Mysterious Peak Sect, the rear mountain.

Under a thin veil of moonlight and sparse stars, the night was desolate and chilling. At this moment, aided by the moonlight, a figure tottered forward among the strangely shaped rocks scattered along the mountain path. He looked to be no older than seventeen, with an immature face, but bore an overwhelming fatigue. His grey clothing was mostly ripped and a bloody smear was visible at the corner of his mouth.

"Xu Luoyao, I can't believe I misread you all these years!" The young man, named Xiao Chen, was a disciple of the lower echelon of Mysterious Peak Sect. His talents were mediocre and, to this day, he was just a third rank martial artist, with no hope of joining the inner disciples.

Xu Luoyao, who he mentioned, however, was a famous prodigy in the Mysterious Peak Sect. Despite being only seventeen, she had already reached the realm of a martial artist, making her the youngest true disciple the Mysterious Peak Sect had seen in thousands of years.

Here was a hopeless young man, and there, a celestial maiden. Originally, the two had nothing in common, yet the young man insinuated a connection between them, quite a peculiar matter.

Just mentioning Xu Luoyao made Xiao Chen's chest rise and fall in anger, aggravating his internal injuries and causing him to cough up a large mouthful of blood.

He and Xu Luoyao had known each other since childhood. The Xiao and Xu families had been good friends for hundreds of years in Fufeng City. Xiao Chen had a soft spot for Xu Luoyao and their relationship was originally excellent. After entering the Mysterious Peak Sect, knowing his own mediocre talents, Xiao Chen gave most of his cultivation resources to Xu Luoyao to assist her cultivation.

Day after day, for ten years, without interruption.

Xiao Chen originally thought that these days could last forever, but a few days ago, the Xiao family received a letter saying that the young master of Fufeng City was planning to force Xiao Chen's younger sister into marriage!

The young city master held unparalleled power in Fufeng City, possessed impressive qualifications, but was known for his debauchery and was downright obscene. How could Xiao Chen's young sister be married off to such a reprobate?

Hence, Xiao Chen had asked Xu Luoyao for her assistance, hoping that she could use her status as a true disciple to tactfully reject the proposal from the city lord.

The Mysterious Peak Sect was a distinguished sect in Fenghua County. Even an inner disciple held an exalted status and was regarded by the city lord of Fenghua County as an equal!

With Xu Luoyao speaking up, this problem could be easily solved!

However, what Xiao Chen did not expect was that Xu Luoyao indeed came to the appointed place. But she wasn't alone; she brought along several famed senior brothers from within the sect. That proud and elegant girl's harsh words still echoed in his ears.

"Xiao Chen, are you still unwilling to face reality? In terms of family background, the Xu family is not a bit weaker than the Xiao family. In terms of talent, you are merely a third-grade martial artist, with no hope for the inner-gate, whereas I've already taken the step into the realm of a Martial Master, ranking amongst the genuine inheritors. There is a vast difference between us, as different as the Phoenix and the sparrow. What qualifications do you have to request my help?"

In an instant, it was as if Xiao Chen was seeing the pampered girl of heaven's face for the first time.

The scornful ridicule from a few inner-gate seniors was like the sound of thunder exploding in his ears.

"Worthless!"

"A toad longing for swan's meat, ridiculous!"

"Such a loser was actually thinking about consulting Sister Xu? Hahaha, I laughed my molars out!"

Xiao Chen's smile was faint, his heart as cold as extinguished ashes. Subsequently, a few inner-gate seniors immediately expelled him without a word.

"I, Xiao Chen, am truly the world's biggest fool, an idiot..."

"Ten years, ten years of admiration, ten years of consistent affection, in the end, only to be rewarded with such results! Hahaha!"

Staggering, Xiao Chen's eyes were red and he burst out laughing miserably.

Did the input of these ten years result in being told of the vast difference, as different as the Phoenix and the sparrow?

Under emotional agitation, his Qi and blood became unstable, his foot tripped and he fell to the ground, instantly aggravating his internal injuries, and a huge mouthful of blood spurted out.

"Heh, didn't expect you, this piece of trash, to run quite well."

At this time, on the quiet mountain road, after a burst of noise in the dark night, a figure clad in outer door grey clothes emerged, who with a few steps, caught up to Xiao Chen, looked at the latter's miserable state, snickered coldly, and a contemptuous look appeared on the cold face.

"Xu Hong!"

Xiao Chen paled, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

The figure wasn't just anyone; it was Xu Luoyao's cousin, Xu Hong. He, like Xiao Chen, was a disciple of the outside sect, but his level of cultivation was far lesser. This person was surprisingly a fourth rank martial artist.

"Hmph, ten years of love, truly melodramatically pitiful. But even so, you think you're worthy?" Xu Hong mocked with a cold sneer. "Even the inner-disciples don't dare to love cousin Luoyao. You're just a third-rank martial artist, a waste. And you dare to harbor foolish thoughts?"

He stepped on Xiao Chen's chest, talking about Xu Luoyao with an obsessed, fanatical gleam in his eyes.

Being trampled under his foot, Xiao Chen felt his guts rolling around. Struggling to suppress the upwelling energy, he asked coldly, "What if I entertain foolish thoughts? You're chasing me just to humiliate me?"

"Humiliate you?"

Xu Hong sneered, "Xiao Chen, you think too highly of yourself. You're simply trash, not worth my time to insult. If not for my cousin asking me to convey a message to you, would I bother chasing you here? Ridiculous."

His words were full of contempt, but they sparked a faint light in Xiao Chen's dim eyes.

Xu Hong, noticing this, coldly snorted, and without any consideration, bluntly stated:

"Cousin says your sister might be weak and unable to cultivate due to her frail body since birth, but marrying the young lord isn't a bad thing. And by using your sister, the Xiao family can form a marital alliance with the city lord's mansion, and rise in status, which is also beneficial. She also promised to speak for your sister so the young lord treats her well. This is the greatest benevolence she can show."

"Heh, benevolence?"

"Such great benevolence... is this her repayment for the past ten years...?"

Xiao Chen's eyes darkened, a stabbing pain shot through his heart. His sister has been physically weak since childhood, congenitally blind, and her meridians are blocked. However, she is delicate and charming. If their father wasn't the head of the Xiao family, her fate would be imaginable, probably long married off to someone to serve as a tool for alliance.

But, will they still not able to escape the fate in the end...

Xu Luoyao, is this what I get for my ten years of devotion? Is your heart really so cold...

Thinking of this, the bitterness welled up inside Xiao Chen, as if his heart was being cut by a knife.

Seeing his state, Xu Hong's lips curled up in a sickening smile, he stepped harder, making Xiao Chen's body roll even more. The intense pain tore apart his organs. But at this point, Xiao Chen's eyes were dull, his face expressionless, and his gaze hollow.

"Humph, trash really is trash. Even stepping on you is too dirty for me."

Xu Hong snorted disdainfully. As if feeling bored, he spat ruthlessly at Xiao Chen and then turned to leave. Before leaving, he laughed and said, "I forgot to tell you, the City Lord's Mansion announced that they'll come to propose marriage in two months. Your Xiao Family better be ready, haha…"

With his figure fading into the distance, the night grew darker, with screaming thunder breaking the silence of the night followed by pouring rain.

The rain washed over Xiao Chen's body, piercing him like a million swords, causing him to feel suffocated. He rose from the ground, as if he'd lost his spirit, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

After a brief silence, there were continuous loud noises. Xiao Chen's fists pounded the boulder like a storm. The sound of the rain, the thunder, the pounding of his fists fill the air. He acted like a lunatic, as if trying to vent the resentment and dissatisfaction in his heart!

Ignoring his injuries, his vitality surged like waves, fists constantly pounding on a boulder, leaving deep fist marks on it. His flesh was torn, his eyes were red as if he lacked any sense of pain.

He was filled with hatred! He hated his mediocre talent. He hated himself for being unable to change his sister's fate!

"Ah!"

Amid the thunderous sounds of the sky, Xiao Chen's voice rang out, mournful and heroic, like a wounded trapped animal. The continuous battering had almost crushed his spirit. Despair? Powerless, and even helpless.

The torrential rain poured down, the lightning in the sky grew even more violent, like snakes dancing wildly, as if it was the end of the world. Above the Xuanji Sect, countless thunders crisscrossed, exploding with astonishing energy. It seemed as if the world was being created anew, a divine thunder ripped through the restless sky and earth.

It surged like a giant dragon, lighting up the four directions. In the distance, you could see that among the lightning, there were black and white divine lights intertwined. Like a Yin-Yang symbol that stretched for hundreds of miles, emanating a profoundly wonderful aura.

Zii-la!

Suddenly, a thunderbolt tore through the sky, plummeting from above, and instantly swallowed Xiao Chen whole.

Rampant lightning wreaked havoc, reducing the surrounding mountains, rocks and ancient trees to powder. Xiao Chen was in the midst of it all, his body wracked with excruciating pain, his life force constantly dwindling, his body instantly reduced to burnt cinder, a destructive aura permeating his entire being.

"Am I going to die?"

"No, I can't die yet!"

Engulfed in the lightning, Xiao Chen let out a furious roar, his defiant will roaring within. At this moment, from the crisscrossing lightning, a droplet of color interweaved with black and white suddenly cut through the sky, as if it traversed the primordial universe, collapsed the void, shattered the yin-yang diagram, and instantly fell.

This was a droplet of blood, mysteriously inexplicable, with a tremendous aura, as if a god or demon sat atop it. It pierced through the void and accurately fell into Xiao Chen's body. Under the pressure of endless lightning, it merged with Xiao Chen in an instant.

"Through thousands of calamities, yet I remain unscathed, faced with countless difficulties, yet my spirit remains unbroken. Even when heaven and earth crumble, I alone shall remain, blending my true blood to forge the body of an immortal god or demon. I control the heaven and earth, guard the celestial pass; this nine heavens and ten earths – I stand at the height, who dares to compete with me..."

An ancient sound, like a rumbling thunder, deafeningly resounds in one's ear.