Chapter 3: The path forward

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged in the cavern, his breathing steady. The golden core inside his dantian pulsed with power, sending waves of warmth through his meridians. It was an unfamiliar but intoxicating sensation—one he had never experienced before.

He slowly clenched his fist.

"This power… it's real."

Before today, he had been nothing but a weakling, a boy mocked and bullied because his dantian was broken. Now, he possessed something greater—a cultivation path unlike any other.

But the question remained: How strong had he become?

Jiang Chen stood up, his gaze settling on a large boulder nearby. In the past, he wouldn't have been able to move it even an inch. He stepped forward, took a deep breath, and punched.

BOOM!

The boulder shattered into pieces.

Jiang Chen's eyes widened. He had expected some improvement, but this… this was

Chapter 3: The Path Forward

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged in the cavern, his breathing steady. The golden core inside his dantian pulsed with power, sending waves of warmth through his meridians. It was an unfamiliar but intoxicating sensation—one he had never experienced before.

He slowly clenched his fist.

"This power… it's real."

Before today, he had been nothing but a weakling, a boy mocked and bullied because his dantian was broken. Now, he possessed something greater—a cultivation path unlike any other.

But the question remained: How strong had he become?

Jiang Chen stood up, his gaze settling on a large boulder nearby. In the past, he wouldn't have been able to move it even an inch. He stepped forward, took a deep breath, and punched.

BOOM!

The boulder shattered into pieces.

Jiang Chen's eyes widened. He had expected some improvement, but this… this was monstrous! He felt lighter, faster—every part of his body bursting with strength.

"This must be the power of the Heaven-Defying Sacred Art," he muttered.

His mind flashed back to the knowledge burned into his soul. Unlike ordinary cultivation methods, which slowly refined Qi over time, this technique destroyed the user's previous foundation and rebuilt it stronger. The more one overcame destruction, the greater the rebirth.

"So that's why I survived."

His fall from the cliff hadn't killed him—it had been the catalyst for his rebirth!

But before he could celebrate, reality struck him. The ones who pushed him… were still out there.

The arrogant young masters, the so-called geniuses of his village, had tried to end him. And even if they thought he was dead, it wouldn't be long before trouble found its way to him again.

"I can't stay here."

If he wanted to truly forge his own path, he had to leave the cavern, return to the world, and grow even stronger.

He turned toward the entrance of the cave, the golden core within him surging with power. The old Jiang Chen had died here. The new one… was ready to rise.

It was time to leave the shadows and step into destiny

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