The moonlight curved gently over the riverbank that night.
A man knocked on the gate of the manor.
His face was one of otherworldly beauty, framed by long, tapered ears.
He said he would stay as a guest for the night in exchange for his medical skills, and he called for the owner of the manor.
With his mysterious features and a scent like fresh leaves, the gatekeeper dared not treat him with disrespect.
The manor’s owner happened to have a newborn baby. He accepted the man with the long ears, asking him to check the baby’s pulse.
Holding the infant and looking down intently, the man spoke.
“It will be difficult for this child to live past twenty. It is simply his nature.”
“Are you saying he will die young? This child was born after his mother passed away; is this divine punishment?”
At the owner’s words, the man frowned as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.
“Is that something you should ask a doctor? No matter how ignorant you are in this backwater…”
“What is the condition?” the manor’s owner asked, clearing his throat.
“You are still a father, after all. I’ve never seen such extreme blockage in the Tianmen Acupoint in my life. It’s as if his skull is completely open.”
“Seven Profound Frozen Meridians was described as a condition where the blood points harden and cause death.”
“You’re not entirely ignorant. This child’s crown Acupoint is excessively open, which will lead to his death. It’s commonly referred to as Returning to the Source.”
“Returning to the Source? Isn’t that when a high-level Taoist ascends to the celestial realm?”
“Do you believe in such things?”
The man stroked his long ears and continued.
“You may have heard that some supreme martial artists use the upper Dantian in their heads. They get intoxicated by the energy of nature descending from the heavens, but eventually they can’t handle it and cross the Yellow Springs River. That is what Returning to the Source really is—a distorted story.”
“It seems like divine punishment.”
“What a pathetic man. And you call yourself a father…”
The man clicked his tongue, furrowing his brow. The manor’s owner stood up abruptly, pointing a finger.
“I have heard enough. You seem to be a man of the martial realm, but what is your background? No matter how noble your lineage, your words are highly offensive.”
“Background? You question my background? Even if your grandfather’s grandfather came here, to me…”
The man, who was speaking so rudely to the manor’s owner, was thrown out, and their conversation never reached beyond the manor.
“Had he grown up in the Asura Palace, he would have become the Asura Sovereign. If he had been raised in Vajra Temple, the One Hundred Eight Arhat Arts would have doubled. But being born in such a humble place, hated by all, he will die young with no way to survive.”
The man shook his head and left.
“Unless he awakens on his own… then maybe…”