Knock! Knock! Knock!

The insistent rapping of knuckles against wood filled the room, accompanied by the voice of a woman in her early 40s calling from outside.

"Young man, time to wake up! Help your mother here to collect some firewood again today!"

The sleeper stirred beneath the covers, reluctantly pulled from the embrace of sleep by the persistent tapping and the warmth of the morning light seeping through the wooden walls.

"Hmm..."

The person under the blanket opened his eyes drowsily. He wanted to continue sleeping in his cozy room. After all, the sways of the translucent white curtain that appears to be ever so enchanting from the cool breeze outside which entered his room through a half-opened window, made his bedroom feeling quite blissful to be in.

He yawned slightly and slowly rose up to sit on his bed. Raising both arms into the air to perform a morning stretch, he turned his head towards the window looking outside. His expression groggy, he then slowly moved his legs down the bed and stood up.

"Another new day..." he mumbled to himself as he reached for his clothes hanged on the wall.

"Finally awake, are you? You could sleep through a thunderstorm," sighed his mother feeling somewhat helpless inside the kitchen as she prepared breakfast.

Her name is Meng Yue, and with a height of only about 145 centimeters tall and a twin ponytail hairstyle, she was often teased by the villagers because of her height and small face.

When she looked up after setting the table, she had to shake her head in defeat. After all, the similarity of her son to that of a peasant by the streets with his bed hair sticking out was quite uncanny.

Then, seeing her son still standing around like a fool, her brows curved into a frown. With both hands on her waist, she shouted slightly, "Go and wash up already!" becoming a bit impatient.

...

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Wiping his wet face with his sleeves, he then tidied up his long black hair that reached down to his shoulders. From the reflection of the water in the well, one could see that this young man had thick eyebrows that was shaped like a mighty saber.

He finally looked like a proper person.

This audacious-looking young man in his twenties, is called Duan Li. Named after his mysterious father, Duan Ju Dai, who according to his mother; had somehow disappeared after trying to get some milk outside only to never return. After that, whenever he would ask about when his father would return, his mother would then just smile as she repeated the same answer time and again, "He is a great man, he must be somewhere out there protecting the world from evil," albeit with an apparent regretful face, until eventually Duan Li decided to stop asking altogether.

One would have to wonder on how many cows does someone needed to milk to have yet return even after two decades had passed.

Thus, Duan Li swore that one day, he would beat his father up if the latter did not return with at least a caravan full of milk.

...

After he was done washing up and finishing his breakfast, Duan Li then set out to go to the nearby forest.

Humming his favorite song that he once heard when he passed by a local brothel, Duan Li strolled through the forest slowly with an axe up on his right shoulder as he looked around to find some suitable trees to chop for firewood.

In their small village, firewood is considered to be one of the essential commodities used as a fuel source for many things such as cooking and heating a bath. Therefore, Duan Li and his mother would get by everyday from selling firewood to the village central market.

Because of this, they could be seen as a low class family, a little impoverished even, if one were to observe their living conditions. Nevertheless, they still live happily together while practicing this frugal way of life. As a result, they could last day by day without ever going hungry.

In fact, there was once a wandering monk that had passed by and greeted them as though seeing some old friends living the way of asceticism. Of course, the said person was then beaten up by his mother who was offended somehow.

"Hmm... seems like this tree should do it..." thought Duan Li to himself as he swung his axe into a chopping motion.

Tak! Tak! Tak!

PANGG!

Halfway chopping through the tree, his axe suddenly seemed to hit a solid object before repulsing it forcefully causing the axe to fly away from his hands and stuck into a nearby tree trunk. Duan Li was utterly shocked as the powerful force also made him stumbled backwards before making him fall flat on his bottom to the ground with a loud 'thud!' sound.

"W-What just happened...?" he said to himself in a daze as he stood up slowly from the ground. He felt quite rattled by that sudden impact and force.

Duan Li then approached the halfway chopped tree trunk to get a closer look and to his surprise, he found a tiny pearl the size of a marble ball being lodged firmly onto the center!

"Eh?"

As this was the first time he ever saw such a thing inside a tree, he was quite surprised. The pearl gave off a mysterious feeling to it. Its crystal clear-like glass appearance made it possible to see its innards which contains some form of a shrouding mists with golden glow around it!

"What is this thing...?" he said curiously as he lifted his right hand to grab at it.

Just as his fingers touched the pearl, a blinding flash of light suddenly blanketed the entire area before his head was then assaulted by an unbearable sharp pain that felt like his brain would burst apart at any moment.

Unable to withstand the pain, his mind then went blank as he blacked out and fell to the ground, unconscious.

In a kingdom far, far away, an old man with a long white beard draped in a luxurious white robes fell off from his chair.

Padah!

"Aiyoh!" he shouted in pain.

Rising haggardly from the ground as he put both arms onto his chair to support himself to stand up, he then muttered with bated breaths and wide eyes!

"The stars of the Nine Heavens has merged together!"

His white beards trembling and his face horrified when he stared at the ancient murals on the ceiling.

"T-This... what could this possibly mean??"

From that day onward, the fate of the entire Tian continent has derailed from its original course, forever changed by the unique destiny of a single person...

And that person, his name is Duan Li.