Five Years Later, Reborn

After dinner.

Dongbo Xueying, his younger brother Qingshi, and Zong Ling were gathered together. Dongbo Xueying took a watermelon-sized crystal sphere out of a parcel nearby; this, too, was something left behind by their mother.

"Brother, what is this? It's so pretty." His younger brother Qingshi was beautiful and cute. If Dongbo Xueying's features leaned more toward their father, then his brother's features leaned more toward their mother; one could tell at a glance that he would grow up to be a handsome young man. Dongbo Xueying, by comparison, could not match his brother's handsomeness.

"Come, Stone, put your hand on it," Dongbo Xueying urged.

"Oh." Qingshi obediently placed his small hand on the sphere.

As his palm touched the crystal, the spiritual fluctuations inherent in the human body naturally triggered a reaction within the sphere. The crystal immediately emitted a hazy, crimson light that permeated the entire room.

Everyone present beamed with joy.

"Brother, why is there light?" Qingshi asked curiously.

"Great Mage, come here, give me a kiss." Dongbo Xueying hugged his brother and happily kissed him.

Mages were different from knights.

Knights needed to begin training from a young age; for instance, the entrance threshold set by Changfeng Academy was a maximum age of ten! Mages, however, were the opposite... they could not train during early childhood. Those from families with good conditions generally began training at ten, while some did not start until they were sixteen, seventeen, or even over twenty. The threshold for Changfeng Academy to recruit mages was as high as thirty years old.

One could enter the academy any time before thirty.

This was because mages required a high level of cognitive ability, especially since their cultivation involved the soul. If one were to mess around at too young an age, they might even damage their soul and become an idiot! Conversely, those who were older had more life experience and the accumulation of years; it was not uncommon for people to begin cultivation at forty or fifty and eventually achieve great success or even step into the Transcendent realm.

Time passed day by day.

In the blink of an eye, five years had gone by.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~" Goose-feather-sized snowflakes were drifting down.

A youth wearing a thin black garment stood before a railing, watching the sky full of snow. His facial features were as sharp as if carved by a knife, and years of training had imbued him with a heart-stopping aura—the aura possessed by a master of the spear.

"Brother!"

A boy dressed in thick clothing shouted from afar.

"Qingshi." Dongbo Xueying smiled and leaped down from the height of over six meters, landing in the open space covered in thick snow below. Now that his brother was older, Dongbo Xueying had changed how he addressed him, calling him by his name, 'Qingshi', instead of his childhood nickname, 'Stone'.

"Brother, let's go to Yi Water City to have some fun. There are so many fun places in Yi Water City; staying at home is so stifling and boring," Dongbo Qingshi said excitedly.

"You should ask Uncle Zong to accompany you," Dongbo Xueying laughed.

"You always stay inside Snow Eagle Territory; it's rare for you to even go into the city once a year. Don't you feel stifled?" Dongbo Qingshi muttered.

Dongbo Xueying just smiled and said nothing.

His brother no longer had any impression of their parents, nor did he remember the night they were taken away; he lived a carefree life.

"I'm going to practice my fist techniques for a while longer," Dongbo Xueying said. He took off his outer garment, revealing his upper body. It wasn't apparent while he was clothed, but once he stripped down, one could immediately sense his powerful physique. Clearly, years of arduous training had made his body astonishingly strong.

As he spoke, Dongbo Xueying stepped through the snow and began practicing the Flame Three-Stage Method. This was a battle qi technique, but it was also a set of fist techniques.

Snowflakes landed on his skin. With every move and every stance, his perception of the surrounding world became clearer.

"Practice slowly then, I'm off to play," Qingshi said, sprinting away.

Dongbo Xueying continued to practice his fist techniques amidst the heavy snow. Each move appeared slow, yet his body's power flowed and transmitted like running water.

By the age of thirteen, his spear techniques had already reached the level of 'Man and Spear as One'.

But this was not enough... he still needed his entire body's strength to be perfectly unified, with every sliver of power controlled with extreme precision and finesse, before he could be qualified to be called a 'Spear Master' and successfully master the first stage of the Mystic Ice Spear Technique, 'Drifting Snow'!

For the past two years, he had frequently practiced his fist techniques, contemplating his own body, searching for that spark of inspiration in the tranquility, striving for his physical strength to be perfectly unified.

"Almost there."

Dongbo Xueying could already vaguely touch the threshold of having his entire body's strength perfectly unified.

From the age of six until this winter at fifteen, he had been practicing the spear for nearly ten years! The intensity of his diligence was likely more remarkable than what an ordinary person would achieve in twenty or thirty years of training.

"I don't need to worry about my spear techniques, but why haven't I generated battle qi even now?" Dongbo Xueying picked up a long spear resting nearby and began to execute his techniques at will. The spear and Dongbo Xueying seemed to merge into one; the spear was like a dragon, surging and vast. As he thrust, countless spear shadows enveloped the area. As he swept, it was unstoppable.

According to initial estimates, he should have generated battle qi by the age of ten! By fifteen, he should have long since stepped into the Earth-rank Knight realm.

But in reality?

He had yet to generate battle qi and become a knight.

Dongbo Xueying, Zong Ling, and Tong San were not disappointed; instead, they found it bizarre!

This was because the principle of battle qi techniques was to absorb the power of heaven and earth to nourish the body. Once the body reached a limit and could no longer absorb more, this power would form battle qi within the body!

By the age of ten, Dongbo Xueying's physical strength had already exceeded the limits of an ordinary person. In the five years that followed, his body had continued to grow stronger... it had been constantly absorbing the power of heaven and earth, which was why he had been unable to generate battle qi.

"What exactly is the reason?"

"My current body is more than ten times stronger than a normal person's, yet it is still absorbing the power of heaven and earth."

Dongbo Xueying was puzzled.

Even with the vast experience of Zong Ling and the others, they could not understand the reason for this situation.

"Bang!"

The spear suddenly slammed into the ground, striking the stone slab beneath the snow. It rebounded with the momentum, and with a sudden forward thrust, it let out a terrifying, piercing whistle.

Dongbo Xueying, who was in the middle of practicing his spear technique, suddenly felt a faint itch beginning deep within the most minute parts of his body.

"Hmm?" Dongbo Xueying immediately put away his spear. Every bone in his body was itching from the core, and every muscle was itching as well; even with his level of endurance, he found this sensation unbearable. Following that, every part of his body began to burn with intense heat, as if he were being incinerated and his very bones were melting away. His skin began to turn bright red and grew tougher, while a layer of fascia began to form beneath it.

On Dongbo Xueying's bare upper body, a blood-red mist rose vaguely, indistinctly forming the shape of a towering giant.

In a trance, Dongbo Xueying 'saw' a towering giant wearing a beast-hide skirt, standing barefoot on a desolate land and roaring toward the sky.

Then, the blood-red mist dissipated.

However, the changes inside Dongbo Xueying's body became even more violent.

"Ah."

Unable to suppress the agony any longer, Dongbo Xueying fell to his knees, his hands bracing against the ground as the scorching heat radiating from his body began to melt the surrounding snow.