Chapter 5 – The First Step Below Heaven
Wei Lian awoke to pain and cold earth.
His ribs ached like splintered wood. The gash in his side throbbed, wrapped in stiff bandages. His breathing came slow, but steady.
He was alive.
Barely.
He sat up slowly.
A man stood at the crumbling doorway of the ruined watchtower, watching him without expression. Cloaked in a dark green robe, the man leaned on a wide-bladed sword. The air around him felt… dangerous. Not divine. Not demonic. Just coiled.
Like the man could kill without blinking — and didn't need to prove it.
"You shouldn't be breathing," the man said calmly.
Wei Lian didn't answer.
"You had no Qi when I found you," the man continued. "Still don't. So how did you survive that wound?"
"I endured," Lian said hoarsely.
The man tilted his head, then tossed a bundle of roasted tubers at his feet.
"Eat. Starving men don't climb mountains."
Lian reached out and took the food without a word. No thanks. No fear. Just quiet resolve.
The man watched him a moment longer.
"Name?" he asked.
"Wei Lian."
"Shen Beijun," the man replied. "You can call me Senior Shen."
A silence passed between them. Then Shen said:
"You don't have a cultivation base, do you?"
"Nothing," Lian replied.
"Not even at the First Layer of Qi Refinement?"
"Not even close."
Shen's gaze lingered.
"Then you're less than a mortal. You're dead weight on the path."
Wei Lian didn't flinch.
"Not for long."
Shen Beijun didn't ask questions after that. For the next three days, he stayed near the ruined tower, watching as Lian forced himself upright. He gave no guidance. No help. Just a few words when needed.
"You want to climb? Then crawl first."
On the second day, Shen handed him a branch.
"Swing it."
"I can't feel Qi."
"You don't need Qi to learn how to kill."
Lian swung. Clumsily. Again. Again. His form was crude. His breath ragged.
But he never stopped.
By dusk, he was vomiting blood.
By dawn, he was still standing.
On the fourth night, Shen finally drew a rough diagram in the dirt.
Nine names. Nine mountains. Nine hells.
"This is the path," he said. "The Mortal Realm."
He pointed to the first.
Qi Refinement – "You breathe the world in. Let it shape you. You don't command Qi. You obey it."
Next.
Foundation Establishment – "That's where most sect disciples get stuck. Build wrong, and your future dies before it begins."
Then:
Golden Core
Nascent Soul
Soul Formation
He tapped each with deliberate weight.
"You want to be noticed? Survive the first three. You want to be feared? Step into Soul Formation."
"Then come the monsters."
He carved three more tiers.
Refined Spirit
Transformation Spirit
Body Integration
"At that point, you're closer to becoming something else. Something not quite mortal."
And finally, he wrote the last.
Tribulation Transcendence
"Every realm has nine layers. You master each one through blood, pain, and patience. No tricks. No shortcuts."
He looked up.
"Only at the Ninth Layer of Tribulation Transcendence can you ascend to the Immortal Realm. That's the edge of the map. Beyond that—no one down here knows."
Wei Lian stared at the words. At the layers.
"Where are you on this path?" he asked.
Shen Beijun smirked. "Strong enough that you can't sense me. And until you reach Qi Refinement, you never will."
"Can anyone sense someone above their realm?" Lian asked.
"Only if the other cultivator lets them. Otherwise, they see what you see—nothing."
Shen rose to his feet and began walking off.
"I'm heading to the next town. Bandits are moving there. I plan to kill them."
He stopped.
"You coming?"
Wei Lian looked down at his bleeding hands, then back at the diagram.
Qi Refinement.
The first step.
He stood.
"I'm not here to follow," he said. "I'm here to climb."
Shen grinned.
"Then hurry up. The road waits for no one."
And together, they left the tower behind.