On a dark and stormy night, a muffled scream echoed through a humble yet prosperous rural house, located at the edge of a dense forest. The wind made loud noises, crashing against the wooden walls, while the rain furiously battered the roof, as if nature itself could feel the evil that was about to emerge in that place.
Inside the house, a young woman was struggling to give birth. Her face, pale and covered in sweat, reflected a mixture of pain and terror. She knew, deep within her being, that what she was about to bring into the world was no ordinary child. Her body trembled with each contraction, but it wasn't just from the pain of labor, it was the fear that had accompanied her for the last nine months.
Almost a year had passed since that fateful night when her life changed forever. She had been traveling with her grandparents, who were Soul Elders, but a Soul Beast, a nightmare with fangs and claws, emerged from the forest in the middle of the journey.
That creature was no ordinary wolf, it was a Stormwind Demon Wolf, a Soul Beast of such an evil nature that even some Soul Masters avoided hunting it for its soul ring due to its extreme ferocity and the dire consequences of failure.
With the strength of a Soul Beast over a thousand years old, the Stormwind Demon Wolf had torn apart her parents and the horses right before her eyes, leaving her in a state of shock unable to move, cry for help, or even resist. The Soul Beast, upon seeing the girl, showed no sign of restraint, she seemed a rather boring human, so instead, it subdued her to satisfy its lust, leaving her with a scar on her soul and a horror no human should ever experience.
When she returned home safely with the help of a merchant caravan, her parents discovered she was pregnant. Dishonor fell upon her family like a dark shadow.
The young woman's family was wealthy, but their power and money could not undo what had happened. Her father, a proud and filial man, had insisted she abort the monster growing inside her. The girl seemed to agree with her father, but at the last moment, a trace of maternal love led her to disobey. Her mother, seeing her stubbornness, convinced her father not to force the abortion.
Now, on that stormy night, the fruit of her nightmare was about to be born.
The woman's screams echoed through the house, blending with the thunder roaring in the sky. The midwife, an experienced elderly woman, had noticed something strange from the very beginning. The birth wasn't like the others there was something dark in the atmosphere, something that gave her chills. Despite her years of experience, she feared what she would see when the baby finally arrived.
When the child was finally born, the storm seemed to intensify. A thunderous clap shook the earth as the old midwife held the newborn in her hands. It was not an ordinary child, it had features that did not belong to a normal human.
Its skin resembled its mother's, but it was paler, with a grayish tint. Its hands, arms, and legs, though fragile like any other baby's, were covered in dark gray fur, and they ended in sharp claws that scratched the cloth in which it had been wrapped. Its tail swayed intensely from side to side, and its wolf-like ears twitched slightly.
The baby seemed rather calm, but a soft growl escaped from its throat—a sound that should not come from a human baby. The midwife nearly dropped the baby instinctively, terrified by what she held in her arms. The young mother, despite her exhaustion and pain, felt a slight fear as she gazed upon the creature she had brought into the world. She knew that this child was not human, at least not entirely.
But despite everything, there was a connection. A spark of compassion blossomed in her heart. "Liu Feng," she murmured in a trembling voice. "That will be his name." It was a rather simple name.
Liu Feng, who had now turned one year old since his birth, lay in a crib that, instead of being made of wood, was built with metal. It did not differ much from a cage, as it had a small roof that could only be opened with a lock. Despite the rough materials and rigid appearance, the crib was quite decent and comfortable, equipped with a few baby toys.
With his baby body, Liu Feng stared into space with a noticeably annoyed expression because his cultivation speed was extremely slow, and he had just hit a wall. It had taken him a full year to barely approach the first stage of the "Myriad Elements" technique, and he thought the slowness might be due to his condition as a baby.
The "Myriad Elements" technique consisted of increasing affinity and control over different types of elements, regardless of their origin or whether they were variants of the main elements. The process involved selecting an element, absorbing it, and refining it to advance to the next stage, manifesting a sphere containing the element used to progress.
Each time a stage was surpassed, all previously mastered elements would be strengthened. Although this method made progress slower, it also ensured that the cultivator would become much more powerful than those who only mastered a few elements and used other techniques.
In his previous life, Liu Feng had only reached the eighth stage of the technique during the first rank. Starting from the sixth stage, his progress had slowed significantly, and time constraints forced him to move on to the next rank without completing all the stages.
This next rank involved harmonizing all developed elements. Although there was another option refining a single element with another technique called "Eternal Element Cycle" to achieve absolute mastery in just one or two elements he had not chosen that path in his previous life because his profession granted him affinity with all elements, which led him to use the "Myriad Elements" technique.
Now, reflecting on his current situation, he considered that perhaps refining a single element might be the most viable option. His body showed considerable affinity with the wind element. If he continued training, he was confident that he would eventually control it as well as he had in his past life and surpass his previous achievements.
Despite this reflection, he decided to continue with the "Myriad Elements" technique, as he had practiced it up to almost the last rank in his previous life, which would allow him to advance more easily through each stage. He also considered the possibility of using physical or non-elemental energy techniques, but he didn't know how cultivation worked in this new world and feared ending up in a similar situation to crippled people who tried to cultivate multiple types of energy in his past life. Additionally, for some reason, he didn't have the artifact that the system had promised him upon reincarnation, so he had no access to other cultivation techniques that he was unfamiliar with.
What irritated him most was that despite his efforts to advance, there seemed to be a barrier preventing him from manifesting his first elemental sphere. He could not feel his origin core, which led him to think that perhaps people in this world cultivated differently. Furthermore, the origin energy of heaven and earth seemed quite scarce, although he wasn't entirely sure, as he hadn't left the room since birth, and even if he did, it wouldn't help much because he was still trying to learn the local language.
Liu Feng stretched his small hands and stared at his claws, wishing for human hands again. These claws were uncomfortable, and more than once, he had cut himself while trying to scratch an itch.
Determined to avoid negative thoughts, he closed his eyes and sat in the lotus position, focusing on the "Myriad Elements" technique. After several minutes, he felt a sudden change that reminded him of his first breakthrough in his previous life. He looked at his hand and moved it, trying to release a bit of wind something he had attempted many times without success. However, this time, his claws began to glow with a white light.
Curious about this change, he shook his hand and could feel the wind elemental energy manifest, accompanied by another type of more dominant energy, different from elemental energy. At that moment, he saw a wind slash strike the metal of the crib with a loud "clank," bending some of the bars.
Before he could get excited about the discovery, his body began to twist in pain. A disturbing phenomenon occurred his body began to grow several centimeters, and the grayish fur covering his arms and legs darkened slightly. His screams echoed throughout the place, alerting everyone in the house.
"Liu Feng!" a woman cried out, rushing into the room, visibly worried after hearing her son's screams so early in the morning, when he usually remained calm most of the time. The only reason she had him locked in that place at night was due to her father's paranoia.