Chen Zijing was originally from the Fire Nation, a small and insignificant country on the Yunzhuo Continent. He didn't know who his biological parents were. They had only left him a tiger-shaped jade pendant engraved with the character "Chen" when he was still swaddled. Chen Zijing was adopted by an old man surnamed Wang, and together they fled famine and eventually settled here.
For a long time, many people thought he was strange because, ever since the age of two, Chen Zijing had possessed the wisdom of an adult!
What people didn't know was that Chen Zijing had a Yin-Yang Soul. When he was two years old, his Yin-Yang Soul began to manifest. Those who have such a soul are referred to as Daoist Children by Daoist practitioners. They possess all the memories of their previous life.
In his previous life, Chen Zijing had been an ordinary yamen officer, living a happy life with his family and a wife with a big, round bottom, affectionately called Huniu... The couple led a very blissful life together... However, fate took a cruel turn, and Chen Zijing accidentally fell off a cliff while chasing a fugitive. Now, because he possessed a Yin-Yang Soul, it was as if he had walked the path to the underworld without drinking Meng Po's soup, which meant he also had to endure another kind of suffering. The overlapping memories of his two lives meant that to untangle his emotions, he had to completely let go of the longing for his past life.
Years ago, this little boy would occasionally utter strange phrases that left others baffled.
"If only I hadn't fallen off that cliff… If only Huniu were still by my side…" After saying this, his large eyes would fill with tears as he gazed ahead… and he would speak no more. Every adult who heard this assumed that Chen Zijing was just a little kid whose head had been pinched in a door or that he had been hit on the head, causing him to speak nonsense all day long.
During their journey fleeing famine, Chen Zijing had seen enough of the cruelty and deception in the world. He and Old Wang eventually settled in the southeastern part of Zheng State in a small town called "Xingbian," using all their savings to open a small store dealing in Primary Yuan Crystals.
Yuan Crystals were the common currency of the Yunzhuo Continent, and the business of a Primary Yuan Crystal store involved buying low-quality Yuan Crystal ores at low prices, refining them into finished Primary Yuan Crystals, and exchanging them with the common folk to make a small profit. The exchange ratio for Yuan Crystals was one-to-ten for Secondary to Primary, but from the Tertiary level onward, it was one-to-one hundred, and the higher the level, the scarcer and more valuable the Yuan Crystals became.
Half a year ago, however, Old Wang suddenly died from illness, dealing a massive blow to Chen Zijing's business! In the past six months, he had been constantly harassed by local thugs and bullies, and eventually, his crystal store was forcefully taken over at a low price by a group of ruffians led by "White Two" and "Rascal Xu"!
During these days of relentless bullying, he came to know a group of beggar children who were even more pitiful than him. They survived mainly through begging and stealing, with no savings to their name. It wasn't unusual for them to have their limbs broken by their victims—this was nothing out of the ordinary. In such a tough living environment, they banded together. Even if they couldn't protect themselves, at least they had a place to talk and share their burdens.
This also spurred Chen Zijing to make a firm decision: he would do whatever it took to become strong, even if it meant risking everything to learn martial techniques, even stealing if necessary!
After a night of careful study, Chen Zijing had more or less figured out the fundamentals of the 'Basic Body Tempering Martial Techniques.'
Holding the precious handwritten copy of the martial techniques, Chen Zijing murmured to himself, "These basic body-tempering techniques emphasize a steady and thorough approach to cultivating both the inner and outer body, making them quite suitable for opening the meridians and establishing a foundation. However, without a teacher's guidance, the practice may feel a bit sluggish. I'll have to figure out the unclear parts on my own…"
Early the next morning, just as the sun was rising and the purple energy of the day began to appear, Chen Zijing led Zhang Qiao and the group of beggar children to the abandoned temple to begin their training.
Although the children couldn't live off qi like the ancient mighty figures, practicing in this way still had great benefits for them. It could fill their bodies with vitality and refine their muscles and bones. As the saying goes, "The morning is the key time of the day." Exercising in the early morning helped strengthen their flesh and blood and toughen their sinews, laying a better foundation for their future cultivation.
To avoid being discovered, the children took turns standing guard outside the temple every day, keeping watch to prevent any trouble from arising.
"Zhang Qiao, raise your hands a little higher, and put more strength into your arm swings! Yes, just like that! The rest of you, pay attention to your posture, understand?!" Chen Zijing shouted loudly.
"Understood!"
The other children answered loudly with full energy, each of them sweating profusely.
"Haozi, your breathing rhythm is off! Adjust your breathing to make it more stable."
"Yes!"
The child called out quickly adjusted his posture according to Chen Zijing's instructions, correcting his mistakes.
"The book says to combine waist strength with arm strength without losing your body's center of gravity. Right! Lower your stance a bit more!"
While the other children responded to Chen Zijing's supervision, they poured all their effort into their practice, hoping to improve their strength as soon as possible. These children trained hard all day long, only dragging their sore and exhausted bodies back home after sunset.
As the night breeze arrived, every household in the village lit their candles. Laughter came from the rich families, while the poor families were often filled with endless quarrels.
At this time, in the backyard of a remote, dilapidated earthen house in the town, the sound of a little boy practicing martial arts hard could be heard.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
With the flickering shadows of his fists, the dilapidated house echoed with the sound of wind breaking! Although the power was not great, it looked quite impressive.
This was Chen Zijing, who was diligently practicing martial arts. At this moment, he retracted his fists and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Without a martial arts teacher, he practiced hard on his own every day, while also being responsible for teaching others martial arts. Since he was the only one who could read, he had to spend more time studying and deciphering the deeper meanings in the martial arts texts.
He often only sat down to rest when he was so exhausted that he could no longer move, gulped down a large mouthful of water, and after his strength was almost restored, he would struggle to stand up and continue his intensive training. This was his daily routine.
After Chen Zijing and the others had practiced diligently for two months, the children gathered around Chen Zijing in the dilapidated temple, each face showing disappointment, with some even sitting on the ground sighing.
"Brother Zijing, we've been practicing for a full two months. Although we feel a bit stronger, it seems like we haven't become much more powerful. Zhao Er, the thug at the village entrance, still knocked me down with a few punches. Did we do something wrong?"
The small beggar with big eyes and a face full of freckles, nicknamed 'Cat's Tail', finally couldn't hold back and asked first.
In fact, everyone had been harboring doubts, but they thought their progress was just slow and the time wasn't right. However, after over two months, they still hadn't seen significant results, which made the beggars lose patience.
Compared to some children from powerful families, many of whom already possessed the strength to contend with adults and wouldn't be defeated by thugs, their progress seemed lackluster.
For example, Zhao Ba, the wealthiest man in the town, had a pair of twin children who, at sixteen, had the cultivation of a fourth or fifth-level martial apprentice. It was said that a great deal of money was spent on hiring a famous teacher, and they completed their foundation establishment before the age of twelve.
"Everyone needs to keep practicing. Cultivation starts with refining the body, and all the basics come from within oneself. As the saying goes, effort will not betray the earnest. With time, it will definitely make a difference!"
Chen Zijing encouraged everyone with a determined expression, but he secretly sighed. The slow progress was not only due to the low level of the body refining techniques, but also, and most critically, due to the lack of body refining elixirs.
Simply practicing body refining techniques was extremely slow in its effects, but these beggars even had trouble affording food. Where could they find money to buy elixirs?