Su Yu

Skywind City, Su Family.

Where was this? Wasn't I staying up late in my dorm, working on a paper?

A handsome young man abruptly sat up in bed, his sword-like brows knitted together and his face slightly pale. He clutched his head with both hands, feeling as though someone had smashed it with an iron hammer.

His vision kept going dark, and countless unfamiliar fragments of memory surged into his mind like a tide.

The Nine Heavens Continent. The martial path reigned supreme. The strong could command the heavens and earth, while the weak scraped by like ants.

The path of cultivation was divided into eight major realms—Qi Refining Realm, Spirit Condensation Realm, Essence Transformation Realm, Sea Breaking Realm, Heaven Piercing Realm, Nirvana Realm, Dominator Realm, and Immortal Realm. Each realm was further divided into nine levels.

And his current identity was Su Yu, a disciple of the Su Family in Skywind City. He was fifteen years old, and his father, Su Tianxing, had once been a prodigy of the Su Family before mysteriously disappearing five years ago.

The original owner had begun cultivating at the age of ten and reached the Qi Refining Third Layer in just half a year, earning the title of the Su Family's newest-generation prodigy.

But strangely, for the past five years, no matter how hard he tried, his cultivation had remained stagnant, turning him into a laughingstock of the family.

I actually transmigrated...

A bitter smile touched Su Yu's lips, and his eyes held a trace of dazed disbelief.

In his previous life, he had been nothing more than an ordinary college student. Every day, all he did was go to class and hole up in his dorm reading web novels, occasionally daydreaming about achieving financial freedom by the age of thirty.

Who would have thought that an accident would toss him into this martial world, where the strong preyed on the weak?

In the Nine Heavens Continent, where martial might reigned supreme, survival itself was a luxury without strength.

The thrilling tales of revenge and sword-wielding wanderers beneath the heavens that he had once imagined now stood before him in reality, sending a chill down his spine.

Retire at thirty... Su Yu muttered to himself in self-mockery.

If he couldn't solve the mystery behind his stalled cultivation, he didn't even know whether he'd live to see thirty.

Moonlight from beyond the window cast mottled tree shadows on the wall, swaying like ghosts.

Su Yu looked up at the moon of this strange world and suddenly found himself missing the ordinary life he'd had in his previous one.

Taking a deep breath, Su Yu sat cross-legged on the bed and tried to circulate the family-inherited Qi Nurturing Technique, following the original owner's memories.

Half an hour later, Su Yu opened his eyes, a bitter smile on his face.

"Just as I thought..."

Just as he remembered, after breaking through to the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm, no matter how he cultivated, the spiritual energy in his body would mysteriously dwindle, as though something was constantly absorbing it.

"No, I'll try again."

Su Yu gritted his teeth and murmured.

This was the first hurdle on his path into the martial world. He didn't want to give up so easily.

Half an hour later, the spiritual energy he cultivated was still slowly disappearing.

"Again!"

An hour later, the same thing happened.

"I refuse to believe it! One last try."

Su Yu was deeply unwilling to give in. He had locked horns with whatever was inside him, absorbing his spiritual energy.

Just like when he used to run experiments in his previous life: fail, start over; fail again, start over again.

He had no idea how much time passed.

Su Yu's eyes were bloodshot, his hands trembling slightly, and his impatience grew by the moment.

"No. I have to calm down."

Su Yu suddenly bit his tongue. The sharp pain cleared his head in an instant.

"Could the cause be in my Sea of Consciousness?"

The Sea of Consciousness was the spiritual world within the body. Once one reached the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm, one's consciousness could enter it.

But in the original owner's memories, every time he entered, he would return to reality before long, with no time to investigate whether it held the reason his spiritual energy was being absorbed.

Su Yu took a deep breath, then tried to sink his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness.

A moment later, his consciousness took shape within a sea of mist.

The misty expanse was frighteningly silent. Su Yu moved through it slowly, but, fortunately, he didn't get sent back to reality after just a few breaths, as the original owner had.

He didn't know how long he had been walking when his steps suddenly stopped—

"Clang!"

A clear, ringing clash of metal echoed through the void, as though something long asleep had been startled awake.

He looked down and saw an ancient-looking longsword floating in the Soul World.

Its blade was covered in cracks like a spiderweb, and it radiated a heart-stopping pressure. At that moment, it was greedily devouring the spiritual energy in his body.

No wonder he'd never been able to break through...

Su Yu frowned deeply.

The moment he tried to touch the Ancient Sword, it suddenly let out a piercing ring. The two deepest intersecting cracks along its spine sprang open, turning into a vortex like a black hole.

A terrifying force tore at Su Yu's spiritual form, twisting it out of shape. His soul's very essence felt as though it were being pierced by tens of thousands of threads.

Am I going to die again...

As his consciousness began to crumble, the thought flashed through his mind.

Suddenly, a dazzling light burst from Su Yu's spiritual form.

Buzz—

The light swept across the sword, and the jagged cracks abruptly froze.

The spiritual energy that had been devoured unexpectedly surged back, churning through his meridians like a raging sea.

Seizing the chance, Su Yu returned his consciousness to reality and immediately circulated the Qi Nurturing Technique with all his might.

Freed from its restraints, the spiritual energy surged through his meridians like a furious tide, instantly breaking through four blocked meridians.

His aura kept climbing, and at last, he broke through to the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

Once everything settled, the Ancient Sword in the Soul World had returned to stillness.

His consciousness entered the Sea of Consciousness again, and Su Yu cautiously remained at a safe distance.

Although the Ancient Sword seemed calm now, he remembered all too clearly the terrifying force with which it had just devoured his energy.

This mysterious longsword was like a ferocious beast asleep, liable to awaken at any moment and swallow every last bit of the spiritual energy he had worked so hard to cultivate.

He had to find out where it came from as soon as possible...

Su Yu pondered to himself, then withdrew his consciousness from the Sea of Consciousness.

When Su Yu opened his eyes, dawn had begun to break outside.

Feeling the spiritual energy surging through his body, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Qi Refining Level 4!

And the purity of his spiritual energy was far greater than before.

"I finally broke through..."