Chapter 1

Prologue

On the third day of the third month, it was overcast.

The morning light gradually illuminated the land, rising over the towering Tianyin Mountains and casting its glow upon the bustling city of Xilu at the foot of the mountains. The light shone on this lively and prosperous city, signaling the start of a new day for countless households.

The young man, Shen Shi, woke up naturally.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, he lay in his warm bed without moving, quietly looking at the ceiling. Only when the morning light finally seeped into his room did he sit up from his warm and comfortable bed, stretch lazily, and get out of bed. He walked to the window and gently pushed open the two window panels.

A fresh morning breeze blew in from the courtyard outside, carrying a slight chill and the faint fragrance of green grass. Shen Shi stretched his arms and took a deep breath, then subconsciously looked into the distance. The majestic and undulating Tianyin Mountains came into view, along with the gray clouds that perpetually shrouded the peaks.

Would it be a good day today?

He gazed at the majestic mountain with a blank expression, then turned around after a while and walked to the desk near the window. The room was simply furnished, with a bed, a wardrobe at the foot of the bed, a desk by the window, and a few conspicuous large chests. Apart from these, there were only books.

A large bookshelf took up an entire wall, divided into seven layers, filled with new and old books. At a glance, many of the books showed signs of wear, as if they were frequently read.

Compared to the tables in ordinary households, the desk in Shen Shi's room was slightly longer, placed neatly to the left of the window. On both sides of the desk, there were three large chests each, making a total of six. They were made of gray-brown wicker, sturdy and square, stacked up to about the height of Shen Shi's chest. It was unknown what they contained.

Sitting at the desk, Shen Shi calmed himself, then reached out and took a piece of white paper, carefully cut to three inches wide and four inches long, placing it in front of him. The desk was well-equipped with writing tools, and Shen Shi prepared the ink himself, adding water and grinding the inkstone. After everything was ready, he picked up the brush, dipped it in the ink, and began to write.

Black ink appeared on the white paper, his fingers gripping the brush handle, moving smoothly without any tremor, showing great steadiness. The brush strokes were smooth and unhurried, as if he had practiced this countless times and was thoroughly familiar with it. Although the appearance of his writing was beautiful, what he wrote on the white paper was not ordinary text, but a series of strange and twisted patterns, some simple and some complex, each different. At a glance, it was almost impossible for ordinary people to understand the meaning of these bizarre patterns, and some might even think they were just random scribbles.

Despite this, Shen Shi continued to draw quietly, completing ten different twisted patterns, each one extremely difficult and likely to make ordinary people dizzy just by looking at them. He drew them with great proficiency, without any hesitation, showing how long he had practiced.

He filled five sheets of white paper in this manner, then sighed in relief, put down the brush, and rubbed his wrist. He looked at the sheets of paper filled with strange patterns, examining each one carefully. After a while, he nodded in satisfaction, stood up, and took the papers to the stack of large chests on the left side of the desk, opening the lid of the top chest.

Inside the chest, layer upon layer of white paper of the same size as the ones in his hand were neatly stacked, almost filling the entire chest. Each sheet of paper was also filled with those strange patterns.

Shen Shi gently placed the five sheets of paper he had drawn that day into the chest, his gaze lingering on the white papers for a moment. Then he closed the lid and looked at the six large chests on both sides of the desk, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

He then turned to look outside, where the vast, gray mountain range, shrouded in dark clouds, still stood silently in the distance under the overcast sky.

※※※

On the other side of the small courtyard, in a quiet corridor, a short and stout man stood behind a green railing, his gaze fixed on the young man inside the room, watching him wake up, open the window, stretch, and start drawing. He watched the young man's smile, his unhurried and confident demeanor, and the self-satisfied touch as he caressed the large chests, even though they contained nothing but useless white paper. After years of effort, they might be his most precious treasures.

The man watched the young man quietly, his eyes bright and clear, with a hint of nostalgia and warmth in their depths. At this moment, Shen Shi walked to the window and quickly saw the man, a smile appearing on his face. He waved and called out, "Dad!"

His laughter was cheerful, and he didn't try to lower his voice. The short and stout man, Shen Shi's father, Shen Tai, waved back with a smile. Shen Shi then opened the door and ran over to the corridor, coming to stand beside Shen Tai.

Shen Tai reached out and patted Shen Shi's head, asking gently, "Are you tired?"

Shen Shi shook his head and smiled, "Not at all, I'm used to it."

Shen Tai smiled and said, "The ten types of Yin-Yang and Five Elements talisman patterns are obscure and complex, twisted and intricate. Even in the world of cultivation, few people have delved into them. For you to have persisted in drawing them for seven years is truly remarkable." After a moment of thought, he added, "Although the art of talismans is considered a minor skill and not highly regarded in the cultivation world, if you continue to practice and make progress, it could become a valuable asset in your cultivation journey. I've been strict with you all these years for your own good, so don't hold it against me."

Shen Shi chuckled, shook his head, and smiled without a word. His expression was a mirror image of his father's, showing a striking resemblance.

However, Shen Tai felt a sudden sense of melancholy, as if he saw another familiar figure before his eyes.

After a while, Shen Tai seemed to snap out of a distant memory, shook his head, and smiled, "Let's go. It's a good day today, and we should pay respects to your mother and have a good talk with her."

Shen Shi agreed and followed his father to the front hall. As they walked, he looked up at the sky, which was overcast and gray, just like any other day.

※※※

A light smoke rose from three incense sticks, and Shen Tai and Shen Shi stood in a quiet room. In front of them was an altar, on which a spirit tablet was placed, simply inscribed with "Spirit Tablet of Bai of the Shen Family."

Before the spirit tablet was a small incense burner, now filled with a few thin incense sticks. The two men stood quietly before the altar. The usually cheerful and plump man, Shen Tai, now stood silently before his late wife's spirit tablet, his usual smile gone, gazing at the tablet in silence.

Shen Shi stood behind his father, hands clasped together, bowing three times to the spirit tablet, his lips moving as if he was speaking to his late mother in his heart.

The room was silent, until Shen Tai suddenly spoke, his tone calm and matter-of-fact, "Little Stone, do you remember what I told you about that matter?"

Shen Shi's body suddenly tensed, his muscles tightening as if in a sudden shock. He looked up sharply at his father's back. Shen Tai did not turn around, still standing with his back to him, his eyes fixed on the spirit tablet.

"I remember..." After a moment, Shen Shi answered in a low voice, but his voice was strained.

"Good." Shen Tai nodded slowly, paused, and then said, "It's today."

Shen Shi looked at his father's calm figure, his peripheral vision catching the sight of his father's hands, which were tightly clenched at his sides, the knuckles white from the force.

"Dad," Shen Shi called softly, his face showing a mix of concern and worry, but he hesitated and did not speak further.

Shen Tai, though not turning around, seemed to sense something. After a long silence, he said softly, "Three days ago, I received a letter from Elder Song within the sect." He paused, a hint of bitterness and pain in his voice, and a deep-seated resentment.

He turned to face Shen Shi, looking at his only son, his flesh and blood, and said gently, "They have taken back the opportunity for you to enter the mountains and cultivate, and given it to the Wang family."

Shen Shi's breath caught, his eyes twitching involuntarily. Shen Tai took a deep breath and said, "We have no other options, Little Stone."

Shen Shi slowly lowered his head and said after a long pause, "I understand, Dad."

Shen Tai looked at his son, then stepped forward and embraced him tightly, as if afraid that if he let go, his son would be gone forever. Shen Shi clenched his teeth, his face trembling slightly, and said softly, "Dad, it's okay, I'm not afraid."

Shen Tai closed his eyes, then slowly released his son, lowering his voice to a whisper, "Go now, and do everything as we discussed. Wait for me at the butcher's place."

Shen Shi nodded firmly, gave his father, with whom he had lived for over a decade, a deep look, and without hesitation, turned and walked out of the room.

Shen Tai's gaze followed his son's figure until it disappeared, and the sound of his footsteps faded away. Then he slowly turned back to face the spirit tablet.

The light smoke made the inscription on the tablet seem blurry.

Shen Tai slowly opened his tightly clenched right hand, revealing a small green jade hourglass in his palm, about an inch and a half long. The fine, white sand inside flowed silently, but the hourglass looked old and worn, with a dull luster, like a worthless trinket.

He looked at the small jade hourglass for a long moment, then raised his head and looked at the spirit tablet, smiling slightly, "Xiao Bai, protect our son."

※※※

This year, it had been 10,766 years since the human race overthrew the once powerful and long-ruling Heavenly Demon Court, abolished the demon calendar, and established the human calendar.

Time passed swiftly, like a white horse passing through a crevice. The ancient sages had passed away, and the wars had ended. The brutal and indescribable human-demon war, which had once been a topic of conversation, had gradually become a distant memory, only occasionally mentioned in casual conversations.

In these conversations, people would recall the great deeds of the Six Sages of the human race and mock the downfall of the demon race.

On the day of the fall of the demon race, in the midst of their hasty retreat, they remembered the final battle, where a million human cultivators covered the sky and earth, surrounding the magnificent and grand capital of the demon race, Tianhong City, making it impossible to escape. The sky and earth were filled with killing intent, and the Six Sages stood on the clouds, their power overwhelming, causing countless lives to be extinguished and blood to flow like a river. In the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, the last remnants of the Heavenly Demon Court were buried in the ruins of the grand palace.

Ten thousand years later, in the depths of the ruins, it was said that at night, one could still hear the anguished cries of the countless spirits who had died unjustly.

But the human world had turned a new page.

Except for a few demon remnants who had escaped, the demon race's last and most elite forces, including four of the five Great Demons, were all annihilated in the battle of Tianhong City. The remaining demons, like dogs fleeing in defeat, were forced to retreat to the demon world, their origin. However, facing the relentless pursuit of the human race, the demons were forced to sacrifice the life of their last powerful Great Demon, using a secret demon ritual to destroy their clan's sacred artifact, the "Yinming Tower," turning the only path to the demon world, the "Qingling Realm," into a sea of death and darkness, thus blocking the human pursuit and confining themselves to the demon world, never to return.

Ten thousand years had passed, and the once brilliant figures of the past could not withstand the erosion of time, leaving only countless monuments and statues erected by their descendants, which would be remembered in the vast universe. The human race, over ten thousand years, had flourished, especially the cultivation practices that began in the human-demon war era. After countless generations of extraordinary individuals and human elites, these practices had far surpassed those of the past. In the present era, the human race dominated the universe, and all other races and demons were suppressed, forced to hide and struggle for survival, unable to compete with the powerful human cultivators, who were as numerous as stars and incredibly strong.

This year, it was the 10,766th year of the human calendar, an era of prosperity and splendor for the human race.

This year, the sea of Yin energy in the Qingling Realm still covered the entire realm, separating the human and demon races, and it seemed that this separation would continue forever.

This year, in the 108 realms of the universe, the legendary Ten Heavenly Realms were still elusive, the demon world and the Qingling Realm, now a dead sea, were silently hidden in the corners of people's memories, and the vast main realm of the universe, along with the remaining 96 realms, were all under the control of the human race.

This year, Shen Shi was twelve years old.

For him, the path of life was about to take a dramatic turn, and a new chapter was about to begin.

(A new book, a new life, a new beginning... I'll have another update soon, and today will be three updates.)

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