Xiehe, Longzhou, Xiling City
"Ah, truly a marvel of the Tang Clan, actually attracting emissaries from Martial Saint Mountain to Xiling to recruit him into their ranks. He really is the pride of our Xiling."
"Exactly, a peerless prodigy who managed to cultivate from a commoner to the Mortal Realm in just three years. Young Master Tang's name really resonates throughout the whole of Xiling."
Mizhu, listening to the praise from two fellow tavern-goers and thinking about the grand welcome the Tang Family had prepared for the representatives from Martial Saint Mountain—and the embarrassment that followed when Bu Xiao of the direct line revealed the Innate Hollow Body—disdainfully downed his drink and exclaimed,
"Recruit my ass, he fought a mere child of Martial Saint Mountain to a draw, and after the battle, his cultivation fell from the Mortal Realm back to the Mortal Realm. Would Martial Saint Mountain even consider someone with an 'Innate Hollow Body'?"
The loud voice caused the entire tavern to fall silent, but the content of the statement shocked many patrons who immediately wanted to stand up and teach this foul-mouthed drinker a lesson.
However, upon rising, they saw Mizhu's nonchalant smile and the embroidered Mi character on his martial arts uniform, and awkwardly sat back down.
To provoke a warrior from the Mi Clan, famed alongside the Tang Family, all because of a few drunken words? Forget it.
Mizhu looked around the suddenly silent tavern, feeling immensely satisfied.
Ever since that Tang kid completed his Foundation Building and began practicing martial arts, the entirety of Xiling had been singing praises of his glorious deeds, as if the Mi Clan, ranked equal to the Tangs, had already been vanquished by this youngster.
The embarrassing incident at the Tang Family had provided the Mi Family folks an opportunity to gloat; whenever they could, the youths who had witnessed yesterday's events eagerly threw cold water on those still basking in the supposed "pride of Xiling," broadening their horizons.
Tang Luo was no genius; he was just someone unable to retain Spiritual Energy due to his Innate Hollow Body—a fact asserted by Bu Xiao from the direct lineage of Martial Saint Mountain. Although Mizhu did not understand how someone with an Innate Hollow Body could cultivate to the peak of the Mortal Realm, the people of Martial Saint Mountain were broad-minded and well-learned; if they deemed it so, could they be wrong?
"It's not some Innate Hollow Body; I just have a small problem with my body," Tang Luo explained with a resigned look, watching his mother, who was clutching his arm, ready to burst into tears, for the hundred-and-first time.
Really, boss, there's something wrong with my Golden Finger.
Tang Luo wasn't a native of Xiling; at least, not when he was born, for he carried another set of memories. A beautiful blue planet, an ancient nation with a profound 5,000-year history imprinted in his mind.
In that previous life, he was an ordinary youth, growing up in a regular family, with a girlfriend he didn't deeply love but got along comfortably with.
Just like most ordinary people, under the support of both parents, they married sooner or later, then had children, and once the children were a bit older, he could hang out and chat with his childhood friends. Such an outstanding life, why was it swept away one early morning by a meteor? So annoying, really.
Then his soul wandered and he was reborn.
This life's luck wasn't bad at all; at least it wasn't ordinary.
The Tang Family was one of the largest clans in Xiling—described in one word: wealthy!
Finally, he could live the life of a young master; Tang Luo had indeed thought so naively.
Until he saw his father, Tang Sen, punch through a fake mountain while he was still in his swaddling clothes.
This... this must be a TV drama, right? Where's the CG? This actor is so violent.
Tang Luo was shocked.
It turned out that this continent was truly different. Martial arts powerhouses could fly through the sky, move mountains, and fill seas.
As a promising youth, how could he not participate in such exciting activities?
Tang Luo, with a serious face and memories from his past life, understood he had to start young and not lose at the starting line.
With more seriousness than even the college entrance exams, the young Tang Luo plunged into the vast ocean of martial arts.
By the age of ten, he had completed all Foundation Building exercises and began formally practicing the family martial technique—Heavenly Pathway Technique.
With such an impressive name, it was a technique that could only be cultivated up to the Fierce Realm. Having lived once before, how could Tang Luo settle for stopping at the Fierce Realm? He had long made plans for his martial path.
First, he would cultivate diligently, aiming to breakthrough the Fierce Realm, then travel to explore opportunities to break through to the King Realm, leading the Tang Family to become the foremost clan in Longzhou, since his parents were very good to him and his fellow clansmen were friendly.
And he could make these claims not just because of the confidence from living another life.
After all, in a continent brimming with distinguished bloodlines and numerous prodigies, living another life hardly counted as an advantage.
But I have a Golden Finger, Tang Luo grinned blissfully.
Although his previous life was ordinary, this life was different.
The first time he introspected and drew Spiritual Energy into his body, he discovered his dantian was different from what the books described.
Who else's dantian would be as vast as the universe, with a round ball engraved with countless mysterious lines like a star slowly rotating within? This thing, wasn't it the meteor that killed me?
Although his dantian had transformed in this way, Tang Luo, spirited and open to experimentation, continued to cultivate normally, drawing the Spiritual Energy from the heavens and the earth into his dantian, even though it had become a Star Core.
The bolder a person is, the greater the yield of the land—and surprises came just like that, unstoppable.
The evolution of a warrior transcends the ordinary, fundamentally through a process of continuously tempering the body with spiritual energy from the world and breaking through the shackles time and again.
Ever since the path of martial arts emerged, countless geniuses have created thousands of techniques, yet the essence has never changed.
Only by breaking the physical shackles can one reach the next realm, but at each stage, the amount of spiritual energy the body can absorb from the world is limited.
Even if you use top-grade techniques, the amount of spiritual energy you can absorb in the Mortal Realm in a day is merely a strand.
Such spiritual energy requires 999 strands to merge and then, after a long period of accumulation, can help you break through the shackles and step into the Fierce Realm.
Tang Luo was different from others; the spiritual energy he absorbed, after being processed by the Star Core, turned one strand of energy into three.
In just one year, Tang Luo reached the peak of the Mortal Realm and began to accumulate the spiritual power necessary to break into the Fierce Realm.
Two years later, at the age of thirteen, Tang Luo shocked the entire Xiling with his Fierce Realm status; it should be noted that even in Zhongzhou, the heartland of the continent, the average age for winding sect members to reach the Fierce Realm is sixteen.
The Tang Family produced an unprecedented genius, and Tang Luo's name spread far and wide throughout Xiling, even alarming the Martial Saint Mountain in Longzhou, a sacred site of martial arts.
Martial Saint Mountain sent a direct disciple, Bu Xiao, to Xiling to communicate with the Tang Clan about possibly taking Tang Luo under their wing.
In this world of the strong, only the prodigies are truly unforgivable.
The Tang Family thought that such good news should not go unnoticed, like walking in brocade clothing at night; they immediately made it known throughout the city, clinging to the thigh of Martial Saint Mountain, and it seemed likely that another warrior capable of reaching the King Realm would appear in the future.
This made all the clans in Xiling envious and jealous, not to mention that the Tang Clan had arranged a grand venue to invite all clans of Xiling to witness the event on the day representatives from Martial Saint Mountain arrived.
The host and guests were all pleased, with congratulatory voices unceasing—the smoothness of it all was almost unbelievable.
And Tang Luo lived up to the name of Pride of Xiling by drawing even with the young disciples of Martial Saint Mountain, marking everything as moving in the direction of becoming a winner in life.
However, after the fight, the disappeared spiritual energy did not recover, signaling a serious problem.
Tang Luo stood there dumbfounded, having only ever cultivated in tranquility and never fought before; it seemed somewhat unscientific for the spiritual energy not to recover.
Bu Xiao, particularly sensitive to spiritual energy, had furrowed his brow from the beginning of the fight because he noticed that the aura of this young prodigy from the Tang Clan was weakening.
After the battle ended, his cultivation in the Fierce Realm even began to reverse back to the Mortal Realm, more absurdly, the body that had completed tempering by the spiritual power of heaven and earth also regressed.
Even with Bu Xiao's broad experience, he had never seen anything like this and immediately approached to inspect closely.
"This child is a special case of the Innate Hollow Body, I'm afraid Martial Saint Mountain cannot take him in," Bu Xiao said after thoroughly examining Tang Luo's whole body, expressing his regret to the head of the Tang Clan. The entire scene immediately exploded into chaos.
And no one saw that Tang Luo looked at Bu Xiao as if he were looking at a fool, thinking, what nonsense about a Hollow Body—a ghost's body, my cultivation speed is probably three times faster than yours.
The people from Martial Saint Mountain left in a hurry, and the clans of Xiling also excused themselves amid the awkwardness, but their light footsteps as they walked out hinted that they weren't as disappointed as they verbally expressed about the prodigy turning into an Innate Hollow Body.
The Tang Clan elders were all stunned, standing in place, even forgetting to come and care for Tang Luo, who had just drawn with a disciple of Martial Saint Mountain.
Outside of his mother who embraced him and wept incessantly, it was as if Tang Luo had suddenly vanished from the center of the Tang Family's attention.
The Pride of Xiling turned into the Innate Hollow Body, and through the efforts of those with intentions, Tang Luo's reputation underwent a huge transformation in just one day.
"You're not playing with me, are you, boss?" Tang Luo said, face deadpan. He wasn't concerned about these minor reputations because he clearly knew he was not the same thing as an Innate Hollow Body.
But if his spiritual energy was just a one-time-use item, then it wasn't much different from being useless.
Techniques, spiritual treasures, resources, and opportunities—all had to be seized by his own hands.
Spiritual power would not recover; even training to the Fierce Realm was useless. If you kept fighting and reverted back to the Fierce Realm, you had to start over, and who knew when you could achieve sainthood.
"Are you planning to screw me over twice?" Tang Luo, internally looking at the Star Core continuously circulating in his dantian, burst out in dissatisfaction.
"Other people's Golden Fingers give tasks, hold raffles."
"Even damn gift packages are available, they prepare killer moves for you for no reason."
"Not to mention the cultivation speed is faster and seems damn free of bottlenecks."
"Boring? They also chat and banter."
"How come you only have an acceleration function, and the cultivated spiritual energy is even damn disposable?"
"Are you sure you aren't a fake Golden Finger?"
"Boss, boss. Where are you? I want a replacement. Your Golden Finger is faulty."
Tang Luo cursed aloud alone in his room, addressing his dantian.