Chapter 1

<How a Doomed Genius Survives - Qing Shixiao>

Chapter 1

It was a night when the moonlight fell gently on the river.

A man knocked on the door of the manor.

He had long ears and a face of extraordinary beauty, as if he had transcended the mundane world.

He called out to the master of the manor, offering to stay as a guest for the night and to provide medical treatment.

With his mysterious features and a scent like that of grass leaves, the gatekeeper dared not treat him rudely.

The master of the manor had just welcomed a newborn baby. He accepted the man with the long ears, hoping to have him examine the child.

Holding the baby and looking down at it intently, the man said,

“It will be hard for him to live past twenty. He has such a constitution.”

“Does that mean he will die young? This child was born after his mother was disgraced. Is it true that he has been punished by heaven?”

At the master’s words, the man frowned as if he had heard something he shouldn’t.

“Do you ask a doctor such things? Even in a remote village, you should know better...”

“What is the condition of the illness?”

The master cleared his throat and asked.

“Even so, as a father. This is similar to the Nine Yin Pulse. In all my life, I’ve never seen someone with the Baihui point so extremely open. It’s as if the top of his head is completely open.”

“I’ve heard that the Nine Yin Pulse means the meridians harden and the person dies.”

“You’re not entirely ignorant. This child’s vertex meridian is excessively open, causing his life force to escape. It’s commonly known as ascending to immortality.”

“Suddenly ascending to immortality? Isn’t that when a highly skilled Taoist ascends to the celestial realm?”

“Do you believe in such things?”

The man, brushing his long ears, continued his story.

“Have you heard of the few absolute masters who use the upper dantian in their heads? They get intoxicated by the natural energy descending from heaven and earth, and in the end, they can’t handle it, so they cross the Three Realms. That’s what ascending to immortality is. It’s a distorted story.”

“It seems he has indeed been punished by heaven.”

“A creature like you. To be a father and not know such things...”

The man frowned and clicked his tongue. The master waved his hand and stood up abruptly.

“From what I hear, you seem to be a martial artist. What is your lineage? No matter how noble your clan, your words and actions are extremely unpleasant to hear.”

“Lineage? You’re questioning my lineage? Even your great-great-grandfather would...!”

The man, spewing insults at the master, was driven out, and their conversation was never revealed outside the manor.

* *

“If he had grown up in the Sima Sect, he would have become a Heavenly Demon, and if he had grown up in Shaolin, his seventy-two martial arts would have doubled. But since he was born as an unwanted child in such a remote place, he will die young in this village, with no other way to live.”

The man shook his head and left.

“If he can awaken on his own, it might be different...”