"Fists like flying arrows, back like a bending bow, waist like a dragon's tendon, intent like a fierce tiger, essence boiling, qi beginning to emerge..."
Though the crisp voice was still slightly childish, it carried a deep, unyielding determination. With the stars bright and the moon sparse, a teenager of around thirteen or fourteen was practicing boxing by the shore of a small mountain valley. The solitary moon in the sky reflected upon the lake water, while the boy chanted the mnemonic formulas of his boxing technique without stop. Shifting and maneuvering, his movements were reasonably smooth; clearly, he had practiced this set of boxing routines to perfection. Though his physical force was lacking, his movements possessed a three-point spiritual charm.
Although the boy had a robust physique, he was young after all. Having poured his all into executing the set of boxing forms for only half an hour from start to finish, he was already sweating profusely, stopping to pant like a winded ox.
Squatting by the lakeside, cupping the cool lake water to wash his face, Zhuge Xiang felt rather low-spirited. He had practiced this set of Qi Nourishing Fist for a full year, yet he still had not successfully comprehended the sensation of qi. There was half a month left until the annual Recruitment Assembly. If he failed to comprehend the sensation of qi in these final two weeks, he would be destined to remain an ordinary person for the rest of his life—an ordinary person running about every day just to fill his stomach.
Speaking of Zhuge Xiang's background, it could indeed be considered bitter. Since childhood, he had been lonely and destitute, begging alongside an old beggar and living a life where he never knew where his next meal was coming from. Until a year ago, while begging at the estate of a wealthy family, the master not only refused to bestow any charity, but instead set fierce dogs upon them, biting the old beggar to death.
Harboring hatred in his heart, Zhuge Xiang stole a dagger that night and sneaked into the wealthy family's estate, slaughtering all thirteen members from top to bottom. Soon after, a young man appeared and asked Zhuge Xiang if he wanted to become a man above others, if he wanted to eat meat, and if he wanted to stop worrying about food and clothing. And just like that, Zhuge Xiang was brought here: the Asura Sect.
In the Great Qin Empire, the population was two billion and the territory spanned millions of miles. Martial arts flourished intensely, and the nine great sects stood tall, capable of even contending evenly with the imperial household. The Asura Sect was one of them, and its might could be imagined.
Every year, the Asura Sect recruited one hundred thousand youths between the ages of twelve and fifteen from the mortal world to undergo bitter training on the mountain. What they practiced was precisely this set of Qi Nourishing Fist. The Qi Nourishing Fist itself possessed no combat power, but it could effectively stimulate the vital essence within the body, refining essence to qi and comprehending the sensation of qi. Zhuge Xiang was one of those hundred thousand youths.
Zhuge Xiang had arrived at the Asura Sect for almost a year now, and in half a month, it would be the day the next batch of youths ascended the mountain.
When that day arrived, Zhuge Xiang's batch of disciples would undergo an assessment. Those who successfully comprehended Qi Energy would be accepted into the sect as formal disciples of the Asura Sect. As for the rest, those with good luck would remain in the External Affairs Department to work as handymen and servants in industries controlled by the sect, ensuring a life free from worries about food and clothing. Those with bad luck would be driven down the mountain, leaving their survival to fate.
Accustomed to hardship since childhood, Zhuge Xiang could not bear to look back on those destitute days. As the saying went, the kind-hearted were bullied by others, but in Zhuge Xiang's view, it should be that the weak were bullied by others. Just like the old beggar, who was bitten to death by someone setting dogs on him for no reason, this made Zhuge Xiang understand the importance of strength. Therefore, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a disciple of the Asura Sect was something he had to grasp tightly; he absolutely could not let go.
Even with good luck allowing him to enter the External Affairs Department of the Asura Sect, Zhuge Xiang found it hard to accept becoming a handyman who was ordered around by others.
Come again. The closer it gets to the end, the more people successfully comprehend the sensation of qi. Having practiced for a year, I should have reached the verge of comprehending the sensation of qi as well. In these last fifteen days, I must not fail. Thinking of the old beggar's miserable death, and thinking of this as the sole opportunity presented by fate, Zhuge Xiang rested for a brief moment, gathered his spirits, assumed the stance of the Qi Nourishing Fist, and resumed...
Having willpower was certainly a good thing, but among the one hundred thousand youths recruited by the Asura Sect every year, those who could truly successfully comprehend the sensation of qi within a year were as rare as one in a hundred. Moreover, Zhuge Xiang's natural aptitude was not top-tier. He practiced all the way until the depths of night, running through this set of Qi Nourishing Fist close to a hundred times. By the end, when his physical body and willpower had completely exceeded their limits, lying by the lakeside unable to move even a single pinky finger, he still lacked the slightest feeling of comprehending Qi Energy.
After resting for a little under an hour, Zhuge Xiang recovered some of his physical strength and stood up, preparing to turn and leave. Although cultivation was important, the first tier of the cultivation path was refining essence to qi, and the source of Qi Energy was the body's vital essence. Therefore, wanting to comprehend Qi Energy made physical fitness extremely important, which naturally required paying attention to rest and combining work with rest. Otherwise, blindly engaging in unmeasured, bitter cultivation that wrecked the body would make it impossible to comprehend Qi Energy instead. In the Asura Sect, there was never any shortage of people who wrecked their bodies or even worked themselves to death.
He stood up to leave, but Zhuge Xiang's body suddenly halted. Out of the corner of his eye, he happened to see the bright moon reflected in the lake water missing a chunk.
He looked up at the night sky where the full moon hung like a jade plate, but when he looked back at the moon reflected in the lake, a chunk was visibly missing from its edge. What was going on? Why was the moon in the lake missing a piece? Could there be some sort of rare treasure?
Thinking of this, his heart filled with curiosity, Zhuge Xiang stripped off his clothes and plunged headfirst into the lake water. Utilizing the reflected light of the moon, he stared intently at that missing gap.
As Zhuge Xiang drew closer and closer, he barely managed to see clearly: the reason the moon reflected in the lake water was missing a chunk was actually because a ball of black light inside the lake water overlapped with the moon's reflection, causing the moonlight to look as though a piece was missing.
Just a black light? How could there be black light within this lake water? If Zhuge Xiang had not been standing in a position where the lake's moonlight happened to overlap with that mass of black light, he believed that in the pitch-black lake water at night, this mass of black light would absolutely never have been discovered by anyone.
Slinking into the lake water, after the surface of the lake remained calm for a moment, Zhuge Xiang finally broke the surface. Raising his hand, a black ring rested in his palm, emitting a mass of black light under the illumination of the moonlight.
Swimming to the bank, Zhuge Xiang lowered his head to examine it. He did not know what kind of metal this black ring was forged from, but looking at it gave one a very wondrous sensation. Emanating black light, it was clearly not an ordinary item.
Could it be? Is this a legendary magical artifact? Someone dropped it here? Looking at the ring in his hand, Zhuge Xiang could not help secretly thinking to himself.
Formal disciples of the Asura Sect could all acquire a magical artifact. These magical artifacts often possessed wondrous abilities, and they were essentially different from ordinary worldly weapons like sabers, spears, swords, and staff. Being able to emit black light meant that, in Zhuge Xiang's view, it should at least be a magical artifact.
A magical artifact that only formal disciples of the Asura Sect could possess? Zhuge Xiang pondered for a moment, truly unable to endure the curiosity in his heart, and extended his finger to slip the black ring on.
As the black ring slipped on, it seemed to suddenly come alive. Accompanied by a needle-prick sensation, it caused Zhuge Xiang to cry out involuntarily in pain. He reflexively wanted to pull the black ring off, but it felt as though it had grown roots into his flesh and simply could not be removed.
The pain grew increasingly intense. Zhuge Xiang, who was already exhausted to begin with, felt his consciousness grow hazier and hazier.
Just as Zhuge Xiang's consciousness plunged into darkness, he faintly heard a mechanical voice ring out in the depths of his mind: "Scanning skeleton, blood, iris... physique qualified, whether to bind... countdown 20 seconds... system default... binding successful... welcome to bind the Super Game System."
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