Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Ning Chen

At dusk, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.

Deep within the mountain forest at the edge of the school lay a secluded clearing.

Dense shrubs surrounded the clearing, and its location was extremely remote. Even if someone passed by, they would find it difficult to notice this place.

Usually, it was so quiet that it seemed forgotten by the entire school. Today, however, that silence had been shattered.

"Hit him! Hit him harder!"

A young girl's childish yet excited voice echoed across the clearing.

The owner of that voice was a little girl in a moon-white dress, no more than five or six years old.

Her skin was fair, her features delicate, and her long black hair spilled over her shoulders. Paired with those bright, blinking eyes, she looked every bit like a little princess carved from jade.

Yet at this moment, that face, which should have been innocent and pure, brimmed with excitement and cruelty utterly unfitting for her age.

She waved her tiny fists and shouted at the people ahead, "Beat him to death! Beat him to death!"

At the center of the clearing, six boys dressed in the uniforms of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School Inner Disciples were surrounding someone, punching and kicking him.

They were all around ten years old, and each of them stood far taller than the person trapped in the middle.

The boy being beaten was only as tall as their shoulders. His thin body was curled up on the ground, his hands tightly shielding his head as fists and feet rained down upon him.

The dull sounds of blows echoed through the woods, mixed with several muffled groans.

The boy being beaten never begged for mercy.

He wore the standard disciple uniform of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, but it was already smeared with mud and blood, torn open in several places.

The exposed skin of his arms and calves was covered in bruises, and blood even seeped from some of the wounds.

"Miss Rongrong, isn't that enough? If we keep going, something might happen." One disciple stopped and uneasily glanced back at the little girl in the moon-white dress.

Ning Rongrong shot him an annoyed glare. "What are you scared of? If something happens, I'll take responsibility! Keep hitting him!"

The disciple shrank back and could only raise the wooden stick in his hand again.

No one dared disobey her orders.

Because she was none other than Ning Rongrong, the youngest daughter of Ning Fengzhi, the current Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.

Though only six years old, she was not only her father's treasured jewel, but also the darling doted on by Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong.

Throughout the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, no one dared make her unhappy.

The school disciples she had secretly teased and bullied had even given her a nickname: the Little Witch.

At that moment, the Little Witch watched the battered boy on the ground with a face full of excitement, pleasure gleaming in her eyes.

The boy being beaten black and blue was named Ning Chen.

He was Ning Rongrong's half-brother, eight years old this year, and the biological son of Ning Fengzhi, Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.

The reason he was suffering such cruel treatment was not because he had offended Ning Rongrong before.

On the contrary, as Ning Fengzhi's least favored son, Ning Chen rarely even saw Ning Rongrong throughout the year.

Though they were siblings, they were practically strangers and could barely exchange a few words.

The true root of it all was Ning Chen's abysmal cultivation talent.

At the awakening ceremony two years ago, Ning Chen had awakened the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the inherited Martial Soul of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. However, his innate Soul Power had been only a meager half level.

In an ordinary family, half a level of Soul Power meant one could cultivate into a Soul Master and would be valued by their family.

But in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, especially as Ning Fengzhi's son, half a level of innate Soul Power was practically a disgrace.

From that day onward, Ning Chen went from being the Sect Master's son to the school's laughingstock.

His resources were withheld, his servants dismissed, and his residence moved to the most remote corner of the school.

The people who had once gathered around him scattered in an instant, as if he had been infected with some plague.

Ning Rongrong had gradually grown up in precisely that atmosphere.

Since childhood, she had listened to the school disciples mock Ning Chen and watched her father's attitude toward him grow increasingly cold.

Over time, Ning Chen ceased to be her brother in her eyes. Instead, he became a stain upon the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, someone who brought shame upon her and her father.

Whenever she saw Ning Chen cultivating alone in some remote corner, Ning Rongrong would feel an irritating surge of frustration.

A piece of trash should act like trash. Who was he trying to impress by working so hard every day?

She wanted to teach this ignorant piece of trash a lesson he would never forget.

She would make him recognize his place!

At that moment, Ning Chen lay on the ground. His frail body, weakened by a long-term lack of nutritional supplements, left him completely unable to resist.

He could only curl himself up as much as possible, barely protecting his vital areas beneath the rain of fists, kicks, and sticks.

Yet his memories returned to that afternoon.

Ever since his Martial Soul awakened two years ago and he learned that he possessed only half a level of innate Soul Power.

For the past two years, Ning Chen had cultivated diligently every day, hoping to catch up with disciples his age and regain his father Ning Fengzhi's approval.

But reality was cruel. After two years of arduous cultivation, his Soul Power had only just broken through to level three.

Today, he had finally reached the bottleneck of level four Soul Power. He had planned to push through it in one go, but Ning Rongrong had come looking for him.

No one had come to see him in a long time. When Ning Rongrong sweetly invited him out to play.

He had agreed almost without hesitation.

He had even thrown the matter of breaking through his bottleneck to the back of his mind.

Thinking about it now, it was utterly laughable.

A heavy blow from a stick slammed into his back. Ning Chen let out a muffled groan, and his body convulsed involuntarily.

His vision blurred. He did not know whether sweat or blood had flowed into his eyes.

He did not understand.

He did not understand why, despite both being Ning Fengzhi's children, Ning Rongrong was showered with endless affection while he was cast aside like garbage.

He did not understand why he had done nothing wrong, yet had to suffer such treatment merely because his innate Soul Power was only half a level.

He understood even less why this girl, who looked like an angel when she smiled, bore such deep malice toward him.

Pain and fury made his chest feel as though a fire were burning within it.

Thump, thump...

Ning Chen felt his heart pounding wildly and his blood rushing through his body. A strength he had never felt before surged forth from within him.

His anger and unwillingness seemed to become nourishment, and the pain of the sticks raining down on him no longer seemed quite so intense.

But within his heart, raging fury erupted, and endless hatred roared.

"Ah!"

He roared and rose to his feet. Blood vessels filled his eyes, which were further clouded by a hazy crimson hue.

Reason and composure had been suppressed in the deepest depths of his consciousness. Now, he wanted only to destroy everything before him!