Great Big Dipper Snake Heart Refining Method

What kind of person was An Jing, in the eyes of the Children of Calamity?

At first, he was an "exceptional one" singled out by the [grown-ups].

Every Child of Calamity from the north had some outstanding quality. Some had excellent stamina, some incredible endurance, and some had once fought bandits or other starving refugees with their bare hands. Otherwise, they would never have survived. Even someone like Gu Yeqi, who had lived only because her father protected her while she was sick, could have crossed a thousand miles of mountain ranges with the group before falling ill.

An Jing? Exceptional? The most exceptional person among us?

What a joke!

When they heard those words, none of the emotions welling up inside them were positive.

Jealousy. Contempt. Anger. Frustration. Resentment. Confusion.

Some consoled themselves with the thought that a tree that stood above the forest would be battered by the wind, and the bird that stuck its head out would be shot. An Jing, singled out as an exceptional one, was bound to run into plenty of trouble. Then they could sit back and watch him make a fool of himself.

And then they witnessed with their own eyes what true excellence was.

Stamina: the best. After following the instructor on a fifty-li circuit around the mountains and climbing a hundred and eighty zhang of rock face, An Jing was only slightly winded when he got back down.

Strength: the best. An Jing could lift a stone lock with his little finger and win a tug-of-war against five people by himself.

Skill: the best. An Jing excelled at all eighteen types of weapons—that was just an expression, because he actually knew even more. He could even fend off eight attackers with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. Just a pair