Gu Shaoshang!

Chapter 1: Gu Shaoshang!

Great Yan, Year 162, Autumn of Yong'an Year 7. Youzhou Prefecture, Jinyan Commandery, at the foot of Daming Mountain, Gu Family Village.

As winter approached, the Daming Mountain forest was covered in frost in the early morning.

"Great Yan has been established for over 160 years, surrounded by enemies abroad and plagued by demonic beasts and bandits within. In this world, only martial arts are the foundation of one's life."

On the high platform of the central training ground in Gu Family Village, a bald, burly man shouted loudly.

The man was eight feet tall with a broad back and a powerful physique. A scar ran from the corner of his left eye down to his jaw, twitching like a centipede when he spoke.

Below the platform, on the training ground packed with yellow mud, dozens of children, the youngest eight or nine and the oldest thirteen or fourteen, stood in neat, motionless rows, gazing at the man.

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

Gu Ji has served in the army for over 20 years, participating in dozens of battles and emerging unscathed. He should be able to help me reach my goal. I must seize this opportunity!

Gu Ji stood on the platform, looking at the children below, the scar on his face twitching.

"The path of martial arts is endless, and Foundation Establishment is the first step! The 'Tiger Roar Fist' I teach you is the orthodox body-refining technique of the army. Once mastered, tearing apart tigers and leopards and shattering stone with your bare hands will be child's play."

Gu Ji suddenly strode down from the platform, his bones cracking loudly. As he turned, his black martial arts attire rustled, and he punched a heavy bluestone on the training ground!

"Boom!"

The bluestone lifted off the ground and flew thirty feet away, shattering into pieces with a "whoosh."

"So powerful!"

"That bluestone weighed 500 jin, and he sent it flying thirty feet with one punch!"

"Bluestone is the hardest stone, and he shattered it with a single blow!"

After all, they were just children, and the training ground erupted in excited chatter.

Gu Shaoshang was shocked. I've been in this world for ten years, and I still find its martial arts incredible! I can do it too, even better! His heart suddenly burned, and he trembled with excitement.

Gu Ji paced back onto the platform, his tiger-like eyes sweeping across the children.

Silence immediately fell upon the crowd below.

"The foundation of martial arts first refines the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, then the marrow and internal organs. One who is flawless throughout their body has reached the first realm of martial arts: Establish Fate!"

"A martial artist who has Established Fate can carry a thousand-jin cauldron and run as fast as a swift horse. In the Youzhou Tiger Roar Army, they can even hold the rank of Centurion and can kill hundreds of horse bandits alone! They are truly worth a hundred men!"

The children below gasped in awe.

"And I am a martial artist who has Established Fate, a Centurion of the Youzhou Tiger Roar Army!"

Gu Ji stood on the platform, exuding confidence.

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

A boy in a gray linen robe at the front of the group asked, his clear face filled with longing.

Gu Ji smiled slightly, the scar on his face wriggling like a centipede.

"I started practicing martial arts at ten, joined the Tiger Roar Army at twenty-one, and only reached the Establish Fate realm at twenty-nine."

Gu Ji sighed, his gaze drifting.

"Shaoze, with your talent, you might have a chance to reach the Establish Fate realm before you're twenty-five. And only by reaching it before twenty-five can you hope to join the Great Yan Martial Arts Hall."

A stir went through the crowd, and everyone looked at Gu Shaoze with envy.

The Great Yan Martial Arts Hall, the foremost instrument of power in Great Yan! It suppressed sects across Great Yan and deterred other nations—a peerless weapon!

Those who could join the Martial Arts Hall were all peerless geniuses. Even just having a chance to join put them ahead of most people.

Gu Shaoze was, after all, just a boy. His face flushed slightly, and he felt a bit lightheaded.

Gu Ji waved his hand and descended from the platform.

"Practice the 'Tiger Roar Fist' on your own. Come to me if you have any questions."

The crowd dispersed, forming small groups across the training ground to build their strength and practice their punches and kicks. The youngest of the boys had been practicing for over half a year, so they didn't need Gu Ji's constant supervision.

Gu Ji walked down from the platform and headed towards the village. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching and turned to look.

A ten-year-old boy in a long-sleeved linen garment was walking towards him. A hopeful look appeared on the boy's 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. Gu Ji naturally recognized Gu Shaoshang.

Gu Shaoshang looked up at Gu Ji, who was as tall and imposing as a demonic beast, and spoke cautiously.

"Third Uncle, can you punch me?" Gu Ji was the third son of the previous clan leader, and the boys in the village all called him Third Uncle.

"Uh!"

Gu Ji was stunned.

"Are you crazy, kid? With your scrawny body, one punch from me would turn you into a bloody pulp," Gu Ji said, speechless. A martial artist at the Establish Fate realm could kill tigers and leopards with a single punch and shatter a bluestone as tall as a person! He had never heard such a ridiculous request in all these years.

Gu Shaoshang broke out in a cold sweat. If it weren't for that damned mirror, how could I have made such a brainless request?

Gu Shaoshang was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he had achieved nothing by the age of thirty. Unexpectedly, a mirror he bought while traveling had brought him across the stars to this world.

Ten years had passed in a flash, but the mirror remained stubbornly closed.

"Third Uncle, I want to personally test the full power of Tiger Roar Fist, please!"

The desire to activate the mirror ultimately won out. Gu Shaoshang suppressed his embarrassment, spread his feet apart, and struck a stance.

"..."

Gu Ji stared speechlessly at the ten-year-old boy before him. The boy's slightly tanned face was set in a look of utmost seriousness, like a miniature adult.

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

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

The Myriad Heavens Projection Mirror was the very culprit that brought Gu Shaoshang to this world. There was only one way to activate it: combat! There was no other method. Gu Shaoshang had tried countless times; the village children and the wild beasts in the mountains were not enough to meet the activation requirements!

Gu Ji slowly walked out of the training ground.

The houses in Gu Family Village were built close together. Fences made of ironwood, over a zhang long, were deeply embedded in the ground, encircling the village. Ordinary wild beasts couldn't get in.

On the village's cross-shaped streets, on the bluestone slabs, Gu Ji thought of Gu Shaoshang and couldn't help but shake his head.

"Gu Ji!"

Gu Ji's heart leaped, and the sound of wind breaking reached his ears.

His spine twitched, and like a tiger, he lunged backward, a tiger claw striking towards the enemy's vital spot. Gu Ji couldn't remember how many hearts and livers he had dug out with this move!

Suddenly, the ferocious grin on Gu Ji's face froze. Gu Ji saw the young boy, Gu Shaoshang, holding an ironwood staff, looking utterly shocked!

"Not good!"

Gu Ji cursed inwardly, transforming his right claw into a palm! He managed to retract seven parts of his strength, avoiding Gu Shaoshang's vital points. His palm still swept across the wooden staff! The martial arts of the battlefield were always about absolute dominance, life-or-death techniques! Gu Ji's ability to do this already marked him as a master.

Gu Shaoshang's head exploded, and every hair on his body stood on end!

Gu Ji's lunging figure was like a giant tiger. As his claw came down, Gu Shaoshang felt like a tiny rabbit in a tiger's maw, utterly unable to move!

"Move!"

Gu Shaoshang roared inwardly!

He barely managed to raise his arms, holding the wooden staff carved from ironwood in front of him!

"Boom!"

"Crack!"

Gu Shaoshang felt like he had been hit by a large truck traveling at seventy miles per hour! The wooden staff, renowned as hard as ironwood, snapped along with his arms! Then he was sent flying!

"This is bad!"

Gu Shaoshang vomited blood in mid-air, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

Gu Ji leaped and caught the boy in mid-air.

"Good thing I held back."

Gu Ji let out a sigh of relief and gently massaged Gu Shaoshang's arms and chest with his palms.

"Crack!"

Setting bones and resetting fractures was no problem for Gu Ji.

"Ugh..."

A wave of intense pain spread through his arms and chest, and Gu Shaoshang groaned as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the bare walls of his home and his father's scowling face.

"You brat, daring to sneak attack a cultivator at the Establish Fate stage with just a wooden staff! You're lucky I didn't kill you!"

Gu Shaoshang lay on the bed, listening to his father, Gu Jiu, reprimand him with a dark expression.

"Sigh, ever since your mother left us when you were three, my health hasn't been the same. Are you trying to anger me to death!"

Gu Jiu ran a hand through his sparse hair and, with his emaciated body, shuffled to the bedside to pick up the medicine bowl.

"Father, I was wrong."

Gu Shaoshang looked at the man before him, who resembled a consumptive patient, his eyes reddening.

It was this man who, despite his own serious illness, had raised him! His desperate desire to activate the Myriad Heavens Projection Mirror was also for him.

"Father, how many days have I been unconscious? I feel so hungry!" Gu Shaoshang struggled to drink the medicine his father held to his lips. The slight pain from his body, wrapped in white cloth like a mummy, caused him to cough a few times.

"Hmph! You've been asleep for two days! If it weren't for your Third Uncle's intervention this time, you'd have lasting consequences even after you healed!"

Gu Jiu grumbled softly, but his concern for his son was evident. He turned and left the room.

"You just lie there and don't move!"

After his father left, Gu Shaoshang couldn't wait. He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his mind.

In the center of the dim sea of consciousness, a mirror shone like a great sun.