Author’s Note: Chapter One will be a bit long and rambling, as it introduces the main character and crucial concepts for understanding the story. To follow the narrative easily, it’s best to read this chapter carefully.
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The Cultivation World, from ancient times until now, has always been a cruel world where the strong prey on the weak.
A cultivator’s realms, from lowest to highest, are as follows:
Spirit Gathering Realm (9 levels)
Mortal Shedding Realm (Early, Mid, Late, Peak Stage)
Core Formation Realm (Early, Mid, Late, Peak Stage)
Nascent Soul Realm (Early, Mid, Late, Diluted Soul Stage)
To cultivate, a cultivator must first possess a spirit root. The stronger the spirit root, the further a cultivator can advance on the path of cultivation.
From the Mortal Shedding Realm onwards, each time a cultivator advances to a major realm, their lifespan will increase by a certain amount.
People say cultivation seeks immortality, but whether that is true, no one has ever verified.
The setting of our story will be the Đại Việt Continent, a vast land bordering the sea. Let’s begin the story.
***
Hoả Thành is a small city under the jurisdiction of Thanh Hoả Sect, located in the Central Region of the Đại Việt Continent.
Thanh Hoả Sect is the dominant cultivation sect within a 2 km radius around Hoả Thành, with a Mortal Shedding Realm ancestor presiding. Because Thanh Hoả Sect is the largest sect within 2 km of Hoả Thành, for their children to become disciples of Thanh Hoả Sect is a source of great pride for the local people. Therefore, the annual disciple selection ceremony of Thanh Hoả Sect is the most important day of the year for the locals.
Today was precisely that momentous day. Groups of boys and girls continuously streamed in and out of Thanh Hoả Sect’s main gate.
Those who came out displayed two types of emotions: one type was joyous and elated, the other was whimpering and wailing. Of course, the joyous ones were those whose spirit root test met the requirements to be accepted as disciples of Thanh Hoả Sect. The rest, naturally, were the opposite: they failed the test and were not accepted by Thanh Hoả Sect.
However, among them, one boy was an exception. He was neither happy nor sad. He looked at Thanh Hoả Sect and muttered quietly, “Is cultivation really that great? I don’t believe there’s no other way to become strong besides cultivation. Just you wait, when the time comes, I’ll shove what you call ‘immortals’ down into their asses and shit on their faces, making all of you lose face!” After saying this, he waved his hand in a very cool manner, then quickly walked away into the distance. He didn’t actually want to leave like that; he hadn’t even finished cursing. But when he said those words just now, he saw a girl staring intently at him. So he pretended to be aloof and left, otherwise, he’d be in trouble if he got beaten up.
The boy who just spouted nonsense was named Huỳnh Trấn Thiên, 10 years old this year. He had a distinctly angular face, sharp eyes, a high nose, and thin lips, giving him a rather effeminate appearance. Don’t misunderstand, he’s not gay; all of this is how he’s been since birth.
During the spirit root test, he learned he possessed a ‘waste’ spirit root. It wasn’t truly a ‘waste’ spirit root, but his spirit root didn’t belong to the five elements, wasn’t an abnormal spirit root, and more importantly, couldn’t absorb spiritual energy. Therefore, Thanh Hoả Sect concluded that he had a ‘waste’ spirit root.
Huỳnh Trấn Thiên was an orphan. His parents died when he was seven, the cause of death being a fatal heart attack brought on by witnessing a battle between Spirit Gathering Realm cultivators. From then on, his aunt took him in, and all the property his parents left behind was seized by her. Having experienced many shocking events since childhood, his mind matured very early. His sole pursuit was to become strong enough to protect himself.
As he recalled, cultivators from the Mortal Transcendence Realm upwards would gain increased lifespan. Reaching the legendary Nascent Soul Realm would allow one to ascend as an immortal, achieving eternal youth and immortality. Being very fond of life and afraid of death, his primary goal was to become stronger to protect himself. But now, the news that he couldn't cultivate made his dream vanish into thin air.
Huỳnh Trấn Thiên headed back towards his home – which was, in fact, his aunt's home now. If his dream had vanished, then so be it. It was probably best to just go home and farm; it would be simpler.
Walking past an overgrown field, he suddenly felt a stomach ache and immediately darted into a nearby bush to relieve himself (yes, to take a dump, fellow daoists).
Plop plop plop... Splattt!
A foul stench wafted out. From a bush not far from Huỳnh Trấn Thiên, a cry of surprise rang out.
"Ugh, what a stench! How utterly unhygienic!"
Immediately afterwards, a man and a woman, their clothes disheveled, scrambled out of the bush and quickly disappeared from sight.
Huỳnh Trấn Thiên glared in the direction the two had fled and cursed, "Who in this world doesn't poop? And if you poop, of course there's a smell! You two were screwing in public, isn't that unhygienic? And you dare talk about me? Truly, a shameless man and woman, just like dogs mating, both wanting to get it on in the wild!"
Suddenly, Huỳnh Trấn Thiên noticed a black box in the bush where he had been relieving himself. It had exquisite, beautiful patterns, and one look told him it was expensive. He was quite greedy for money, so without a word, he tucked the box into his sleeve. He then finished his business and ran straight home.
Back home, he greeted his aunt and uncle as usual. Once that was done, he excitedly went to his room and pulled out the black box to scrutinize it. He wanted to see what material it was made of and how much it could be sold for.
"So beautiful!" Huỳnh Trấn Thiên exclaimed, gazing at the exquisite black box in his hand. "This will surely fetch a lot of money. My luck is truly good this time; I actually found a treasure while taking a dump!"
He touched it, smelled it, and even licked it. For now, he couldn't conclude what material it was made of. And since he didn't know the material, he had no intention of selling it yet. He wanted to sell it for its true value. If he sold it now and it turned out to be cheaper than its actual worth, he'd be eating shit.
Huỳnh Trấn Thiên looked out the window, then sadly muttered, "Could it be that I really can't cultivate? Am I truly destined to die of a heart attack like my parents, just from seeing cultivators fight? Or should I cultivate martial arts? Alright, that's decided then. Tomorrow, I'll go find the Fierce Tiger Gang and ask to join."
Having said that, he hugged the black box to his chest, climbed into bed, and immediately fell asleep.
That night, the black box he held in his hand suddenly emitted flickering black qi, which then drilled into his body. After a moment, everything returned to normal.
The next morning, Huỳnh Trấn Thiên woke up feeling a bit unusual. He was suspicious for a moment, but then he simply dismissed it, figuring the sensation was just because he had just woken up.
He washed his face to clear his head, then headed to the kitchen to find something to eat. After that, he stepped out of the house and set off towards the Qinghuo Sect.
He hadn't gone far when a sweet voice rang out, "Brother Tian, where are you going? Take Na Na with you! Na Na has some happy news to tell you today."
He saw a ten-year-old girl, very cute with a beautiful face, high nose, and big eyes. She was Na Na, the neighbor's daughter. Huang Zhen Tian often played with her, so they had a very good relationship.
Huang Zhen Tian, acting like an adult, said, "I'm going to take care of some business. What are you doing here, Na Na?"
Hearing him, the little girl remembered her main purpose. She quickly and happily said, "Na Na's spirit root test passed, and the Qinghuo Sect accepted me as a disciple! Brother Tian, don't you think Na Na is amazing? Oh, and did Brother Tian's test succeed?"
Hearing her question, Huang Zhen Tian quickly coughed a few times. He put on an air of superiority and said, "Haaaiizzz, my spirit root is too outstanding, so the Qinghuo Sect didn't dare to accept me as a disciple. I'll probably have to find a much larger sect to take me in."
Hearing this, Na Na, full of admiration, threw herself into his arms and said, "Brother Tian is the most outstanding! Remember to protect Na Na in the future, okay?"
Huang Zhen Tian gently stroked her head and said, "Alright, if I'm strong, I'll protect Na Na." After saying this, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. In the future, when immortals and mortals were separated, he wondered if Na Na would still cling to him and act spoiled like this.
After bidding farewell to Na Na, he continued towards the Menghu Gang. After all, joining a gang meant receiving a martial arts cultivation technique. Who knew, perhaps he was a martial arts prodigy, and in a few years, he might even become a Xiantian expert. At that time, even a 9th-layer Ju Ling Realm cultivator would have to show him some respect.
With that thought, he finally arrived in front of the Menghu Gang.
HCVVCH
The Ascension Cultivation Scroll is still being written. Fellow daoists who are following it don't need to worry about it being dropped.