It was unclear how much time had passed, nor was it certain what exactly had transpired. The young man slowly regained consciousness. Before him lay a gravel-strewn riverbank. With a grueling effort, he dragged his upper body out of the water and collapsed onto the sand, gasping for air. It took a long time for him to recover even a shred of strength.
Enduring the exhaustion and the agonizing soreness throughout his body, the youth stood up and scanned the surrounding debris. Nearby, by the edge of the turbulent river, the stiffened body of the old eunuch remained in a posture of shielding him, though his head had been crushed like a smashed watermelon, with messy, crimson flesh scattered everywhere. Tears welled up in the youth’s eyes, and he whispered to himself, "I have survived this calamity; I will surely conquer fate. Heavens, just you wait!"
After giving the old eunuch a simple burial and taking the storage bag the man had used along the journey, the youth began to search along the riverbank. Food was not a concern, as there was still some left in the storage bag, but he needed to address his safety immediately. While he lacked strength, his mind remained clear. Before night fell, he had to find a secure place.
Whether by coincidence or fate, the youth found a long-abandoned animal den near the upper reaches of the riverbank. He gathered some sturdy, dry branches to crudely seal the entrance and, overcome by exhaustion, lay down to rest. The night passed; though the roars of beasts echoed continuously through the mountain ravine, he remained unharmed. The physical toll of the previous three months began to fade, and he gradually returned to the state of a normal person, his mental state much improved now that he was no longer jolted by the movement of carriages.
Waking in the cool morning mist, the youth had a simple meal and some water before continuing his search upstream along the winding riverbank. Although he had lost contact with the entire party, he believed the commanding general would surely come looking for him; after all, this group was the only thing he could rely on.
Regarding the general of this unit, the youth remembered clearly: in the seventeenth year of Chunyuan, the Third-Rank Order-Keeping General Wu Tian had offended Ye Huan, the brother of Empress Ye Yingwen, and nearly faced execution. It was only by chance that he encountered the passing Consort Duan, which saved his life, though he was demoted to a Fifth-Rank Guerrilla General in the provinces. When Hua Tianxiong was granted the title of Prince, Wu Tian had volunteered to serve as his guard. Touched by his loyalty, Qin Emperor Hua Zhengchun promoted him to a Fifth-Rank Guerrilla General, commanding three thousand soldiers to protect Hua Tianxiong all the way to Shicheng.
The riverbank in the mountain ravine was lush with greenery, and the youth recognized many of the plants. Combined with the food in the storage bag, his sustenance was not a problem, but the cave where he had spent the night was far from safe. Beyond the threat of Demonic Beasts, even a slight rise in the mountain stream could flood it. Once he had calmed down and cleared his head, he decided to find a new shelter.
He continued his search along the riverbank, and about half a mile upstream, he spotted a circular cave on a cliff two meters above the gravel, hidden behind hanging vines. Had he not been looking up from below, he never would have noticed it.
With a heart full of trepidation, he tossed a stone into the cave. When no movement followed after a long while, he threw another. Once he confirmed there were no beasts inside, he stacked a few stones to use as steps and bravely climbed up, gripping the vines. It took every ounce of his remaining strength, but he finally hauled himself into the entrance.
After resting sufficiently at the mouth of the cave, he picked up a stick and ventured inside. About fifty meters in, the cave grew dark. He reached a set of stairs. Climbing another twenty steps or so, the interior suddenly brightened; night-luminescent pearls were embedded in the walls every five meters. After walking another fifty meters, he entered a stone chamber covering over three hundred square meters.
As he looked toward the center of the room, he was startled to see a figure in gray robes sitting cross-legged. At first glance, the person looked alive, but a closer look revealed there was no trace of breath—though the youth did not realize it at the time. Despite being only a First-Rank Martial Master, the youth was no stranger to cultivation; he had once been the Crown Prince of the Great Qin Empire and knew a thing or two about the world of cultivation. Before he was deposed, he had even reached the level of a First-Rank Martial Master.
Many practitioners, in their pursuit of the martial path, often opened cultivation dens in remote, secluded mountains. Disturbing such a person during their deep meditation was the greatest taboo—at best, it led to grave injuries; at worst, it could halt one's cultivation progress or lead to a deviation in their inner energy. Realizing he had interrupted a stranger’s meditation, the youth dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed three times.
"Senior, I am sorry. I, Hua Tianxiong, have interrupted your meditation. Please forgive me; I shall leave at once!" Seeing no reaction, he looked up in confusion, only then noticing that the figure was covered in dust and had clearly long since ceased to breathe.
"Wait, the Senior has passed away, but the body remains? What is going on? Senior, don't scare me. I stumbled into your dwelling by accident, merely trying to save my life. Please forgive me!" Seeing this, the youth kowtowed three more times before carefully standing up to leave.
Just as Hua Tianxiong was about to exit the chamber, he suddenly heard a long, drawn-out voice.
"Sigh, someone has finally come. And to think, it’s the Star Domain physique, unique among billions! Don’t go, kid!" Hua Tianxiong was shocked. He had finally convinced himself the man was dead, yet now someone was speaking. He stood there, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Kid, kid, have you been scared senseless?" The voice echoed through the stone chamber, yet the corpse remained motionless.
"Senior, are you a ghost or a human? Why can I hear you but see no movement?" Hua Tianxiong asked, trembling.
"You’re the ghost! I am a man, I am the Spirit Martial Alchemy God!"
"What? Spirit Martial Alchemy God? I have never heard of you," the youth said, puzzled.
"Hm, never heard of me? Is this not the Spirit Martial Continent? What is the cultivation level of the strongest martial artist here?"
"Spirit Martial Continent? I have never heard of it. I only know I am in the Great Qin Empire, a country on the East Continent. The highest cultivation I have heard of is the Martial Emperor, though I have never seen one. It is said that one appeared on the Huaxia Continent ten thousand years ago—the Huaxia Martial Emperor—but I do not know if any exist now. Currently, Martial Generals are the peak figures of the continent; a small country is lucky to have one. The four great empires and the various sects have many, though!"
"Hm, one hundred thousand years have passed. How did the Spirit Martial Continent become like this? Oh well, never mind. You know quite a bit, kid. How did you end up here?"
"I was being hunted and fell off a cliff, which is how I arrived here."
"Hunted? Kid, you’re unlucky indeed. Do you want revenge?"
"I would like to, but my meridians are shattered and my Dantian is broken. I cannot cultivate, so I cannot have revenge. I’ve stopped thinking about it—I’ll just live one day at a time," Hua Tianxiong replied helplessly.
"You certainly have an open mind. What if you could cultivate again? And what if you could reach a very high level? Let’s say, far surpassing the Martial Generals you mentioned—would you seek revenge then?"
"Well, if they stop bothering me, I have no need to seek them out. After all, in that environment, it was normal for them to harm me; if I were them, I might have done the same. But if they continue to hunt me, I will no longer endure it. I will make them pay a heavy price!" Although Hua Tianxiong knew re-cultivation was impossible, his true thoughts spilled out.
"I didn't expect you to see things so clearly. 'If others don't offend me, I won't offend them; if they offend me, I will surely strike back'!"
"Senior, why can I not see you move, only hear your voice?"
"I am inside the small cauldron behind me; you naturally cannot see me. My body suffered grievous wounds and can no longer contain my soul, and even my soul has been severely damaged. If no one had come in a few more years, I would have vanished into thin air."
"There is indeed a small cauldron," the youth said, walking behind the corpse to look, though he did not touch it immediately.
"Hm, your nature is honest and kind. You possess a treasure but are not greedy. You and I share a bond. Very well, I shall grant you a fortune. You have already kowtowed, which counts as taking me as your master. Take this cauldron and drip a drop of your blood onto it!"
"Thank you, Senior, but I cannot cultivate. I fear I will disappoint you!" Hua Tianxiong said honestly.
"Who says you cannot cultivate? You have the Star Domain physique, a one-in-a-billion talent that can only cultivate the Star Domain Formula. First, drip your blood onto the Star Domain Cauldron to establish a connection. Only then can I repair your meridians, recast your Dantian, and pass on my cultivation techniques and experience. My time is running out!"
"Very well, thank you, Master!" Hua Tianxiong thought that things had already come to this; there was no point in arguing. If he couldn't cultivate, he would soon die in these mountains anyway, so he had nothing to lose.
Hua Tianxiong carefully picked up the small cauldron, blew off the dust, and wiped it clean with his clothes. He bit his middle finger and dripped a drop of blood onto it. Suddenly, with a "hum," the cauldron began to absorb his blood of its own accord. Hua Tianxiong's mind went blank, and he nearly fainted.
He found himself inside a space with a radius of twenty meters, where a transparent, ethereal figure appeared before him.
"Where am I?" Hua Tianxiong asked subconsciously.
"You are inside the Star Domain Cauldron. You’re a lucky brat. This eighth-grade pill will repair your Dantian and meridians, and while I’m at it, I’ll reform your body. From now on, you will be able to cultivate!" The faint figure, looking exhausted, pointed to a jade box in front of Hua Tianxiong.
"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!" Hua Tianxiong did not reach for the box immediately; he knelt down to thank him again before carefully opening it. A purple pill, shimmering with wisps of spiritual energy, sat quietly in the center.
"Hm, good. It’s even better than I imagined. Take it quickly; you will soon recover your Dantian and meridians. It’s a good thing I had this pill left over from back then," the figure whispered to himself with a smile.
After kowtowing three more times, the youth stood up and swallowed the pill without hesitation. Instantly, it dissolved into liquid, flowing into his internal organs. Soon, Hua Tianxiong felt as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at his body. He collapsed to the ground, thinking that was it—he wouldn't see tomorrow's sun, whether by poison or soul-possession.
He did not know how much time passed, but when he awoke, he felt no abnormalities. Examining himself carefully, he realized he had leveled up—waking up, he had already reached the Peak First-Rank Martial Disciple stage. His body felt much stronger, possessing a full thirty bull-levels of force. Feeling this, he knew he would at least survive. The youth was lost in the excitement of being able to cultivate, spinning around twice—it was still not enough. After all, he had just reached adulthood, and who wouldn't be happy to suddenly gain such power?
It should be noted that on the Huaxia Continent, martial practitioners are divided into Martial Disciple, Martial Warrior, Martial Master, Greater Martial Master, and Martial General, with even higher levels that Hua Tianxiong had no way of knowing. Even this much he knew only because he had been a prince of the Qin State and received systematic training since childhood. Each rank is divided into nine stages. Martial Disciple, Martial Warrior, Martial Master, Greater Martial Master, and Martial General are categorized primarily by the strength they emit. For instance, a First-Rank Martial Disciple possesses the strength of ten bulls, roughly equivalent to a normal adult; a First-Rank Martial Warrior has one hundred bull-levels of force; a First-Rank Martial Master has one thousand; and a First-Rank Greater Martial Master has ten thousand.
Ranks above Martial General involve the external projection of true energy, which was currently beyond Hua Tianxiong's understanding, as he had never seen anyone above that level. Guards like Wang Jie, by the carriage earlier, were Ninth Stage Martial Warriors with nine hundred bull-levels of force, while the leader, General Wu Tian, was a Ninth-Rank Martial Master with nine thousand bull-levels of force—even then, they could only deflect a boulder by a foot.
"Thank you, Master, for the gift of a new life. From this day forward, I will go through fire and water for you, and never hesitate!" Hua Tianxiong said, his eyes filled with tears of excitement. It seemed he had met a good person; he hadn't been possessed or poisoned.
"You need not thank me so much; it is only because we both possess the Star Domain physique. If you truly wish to thank me, when you one day stand at the pinnacle of the universe, I hope you will help me slay my enemies," the figure said, sounding somewhat unwilling.
"Master, who is your enemy? Where are they?" Hua Tianxiong asked, puzzled.
"Kid, it is still too early for you to know. When that day comes, you will find out for yourself. Besides, the Martial Emperor is not the pinnacle of cultivation, but merely the beginning."
"Come here, kid. I will pass on everything I know to you!"
As Hua Tianxiong approached the figure, the old man extended a finger and pressed it against the youth's brow. Immediately, a vast amount of information surged into Hua Tianxiong.