequently looked at him whispering and pointing, a he reached the gates, he turned around to look at the City one last time, before he turned back and walked away.