The cold night air brushed against his skin as he sat cross-legged on the mountain peak, his body drenched in sweat. The aftermath of his intense training left the ground beneath him cracked and scorched. The remnants of his latest attempt at controlling his qi lay around him—boulders sliced clean in half, trees reduced to splinters, and a crater where he had stood just moments ago.
His breathing was heavy, but his eyes gleamed with an unrelenting fire. The realization from his earlier training session struck him again: traditional cultivation techniques wouldn't work for him. He didn't have a dantian. He didn't have meridians in the way others did. And yet, his body was absorbing qi at an unnatural rate, refining it faster and stronger than anyone else could.
He clenched his fists. If I can't follow the normal path, then I'll create my own.
Closing his eyes, he focused inward. He visualized the flow of energy within him—not as a structured system like others had, but as an unending cycle, limitless and ever-growing. It didn't flow through channels; it became one with his entire being. His body itself was a vessel, an endless source of power. If others relied on their dantians as a core, then he… he was the core.
For hours, he sat motionless, refining this newfound understanding. Slowly, the concept took form, an instinctual process that defied logic. His breathing steadied. His pulse slowed. Then—
BOOM!
A sudden surge of energy erupted from his body, causing the very air around him to tremble. The sky above rippled as if reality itself recognized the birth of something terrifying.
Zhao Tian, who had been watching from a distance, narrowed his eyes. "What… is this feeling?" he murmured. He had seen countless geniuses rise and fall, had trained warriors that would one day become legends. But this… this was beyond mere talent. It was as if the heavens themselves had chosen to forge a monster.
The ground beneath his disciple cracked as the energy condensed. The young warrior slowly opened his eyes, a new understanding settling deep within him.
This was his path. A cultivation method that no one else could follow. It had no limits. No bottlenecks. No exhaustion. His qi didn't just flow—it regenerated infinitely, evolving with every breath.
He had created something entirely new.
A grin stretched across his face. So this is what true power feels like…
He slowly rose to his feet, stretching his arms as if shaking off centuries of restriction. Every step he took felt different. Lighter. Stronger. He glanced at his hands, flexing them. A single thought crossed his mind, something he had always read about in manhwa and anime but never truly believed.
I am not bound by the rules of this world.
And that changed everything.
Zhao Tian approached, his expression unreadable. "What did you just do?" he asked, voice steady yet tinged with something rare—wariness.
"I…" The young warrior paused, then smirked. "I made a better version of cultivation."
Zhao Tian exhaled sharply, scanning his disciple's aura. It was… abnormal. It wasn't just that his qi was stronger. It was that it didn't diminish. Normally, even the strongest cultivators had a limit to how much energy they could store and use. But here? The energy within this boy didn't just stay—it grew on its own.
"Impossible," Zhao Tian muttered under his breath.
The young warrior's smirk widened. "Impossible? Then let's test it."
He stepped forward, his presence shifting in an instant. Gone was the carefree attitude. Gone was the playful nature. What stood before Zhao Tian now was something far beyond mortal understanding.
And for the first time in years, Zhao Tian felt something he thought he had long forgotten.
Fear.
Cultivation Level Achieved: Peak Spirit Core Realm
Just as Zhao Tian was about to speak, he felt the weight of something even more shocking. His disciple had reached the Peak of the Spirit Core Realm in just four years—an impossibility in itself. But it wasn't just his level that left Zhao Tian speechless. It was the fact that he had achieved this without a dantian. His body itself functioned as a cultivation core, something unseen in all of history.
A realization struck Zhao Tian like a bolt of lightning. He… he is beyond the limits of any cultivation path we know.
With a grave expression, Zhao Tian placed a hand on the young warrior's shoulder. "You are no ordinary cultivator. You… you are something far greater."