Slaying a God

"At nine, you practiced the village's cultivation technique, Bear-Embracing Force. One day, you experienced a sudden revelation and reached the perfected stage. Your strength reached ten thousand jin; with a swing of your arms, you could drag ten oxen backward."

"When your father learned of your breakthrough, he shouted wildly, 'There's hope! There's hope!' He made such a commotion that the whole village heard. Everyone wept for joy, except the village chief, whose face grew exceedingly gloomy."

"At ten, you became the star of hope for the whole village. In everyone's eyes, your existence was their future. Even though you were already the strongest fighter in the village, they all protected you in secret, refusing to let you leave the village alone, much less take part in hunts."

"Your only task was to keep practicing martial arts and growing stronger."

"At eleven, after another two years of cultivation, you often had flashes of inspiration while observing heaven, earth, and nature, creating martial skills. You gave them domineering names, such as 'Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Technique' and 'Eighteen Hammers of Hating Heaven for Having No Handle and Earth for Having No Ring.'"

"But you were deeply frustrated. After two years of cultivation, you had made little progress. You had built on Bear-Embracing Force and refined it, cultivating it from the perfected stage to the great-perfection stage and bringing your strength past thirty thousand jin, but you had made no major breakthrough."

"By then, all you wanted was to leave the village and see more martial arts, so that you might have a chance to climb to the peak of the martial path."

"Unfortunately, the road was sealed by the so-called mountain god, leaving you somewhat helpless. During those two years, it wasn't as though you hadn't sneaked out of the village to investigate. Whenever you went three li beyond the village, an invisible wall blocked you, and you could find no way forward."

"Over the past few years, the mountain god had devoured more and more young boys and girls. Only a little over three hundred people remained in the village, most of them adults and elderly. By then, you were filled with killing intent toward the so-called mountain god."

"At twelve, killing intent filled your heart, accumulating ever more thickly. You turned it into motivation and experienced another sudden revelation. In harmony with heaven and earth, you observed the small world of the human body and came to understand the laws that existed in the unseen. You created a true martial cultivation technique and called it 'Heaven-Breaking.'"

"At the same time, your state of unity with heaven and man awakened the mountain god. Furious, the mountain god prepared to slaughter the village in order to break through to the next realm."

"That night, people who had once died returned to life one after another and entered the village. They spoke with their loved ones, telling them of the pain of being apart. Laughter and happy voices continued throughout the night."

"The next day, nearly a hundred people were missing from the village. None could be found alive, nor could their bodies be found. Led by the village chief, all the villagers searched anxiously. Where no one could see, the chief's face showed delight."

"Later, at a village elder's suggestion, everyone entered the village ancestral hall to look after one another."

"On the third day, everyone was on edge, but the village was utterly peaceful."

"The fourth day was peaceful."

"The fifth day was still peaceful."

"On the sixth day, after several peaceful days, disagreements arose. People clamored to go home and each look after their own affairs."

"On the seventh day, everyone left the ancestral hall and returned to their homes. The day passed peacefully."

"That night, as you cultivated in the courtyard, you spotted a familiar figure who looked like your older sister. You saw her enter your parents' room and followed close behind."

"That night, you beat a Monster Grade Anomaly to death. Sensing that power of harmony with heaven and earth, you experienced another sudden revelation. A vast ocean opened up in your dantian, and your martial cultivation entered a new realm, which you named the Wheel and Sea Realm."

"On the eighth day, the village lost nearly another hundred people. This time, the village chief disappeared as well. With no one to organize them, all the surviving villagers gathered of their own accord in the village ancestral hall."

"The ninth day was peaceful."

"On the twelfth day, the fog grew thicker and thicker, reducing visibility from ten meters to one. A pack of wild beasts charged into the village, destroying many buildings."

"You led the remaining members of the hunting party in killing many of the beasts, which became your food."

"Afterward, you counted the villagers. Fewer than eighty remained."

"On the thirteenth day, visibility in the thick fog fell from one meter to the point where people could no longer see each other's faces from half a meter away. Fortunately, it had little effect on you, who had broken through to the Wheel and Sea Realm."

"That day was peaceful."

"On the fourteenth day, you noticed something strange. The villagers were growing quieter and quieter. Many had stopped speaking and showed no fear. All of them were among those who had gone outside the ancestral hall to relieve themselves, and your parents happened to be among them."

"As you prepared to test them, your parents rushed at you. Then your mind grew hazy for a moment. You knew you had nearly fallen victim just now; it was a spiritual attack unique to Anomalies."

"Furious, you threw a punch. More than a hundred thousand jin of force erupted, smashing the two Anomalies to pieces."

"When you looked back inside the ancestral hall, a large number of people had fallen in pools of blood. Fewer than twenty remained, fleeing and shouting in terror."

"You were enraged. With the fingers of your left hand, you unleashed Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Technique; clenching your right hand into a fist, you used Eighteen Hammers of Hating Heaven for Having No Handle and Earth for Having No Ring. In your fury, you entered the state of unity with heaven and man once more and comprehended intent."

"Once you imbued your force with intent, it was like a missile fitted with an automatic tracking device. Amid bang after bang, the Anomalies self-destructed."

"Your village was wiped out, except for you."

"Then heaven and earth darkened, even as ten thousand rays of golden light shone. Amid the alternation of holiness and darkness, an unidentified Anomaly appeared on the scene."

"The moment you saw the mountain god, a term appeared in your mind: 'mountain god.' It wasn't what you had thought, but a mountain god truly in harmony with the mountains and rivers."

"But you did not believe in gods, especially after the village was wiped out, when you believed even less."

"The mountain god descended to suppress you, and you rose up against heaven, seeking only to break through the darkness of heaven and earth and obtain a sliver of hope for survival."

"At the very limit, you grasped a sliver of the power of life and death. Your martial cultivation entered a new realm, which you named the Life Spring."

"Life Spring was also the fist of life: if you wanted to live, you had to open it with your life and fight with your fists."

"Having entered the Life Spring Realm, you fought a great battle against the mountain god, a Blood Grade Anomaly. Mountains and rivers shattered, trees snapped, and the landscape was overturned. The village was directly smashed to pieces, with no trace of its former appearance."

"You won, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. Your life hung by a thread."