The scorching sun was ruthlessly grilling the earth.
Oh, it was indeed swelteringly hot.
At the Heng Mountain Sect, exterior gate.
A young lad, bare chested, stood in the middle of a water pond.
Above the pond, a waterfall heavy as a thousand jun dropped like a plummeting giant dragon, smashing onto the youngster.
The boy was not notably handsome, yet he was born with a pair of star-filled eyes, incredibly profound.
Between his eyebrows, even more so, emanated a sense of tenacity!
His muscular body undulated, withstanding just like that.
Allowing the waterfall to churn his body without budging an inch, he clenched his teeth and persevered.
"Three years since joining, day in and day out training his physical body like this, senior brother Lin Feng really can persist, he's incredibly determined!"
"Hehe, what use is there? His Dantian is shattered, no matter how strong his physical body is, akin to the Dragon Elephant, he's still a waste. The inner gate assessment is imminent, and without a Dantian, I don't believe he can truly enter the inner gate just with his physical strength!"
"But, I heard that senior brother Lin Feng was the top genius of the exterior gate back then, how come he has now become useless?"
"A genius? Hmm, perhaps he was once! Now, even if it's those rough and ready to cultivate servant boys, our senior brother Lin might not be their match!"
"How pitiful..."
"Speaking of which, our great genius Lin brought it upon himself after all, he doesn't deserve sympathy!"
"Why is that so?"
"Junior brother, you joined late and don't know. Three years ago, our Lin Tiancai, he irrationally lost his mind. He not only wanted to assault Senior sister Feng, but he also had an urge to kill anyone he saw."
"But, from what I've seen, Brother Lin is usually quiet. He doesn't seem like someone who would do such a thing?"
"One can only know so much about a person. He was born a uncultured countryman, thinking a little bit of luck would send him soaring to the heavens. But in the end, didn't he fall right back into the dirt?"
On a nearby mountain peak, two young men stood shoulder to shoulder, both corners of their mouths turned up in a careless smile, as they indifferently watched the young boy on the cold lake.
Feather crowns, brocade robes.
Their origins were extraordinary.
They were the noble youths in the eyes of the young female cultivators in the Hengshan Sect now.
Seemingly on purpose, both of them didn't speak loudly, but their conversation relayed back and forth just loud enough for the boy beneath the peak to hear.
"Back then, if it weren't for Senior Brother Zhao Liqing's timely arrival, shattering Lin Tiancai's dantian and preventing him from fighting, who knows what kind of severe consequences that would have caused."
"So, it was Brother Zhao who saved the dignity of Sister Feng, no wonder they're so close now..."
"As far as I see, Brother Zhao and Sister Feng being together is a perfect match. Some people, however, are like toads wanting to eat swan meat, but in the end, they're just slapped back into the muddy well!"
He slightly raised his head, and looked at the two people on the peak, remaining silent.
"Toad, huh?"
Lin Feng clenched his teeth, the corners of his mouth stained with a slow-oozing crimson blood.
Unfazed even when a waterfall crashes over him as if it's nothing.
Then, his veins surge prominently all over his body.
A soft shout echoes out of Lin Feng’s mouth.
Amidst the turmoil, he swings his arm like a sword, chopping at the plunging waterfall.
His arm droops weakly, evidently having suffered significant damage.
Yet still, with blood dripping down, Lin Feng roars with laughter, looking up at the sky.
The chilling stream hitting his face, yet he does not feel the cold at all.
In this world, what's colder than the human heart!
With a self-mocking smile, Lin Feng slams his fist into the icy water surface.
Originally, he was a villager from Lin's village and his family was quite well-off.
It was rumored that one of his ancestors was an immortal.
Therefore, five years ago, partly due to luck, he was able to participate in Heng Mountain Sect’s entrance selection.
He had not expected to actually pass the examination.
After joining the sect, his cultivation soared and he left his fellow disciples in the dust.
Later on, he even managed to draw an ancient YuanYing mentor out of retirement to personally test his roots and bones.
Among the nine grades of immortal roots, Lin Feng alone monopolized the fourth grade, an attribute of a mighty thousand men.
Even in the vast world outside, he was considered an extraordinary seedling of immortality.
In just two years, he used martial skills to tread on the path to divinity, aiming directly at transcending the mundane realm.
Once he entered this transcendent state, he was regarded as a 'celestial being' in the eyes of the worldly mortals.
Bearing countless honors, he was hailed as the number one genius of the outer sect.
It was around this time that Feng Rong appeared by his side.
However, this woman whom he thought he'd share a lifetime with, drugged his food three years ago.
Lin Feng never thought he'd be betrayed by the person he trusted the most.
Even more so when that betrayer turned out to be the woman he loved the most.
That day, he completely lost his sanity, like a man possessed, driven to madness.
Subsequently, events unfolded just as indicated by the two peers from the peak.
Feng Rong maliciously tore her clothes messily and 'panicked', bolting out of his room.
Her loud screams attracted a crowd of disciples.
Shortly after, Zhao Liqing 'came in time', and with one punch, he shattered his energy center, the dantian, becoming the hero admired by thousands of disciples.
As for him, he became the greatest laughing stock in the Hengshan Sect.
It was that very punch that shattered all of Lin Feng's dignity, laying it to dust.
Cultivating the path, the realm of martial arts is the origin.
Next, you transcend mortal life, condense your essence, transform your spirit, achieve enlightenment...
And Dantian, the center of your cultivation!
If Dantian is shattered, Lin Feng will forever become a useless entity, who has lost his chance to become immortal.
After that, the sect started an investigation.
Feng Rong accused Lin Feng. According to her, his rapid progress in cultivation was entirely due to practicing a demonic method, called Yin-Yang harvesting.
Secretly, he was often sneaking out of the sect to force innocent young girls from the lay society to sacrifice their 'Yuan Yin' for his cultivation.
Otherwise, how could a mere country bumpkin have cultivated so fast despite his extraordinary spiritual root?
Feng Rong's accusations were sound, and she was Lin Feng's companion. Moreover, when the elders of the sect examined Lin Feng, they found traces of demonic energy still on him.
And so, the perceived truth was settled that day.
Such a heinous crime wouldn't have be tolerated had it not been for the longstanding merits of Lin's lineage towards the Hengshan sect.
Merely practicing demonic methods was enough to ruin Lin Feng forever!
Despite all that, he became a beast, despised by everyone.
Laughable indeed, practicing a demonic method, causing harm to so many innocent girls!
"If not beasts, what are they?
Feng Rong and Zhao Liqing, both have advanced to the inner sect.
One is acclaimed as one of the twelve roses of the sect.
The other has become a true disciple on the Wind and Cloud List.
Speaking of which, Feng Rong and Zhao Liqing are from the neighboring village.
They used to study in the same private school when they were children.
They came to participate in the Hengshan Sect's examination together.
If it were not for Lin Feng's insistence, how would they have been taken into the sect?
However, what he never imagined was that...
A person who thought she loved him the most and a brother who thought could fight alongside him.
Both betrayed him on the same day.
Stepping out of the cold spring, Lin Feng's fists were clenched tightly, and he murmured to himself, "Feng Rong, Zhao Liqing, I, Lin Feng, don't hate you. But what I hate most is someone taking what belongs to me. Everything I've lost, I will take back personally, piece by piece."
Bright red blood oozed from the tight gaps of Lin Feng's clenched fists and dripped slowly.
So what if my dantian is shattered?
With one punch smashing the roadblock boulder, Lin Feng murmured to himself, "My dantian is shattered, but I still have my physical body. There were cultivators in the ancient times who proved their Dao through strength. If they could do it, so can I, Lin Feng."
Though that being said, there is less than half a month left for the inner sect assessment.
If he failed the assessment again, even if the sect elders were to consider their old fondness for him, there was still a high possibility of being expelled from the sect!
Thinking about this, Lin Feng sighed, feeling more and more that the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.
At this moment, it was noon.
While the other disciples had gone to the dining hall for lunch, Lin Feng had no appetite at all.
Tempering the physical body involves continuously pushing past one's limits.
If there are no limits, how can one break through?
Even if the hope was faint.
He would still strive hard and must persist!
Sitting cross-legged by the pool, Lin Feng half-closed his eyes to meditate.
Suddenly, a fierce wind blew up!
Rumbling...
In an instant, the sound of thunder roared.
What was originally a clear, cloudless sky, abruptly became overcast.
It was as if daylight had instantly turned into night.
In a blink, a torrential downpour fell.
Countless flashes of lightning streaked across the sky, tearing the heavens like millions of silver dragons.
Awakening abruptly, Lin Feng sprung up, intending to find shelter from the rain.
Unexpectedly, just as he got up, a crimson bolt of lightning seemed to be drawn by some force, following the rainwater and landing on the waterfall.
Subsequently, it raced straight towards Lin Feng along the waterfall.
"Uh..."
Everything happened too quickly for Lin Feng to dodge.
Struck by lightning, without even a chance to yell out, Lin Feng's eyes rolled back and he collapsed into the pool of water.
However, Lin Feng's consciousness remained clear.
In his sea of consciousness, accompanied by that crimson bolt, a blood-colored crystal suddenly appeared.
Mysteriously, it was drawing Lin Feng's consciousness closer and closer...
Boom!
His consciousness thundered, and his sea of consciousness roiled!
The next moment, Lin Feng found himself in a blood-red space.
Beneath his feet, a blood-colored altar floated in the air.
All around, there was a haze of red mist.
The red mist looked like blood.
Suddenly, on the altar, Lin Feng heard a voice as if from ancient times, "Blood stains all eras, power breaks all heavens, inheritance of the ancient gods, begins..."
Ahead, a blood-red stone staircase emerged unexpectedly.
Atop the stairs, the blood mist was even denser.
At a glance, it seemed like a stairway to heaven, with no end in sight.
In his mind, countless images flashed by.
It felt as if a memory was being forcefully implanted.
Pain!
A tearing headache!
Not until moments later, did the headache subside.
"Ancient god... inheritance?"
Kneeling on the ground, Lin Feng was gasping heavily, his face full of disbelief.
So, the blood crystal in his sea of consciousness was a kind of inheritance.
The space he was in at the moment was an inheritance space.
This is, the legacy of the ancient gods!
As the scenes flashed by, Lin Feng began to understand the power of the ancient gods.
In the desolate ancient times, there existed a race of ancient gods!
These ancient gods were capable of contending with heaven and earth.
With a single finger, they could sever mountains and rivers!
With a punch, they could shatter stars!
And with rage, they could burn all the heavens!
Importantly, these ancient gods only cultivated their bodies, using strength to prove the Dao!
Among them, the strongest were like stars within their bodies, traveling through the cosmos.
They issued commands to all races, causing heaven and earth to tremble.
"If I could inherit the ancient god's legacy…" Lin Feng suddenly raised his head, looking at the blood-red stairway before him.
At present, he merely possesses the qualification to receive the legacy.
The true legacy of the ancient gods, requires him to continually ascend this stairway in front of him.
Ascending these steps is like climbing to heaven, each step forms a blue cloud.
With each step he climbs, he will obtain a bit of the ancient god's power.
The physical body, thus, becomes a bit stronger.
If reaching the tenth tier, one will receive a drop of Ancient God's blood.
The blood of the Ancient God, a single drop weighs as heavy as a thousand catties.
An ordinary person consuming it, his life will be extended by a thousand years.
A cultivator consuming it, the path to immortality is foreseeable!
