Gu Shaoshang!

Gu Shaoshang!

In the autumn of the seventh year of Yong'an, Great Yan, 162. At the foot of Great Ming Mountain, Yichang Prefecture, Golden Rock Prefecture, Youzhou.

Winter was approaching, and the forests of Great Ming Mountain were covered in frost before dawn.

"Great Yan has stood for over 160 years. Enemies surround us beyond our borders, while demon beasts and bandits plague us within. In this world, martial arts are the foundation of life."

A bald, burly man shouted from the high platform in the center of Gu Family Village's training ground.

The man stood eight feet tall, broad-backed and thick-waisted. A scar tore from the corner of his left eye down to beneath his jaw, twitching like a centipede whenever he spoke.

Below the platform, dozens of children stood in neat, motionless rows on the packed yellow-earth training ground. The youngest were eight or nine, while the oldest were thirteen or fourteen, all staring at the man.

Gu Shaoshang stood in the middle of the group, his eyes shining as he watched the martial arts instructor, Gu Ji, on the platform.

"Gu Ji served in the army for over twenty years and emerged unscathed from dozens of battles, great and small. He should be able to help me reach my goal. I have to seize this chance!"

Gu Ji stood on the platform, the scar on his face twitching as he looked over the children below.

"The martial path is endless, and Foundation Establishment comes first! The Tiger Roar Fist I teach you is an orthodox military body-tempering fist art. Once mastered, tearing apart tigers and leopards with your bare hands, shattering steles, and splitting rocks will be nothing extraordinary."

Gu Ji suddenly stepped off the platform. His bones crackled throughout his body. As he turned, his black training clothes snapped in the wind, and he punched a heavy bluestone in the training ground!

Boom!

The bluestone flew three zhang through the air before crashing down and splitting into a field of rubble.

"So strong!"

"That bluestone weighs five hundred jin! It flew three zhang with one punch!"

"Bluestone is the hardest kind of stone, yet he smashed it with a single blow!"

They were, after all, just a group of youths. The training ground immediately erupted into an uproar.

Gu Shaoshang was stunned. It's been ten years since I transmigrated into this world, yet I still find its martial arts unbelievable! I can do that too—no, I can become even stronger! His heart suddenly burned, and excitement made his whole body tremble.

Gu Ji paced back onto the platform and swept his tiger-like gaze across the crowd.

The training ground instantly fell silent.

"The foundation of martial arts begins with tempering skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, then marrow and internal organs. When the entire body is flawless and without weakness, one reaches the first realm of martial arts: the Establish Fate Realm!"

"An Establish Fate martial artist can carry a thousand-jin cauldron and run as swiftly as a fine horse. In the Youzhou Tiger Roar Army, he can serve as a centurion. He can even kill several hundred mounted bandits alone! A true match for a hundred men!"

The youths clicked their tongues in amazement.

"And I am an Establish Fate Realm martial artist, a centurion of the Youzhou Tiger Roar Army!"

Gu Ji stood proudly atop the platform.

"Third Uncle, how long will it take us to cultivate to the Establish Fate Realm?"

A youth in gray hemp clothing at the front of the formation spoke up. His delicate face was full of longing.

Gu Ji smiled faintly, the scar on his face writhing like a centipede.

"I began practicing martial arts at ten, joined the Tiger Roar Army at twenty-one, and did not enter the Establish Fate Realm until I was twenty-nine."

Gu Ji sighed, his gaze turning somewhat distant.

"Shaoze, with your talent, you may have a chance of reaching the Establish Fate Realm before twenty-five. Only those who do so before twenty-five have any hope of joining the Great Yan Martial Arts Hall."

The crowd below burst into commotion, all looking at Gu Shaoze with envy.

The Great Yan Martial Arts Hall—the foremost violent institution in Great Yan! An unparalleled weapon Great Yan used to suppress martial sects across the land and intimidate the surrounding nations!

Every person admitted to the Martial Arts Hall was an unrivaled genius. Merely having a chance to join already put one above most people.

Gu Shaoze was still only a youth. His face flushed slightly, and he seemed to float with pride.

Gu Ji waved a hand and stepped down from the platform.

"Practice the Tiger Roar Fist yourselves. If you have questions, come ask me."

The crowd scattered in groups of two or three across the training ground, each tempering their strength and practicing fists and kicks. Even the youngest among them had trained for over half a year, so Gu Ji naturally did not need to watch them constantly.

Gu Ji stepped down from the platform and headed toward the village. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching and turned around.

A ten-year-old boy in a long-sleeved hemp shirt was walking toward him in small steps, hope appearing on his slightly dark face.

"Shaoshang, what is it?" Gu Ji stopped. Gu Family Village had only a little over a thousand people, all related by blood, so he naturally knew Gu Shaoshang.

Gu Shaoshang raised his head and looked at Gu Ji, who was as imposing as a demon beast, then spoke carefully.

"Third Uncle, can you punch me?"

Gu Ji was the third son of the previous clan chief, so all the youths in the village called him Third Uncle.

"Uh!"

Gu Ji froze.

"Have you lost your mind, boy? With that little body of yours, one punch from me would turn you into a pile of bloody mush." Gu Ji was speechless. An Establish Fate Realm martial artist could kill tigers and leopards with one punch and shatter a bluestone taller than a man! In all his years, he had never heard such a ridiculous request.

Cold sweat covered Gu Shaoshang's head. If it weren't for that damned mirror, why would I make such a brain-dead request?

Gu Shaoshang was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he had achieved nothing even by the age of thirty. Unexpectedly, a mirror he had bought during a trip carried him across the stars and into this world.

Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye, yet the mirror had never been activated.

"Third Uncle, I want to experience the power of a fully mastered Tiger Roar Fist for myself. Please!"

The desire to activate the mirror ultimately won out. Gu Shaoshang forced down his embarrassment, spread his feet, and assumed a stance.

"..."

Gu Ji looked speechlessly at the ten-year-old boy before him. His slightly dark little face was utterly serious, making him look like a miniature adult.

"...Enough. I don't have time to play with you. Go play with Gu Shaoze and the others." Gu Ji's face darkened. He waved a hand and turned to leave.

Gu Shaoshang gritted his teeth. If he missed this chance, it would take at least several more years for the Myriad Heavens Projection Mirror to activate.

The Myriad Heavens Projection Mirror was the culprit that had brought Gu Shaoshang into this world. There was only one way to activate it: battle! There was no other method. Gu Shaoshang had tried too many times. The village children and wild beasts in the mountains did not meet the conditions for activation!

Gu Ji slowly walked out of the training ground.

The houses of Gu Family Village stood packed tightly together. Fences made from ironwood logs over a zhang long were deeply embedded in the ground, encircling the village. Ordinary wild beasts could not enter at all.

On the bluestone-paved crossroads in the village, Gu Ji thought of Gu Shaoshang and could not help shaking his head.

"Gu Ji!"

Gu Ji's heart jumped as the sound of rushing wind entered his ears.

His spine rippled, and he sprang backward like a tiger. His hand formed the Tiger Claw as he struck toward his attacker's chest and abdomen. Gu Ji had long since lost count of how many hearts and livers he had torn out with this move!

Suddenly, the savage grin on Gu Ji's face froze. He saw the little boy from before, Gu Shaoshang, holding an ironwood blade with a shocked expression!

Oh no!

Gu Ji felt like vomiting blood. His right hand changed from claw to palm! He barely withdrew seventy percent of his force, avoiding Gu Shaoshang's vital points, but his palm still swept into the wooden blade! Battlefield martial arts had always been moves of absolute dominance, where either one lived and the other died! Gu Ji's ability to control himself this much already marked him as an expert.

Gu Shaoshang felt his head explode, and every hair on his body stood on end!

Gu Ji's charging figure was like a gigantic tiger. As the claw came at him, his body felt like a little white rabbit in a tiger's jaws, unable to move!

Move!

Gu Shaoshang roared inwardly!

He barely raised his arms, holding the ironwood blade before himself to block!

Boom!

Crack!

Gu Shaoshang felt as though he had been hit by a speeding cargo truck! The wooden blade, reputed to be steel among wood, broke apart along with both his arms! Then he was sent flying!

This is bad!

Gu Shaoshang vomited blood in midair, his eyes rolling back as he fainted.

Gu Ji leaped forward and caught the boy in the air.

"Good thing I held back."

Gu Ji let out a long breath and gently kneaded Gu Shaoshang's arms and chest.

Crack!

Setting bones was no problem at all for Gu Ji.

"Ugh."

Waves of intense pain came from his arms, chest, and abdomen. Gu Shaoshang groaned and opened his eyes. Before him were the bare walls of his home and his father's dark face.

"You little brat! You dared to ambush an Establish Fate martial artist with a wooden blade! It's your luck you weren't beaten to death!"

Gu Shaoshang lay in bed as his father, Gu Jiu, scolded him with a dark expression.

"Your mother passed away when you were three, and my health has never been the same since. Are you trying to anger your father to death?"

Gu Jiu shook his head, with little hair remaining, then dragged his emaciated body to the bedside and picked up the bowl of medicine.

"Father, I was wrong."

Gu Shaoshang's eyes reddened as he looked at the man before him, who resembled someone wasting away from consumption.

This was the man who had stubbornly raised him despite his serious illness! Wasn't Gu Shaoshang so desperate to activate the Myriad Heavens Projection Mirror partly for his sake?

"Father, how many days was I unconscious? I'm so hungry!" Gu Shaoshang struggled to drink the medicine his elderly father had brought to his lips. A sharp pain from his body, wrapped in white bandages like a rice dumpling, made him cough softly.

"Hmph! You slept for two days! If not for your Third Uncle, even if you recovered this time, you would have been left with permanent injuries!"

Gu Jiu cursed lightly. Still, he could not bear to be harsh with his son, and turned to leave the room.

"Lie there and don't move around!"

Once his father had left, Gu Shaoshang eagerly closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his mind.

At the center of his dark sea of consciousness, a mirror shone like a great sun.