Chapter 4

As the sound of summer approached, he saw a man dressed in a long robe, with a stern expression but eyes that shone brightly. His mouth was covered with moss, and his stern face exuded an imposing presence. Summer didn't know who he was, but he seemed to be in his middle age, around fifty years old.

Puzzled, Summer looked around, unsure which direction to go. Feeling a bit dizzy, he glanced at the middle-aged man, who then walked up to him, lifted his foot, and kicked Summer in the stomach. Summer's insides churned violently, and he vomited, which only made the man angrier. His brows furrowed, and his straight, prominent eyebrows stood on end. Summer curled up on the ground, gasping for breath. His frail body couldn't withstand such force, and he hadn't even reacted to the man's sudden attack.

The man's face twisted in anger as he cursed Summer for being a failure. Summer endured it, knowing his younger brother was indeed not up to the mark, but why did the man kick him? He was also a member of the Xia family. Why couldn't he stay and admire the beauty here? Clenching his fists, his angry expression was all the man needed to see.

The man coldly snorted and ignored Summer, shouting in a direction, "Get a few people to throw this waste of space back to his room. Keep a close eye on him; some places shouldn't be desecrated by him." With that, he walked away without a second glance at Summer.

This man was Summer's second uncle, a close relative. Unfortunately, in a large family, kinship was often shallow. Sometimes, to secure the family's inheritance, relatives would ruthlessly attack each other, and the family's leader would turn a blind eye. Only the true king could inherit the family's legacy. Such attacks were minor tactics, and Summer's second uncle, Xia Zhonghe, didn't need to attack Summer directly.

Kicking Summer was a message to his father, perhaps to indirectly attack Xia Zhongjiang, Summer's father. If Summer couldn't have children, it would put Xia Zhongjiang at a disadvantage. However, Xia Zhongjiang still had a son and a daughter, Summer's younger brother and sister, though they were quite young. His brother was eleven and named Xia Ri, and his sister was named Xia Shuang.

Sadly, since the incident with Summer's silkworms, he had hardly seen his father or his siblings.

Summer was carried and thrown into a small, cramped room. As he was being carried, he observed his surroundings. This was where he lived. He examined his living space in detail. It was essentially a storage room. Summer smiled bitterly and shook his head. Outside, some might still see him as a young master of the Xia family, but those who knew the truth pitied him.

He couldn't let things continue like this. Seeing the middle-aged man's attitude, Summer knew that if he didn't improve, he might survive, but it would be a life of misery. If Wang Sihan ever married him, could he support her? It was impossible. Summer couldn't imagine the pressure Wang Sihan would face.

As Summer was about to gather his thoughts, the door to his small storage room was pushed open. He looked up to see a stout, rough-faced woman with pockmarked skin, thick lips painted a bright red, and a large chest that jiggled as she walked.

"Here, eat quickly. I still have dishes to wash. You, a useless young master, still need me to serve you," she said in a coarse voice. She then continued with a series of harsh, cutting remarks.

Summer glanced at the food in the box. It looked like it had been picked over, and he had no appetite. But the woman kept nagging, so Summer frowned and said, "I'm not hungry. Stop nagging and leave. Take this swill with you."

"Ha! Do you still think you're a young master? Look at yourself in the mirror. If you don't eat, don't come crying to me later." She snatched the box from the table, snorted, and muttered, "Perfect for my dog, Wangcai." She then waddled out of the room, her large buttocks swaying.

Summer couldn't stay here. Even if the family didn't drive him out, the servants would drive him to his wit's end. But he didn't know enough to leave yet. He would wait for the right opportunity to leave the family. There was no affection here, and his parents were nowhere to be seen. He might as well go out and carve out his own path, free from their control.

To leave, he needed strength. After some thought, he decided to focus on cultivating his cultivation technique. Even if he couldn't fully master it, it would at least give him some self-defense. Who knew what the outside world held? There could be violence, or a world of martial arts. But wherever there were people, there was a world of martial arts. The unfamiliarity made him uneasy, but he would follow his heart and believe he could find freedom.

Wang Sihan would be his wife, and she resembled his lover, Han Ke'er, in both appearance and manner. Whether or not Wang Sihan was a reincarnation of Ke'er, he would treat her well and make her happy.

Summer cleared his mind, organized his thoughts, and sat on the small bed, forming the hand seals for the Three Pure Ones' Spirit Technique. In his world, this technique was only a mid-level technique, and he only had the first part. His master had never seen the second part but often said that if the two parts were combined, it could surpass even the highest-level techniques.

Summer calmed his mind, formed the hand seals, and slowly closed his eyes, sensing every part of his body. Unfortunately, the environment here was too polluted, and there was only a trace of spiritual energy in the air. Even this small amount, when slowly absorbed, couldn't be retained in his dantian, leaving Summer feeling discouraged. Was this body really a waste?

Summer stopped the technique and examined his body again, following the meridians to his dantian to find any leaks. A leak in the dantian meant it couldn't store qi, and without stored qi, it couldn't be refined into true qi. Without true qi, he couldn't cast spells. The dantian was crucial, and without it, he couldn't build a foundation or achieve the golden core.

Time passed, and sweat covered Summer's forehead. Sensing his dantian was beyond his current ability. He knew how to use his spirit sense, but his body lacked the necessary strength. If he had the technique, he might have been able to use it, but even a small amount of spirit sense was a significant challenge.

"Spit!" Summer opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. Overusing his spirit sense made his body convulse, as if his bones were being pulled out. He collapsed, exhausted. Sensing his dantian was his limit. When he first arrived, he had only glanced at his dantian, which didn't require much spirit sense. But to find the leak, he needed to carefully examine it.

This left him feeling as if his bones were being pulled out, but his face showed no disappointment. He had found the reason his dantian couldn't gather qi: a pinhole-sized leak that was connected to his younger brother's condition. If he could reach the fourth level of cultivation, he could fix it and help his brother.

Unable to sense qi and with such a critical leak, Summer was still confident he could fix it, but he was uncertain if the necessary herbs with spiritual properties existed here. He decided to search for them to repair his dantian.

Failing to cultivate the technique left Summer feeling discouraged, but he knew he had to find a way. He slowly walked out of his room, and the autumn rain was still drizzling. His mood matched the rain, feeling somewhat desolate. The front courtyard and the high-end areas were off-limits to him.

His living space was small, and he paced back and forth, kicking small stones. His room was tidy but a bit messy, though it looked presentable. Night had fallen, and he could hear laughter from the distance, where the main family members lived. Summer didn't pay attention, still kicking stones.

Suddenly, his left foot hit something, and he heard a tearing sound, likely his pants brushing against leaves. He squatted down and, using the light from the streetlamp, saw a black object. He thought it was a radish. His stomach growled, and he realized he was hungry. He hadn't eaten the woman's leftovers, so he pulled the object out of the ground. The rain had loosened the soil, but it still took him a while.

When he pulled it out, it wasn't a radish. It was completely black, about the size of a regular radish. But Summer's eyes gleamed with excitement, and his throat moved as he swallowed.