2. His suffering

Back in the mortal world, the cries of a baby were heard in the entire renowned and powerful residence of the Feng family.

"WAH, WAH, WAH!"

"My lady, it's a boy!" Said a maid speaking to the lady she served.

"Ah, ah, that's great, ah, ah." The lady responded between breaths after giving birth even though she had always been physically weak.

At this moment, a mean-looking but also handsome middle-aged man entered the room.

"My lord!" All the maids greeted and bowed after this figure entered.

It was none other than the patriarch and powerhouse in the martial lord realm of the Feng family, Feng Delun!

Without even sparing a glance at his wife, he walked toward the boy that the maid was holding, pricked his finger and dropped blood on a white stone.

When the blood came in contact with the stone, nothing happened. No reaction.

At that moment, the patriarch released a "Tch, worthless." and then disappeared from the room.

The woman, who was unknowingly on her last breaths after exhausting all of her energy from childbirth, said in an almost non-audible voice

"You shall be called Ace". The beautiful woman with white hair and light blue eyes declared.

And with tears flowing down her eyes regretting she wouldn't be able to see her child grow up any longer, her last breath was heard.

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Nine years later, in a courtyard completely in ruin, a child whose bones could be seen through his skin was laying under a tree situated in the corner of his residence.

Even though he was obviously malnourished, the light burning deep into his eyes never ceased. Being at the bottom of the food chain like this in a world he soon understood that as long as you are weak, you won't accomplish anything, Made him long for power, not to be recognized by his father like normal children would normally long, but to conquer everything, and stop his suffering.

Growing up in an environment like that made him mature way earlier. You wouldn't be able to see a child in him if you spoke to him.

And that is why he knows that his father is just a greedy and power-hungry man that wouldn't spend a single coin for someone he wouldn't gain benefits from. Feelings of love were just a nuisance to his thirst for power.

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Today was Ace's 10th birthday. He was waiting for the servants' dinner time to end so he could find some leftovers to eat.

He kept more food from yesterday and the day before so he could make a small feast to celebrate his decade of existence and suffering.

Since his birth, he was left fending for himself, without an allowance, food, or clothes, and even his courtyard was in ruin, not stopping the wind and other natural elements to pass through. No one cared about him since the patriarch never even looked at him.

This house was just full of greedy people like his father. No benefits equal no help.

Since it was known he had no talent, he was left with a bleak future.

The stone that his father dropped his blood onto when he was a kid was known as a 'talent tester'. Depending on the colour that the stone would change into after being dropped blood onto, it would describe the level of the meridians of the tester, so basically his talent for the rest of his life.

White, or the stone staying the same means no talent

blue means poor talent

yellow means average talent

red means genius

purple means a once in a thousand-year prodigy.

For someone that doesn't get a reaction like Ace, would mean someone without meridians, doomed to never embark on the path of cultivation.

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A couple of hours later, in his courtyard.

His little feast placed on the single table inside his house contained leftover soup and even a little meat! It was really rare for Ace to eat meat!

He was happy that he at least got to eat meat on his birthday.

He ate it all, then went to bed.

But close to midnight, Ace woke up with a severe headache. The pain was nowhere close to anything he ever felt as he felt his skull splitting open and someone trying to force something into it.

Ace was actually proud of his ability to resist pain. He never cried or made a sound if he hurt himself.

But this time, it was horrible. He was forcing himself to not faint as much as possible since the pain was so unbearable.

This torture lasted a couple of minutes, but for Ace every second felt like hours.

That's when he heard a 'Pop' noise and then fainted.