1 Prologue

In the southernmost peninsula of the Mystic Continent stood the Heavenly Blessing kingdom.

Albeit small, the kingdom enjoyed greater freedom compared to the other kingdoms in the continent thanks to its isolated location. Aside from one other kingdom in the north, it was surrounded in all sides by the Great Ocean.

A mountain chain ran through the eastern edge of the kingdom. It was covered in dense forest, heavily populated by magical beasts of various strength. Compared to central region, living in this area was tougher for humans. However, there were still rural villages dotting the landscape, remnants of the earlier pioneering era.

Officially, these villages were considered part of the kingdom. In reality, they were mostly self-governed, with the kingdom leaving them to their own devices as long as they didn't pose any threat to the central region.

One of those villages was called the Bountiful Harvest village.

It was a small village containing around thirty families. The main income of the village came from agricultural effort, but they were also reliant on bounties from nearby forest. Hunting was a dangerous task because of magical beasts, thus the villagers never wandered too deep into the forest.

This particular village was usually calm and peaceful, but in that day, they were clamoring wildly.

A ten-years-old boy stood at the entrance of the village. He was wearing a ragged white clothes. On his back was a bag containing traveling necessities. It was the day of his departure to the capital of the kingdom, the long-awaited day for the boy and the villagers.

This boy's name was William.

Ever since he was born, William had shown great talent for martial arts. Sadly, his late mother was heavily against it. She didn't want his son to enter the treacherous world of martial arts, wishing a simple farmer life for him instead. Thankfully, the village elder had once been a martial artist himself. He secretly imparted a cultivation method to the boy, allowing him to train properly.

A year ago, the boy's mother had died.

On her death bed, the woman revealed that she had known long ago about William's self-training. Rather than admonishing him, however, she instead showed him a gentle smile.

"His blood runs in you, after all..."

She mustered her strength to take out a white jade amulet from the desk. It was a trinket that she had treasured the most. William had seen her taking it out in the night, clutching it to her chest.

She beckoned his son to come closer. And then, she put the amulet in his hands.

"Think of this as me. From now on, you have to live with your own strength..."

With a longing gaze, she looked outside the window, toward the distant west.

"Go to the capital, my child. You shouldn't be confined in this small village for your entire life..."

Her last words were faint, but William heard them as clear as day.

'I love you'.

The hand touching his cheek slowly lost its warmth. Tears silently ran down his face.

His mother had left him a thick bundle of letters. Usually, the people living in rural villages barely knew about the situation in the central region. However, his mother turned out to be highly knowledgeable about the continent. Not just about the Heavenly Blessing kingdom, but also about the land beyond the northern border.

In one of those letters, she wrote about the youth martial arts tournament that was held annually in the capital. Promising youngsters who could prove themselves in the tournament would be given a chance to enter the prestigious royal academy, where they would be tempered in the way of martial arts.

Compared to this rural village, the royal academy could provide William with better cultivation techniques and limitless amount of pills and potions. If William wanted to pursue martial arts in its entirety, she had hoped that her son could enter that place.

When William expressed his desire to enter the capital, the village elder expressed his approval.

In this world where strength determined one's standing, a place that could birth talented martial artists were always valued more. If William could enter the royal academy and made a name for himself, the village would also grow prosperous. As such, the elder wasted no effort in providing William with whatever assistance the village could provide.

Finally, the day had come. In a month, the annual youth martial arts tournament would start. William would have to depart now if he wanted to enter.

"My boy, take good care of yourself. Don't train too hard until you forget to eat!"

The village elder, who had seen William as his own grandson, patted the boy's shoulders again and again.

"Elder, everyone, thank you for everything. I won't let you down!"

A heavy feeling was weighing down his chest. He had been given nothing but kindness during his entire life in this village. It was his home. He was reluctant to leave. However, he knew that in order to grow further, he had to make this first step.

He respectfully bowed, showing his gratitude for this entire ten years.

As they watched the boy walking off in the distance, the womenfolks couldn't help but sigh.

William was polite and hardworking. Not to mention, his look was rather handsome. In the future, he would certainly become a dashing young man. If only he hadn't left the village, they would had married their daughters to him.

It was such a loss.

As for William, he didn't understand about that kind of thing. He had always been focused in his training, so no matter how many hints were raised, he remained oblivious.

The youth walked down the dirt road, his eyes shining with expectations.

A whole new world awaited him!

'Watch me from above, mom. I'll make you proud.'

Carrying that promise in his heart, he walked forth.

---

The capital of Heavenly Blessing kingdom was located at the center of the kingdom. It was a gigantic metropolis with millions of people living in it. Tall, imposing stone walls covered the entire perimeter with only four gates, one in each cardinal directions, providing entrance into the city.

In the very center was a small hill. A palace covered in gold stood on it, overlooking the entire city. It was the residence of the royal family, house Harwell, the dynasty that had ruled since the founding of Heavenly Blessing kingdom.

William's mouth gaped open like a fish. Everything seemed to be exaggerated in this place. Countless buildings as tall as thousand-years trees, countless people filling up the street, the sheer difference in size with his hometown had given him a huge shock.

This was the difference between the capital and rural villages!

Usually, people like William wouldn't be able to enter the city so easily. However, the guards knew that the youth tournament would be held soon. Rambunctious youngsters from every part of the kingdom would join to try their luck, so a rural boy like William was hardly a strange sight these days.

Upon entering the city, his first business was to register for the tournament.

Registration was actually easy. Aspiring competitors just had to pay for entrance fee, which was around fifty silver coins. Although it was considered cheap for people of the central region, it was a huge spending for William. It was almost the entire funds the village had pooled for him. Feeling a bit downcast, he had no choice but to pay.

The tournament would start tomorrow, and it would last for three days. After registering, William barely had enough coins to rent a cheap room for the duration of the tournament. As for his other necessities, he just had to remain frugal. Thankfully, he had never been a picky individual.

Now, what to do before the tournament?

His immediate thought was to train. The elder had repeated multiple times that he shouldn't exert himself before the tournament, that a proper rest was also part of training. However, William couldn't stay still. If he didn't move his muscles, he would be restless.

Having made up his mind, he made his way toward the inn, which was located in the outer residential district.

The closer you were to the center of the capital, the better off you were in your life. The closest area was populated by nobles, while wealthy merchants occupied the middle perimeter. Civilians lived in the areas further beyond. The outer residential district, the area closest to the city walls, was considered the worst of them all.

Due to its proximity to the barracks, the area was relatively peaceful. However, respectful civilians would never hope to live in that place.

Thanks to that, the rent in this place was extremely cheap.

For William, the outer district was still better than his village, so he had no complain.

He was mumbling about a section in his cultivation manual when he passed by a dark, narrow alley.

It was purely by chance. When he took a glance to his side, his keen eyes, tempered by disciplined training, caught sight of a person.

In the alley, hidden by the shadow, there was a girl in dark green dress, seemingly around his age. She was leaning on the wall as she gasped for air. She was clutching her left arm. The sleeve was torn, and William caught a trail of red color which ended at the tip of her slender fingers.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

Without thinking, William rushed to her. His sudden entrance surprised the girl, who quickly avoided him. However, William managed to grab her wrist, stopping her from going further down the alley.

The girl frowned. She pulled her hand, trying to break free from William's grasp. However, the boy didn't budge.

"Let go," she hissed, throwing a glare his way.

"You're injured. Let's go see a doctor."

"I said, let go!"

She yanked harder. William finally let go, afraid that the wound on her arm would get worse if she overexert herself. The girl wanted to run, but she suddenly felt lightheaded from the loss of blood. Her knees gave way as she felt gravity pulling her body down. She instinctively closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact.

However, it never came.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself leaning on the boy's chest, his arms circling around her waist.

William was dumbfounded. His body had reacted faster than his thoughts. He was just trying to stop her from falling down. He never expected that it would end up this way.

Even though he was innocent in that part, he was still a boy close to reaching puberty. Being in close proximity with a girl still made him thought about unnecessary things.

Her silky black hair that flowed like water on her back, her fair, smooth skin, that weird, soft feeling when her chest crashed on his...

"...Let go..."

A cold voice woke him up. His arms flew open as he scrambled away from the girl, his cheeks as red as ripened tomatoes.

"I-I-I'm sorry-"

The girl clicked her tongue. However, her gaze wasn't pointed at the boy. Instead, she was looking at the alley.

"Too late, they've caught up..."

There were two men in black clothes running toward them. They were focused on the girl, but upon noticing William standing next to her, they frowned.

When the two walked closer to the girl, William stood in front of her, shielding her with his body.

The men's frown grew deeper.

"Little boy, scram!"

"Who are they?" William whispered at the girl behind him.

"Thugs," she replied promptly.

His neighbors had went to the capital a few times to buy supplies. They had given him various advice in order to keep him safe. The most important thing was to keep away from shady alleys like this one, because there were lots of bad personage hiding in the shadow.

While they wouldn't make trouble in the open street, the hidden alleys were dominated by lawless thugs who would prey upon unsuspecting victims. The guards had continuously tried to curb their activities, but it was a neverending fight. They could only advise the civilians to maintain their vigilance.

William stole a glance at the girl. And then, he turned back to face the thugs.

"What do you want from this girl?"

"As if we will tell you! Scram, or else!"

They cracked their knuckles, Surge of energy began to flow in their bodies as a faint aura surrounded them.

William felt a sudden chill on his back.

Qi condensation stage!

For a martial artists, true cultivation began from the moment they could sense qi, the vital energy of the world. After that, they would gather this qi and refine them within their body. This process would slowly strengthen their bodies, providing a foundation for further cultivation.

This was the qi condensation stage. Even though it was just the entry level, it was still the sign of a true martial artist.

Compared to them, an elementary stage martial artist like William wouldn't stand a chance. Escaping would be the best course of action.

However...

William took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Getting flustered over the opponents wouldn't do him any good. He had to analyze the situation clearly.

He remembered that the elder was also in the qi condensation stage. He had lamented that due to his less than ideal talent, he had been stuck at the peak of this stage his entire life, unable to break through the bottleneck to the higher stage.

The elder had shown William his aura. It was a brilliant light that suffused him with a warm feeling.

Compared to the elder, these two seemed to be lacking. Their aura was thin, barely able to be seen with naked eyes. Their pressure also wasn't as great as the elder's.

If what the elder had shown him belonged to the peak rank of qi condensation stage, then these thugs were way below that. Perhaps, they were still in the early stage.

If so, there was still hope.

The thugs had thought that this boy would flee after their intimidation. Against their expectation, the boy instead lunged forward, aiming at the one on his right. He was fast, extremely fast, such that the thugs who was a stage higher than him was only barely able to see his shadow.

A punch was delivered straight at the thug's belly. However, the aura acted like an armor, blocking most of the impact.

"Heh, a boy in elementary stage think that he can hurt me?"

The thug smirked. Against opponents that used qi, unless you could also use qi to strengthen your attacks, they would be unharmed. The punch just now only ticked him.

"It is certainly so. However, that's only if the qi is dense enough..." William murmured in response.

If the attack was useless, then the thug shouldn't even be able to notice it. However, the fact that he managed to 'tickle' him meant that the attack worked, however slight.

'While they're still underestimating me, I have to wrap this up!'

William roared, slammed his foot on the ground, and then sent another punch at the thug.

And another.

And another.

Each punch was faster and stronger than the previous ones, so fast that the thug didn't manage to avoid them. Worse, he'd started to feel something.

What started as a tickle began to turn into pain.

By the time that he managed to gather his thought, one last punch shattered through his aura, crashing on his belly. The force was strong enough to send him flying. He slammed onto the ground, and then rolled a few times until he hit the wall and finally stopped. He had fainted from the shock.

The other thug was horrified. The boy didn't have any trace of qi in his body, he was definitely in the elementary stage! How did he do that?

"You bastard!"

The thug swung a knife toward William's neck. His movement was crude. Although it was fast, it was also predictable. William spun his body and moved forward, avoiding the knife while at the same time closing his distance with the thug. In one smooth motion, he caught the thug's arm, kicked the thug's leg, and then threw the thug over his shoulder.

The bulky man landed with a loud thud. He then rained down punches onto the thug's face.

At one point, the same thing happened. The thug's aura couldn't keep up with the attack, allowing William to get a decisive strike. Blood spurted out of the thug's nose, and then he fainted as well.

William jumped back, readying his stance in case the thugs managed to get back to their feet. A minute passed before he was sure that they had been successfully put to sleep.

He glanced at the deeper part of the alley. There didn't seem to be any reinforcement coming their way. For now, it could be considered safe.

"Phew... it's alright now- huh?"

As he turned around, the girl was no longer in sight.

"Wait, what...?"

He turned again. The thugs were still there, writhing on the ground. Everything that had happened was real.

It seemed that the girl had abandoned him during the fight!

"...Oh well..."

He had a feeling that he had intruded on something that he shouldn't had...

Anyway, what's done is done. He could just hope that the thugs wouldn't remember his face.

"I should stay away from these alleys in the future..."

Grumbling, he walked back to the inn. He had lost the desire to train, all he wanted was to sleep until the next day.