The Calm Before the Storm

After he met with Long Qing Yuan, Yu Tian tossed the box onto a table in his room. He was slightly annoyed that the old man was telling him what to do.

Then again, Yu Tian did want to protect his mother. Li Mei Ling also seemed rather disappointed when she saw his martial spirit, and he felt a bit guilty.

If he stayed at a low rank, there wasn't much he could really do unless he started cultivating again. Yu Tian's body was still that of a human, and even all the techniques in his memory wouldn't be enough to beat those with high cultivations.

One direct hit and he'd explode like a dropped watermelon.

"Ugh." Frustrated, Yu Tian grabbed the box and opened it again. He started stuffing all of its contents down his mouth, chewing furiously.

"Hey, it actually tastes pretty good." Yu Tian's eyes brightened up. The leaves were refreshing and cooling, reminding him of a spring breeze. The fruits were slightly sweet and juicy, with a nice, crisp texture.

To his surprise, the pain in his back and bottom has already subsided. The natural Qi of this continent seemed to have been reduced, but the vegetation here still contained a good amount of energy.

Yu Tian began to focus on refining the energy he has just consumed. Closing his eyes, another memory suddenly popped into his mind.

...

A young teen of about 13 trudged along in the dark, freezing snow. His eyes seemed lifeless, with various rags wrapped around his body.

Many scars decorated across his bare legs that were exposed to the elements. The teen's hair was also unkempt and messy.

Surrounding him were many large houses of the upper class. None took pity on the teen, but their piles of trash were tossed outside their front gate.

Their lanterns illuminated the night, giving off a faint feeling of warmth. Squatting down, he dug through the garbage and found a half-eaten fish.

A brief flicker of light passed his eyes as he scarfed it down violently, bones and all, ignoring the putrid stench. He didn't care about the taste, as long as it was something that filled his tummy.

Choking slightly, he washed it down with a handful of snow that he melted in his mouth.

"Shoo! Go away!" The teen was suddenly struck in the back of the head by a club, landing hard onto the ground.

The guards of the home weren't pleased that another orphan was digging through the trash, making a huge mess. This was the third time today they had to come out to deal with these beggars.

"Don't come back again, or you'll get a beating so bad that you wished you were dead." The two men warned before returning to the gate.

The teen slowly crawled up and limped away, leaving a bloody trail behind. He ducked into the forests nearby.

Crashing down beside a large tree, the young teen placed a handful of snow on the wound to stop the bleeding. To his surprise, it suddenly froze over, and immediately numbed the pain.

The group he had been thieving and surviving with were all captured on a bad run a few days ago. He doesn't know what happened to them, but he didn't stay around to find out.

Escaping into the neighbouring town, his only source of food was from these trash piles that he scavenged through at night. During the day, if he was caught, the teen knew he would be subjected to a fate worse than dying outright.

He saw children and teens around his age being sold as slaves. If they're lucky, they're sent to harsh labour in the mines, usually worked to death from the brutal conditions.

If unlucky... The teen had seen enough corpses being disposed with the trash from several places he knew to avoid. Some nobles were outright monsters, deriving pleasure from depravities.

This world was cruel and harsh. The wealthy and powerful controlled everything and they could do whatever they wanted. That's just how the world worked.

Feeling exhausted, he nearly drifted off to sleep.

"Growl."

Opening his eyes, he was alerted by the sound.

The teen couldn't see around him, but their yellow eyes shone brightly even in the darkness. At least four wolves were surrounding where he was, trapping him against the tree.

Was this how he would die?

Ever since he was born, there was only hardship after hardship. Roaming around as an orphan, he fought hunger, the bitter elements, and even fellow children in order to survive.

The teen was frustrated with this world. It was too unfair if everyone's lives were already predestined at birth. A cursed fate.

Picking up a branch, he snapped it in half with a grunt.

"Come." With a smile that borderlines on madness in the pitch black night, the teen fearlessly charged at the creatures.

...

"Yu Tian! Yu Tian!" The former god woke up to his mother shaking him. Somehow, he had fallen asleep while sitting up.

"M-Mom I-I'm A-Awake now." Yu Tian stuttered while being roughed around. Seeing her son was fine, Li Mei Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

"You weren't waking up no matter what I did." His mother informed him.

Li Mei Ling also pointed to the empty box. "What was inside that box? Did you eat something bad?"

"No, it was just cultivation resources that Master Long gifted me." Yu Tian explained as he shook his head.

"I already refined it all. I think I'm already in the second level." The former god also noticed this and told his mother.

"Oh good. That's very good." She smiled happily.

Noticing her cheerful demeanour, Yu Tian raised an questioning eyebrow.

Seeing her son giving her a weird look, Li Mei Ling laughed and picked him up. "I just spoke with your grandfather. I never knew you had that much talent in you for cultivation!"

"Y-Your child understands." Yu Tian slowly spoke while being swung around like a ragdoll due to his mother's happiness.

"The Divine War Physique!" She giggled in happiness. "A unique physique of the highest tier!"

He decided not to tell Li Mei Ling about the other things.

It wasn't because he didn't trust her enough, but rather the former god didn't like how she celebrated by throwing him around like a toy. On the bright side, he thinks he can use this as an excuse to go out and explore.

"Mother, Master Long also told me to absorb more natural Qi from nature." Yu Tian innocently implied.

"Alright, alright." Too happy to notice the lie, Li Mei Ling finally put her son down. "You can go outside to cultivate."

"Remember to prepare for the clan tournament in 3 months though." She reminded him sternly.

"You must practice hard!" Seeing Yu Tian nod obediently, Li Mei Ling finally allowed her son to go.

Running out of the room, Yu Tian wore an evil grin as he was finally able to escape.

...

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and there was only a week until the annual tournament for the younger generation. As expected, Yu Tian did nothing except explore and play in the area behind the Li Clan's backyard.

"Ah~" Yu Tian breathed in the cool, fresh morning air. The beauty of the landscape calmed his heart, and he admired it greatly.

The tall, snow-capped mountains towered remotely in the distance, shining from the residue from mining Starlight ore. Tall, dense foliage as far as the eye could see stretched along the base, like a massive green carpet.

Small ponds and rivers dotted across the vast landscape, reflecting off the rising sunlight like bright crystals. With the various species of birds flying overhead, it created such a picturesque, almost magical view.

There weren't any demonic beasts in these regions unless one went in much deeper to the forbidden zones. After his usual breakfast and skipping his weekly milk, Yu Tian planned to secretly sneak into the first zone.

A small dagger and wineskin of water were strapped across his waist. He also carried a light sack of snacks for the journey.

Running and dashing to the top of a tree, anyone watching would be shocked at the small boy's smooth movements. He had been practicing this for most of the 2 months time.

In Yu Tian's past life, this technique was called "Qi Gong" and allowed a person to move at a fast and efficient pace, utilising the whole body. These movements were very effective in climbing and traversing across obstacles.

He had learned this technique in his travels. Not only did it improve his balance and footwork, but his ability to fight in these settings also improved significantly.

Jumping and swinging through the tall trees, Yu Tian eventually arrived at the edge of the forbidden zone, separated by a mountain path. From here on out, Rank 1 demonic beasts could appear anytime.

Yu Tian confidently stepped in.

"Meow." Qiu Xue popped out from his body and climbed onto his shoulder.

Yu Tian chuckled. His martial spirit seemed to come out and leave whenever she wanted to. Taking a quick break to scratch Qiu Xue's chin and feed her a little bit of dried fish, he continued on his exploration.

...

Yu Tian climbed to the top of a large boulder, sipping water. He hadn't across any demonic beasts yet, which somewhat disappointed him.

His body was still that of a young boy. Even if his soul was a god who lived for countless amounts of years, Yu Tian had to take breaks like these when he began to feel fatigued, which was rather frequent, much to his annoyance.

"This sucks." He mumbled on a plain steamed bun.

Qiu Xue was curled up in his lap, having an afternoon nap. Having travelled the entire morning, it was already well into noon. At this rate, Yu Tian had to head back before nightfall or face his mother's wrath.

Suddenly, Qiu Xue's ears popped up. The kitten became fully awake, which also alerted Yu Tian. He soon heard the sounds of fighting nearby.

"Let's go see what's going on then." Packing up his items, Yu Tian launched into the trees again with his martial spirit on his shoulder.

...

Li Hao Ran sat in the lotus position in an isolated room, observed by both Li Chang and Li Cheung. The young boy's body was now radiating with the colour of bright red, his pyro serpent rotating around him.

"How is Ran'er?" Li Cheung asked his younger brother.

Li Hao Ran's birthday had passed a few days ago, and now he was 10 years old. Both grand elders had invested whatever resource they could obtain on him, as well as mentoring him through the techniques found in their clan library.

This resulted in his progression through the levels being extremely fast, and now he was already at the bottleneck in this short period of time. Once Li Hao Ran stepped into the Qi Warrior stage, he could also begin to use the techniques and arts that require Qi.

A small wave of energy erupted from the boy, surprising them both. Li Hao Ran slowly opened his eyes and stepped off the bed to greet them. "Grandfather, second grandfather."

"I have successfully stepped into the Qi Warrior stage." He notified both of the elders excitedly.

"Good! Good!" Li Chang was extremely pleased, along with Li Cheung.

In just almost 3 months, Li Hao Ran had ascended all 10 levels from the Qi Novice stage, managing to breakthrough to the next rank. Achieving the Qi Warrior stage at only 10 years old, his future was already paved for great success.

Not just a chance to enter a top 10 school like Celestial Academy. Li Hao Ran had a chance to attend the top 6, maybe even the top 5 schools in the Holy Qilin Empire.

Putting both wrinkly hands on the young boy's shoulders, Li Cheung looked into his eyes. "Ran'er. You know what you must do right?"

"I will injure Yu Tian during the competition because he is bad for our clan." Li Hao Ran nodded obediently.

"Very good!" Li Cheung nodded back in satisfaction.

All of their preparation and investment had been worth it. "Don't worry about anyone stopping you, your second grandfather and grandfather will protect you."

He smiled coldly. "Soon, we will save our family by getting rid of the parasites."