Li Min upon realization that he is doomed to live like a mortal refuses to live like that hence he seeks another path but what path exist for one with a shattered soul. He delves into books gotten for him by his father and since those books were not of cultivation the family didn't mind. He reads of all possible path to the dao but all have a common starting point which is they all need to have a spirit soul at the beginning.
Hope at the beginning starts to fade and with no light in sight he despairs at the very thought of living an ordinary life. The li family is a merchant family with a belief that no one can be a freeloader hence a job was gotten for him to be an herb picker in the mountains.
Luck is in his side that he can keep his little life since his father is not at any point in the running for head of family hence the schemes within the family do not affect him. His usual day starts with the feeling of dread that he will have to climb up the uncharted mountains to pick herbs to nourish the talented younger ones without any form of protection.
He picks up his basket and proceeds on a journey deep into the mountains, his goal is to pick enough to meet up his quota for the day. Barely an hour into his day and he is attacked by a 2nd rank beast. Note that beast generally do not wander in the perimeter of the mountains.
Beast rank generally follow the same as the cultivation rank hence a 2nd rank beast is a qi condensation level beast. Li min is practically mortal with the only weapon available to him the basket in which he is to place the herbs he picked in. At that moment adrenaline masks the primal fear he felt and he ran like the wind, but is it possible for a mortal to outrun a 2nd rank beast.