Xiehe, Longzhou, Xiling City
"Oh my, the Pride of the Tang Clan really does live up to his title, even attracting Martial Saint Mountain to come to Xiling to bring him into the mountain gate. Truly, he is the glory of Xiling."
"Right? A matchless genius who managed to cultivate from an ordinary person to the Mortal Realm in just three years. The little master of the Tang Family has made a name throughout Xiling."
Listenting to two drunkards singing praises nearby, Mizhu thought about the spectacle Tang Family had set up to welcome Martial Saint Mountain, and the embarrassing reveal of the Innate Hollow Body by Bu Xiao, who was the direct descendant of Martial Saint Mountain. Scoffing at it, he downed his cup of wine and then blurted out:
"What bullshit, he barely managed a draw with a mere child from Martial Saint Mountain. After the battle, he fell from the Mortal Realm back to the Mortal State. Could Martial Saint Mountain still take a liking to this Hollow Body?"
His vibrant voice made the whole tavern go silent, but it was his words that truly stunned the crowd and made many want to stand up and give this foul-mouthed drunkard a lesson.
Yet, as soon as they got up, they saw Mizhu's seemingly laughing, yet not, face adorned with martial arts attire embroidered with the character 'Mi' and promptly sat back down in their chairs.
The Mi Clan's warriors, famed as the Tang Family, over some drunken words? Forget it.
Mizhu glanced around the now silent tavern, feeling highly satisfied.
Ever since the Tang kid completed foundation building and started practicing martial arts, the whole of Xiling has been singing praises of the glorious feats of the Tang kid as if the Mi Clan, which has a reputation on par with Tang Clan, was defeated by the kid.
This time when the Tang Clan lost face, the people from the Mi Clan were elated. The young Mi Clan members who had witnessed the duel yesterday scolded the "Glory of Xiling" clamorers whenever they had the chance, giving them a reality check.
Tang Luo is no genius, he just has an Innate Hollow Body that can't retain spiritual energy. This came from Bu Xiao, the direct descendant of Martial Saint Mountain. Although Mizhu didn't quite understand how an Innate Hollow Body could cultivate to the peak of Mortal Realm, the people from Martial Saint Mountain had broad knowledge. Could they be wrong?
"It's not some Innate Hollow Body, it's just that my body has some issues." Tang Luo looked helplessly at his mother, who was already at the verge of tears, clutching his arm, and explained for the hundred and first time.
It's infuriating, boss, my Golden Finger has a defect.
Tang Luo wasn't a native of Xiling City, at least not when he was born. He was born with another set of memories. A beautiful cerulean blue planet, an ancient kingdom, a 5000-year-old civilization vividly in his eyes.
In his previous life, he was an ordinary young man, grew up in an ordinary family, and had a girlfriend who he didn't love deeply but was comfortable with.
Nevertheless, Tang Luo had a much better fortune in this life.
The Tang Clan is one of the biggest clans in Xiling, one word to describe it: rich!
Life is good being a young master, at least that's what the nonchalant Tang Luo once thought.
Not until he saw his father, Tang Sen, punch through an artificial mountain while he was still in his crib.
This must be a television show, right? Where's the CG? This actor is too violent.
Tang Luo opened his mouth widely in shock.
As it turns out, this continent was different. Martial artists can fly into the sky, burrow into the ground, and move mountains and seas.
As a good youth, case in point, how could he not join such interesting matters?
Being serious, Tang Luo recalled his experiences from his previous life, determining the importance of a good start early in life, refusing to lose at the starting line.
With the enthusiasm that's greater than studying for a college entrance examination, the young Tang Luo plunged headlong into the vast ocean of martial arts.
He completed all his foundation building exercises by the age of ten and began formally practicing his family's martial arts, the profound technique called the Heavenly Pathway Technique.
Although the name sounds intimidating, it is just a Profound-Grade martial art technique that can only be cultivated to the Fierce Realm. Having acquired a second life, one cannot just stop at the Fierce Realm. Thus, Tang Luo has made martial arts plans for himself early on.
His priority is cultivation aiming to breakthrough the Fierce Realm. Then he would travel to explore opportunities.
After breaking through to the King Realm, he would help the Tang Family to become the number one clan in Longzhou. As his parents were very kind to him and his clan members were friendly.
And his confidence in saying these was not just because of the self-confidence he gained from living a second life.
After all, in a world where bloodlines abound and there are countless prodigies, getting a second chance doesn't really give one an advantage.
But I have the Golden Finger, Tang Luo thought, grinning from ear to ear.
Although his previous life was unremarkable, this life is different.
The first time he internalized and tried to draw in the spiritual energy of the universe, he realized his Dantian (the energy center) was different from the ones described in the books.
No one's Dantian is like a void universe. No one has a ball-like star spinning slowy inside with numerous profound lines engraved on it. Isn't this the meteorite that killed me?
Even though his Dantian had changed, the daring Tang Luo still went ahead with his normal cultivation, drawing the spiritual energy of the universe into his Dantian, regardless of it having turned into a star core.
Fortune favors the bold, and his pleasant surprise came. It was such that it could not be stopped even if he wanted to.
The evolution and transcendence of martial artists is essentially the process of constantly purifying the body with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to break free from shackles, over and over again.
Ever since martial arts came into existence, countless prodigies have created a myriad of techniques, but the fundamentals have not changed.
Only by breaking through the limits of the physical body can one truly reach the next realm, but at each stage, there is a limit to the amount of spiritual energy of heaven and earth that one's body can absorb.
Even if you use top-tier skills, the amount of spiritual energy a mortal can absorb in one day is merely a strand.
Such a strand of spiritual energy needs to be combined with 999 strands and then go through a long period of accumulation to help you break the shackles and step into the Metamorphosis Stage from the Mortal Realm.
Tang Luo was different from others in that the spiritual energy he absorbed, after being processed by the Star Core, one strand of spiritual energy would become three.
In just one year, Tang Luo had reached the peak of the Mortal Realm and began to accumulate the spiritual power needed for the breakthrough into the Metamorphosis Stage.
Two years later, at the age of thirteen, Tang Luo shook Xiling with his Metamorphosis Stage achievement. This is remarkable because even in Zhongzhou, a central continent, the average age for someone to reach the Metamorphosis Stage was sixteen.
The Tang Family produced a peerless genius, and Tang Luo's fame spread throughout Xiling, even reaching the sacred martial land of Longzhou - Martial Saint Mountain.
Martial Saint Mountain dispatched a direct accomplished disciple, Bu Xiao, to Xiling to discuss with the Tang Clan, considering whether they could accept Tang Luo into their sect.
In the world of the strong, the most talented ones are always highly valued.
The Tang Clan thought such a good news should be known to the entire city, as if it would be a stealthy journey in bright clothing if they didn't. Word quickly spread throughout the city that Tang Family had clung to the big leg of Martial Saint Mountain and could possibly have a future Martial Saint in the realm of Kings.
This left all other clans within Xiling envious and jealous. Not to mention, the Tang Clan had arranged a grand event on the day of the Martial Saint Mountain representative's visit, inviting various clans within Xiling to witness the ceremony.
With congratulatory voices echoing endlessly, everything was going smoothly, almost unbelievably so.
Tang Luo lived up to the name of Pride of Xiling and tied with the young disciple of Martial Saint Mountain in a fight. Everything seemed to be progressing towards a win-win situation for everyone.
But the problem arose when the depleted spiritual energy did not replenish after the bout.
This left Tang Luo dazed on the spot. He had always been focusing on his cultivation and had never experienced real combat before. The absence of regenerating spiritual energy was utterly unprecedented.
Moreover, Bu Xiao, who had been extremely sensitive to spiritual energy, noticed since the start of the fight that the aura of this genius from the Tang Clan was gradually weakening.
After the battle ended, astonishingly, Tang Luo's cultivation level started to regress, from the Metamorphosis Stage back to the Mortal Realm. Even more absurd was that his body, having gone through the refining process of the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, also seemed to have regressed.
Even Bu Xiao, who had seen much with his extensive experience, had never come across such a situation. He promptly stepped forward to take a closer look.
"This child has a special Innate Hollow Body. I regret to inform you that our Martial Saint Mountain is unable to accept him." After inspecting Tang Luo thoroughly, Bu Xiao expressed regretfully to the Tang Clan's patriarch. The whole place instantly erupted in an uproar.
Nobody noticed that the look in Tang Luo's eyes at Bu Xiao was as if he was looking at a fool, talking nonsense. What nonsense was he talking about a Hollow Body, my cultivation speed is probably three times faster than yours.
The people from Martial Saint Mountain hastily left, and the clans of Xiling made their awkward goodbyes, their light and brisk steps showing they didn't really regret seeing an extraordinarily talented prodigy turning into an Innate Hollow Body as much as they expressed verbally.
The loss of face was simply too great. The elders of the Tang Clan were all stunned on the spot, forgetting even to console Tang Luo, who had just fought evenly with a disciple of Martial Saint Mountain.
Besides his mother, who burst into tears and hugged him tightly, Tang Luo seemed to have suddenly disappeared from the vision of the Tang family.
The name of the Pride of Xiling became synonymous with Innate Hollow Body, and in just one day, due to some people's intentional spreading, Tang Luo's reputation underwent a massive change.
"You're not messing with me, right, Golden Finger?" Tang Luo was speechless. He didn't care about this minor reputation issue, because he knew very well that he had nothing in common with an Innate Hollow Body.
But if his spiritual energy was a one-time thing, it wasn't much different from being a waste.
Skills, spirit weapons, resources, and opportunities have to be snatched with their own hands.
If your spiritual power doesn't recover, it's futile even if you train to the Fierce Realm. You'll return to the Metamorphosis Stage after a few fights and have to train all over again. When will you be able to become a saint and become a progenitor?
Are you intending to set me up twice, Golden Finger? Tang Luo was internally inspecting himself and saw the Star Core circulating in his dantian, his feelings of dissatisfaction instantly erupting.
"Other people's Golden Fingers can give tasks and lotteries."
"Moreover, they have a newbie gift pack and they prepare a killing weapon for you in their free time."
"When they're bored, they can chat."
"Their cultivation speed is also fast and they seem to have no bottlenecks."
"Why do you only have a speed-up function, and the spiritual power you cultivate is even one-time use."
"Are you sure you are not a fake Golden Finger?"
"Boss, boss. Where are you? I want an exchange. This Golden Finger has a problem."
Tang Luo, who was alone in his room, cursed the Golden Finger in his dantian field relentlessly.