Slowly, he turned his head, and his eyes reflected the image of the old man seated like a statue.
Xu Kai clenched his fists, tears threatening to fall from his eyes, but he wiped them away.
This world hates you…
It loathes your existence…
Second chance?
This is worse than your previous one…
Negative thoughts flooded his once-optimistic mind, drowning Xu Kai in pain and desolation. Just as he walked out of the door, an old voice rang.
"Wait."
The mockery ceased as everyone gazed at Elder Feng, whose focus was fixed on Xu Kai's back.
Even his words did not stop Xu Kai. The fourteen-year-old boy hung his head low while slowly walking through the wide corridor.
"Elder Feng, what do you mean by this? Why favor a sleeper, a beggar who doesn't have the faintest idea of martial arts?" Cheng Wei frowned deeply, his fingers sinking into the chair made from a century-old oak tree!
"Xu Kai!" The air carried Elder Feng's voice, causing Xu Kai to turn his head.
'Why is everyone looking at me?' He muttered. Slowly walking back to the hall, he faced gazes of all kinds, most of them filled with contempt.
"He will attend the training. Consider this a slot from the Feng family." Feng Shaofang's words shocked the other two Elders and every other person present in the hall.
Shui Mei Er blinks a couple of times. She peered at Xu Kai, trying to understand why Elder Feng, a man who had secluded himself for decades, decided to attend this ceremony with a beggar!
"What is Elder Feng's relationship with him?" She muttered to herself while gazing at the dirty, malnourished boy.
"Without a talent, you can never ascend beyond the three early realms. Your destiny is to remain mediocre." Cheng Wei spoke calmly.
He didn't care how Xu Kai interpreted those words, but regardless of how harsh they sounded, they were the truth.
Ignoring Elder Cheng Wei, Xu Kai kowtowed in front of Elder Feng. "Xu Kai pays respect to Elder Feng!" His young voice rang out.
The man only nodded. As for why Elder Feng offered aid despite his inability to awaken a talent, Xu Kai had no answer to that question.
****
Training Grounds, somewhere around the Great Hall. Young men with bulging muscles and brown skin lifted boulders, flaunting their strength to the others.
Xu Kai and other youth without direct connections to the main family watched from the sidelines.
Unlike Cheng Yi and Shui Mei Er, they had no personal teachers and had to train with these brawny men.
'Uncle Lan…' Xu Kai gazed at the instructor, who was supervising the training ground. Though he was big, he had a kind heart.
Scenes of how Lan helped him practice the "Raging Tide Technique" flashed through Xu Kai's red eyes.
Famous for originating from the mainland, the technique was the foundation of every martial arts practitioner on the Emerald Island.
"We've got newcomers! Come, let's see your strength." Uncle Lan chortled. Excitedly, the Cheng and Shui young practitioners rushed toward smaller stones.
The early realms rooted their power in physical strength, not in any particular flashy technique. Those at the Marrow Cleansing Realm end stage possessed the power equivalent of three cauldrons, weighing between 350 and 450 kg!
While they lifted 50 kg of stones, impressing the older ones, Xu Kai sneaked out.
'They've been training long before today but only have mortal-grade talents. The esteemed guest, who will arrive in three months, cannot select those with mortal-grade talents. Last time, despite my training, I only reached the Marrow Cleansing Realm intermediate stage after three months!'
While walking through the sparsely crowded street, he sighed heavily.
'This time, it will be different. If I get the jade mushroom, I'll break into the Marrow Cleansing Realm in a few days. Maybe this time I can compete for a guaranteed slot instead of hoping the esteemed guest will favor me." He clenched his fists.
After a while, Xu Kai, holding a stick, navigated through a mountain. 'The Cheng's herb pickers said they found the "jade mushrooms" inside a cave behind the mountain.'
It's been hours, and the sun's rays have peeked through the trees. While others were training, Xu Kai was in the mountains, searching for an herb.
Hu~
He exhaled.
Having mapped this location as the first spot, he was able to find the mouth of a cave, right where the Cheng herb pickers said it was.
Inside the small cave, he found a mushroom hiding behind a stone. The mushroom shone like glass; it was as beautiful as jade, and a faint mist swirled around it.
The faint whiff excited Xu Kai's body, and his eyes glowed. 'Finally! I would have cried if this was a lie.'
Three months would pass in a blink of an eye, so he was eager to start training. Geniuses like Shui Mei Er had already been training long before awakening!
Pulling out the mushroom, he dashed down the mountain, through the streets, and into a forest away from the civilized part of the island.
As he came out of the other side, a vast shore appeared before his eyes. The blue sea waves washed over the shores and retreated.
The sensation of his foot sinking into the golden sand brought comfort to his tensed mind. At the forest's edge, he entered a treehouse atop a tall tree.
He made the treehouse from bamboo and bound it together with vines. This was his two years of hard work!
He crushed the jade mushroom with a stone, consumed the liquid, and left the treehouse. He stood atop a boulder, facing the sea.
He breathed in and out slowly, but eventually matched the hidden rhythm of the sea. This was a secret lesson Uncle Lan taught him.
His eyes sharpened, and his fist swooshed out. He followed up with another fist, holding his abdomen in and inflating his chest.
The Raging Tide Technique was like the sea's tides, more fearsome than the last. Similarly, his movement should begin at a specific point and continue to ascend.
His feet danced around the boulder as he changed stances. Suddenly, a warm sensation burst out from his abdomen, spreading to the rest of his body in an instant.
An excited glimmer appeared in his eyes. 'The jade mushroom is working!' he said. Xu Kai let himself go, focusing his very being on coordinating his body to unleash precise punches.
To breakthrough into the Marrow Cleansing Realm, the practitioner must first gain a proficient grasp over the Raging Tide Technique.
For Xu Kai, who had mastered all the stances in his past life, this was as easy as eating two bowls of rice noodles. He just needed to persist despite his weak body's pleading to stop.