Chapter 1

In the back mountain of Tai Xuan Sect, a serene place with lush trees, blooming flowers, and the sounds of birds and insects, a tall stone stood beside a gravel path. On top of the stone, a young man in a white robe sat cross-legged, cultivating.

The aura around the young man undulated, expanding and contracting with his breathing, following a mysterious pattern as it converged into his dantian.

The young man's name was Gu Fei, a disciple of the younger generation of Tai Xuan Sect.

Tai Xuan Sect was one of the three major Daoist sects on the Tenglong Continent, with a long history and ancient lineage. Gu Fei was an orphan. When he was eight years old, his master, Wan Xiancheng, brought him back to Tai Xuan Sect during his travels and took him as an indoor disciple.

Although he was in a Daoist sect, Gu Fei did not cultivate Daoist techniques but rather a method called the "Ancient Body Refinement Technique."

As the name suggests, the Ancient Body Refinement Technique was a method that used the body as its foundation to cultivate against the heavens. The martial arts and divine powers described in the technique were sufficient to achieve physical sanctity, and the ancient combat techniques could even slay immortals and gods.

However, once one began to cultivate this ancient secret technique, it was extremely difficult, and even if one failed, they could not switch to other cultivation methods.

Gu Fei, sitting cross-legged on the rock with his eyes closed, circulated the Ancient Body Refinement Technique, absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy into his dantian and accumulating it. When the spiritual energy in his dantian was compressed to a certain degree, he guided it to impact the meridians in his body.

Waves of spiritual energy gathered, whether from the essence of the surrounding plants or the moonlight and sunlight floating in the void. Gu Fei accepted them all, absorbing them into his dantian like a vast ocean.

Faintly, one could see fine streams of light swirling around him. As time passed, the dantian in Gu Fei's body began to emit a seven-colored aura, which was the result of the highly concentrated spiritual energy.

Gathering, impacting, gathering, impacting—waves of spiritual energy fluctuated within Gu Fei's body, repeatedly cycling. A torrent of seven-colored spiritual essence surged from his dantian, impacting the meridians in his body that had not yet been unblocked.

Each impact felt like a thousand-pound hammer striking inside his body, and each time, a look of pain appeared on his face.

The powerful spiritual energy rushing through his meridians brought a tearing pain, and the highly explosive spiritual energy from his dantian felt like countless sharp knives cutting through his meridians.

He gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his face, his hair sticking to his face in clumps, and his white robe drenched and clinging to his body.

He was currently experiencing the second threshold of the Ancient Body Refinement Technique—unblocking the meridians.

Unblocking the meridians involved gathering the spiritual energy from the world, condensing it in the dantian, and then using it to impact the acupoints on the meridians, making them unobstructed. This way, the spiritual energy could flow through the entire body, reaching every muscle and bone, thus refining the body and achieving a transformation.

The Ancient Body Refinement Technique was a method of cultivation against the heavens, and without a will as strong as a rock and relentless hard work, one could not even pass the first threshold of gathering spiritual energy.

The cultivation system on the Tenglong Continent was vast, but the realms of cultivation could be divided into five major stages: Awakening, Transcending the Mundane, Controlling the Void, Half-Deity, and Entering the Sacred. Each stage was further divided into nine levels, symbolizing the supreme ruler.

The Ancient Body Refinement Technique had four levels in the Awakening stage. The first step was to gather spiritual energy. Only by mastering the ability to gather spiritual energy could Gu Fei proceed to the next step of unblocking the meridians.

After unblocking the meridians, the next step was to refine the tendons. Once the tendons were refined, the next step was to forge the bones. When the bones were forged, the body would undergo a transformation, and upon successful transformation, Gu Fei would break through the constraints of cultivation and advance to the Transcending the Mundane stage.

"The gathered spiritual energy is still not strong enough!" Each failure brought a pain like being flayed alive. Gu Fei's lips were bitten until they bled, but he persisted.

"I have only unblocked two of the twelve main meridians. Beyond the twelve main meridians, there are the eight extraordinary meridians. When will I be able to unblock all the meridians and enter the stage of refining the tendons?"

The difficulty of cultivating the Ancient Body Refinement Technique was truly terrifying. Most people who practiced this powerful-sounding technique but made extremely slow progress ended up dying before they could achieve any significant results.

The sun was high in the sky, and the morning cultivation time was almost over. Gu Fei had sat there for the entire morning, and since two years ago, when he unblocked his second meridian, he had made no further progress!

The barrier to cultivation was like an insurmountable chasm before him.

Gu Fei was a bit disappointed but not discouraged. His personality was a bit like his master, Wan Xiancheng—stubborn as a bull, the type who never gives up.

"Let's give it one more try!" Gu Fei looked at the sky, and there was still enough time for one more attempt. He gritted his teeth, his face showing determination.

The technique circulated, and the spiritual energy that had not yet dispersed around him gathered again. In his dantian, a ball of spiritual energy slowly rotated, absorbing the spiritual energy from all directions.

A powerful energy fluctuation emanated from his body, and various star-like lights appeared in his dantian, which were highly compressed spiritual energy, untransformed by any means.

The spiritual energy quickly gathered in Gu Fei's dantian. When he felt a painful swelling, he steeled himself and forced the highly compressed spiritual energy in his dantian to surge towards the third of the twelve main meridians.

The powerful and explosive spiritual energy surged through Gu Fei's meridians, like a small stream suddenly flooded by a torrent. The meridians rapidly expanded, almost bursting from the flood.

"Boom!" It felt like a thunderclap in Gu Fei's ears. The flood of spiritual energy from his dantian fiercely impacted the barrier of the meridian.

Gu Fei's body shook violently. He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swaying as he fell off the rock.

Lying on the ground in the grass at the base of the rock, Gu Fei looked up at the sky, his lips stained with a vivid red. He gazed through the swaying trees at the wisps of smoke and the occasional flying spirit bird in the sky.

His eyes showed no discouragement or despair, only a determination that was almost frightening.

Slowly, he got up from the ground, wiped the blood from his lips, and looked towards the front mountain. On the mountain path, a few figures were already heading towards the front mountain.

These were Tai Xuan Sect disciples who, like him, had come to the back mountain early to cultivate.

Tai Xuan Mountain rose high into the clouds, with mist swirling around the peak. The halls on the mountain were visible and hidden, the terrain majestic, making it a rare spiritual mountain on the continent.

High-level cultivators practiced on the mountain, while young disciples like Gu Fei, who had been in the sect for less than ten years and had low cultivation, could only practice at the foot of the mountain.

"Hmm! Still no breakthrough!" Gu Fei examined his internal condition and found that the barrier of the third meridian had only loosened slightly, far from being broken through.

"Eight years, and I've only reached the stage of unblocking the meridians in the Ancient Body Refinement Technique, with only the third level of the Awakening stage. Sigh!" Gu Fei gave a self-deprecating smile. "Even the lowest-ranking disciple, Wang Yuanzhi, from another branch has reached the fifth level of the Awakening stage!"

Thinking of Wang Yuanzhi, who often caused him trouble, a look of disgust appeared on Gu Fei's face. The disciples from other branches cultivated Daoist techniques and made rapid progress, while his technique progressed as slowly as a snail.

In the cultivation world, only the strong were respected. With low cultivation, one could only be a target for bullying.

Gu Fei tidied his clothes and then followed the mountain path to the front mountain. On both sides of the quiet mountain path, unknown flowers bloomed.

A faint grassy scent and a hint of floral fragrance occasionally wafted into Gu Fei's nose.

The failure to break through the meridian barrier had caused significant damage to Gu Fei's body, and he was inevitably injured. However, he did not take the injury seriously because, after cultivating the Ancient Body Refinement Technique, his body's self-healing ability was astonishing.

When Gu Fei reached the front mountain, he encountered more disciples, but none of them greeted him. They either ignored him or glanced at him with disdain and walked away.

Gu Fei remained expressionless, calm in the face of the contemptuous looks from some of his fellow disciples.

"Hey, isn't this our cultivation genius Gu Fei? No, he should be called a cultivation failure, ha ha..." Suddenly, a loud, mocking laugh came from ahead.

Three young men, dressed in white robes and white sashes, walked towards Gu Fei. The leader laughed loudly, and the two behind him chuckled softly.

Seeing these three young men, a look of disgust flashed in Gu Fei's eyes. He ignored them and turned onto a side path leading to a pine forest.

"Hey, failure disciple, where are you going in such a hurry?" The three young men followed Gu Fei, laughing and joking. On the path, there were also seven or eight other young disciples.

However, when these disciples saw the three young men mocking Gu Fei, they quickened their pace, trying to avoid them.

"Who are you calling a failure!" Gu Fei suddenly stopped, turned around, and shouted at the three young men. His shout drew the attention of the nearby disciples.

"So what if I call you a failure? Not only are you a failure, but your master is also a failure. Hmph! What ancient body refinement technique, achieving physical sanctity? It's just a pile of garbage. No one would pick it up if it were thrown on the ground, but you and your master treat it like a treasure. You must have been kicked in the head, you're so stupid."

The leader of the three young men was taken aback by Gu Fei's sudden shout but quickly began to berate him, spitting out insults with a torrent of words.

"Hey! Wang Yuanzhi, you've gone too far!" Gu Fei clenched his fists tightly, the knuckles turning white from the force. The anger in his chest erupted like a volcano.