The First Chapter of the Wind
After a long while, Merritt finally managed to calm himself down and thought, "Looks like I'll have to live here for now..."
Living means needing food, shelter, and transportation—and the foundation of all that is money!
He had left all his bank cards and identification behind to avoid being tracked by that girl. Originally, with that one million euros, living wouldn't have been an issue. But now that money was gone. All he had left were a few hundred euros and the four thousand local currency he had exchanged.
What could four thousand even buy?
On top of that, not only had he lost all his powers, but his physical condition was worse than the average person's.
Earning money the way he used to was out of the question.
He had to find a job that didn't require much physical effort. Otherwise, once his cash ran out, would the mighty Azure Dragon really resort to stealing or begging?
Suddenly!
Just as his emotions began to settle and he started thinking about his next steps, something deep within his mind was triggered.
It was a memory.
Or more like something passed down to him by a remnant soul, which had stayed hidden until now.
For some reason, Merritt could only see the first chapter.
"The Chapter of Wind..."
He stared blankly at the memory, almost fainting. "Invisibility? X-ray vision? What... This has to be a joke!"
Even though it was only the first chapter, he found it completely unbelievable. Or rather, it had already gone way beyond what he thought was possible.
There was no doubt that Merritt had once reached an insane level of martial arts prowess, ranking among the top in the global martial arts world.
But what even is martial arts?
It's about refining internal energy and turning it into actual power.
Top-tier martial artists can project their energy outward, letting them kill someone from ten steps away without even breaking a sweat.
However...
Internal energy is for combat—not for doing magical stuff like what's written here.
Take the first chapter, "Chapter of Wind," for example. Besides combat use, it supposedly lets you see things from really far away...
Isn't that just spying?
Creepy! Perverted! Gross!
But... if it really was that amazing, just thinking about it was kinda exciting.
As Merritt read on, he was stunned.
Just the first chapter, "Chapter of Wind," took the creator of this supreme art thirty years to master. Can you imagine? Someone that insanely talented—capable of even creating a secret technique like this—still needed thirty years just to master the first chapter!
How do you even train for that?
Merritt's excitement disappeared instantly.
He hadn't really believed this technique was real anyway, considering how ridiculous the abilities sounded. And now, seeing that it would take thirty years? He gave up right away. No way was he spending decades mastering just the first chapter of some mystical technique.
Instead, he figured it'd be better to go back to practicing the martial arts he already knew. With his past experience, it wouldn't take more than a few years to get somewhere serious again.
"That's it!"
Merritt finally made up his mind: give up on those unreachable so-called secret techniques. Starting tomorrow, he'd look for a job to survive and then go back to training in martial arts.
Oh, right!
Since he couldn't return to Europe for now, once he settled in, he could try to find his childhood friend—the little girl named Hamilton—using the few clues he still remembered.
Yes, Merritt had lived in Bien City back when he was with Ancient Splendor!
After going through so much, his weak body couldn't take it anymore, and he passed out almost the second he laid down.
The next morning.
When he woke up, he tidied himself up from head to toe. Looking at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, Merritt shook his head and sighed.
He still preferred his old face. Being good-looking didn't fill your stomach, and this pretty-boy look... it just made him seem like a pushover.
He didn't like being seen that way—but he didn't have a choice now.
After freshening up, he walked out of the tiny hotel room. Just thinking about the $10-a-night room rate made him even more anxious.
In recent years, Merritt's life had been nothing short of luxurious. But many years ago, his life was so rough that even the word "harsh" didn't really cover it. He didn't have any fancy requirements for his living conditions—even a small motel was fine. The real problem was, he only had a little over four thousand bucks. How long could he even stay in a motel with that?
"First, find a job. Once I have a job, I'll figure the rest out," Merritt thought.
This was a small motel in a slum area, which explained why the rent was so cheap. They didn't even ask for an ID to check in. Around the slum, there were also a bunch of shady internet cafes where you could get online without showing any ID. But… could he find a job without one?
With the skills he had picked up over the years, Merritt was qualified for a lot of different jobs. But when he started making calls to ask around, every single one required an ID.
Sure, there were some jobs that didn't need one—like working as a laborer on a construction site or waiting tables at a small restaurant. But his body just wasn't up for that kind of work.
Coming out of one of those sketchy internet cafes, Merritt looked seriously frustrated.
He had a ton of skills in all kinds of industries, so getting a job shouldn't have been that hard. But now, not having an ID had become his biggest roadblock.
Suddenly!
Right as he stepped out of the internet cafe, he heard a loud, sharp screech coming from the street nearby. From the sound of it, he knew instantly—it was a car accident.
But at the exact same moment, something really weird popped into his head…
The spirit lingering in his mind had once mentioned he'd been hunted because he had gotten hold of some priceless treasure. But where was it now?
Merritt figured the treasure must've been lost or taken when the spirit escaped. Either way, he hadn't really planned to practice any secret techniques, and he wasn't that into some mysterious treasure either.
But now…
Can a person actually see inside their own body? Obviously not. But right now, he could clearly see a gray bead inside his mind, giving off a super faint glow.
And not just that—just by seeing this bead, a wave of unknown information suddenly rushed into his memory.
The Heavenly Desire Bead.
That was the treasure the remnant soul had mentioned!
Merritt only had the first chapter of that secret technique. Even that "Chapter of Wind" had taken the remnant soul thirty years to master.
That was why Merritt had decided to give up.
But now?
What did the Heavenly Desire Bead actually do?
Basically, it was a treasure that could turn primal emotion seeds into powerful energy, which would make cultivating way faster!
Right now, it was gathering emotion seeds!
Somewhere in the void…
A thin stream of air, totally invisible to the eye, drifted toward Merritt and merged with the Heavenly Desire Bead in his mind.
The bead that was gray before now had a faint trace of purple air on its surface. That's when Merritt noticed the bead was divided into six parts by some shallow lines. The purple air only filled one of those parts—and not even close to one-tenth of it.
Primal emotion seeds were split into six types: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, hatred, and love. The purple color meant anger.
Then, the purple glow on the bead got absorbed and disappeared. A weird current spread through Merritt's whole body.
To his complete shock, he realized that his body—weak and worn out just moments ago—was suddenly recovering!
That's right.
Even though he hadn't actually started cultivating yet, the Heavenly Desire Bead was already restoring his physical condition to normal so it could boost his cultivation later.
Noticing that his energy was coming back, Merritt almost shouted from how happy he was.
Could it be…
That insane cultivation method wasn't just real—but it had shortcuts, too?
"Anger?"
His eyes lit up, and he started walking quickly toward the nearby road, totally fired up.
"Heavenly Desire…"