Dao Seed of Creation

Brahma Saint Calendar, year 8152, late autumn.

Cangzhou, Yufeng Prefecture, Wan City.

Evening. The setting sun was red as blood.

Outside the city walls, inside a hastily erected shack, Gu Yang's family of four wore ragged, thin clothes as they crowded together on a straw mat, staring at one another in silence.

Wan City had been drenched by heavy rain during the day, and the ground was now damp and icy.

White mist spread everywhere, chilling people to the bone.

His seven-year-old little sister's face had been frozen purple-blue. Her entire body trembled, and her small hands, covered in chilblains, clutched tightly at Gu Mother's clothes as she kept burrowing into her arms.

Bursts of coughing continuously came from the neighboring shack. It seemed the Zhang Family's wife had caught a chill, and no one knew whether she could pull through.

The world had no wish to let people live. After the great disaster came the upheaval of heaven; who knew how many refugees would fall asleep one night and never open their eyes again?

Inside the shack, Gu Dashan, the white-haired head of the household, suddenly said in a low voice, "Caihua, the authorities summoned us today. They said they would give each household two taels of silver to buy grain, then have us return to our village."

"Two taels of silver, that much?" Gu Mother Wang Caihua's eyes widened. Her hands trembled as she said excitedly, "Husband, you didn't hear wrong, did you?"

"I didn't hear wrong, but I didn't agree." Gu Dashan took hold of Gu Mother's icy right hand. "And I didn't take those two taels either."

"Why not?" Gu Mother's expression changed as she asked, "Have you lost your mind? That's two taels of silver! We couldn't save that much money in years!"

Glancing at his son, who had kept his head lowered in silence, Gu Dashan lowered his voice. "I want to send Er Lang to the Martial Academy!"

A gleam appeared in Gu Dashan's eyes. "I traded those two taels of silver for Er Lang's qualification to enter the Martial Academy without taking the exam. This is compensation from the authorities for us disaster-stricken commoners!"

"You know that a few years ago, the wealthy Guo Family in our village wanted to send their foolish son into the Martial Academy. They emptied their household and scraped together twenty taels of silver, but the academy masters did not even spare them a glance. If one's talent isn't enough and one still wants to enter the Martial Academy, they have to produce a hundred taels of silver in one go!"

"Enter the Martial Academy?" Gu Mother's breath caught, and worry appeared on her face. "I heard the Martial Academy is where they train great martial warriors. Those who can enter are all remarkable people. There isn't a single one in all the villages within ten miles of us. Can Xiao Yang really do it?"

"I believe in him. Besides, Er Lang has secretly been doing things like sit-ups and bracing himself against the ground lately. I tried them myself; they should be body-strengthening movements he learned from somewhere. Since he wants to practice martial arts, it is better for him to go to the Martial Academy than blindly train by himself. What if he ruins his body?"

Gu Dashan abruptly turned to Gu Yang, his eyes blazing. "Er Lang, I know you survived this great calamity and were shaken enough to want to learn martial arts. Once you enter the Martial Academy, practice properly and do not slack off."

"Yes..." Gu Yang raised his head and answered.

He had been listening to their conversation all along. He had never imagined that his carpenter father had discovered his secret workouts over this period of time—and had even obtained for him the qualification to cultivate the Martial Path.

Of course, what Gu Dashan did not know was that Gu Yang had not begun exercising because he had been traumatized.

It was because the current Gu Yang was no longer the simple mountain village youth he had once been.

Twenty days ago, Mang Mountain near Houshan Village had shaken. The Mountain God awakened, and a terrifying earthquake struck everything within ten miles.

Gu Yang had been struck on the head by a falling roof beam and fainted on the spot. Had Gu Dashan not carried him out at the crucial moment, he would likely have been buried beneath the collapsed house.

Half a day later, on the road of flight, Gu Yang finally woke up, and everyone in the Gu Family wept with joy.

They simply did not know that the Gu Family's Er Lang had already become someone else.

Over the past half month or so, Gu Yang, having merged with the Gu Family's Er Lang's memories, had gradually become familiar with his parents, family, and surroundings.

His father was Houshan Village's only carpenter, while his mother was an ordinary rural woman.

He ranked second in the family. He had once had an older brother two years his senior, but the boy had died young at the age of four. Below him was a younger sister, seven years old this year.

It was a very ordinary family. They were not wealthy, but neither were they so poor that they could not afford food.

At the same time, through his explorations during this period, he had learned what kind of world this was.

A flourishing age of cultivation!

In the tales passed from mouth to mouth among the common people, this was a world of myth!

Among the Human Race were Martial Path experts who stood in the air and slew Flood Dragons with a single blade.

In the mountains, kings among the beasts commanded myriad creatures and stirred up Beast Tides.

Mountains, rivers, and streams could even give birth to intelligence. With a single movement, they could unleash natural disasters and leave living beings suffering everywhere.

Ordinary mortals were as fragile as ants. At any moment, a single disaster or upheaval could turn them into one line in local historical records: "Countless commoners perished in the calamity..."

To live in such a dangerous world and seize one's own fate, there was only the road of Martial Path cultivation!

And the Martial Academy was the place where Wan City's authorities trained martial warriors. It was also Wan City's only "martial hall." Even though Gu Yang's family lived at the foot of the mountains, they knew of the Martial Academy's reputation.

The opportunity was right before him. Naturally, he would not let it slip away.

Gu Yang's expression turned serious as he answered firmly, "Father, don't worry. Once I enter the Martial Academy, I will cultivate diligently and strive to become a martial warrior!"

"Good. Tomorrow morning, you'll go to the prefectural office with me. Once we collect the certificate, I'll take you to the Martial Academy to enroll." Gu Dashan did not discourage Gu Yang. Instead, he settled the matter directly.

At that moment, Gu Mother said worriedly from the side, "I heard practicing martial arts costs a great deal of money. We fled in such a hurry that we never dug up the money we buried in the ground. The silver we have on us probably will not last long."

"Mother, Yingying eats very little. I can save all my porridge for Brother. I only need one small mouthful each time." In Gu Mother's arms, little sister Gu Yingying suddenly raised her hand and spoke softly.

"Yingying!" Hearing this, Gu Yang hurriedly pulled Gu Yingying into his arms. "Don't worry. Your brother will not let you go hungry!"

"Enough, what kind of nonsense is that? Could I, Gu Dashan, possibly let my own children go hungry?" Gu Dashan clenched his fist and heavily struck the straw mat. "Er Lang will study martial arts at the Martial Academy, and I'll enter the city to find work. I refuse to believe that, with my skills, I still can't find a job in the city!"

"That's right. What nonsense are you babbling, silly girl?" Gu Mother held Gu Yingying tighter and gave her two neither-light-nor-heavy pats on the back.

"Enough. Let's stop talking about this and rest."

Gu Dashan waved his hand, then lay down at the outermost edge of the straw mat. Pulling his clothes tightly around himself, he curled up.

Seeing this, Gu Mother and his little sister also fell silent, lying on their sides on the straw mat, pressed close together.

His mother slept at the innermost side, blocking the wind that leaked in from behind the shack, while Gu Yingying lay snug against Gu Mother.

There was still one place that should have belonged to Gu Yang, but he remained sitting where he was, looking outside the shack with some hesitation.

Gu Dashan saw through Gu Yang's thoughts and said, "You want to go out? Go on. Take two corn buns with you, but don't come back too late. We still have to enter the city tomorrow."

"Alright, Father..."

During this period, Gu Yang set aside time to exercise every day.

Previously, he had always needed to find one excuse or another. Tonight, however, was the first time he could go out openly.

With corn buns tucked into his clothes, he quickly made his way to the edge of the shack district. Finding a patch of relatively dry ground, Gu Yang took a deep breath and began hopping around to warm up.

Aside from the porridge distributed by the authorities each day, Gu Dashan brought back a few corn buns from the city daily to share with him. That was also why he had been able to keep exercising.

A quarter of an hour later, Gu Yang felt his body had warmed up, so he braced his hands against the ground and began doing push-ups.

In his previous life, he had merely been an ordinary person. He had never even gone to a gym and did not know any other methods of training. He only knew the most common exercises: push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and the like.

These were the methods he had kept using in his recent training.

His arms were perpendicular to the ground, his toes planted, his abdomen tightened, and his legs together and stretched behind him.

After assuming the standard push-up position, Gu Yang bent his elbows and slowly lowered himself toward the ground. He paused for an instant, then pushed himself back up.

Twenty repetitions per set. After completing two sets without stopping, Gu Yang's arms were already trembling slightly, but he continued to persist until...

Skill "Exercise" proficiency +1

A line of small words, half-illusory and half-real, flashed before his eyes. Gu Yang finally let out a long breath and pushed himself upright.

After resting briefly, Gu Yang began doing sit-ups again.

He lay flat on the ground, lightly cupped his ears with both hands, stretched his legs straight, then exerted force through his waist and abdomen and raised his body.

It was still twenty repetitions per set. This time, Gu Yang persisted through nearly three sets before that line of small words appeared again.

Skill "Exercise" proficiency +1

Next came planks, then squats...

Gu Yang went through every exercise method he knew in turn. Only after exhausting all his strength did he lie flat on the ground and gasp for breath in great mouthfuls.

In the night sky, the moon shone bright while the stars were sparse.

Thirteen radiant moons hung high above the heavens, scattering clear light and bathing the ground in snowy white.

He closed his eyes. His vision was swallowed by darkness, save for a single starlight shining at its very center.

Gu Yang cast his consciousness into it. The starlight gradually expanded and transformed into a mysterious seed—the Dao Seed of Creation!

At the same time, three lines of familiar writing from his homeland appeared before his eyes.

Miracle of Creation—Gift of Life: Everything learned and cultivated becomes a skill that aids the body's evolution. As physical qualities continually undergo transformation, the potential within the body will gradually be developed and made manifest as talents.

Skill: Exercise · Beginner (55/100)

Talent: None

Twenty days ago, when Gu Yang awoke on the road of flight, he discovered this starlight that had crossed over with him.

Normally, the starlight would not manifest when he opened his eyes. Only when he closed them and called for it in his heart would it appear, transforming into something Gu Yang could understand: a seed!

Whenever he saw this seed, a string of mysterious, intricate symbols would naturally emerge in his mind.

They could be called words, but they were not actually writing used by any civilization in the world.

In the depths of his heart, Gu Yang already understood that those mysterious and intricate characters were in fact a vessel for the laws of the Dao.

The Great Dao left no trace. It had to possess some means of bearing it before the world could see it.

Without a vessel, it would be like the Dao laws that existed everywhere between heaven and earth—seen by none, though all looked upon them.

Just like the Dao Seed of Creation, as his thoughts shifted, that string of mysterious writing could transform according to his wishes into any form of expression familiar to him.

Chinese, English, Arabic numerals, or anything else—it could become them all.

Gu Yang had always suspected that this sudden transmigration of his had happened precisely because of this Dao Seed.

But his strength was still too weak. He had no way to investigate or verify the matter, so he could only bury it deep in his heart and strive to become stronger.

After his unceasing efforts during this period, he had now turned Exercise into a skill and raised its proficiency to 55 points.

The change it brought was that his body had become far stronger than when he had first arrived in this world. With the force of one arm, he could now barely lift something weighing around a hundred pounds.

Gu Yang believed that as long as he had enough time, even through exercise alone, he could make his physical qualities transform and thereby awaken his potential.

But since he could practice martial arts, there was no need to give up Exercise...

Gu Yang abruptly opened his eyes and stared at the thirteen moons in the night sky. In his heart, he swore that one day, he would definitely become a Martial Path expert!