On a beautiful morning, with the bells of the Azure Sect ringing to mark the start of the day,
A handsome young man, with a face that looked about sixteen years old and dressed in a black uniform, arrived at the battle arena.
There, he saw several other disciples ahead of him, standing near a platform, gazing at him with disdain in their eyes.
This scene did not irritate him. Liu Chen merely smiled inwardly and then looked up at the sky, which was gray with faint yellow hues on the horizon.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but breathe in the fresh morning air, inhaling deeply.
After that simple daily moment, he turned his attention forward and walked toward a stone platform, passing by the disciples and ascending a staircase of five steps.
The moment he reached the circular floor made of hard metal, he sat down on the ground, waiting for his opponent.
"Let's end this quickly!" a burly young man appeared at the other entrance of the platform.
Hearing this voice, Liu Chen looked in its direction. Observing his opponent, who was quite intimidating, he did not change his expression.
He simply stood up from the ground, indifference flashing in his eyes as he fixed them on the burly youth.
"Let's begin," he said calmly.
The young man nodded, and in the next instant, he shot from the ground like a bull, his feet barely touching the floor.
In mere seconds, he arrived before Liu Chen and, clenching his fists, threw a punch at his chest.
Liu Chen did not react to the blow and took it head-on, stepping back two steps from the impact.
...Stopping himself, he crouched slightly, bending his knees, and a moment later, coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining the arena red.
Still with an unchanged expression, he stood up and waved his hand. "I lost."
After that, he left the arena, holding his chest wound, which hurt terribly. It was an agonizing sensation, yet he did not utter a single scream. Enduring it, he made his way back to his quarters.
The Lower Courtyard, where he stayed, was merely a green area filled with trees, among which houses and arenas were scattered, with the main hall located at the very back.
His house was at the northernmost edge, where he lived alone.
Half an hour later, he arrived and saw a wooden cabin, its roof made of banana leaves. Entering his humble dwelling, Liu Chen showed his pain; his face twisted, becoming ghastly.
"These disciples are becoming more and more ruthless. Why beat up someone without cultivation like this?" he groaned, then grabbed an ointment stored in a small box and applied it to his body.
Liu Chen wanted to cry; the liquid burned intensely upon touching his wound, yet at the same time, it closed his flesh.
It was extremely painful... but it passed quickly. After a minute, he felt no more pain.
No longer hurting, he stretched his arms upward, letting his body relax. This lasted for some time.
Afterward, he sat on the straw bed, which looked like a bird's nest, and closed his eyes, focusing inward.
Inside himself, a part was missing, located two fingers below his navel, where there was an empty hole.
"One year... the time has finally passed," he murmured, standing up with a solemn expression. A year ago, he had destroyed his own dantian, casting his fate to chance.
He could have failed and remained useless forever — or succeeded, embarking on a path he had never dreamed of.
"Time for the result!" he gritted his teeth and stepped outside. In the next moment, he began executing several punches. After a while, he increased the force behind them, and with each passing second, his fists grew heavier.
"Battle Emperor Art."
This was the method that had made him bet his life: one that could only be practiced with an unbreakable will. The first step was to destroy the dantian, the second, to temper the will. The third, to refine the body and Qi.
Liu Chen was attempting to begin the third stage.
Continuing his barrage of increasingly heavy blows, there came a moment when, above him, particles of Spiritual Qi began to gather.
Seeing this,
Liu Chen's eyes sparkled, and excitement grew in his heart. "I can cultivate without a dantian... it seems the gamble paid off!"
Filled with happiness, he continued without delay. Soon, the Spiritual Qi touched his body, and at the moment of contact, it was absorbed through his internal pores.
Just as he was feeling elated, Liu Chen suddenly felt his skin itch, as if thousands of nettles were stinging him all over.
"What an irritating sensation!" he cursed, but he did not stop. He had endured far worse in this past year of inactivity; one could say his will had been forged in hell itself.
It was hard for anything to shake him now. Especially pain: he could still feel it, like any human, but he knew how to ignore it — even if, at times, when he was alone, it still affected him.
"Focus on an object in your mind and forget everything else. That's what I've learned during this time." Following this principle, he thought of nothing else, concentrating solely on his practice.
At that moment, he looked like a puppet, punching over and over, each strike tearing through the air with explosive sounds, while gusts of wind spread across the area.
Above him, a cloud of Spiritual Qi descended like raindrops during a storm. Each drop that hit him vanished, fusing into his physical body.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a loud boom echoed inside Liu Chen's body. His meridians, which had been inactive due to a lack of Spiritual Energy, were revitalized. And it didn't stop there — all his meridians recovered to their previous state.
Soon, he reached the same cultivation realm he once had: the Peak of the Meridian Opening Realm, where all twelve meridians of the body were open.
"Transform all of this into True Qi!" Having returned to his previous level, Liu Chen did not feel satisfied at all. He would only be pleased if he surpassed it.
Determined, he began to pull all his meridians together. The pain, driven by the sensation of something crawling inside his body, was excruciating.
"Don't lose focus. Merge it all into the Sea Gathering Meridian," he whispered to himself, holding firm.
Soon, he gathered everything into the abdominal region, where the main energy pillar of the body was located.
"Fuck it!" Liu Chen shouted, then pushed everything at once toward the same spot.
The moment they collided, a tremor surged through him. Liu Chen nearly collapsed from the internal thunder, but he remained as firm as a rock, continuing to punch while internally his meridians fused together into one, forming a vast Qi Sea that interconnected his entire system.
Externally, Liu Chen suddenly felt a new presence. In his abdomen, something strange had formed. He knew what it was but still hesitated for a moment.
At the same time, he felt the urge to test it. Immediately, he willed the Qi into his fists, which were then enveloped by a golden aura, as if they were coated in gold.
"My True Qi... is golden?"