Two Years Ago
Wang Yun held his eight-year-old son's left hand as they walked along the winding stone path leading up the mountain toward the clan's primary training hall.
"Wang Fang," Wang Yun called out gently.
"Yes, Father?" Fang replied, looking up.
"From today onward, you will officially begin your cultivation journey," Wang Yun announced, his voice carrying a hint of pride.
"Cultivation?" Fang blinked, tilting his head. "What exactly is that, Father?"
Though he asked with the curiosity of a child, internally, Wang Fang was processing this with the mind of a mature adult. Having retained fragmented memories of a past life, he wasn't easily surprised, but he was profoundly eager to understand the rules of this new world.
Wang Yun smiled warmly down at his son, patting his head. "You are a brilliant child to ask such a question. It is a wise one." He paused, looking up toward the endless blue sky as his smile turned contemplative. "You ask what cultivation is... It is a good question. Even I, your father, still ask myself that from time to time. In many ways, the ultimate logic behind it is impossible to truly grasp—or perhaps I simply haven't reached a high enough realm to fully comprehend it. But this is how I can best explain it to you."
Wang Yun stopped walking, his gaze piercing through the heavens as he spoke with sudden, sweeping gravity:
"Cultivation is not merely the pursuit of raw power; it is an eternal journey of defying one's own limits. It is the unwavering path walked by those who refuse to remain ordinary, choosing instead to challenge heaven, fate, and even death itself. Every breath drawn, every drop of sweat shed, every wound endured, and every moment of despair becomes a stepping stone toward transcendence.
To cultivate is to temper both body and soul through endless trials, forging an unbreakable will that no storm can shatter. It is the relentless act of transforming weakness into strength, ignorance into wisdom, and mortality into eternity. Cultivation is the belief that no destiny is absolute, that no peak is unreachable, and that through perseverance alone, even the impossible can one day become reality. It is not simply a path to power—it is the path to becoming something far greater than oneself."
Hearing his father's words, Wang Fang was struck with profound awe. What a marvelous philosophy, he thought to himself. Even though my body is that of a child, the adult awareness from my past life can feel the sheer weight of those words.
Deep within Wang Fang's soul, his father's speech seemed to trigger a faint, dormant spark of spiritual awareness.
"Father..." Fang murmured, reaching out. But his father didn't hear him.
Wang Yun had gone completely rigid. The profound answer he had just given his son resonated so deeply within his own soul that it shattered a bottleneck he had been stuck at for years. Deep within his foundation, Wang Yun was suddenly crossing the ethereal bridge required to form a true Golden Core. The simple question from his son had unexpectedly forced open his restricted awareness, rapidly expanding his sea of consciousness.
Sensing the sudden shift, Wang Yun instinctively sat cross-legged on the dirt.
Wang Fang stepped back, his eyes wide. What is happening?
His father's body was suddenly erupting with a pure, radiant golden light. Wang Yun spread both of his hands side by side, slowly moving them through the air in a precise, circular sequence of hand seals resembling overlapping zeros. He compressed the gap between his hands, drawing the circulating energy downward toward his lower abdomen, where his primary meridians and dantian resided.
As Wang Yun completed the final hand seal, the surrounding spiritual energy violently revolted. The atmospheric Qi within a hundred-mile radius surged toward him like countless wild rivers crashing into a boundless sea. The wind roared into a frenzy, towering trees bent under the sheer atmospheric pressure, and the very mountain beneath them began to tremble.
Wang Yun's meridians blazed like golden circuits as the endless streams of Qi circulated through his flesh before violently converging into his dantian. There, the immense energy compressed repeatedly, growing denser, heavier, and brighter with each passing breath.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, all the gathered energy collapsed inward. The surrounding mountain stopped shaking. The wind died down to absolute zero.
Huh? Did it stop? Wang Fang thought, blinking in the sudden silence. Maybe it's safe to go closer now...
He took a single step forward.
BOOM!
A deafening, apocalyptic explosion echoed from within Wang Yun's body as a flawless Golden Core finally condensed.
In that exact instant, an overwhelming pillar of golden light erupted from his form, piercing straight through the clouds and illuminating the entire territory of the Crimson Clan. Shockwaves of pure spiritual pressure rippled outward in every direction. Flock of birds scattered in terror, and nearby spirit beasts threw themselves to the ground, bowing instinctively toward the mountain.
Down in the main manor, the sudden phenomenon threw everyone into chaos.
"What is happening?!" the guards whispered frantically among themselves, shielding their eyes from the blinding light. "Who is breaking through?!"
The captain of the guard unsheathed his blade, his voice booming across the courtyards. "All forces, draw your weapons and secure the perimeter immediately!"
Throughout the estate, powerful elders rushed out of their secluded residences in utter shock, their eyes wide as they stared at the massive golden pillar piercing the heavens.
The Fourth Elder's chest tightened as he felt the suffocating weight in the air. "That pressure... it's the Clan Leader!"
Realization flooded the clan. In an instant, every elder, guard, and servant dropped to their knees, prostrating themselves. Clasping their hands together, their voices shook the valley: "Congratulations, Clan Leader!"
Back on the mountainside, the localized shockwave of the breakthrough had caused the immediate rocky terrain to shatter and collapse. The violent burst of wind instantly sent little Wang Fang flying backward through the air. But before the crushing spiritual pressure could do him any real damage, a blurred figure materialized on the path.
An attending elder arrived just in time, catching Wang Fang mid-air and shielding the boy with his own protective Qi, saving him from the mountain's wrath.
As the blinding golden pillar slowly receded into the sky, Wang Yun opened his eyes—now swirling with profound, cosmic brilliance. The aura radiating from his body had completely transformed; he had officially stepped into the Early Core Formation Realm.
A faint, majestic smile played on his lips as he casually stepped off the ground and into the empty air.
Boom!
The moment his foot stepped onto nothingness, the air itself trembled, sending a visible ripple across the sky. To the thousands of cultivators watching from below, it looked as though a radiant golden sun had risen directly behind their leader, bathing the entire mountain range in divine light.
With a soft step, Wang Yun vanished, leaving behind a minor sonic boom. A fraction of a second later, he reappeared high above the Crimson Clan manor. His luxurious robes fluttered majestically against the wind as his invisible, newly forged Core Formation pressure spread across the entire estate.
Every single person below clasped their fists and bowed even lower, shouting in a unified, thunderous chorus:
"Congratulations, Clan Leader, on advancing to the Early Core Formation Realm!"
Later that evening, inside Wang Fang's personal chamber, Wang Yun sat at the table, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish chuckle.
"Ah, what a turn of events," Wang Yun laughed. "I was taking you up the mountain so you could start cultivating, but instead, I was the one who ended up having an epiphany and breaking through!"
Wang Fang, however, wasn't listening to the apology. He was staring at his father, his eyes practically sparkling with stars of pure excitement. "Father! When you broke through, the mountains were literally falling apart! It was amazing! But it made me really curious about something..."
Wang Yun smiled, thinking to himself, This child asks far more questions than I ever anticipated. Aloud, he replied, "Go ahead, ask. What was the reason your body was erupting with shockwave. "It happened because I managed to reach an entirely new realm," Wang Yun said.
"A realm?" Wang Fang caught the word instantly, cutting his father off before he could elaborate. "What exactly is a 'realm'?"
Wang Yun's face went wildly pale for a second. What? Another foundational question? He cleared his throat, adjusting his robes to hide his amusement. "Ahem. Well, a realm is a distinct stage of power in cultivation. It represents the boundaries and tiers of strength a cultivator must climb, one step at a time, in order to grow stronger and ultimately achieve immortality."
"Wow..." Wang Fang gasped, his heart hammering with excitement. "Then... can I cultivate right now too?!"
"Yes, of course," Wang Yun replied softly.
In an instant, Wang Fang jumped up from his bed, cheering joyfully. Internally, a profound wave of relief and longing washed over him—a deep, instinctual feeling that his soul had been wishing for this exact opportunity across lifetimes. Caught up in the pure ecstasy of the moment, he acted entirely like the child he appeared to be, pumping his small fist into the air.
"Just watch me! I will reach the highest realm of all, and I'll stand at the absolute top as the strongest cultivator in history!"
The chamber door slid open smoothly, and a beautiful woman stepped inside, a tender smile gracing her lips as she overheard his declaration.
"And your mother will be incredibly proud of you when you do," Madam Xinyi said softly, her eyes filled with warmth.
Wang Fang practically beamed with happiness, basking in the love and support of his powerful parents. He went to sleep that night with his head full of grand dreams of soaring through the heavens and conquering the realms.
He had no way of knowing that the very next day, his dreams would come crashing down into reality.
"What...?" Wang Yun whispered the next morning, staring at his son's pulse in absolute, horrified disbelief. "How is this possible? His body... his body is completely empty. It's too weak to condense even a single strand of Qi.