"A useless girl without a martial soul? You're a disgrace to the Lin family!"
As Lin Xue walked away, Lin Jiao snorted coldly, her gaze shifting toward Ye Tian. With a dark expression, she spat, "Without a martial soul, you're doomed to be trash. You'll never become a martial artist. Know your place and stop dreaming of something beyond your reach, like a toad lusting after a swan!"
Her harsh words pierced Ye Tian like a thousand sharp blades, his eyes turning bloodshot with rage. His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked, veins bulging on his arms.
"What? You want to hit me?" Lin Jiao glanced at him with a sneer.
At that moment, the young man standing beside Lin Jiao stepped forward, looking at Ye Tian with a smug, arrogant expression. "Ye Tian, Jiao Jiao is my fiancée. You'd better stop looking at her like that, or I won't hesitate to teach you a lesson you won't forget."
Ye Wei felt a surge of satisfaction watching Ye Tian's face twist in anger and frustration. Once, he had been the undisputed prodigy of Ye Family Village, until Ye Tian suddenly appeared, stealing much of his spotlight. But no matter, talent would always shine, and trash would always remain trash. Without a martial soul, Ye Tian was no longer a threat to him.
Ye Wei's eyes gleamed with haughty indifference as he looked down at Ye Tian.
"You'll suffer one day for keeping company with such a vile woman!" Ye Tian gritted his teeth, letting out a cold snort before turning to leave.
With memories of over thirty years from his past life, he had no need to argue with these two petty children. Besides, he had already found a way to become a martial artist. When that day came, he would repay the humiliation in full.
"What did you say? Dare to repeat that?" Lin Jiao's eyes flashed with fury as she glared at him.
Ye Wei quickly stepped in front of Ye Tian, blocking his path with icy coldness in his gaze. "Apologize to Jiao Jiao, or else..." His threat hung heavily in the air.
Ye Tian stood firm, his voice calm yet cutting, "Apologize? That word doesn't exist in my dictionary. If you're so fond of apologies, go apologize to her yourself." With that, he changed direction and walked away.
But Ye Wei stepped in front of him again, his chilling voice now laced with menace. "If you don't apologize, I'll make sure you leave here crawling, even if it means facing punishment from the village chief."
As his words dropped, a fierce aura exploded from Ye Wei, rushing toward Ye Tian.
"Just you? I might not have a martial soul, but neither have you advanced to become a martial artist. We're both at the peak of Martial Disciple level ten. You think you can act tough in front of me? Wait until you actually break through!" Ye Tian smirked.
His confidence came from his experience as a special forces soldier in his previous life. At the same level, there wasn't a single person in the village who could rival him. Ye Wei was no exception.
"Oh, really?" A strange smile flashed across Ye Wei's face as his fist suddenly shot out, like a dragon surging out of the sea, aiming directly at Ye Tian.
"Pitiful tricks!" Ye Tian was already prepared. The moment he saw Ye Wei's fist coming, he sidestepped and countered, aiming straight for Ye Wei's chest. If this punch landed, Ye Wei would surely cough up blood.
With a sneer, Ye Tian thought to himself, "A village bumpkin who's never left home dares challenge me?"
But just as his fist was about to strike Ye Wei's chest, a strange glint flashed in Ye Wei's eyes. Before Ye Tian could process it, his fist had already connected.
Boom!
Instead of sending Ye Wei flying, Ye Tian felt as though he had struck a steel plate. His arm went numb, his knuckles split, and pain shot through his hand.
The bizarre and terrifying scene left Ye Tian wide-eyed, staring at Ye Wei in disbelief.
"Good technique, but your strength is lacking," Ye Wei sneered, his face twisted with disdain. Seizing Ye Tian's moment of shock, he pulled back his fist and slammed it into Ye Tian's shoulder.
Crack!
Ye Tian's shoulder buckled under the tremendous force, dislocating instantly. His body was sent flying.
As he flew through the air, Ye Tian's eyes locked onto Ye Wei, filled with unwillingness and disbelief. "You... You've advanced to a martial artist?"
Boom!
Ye Tian crashed to the ground, the impact shaking the earth beneath him, but his gaze never left Ye Wei.
The protective aura of true martial energy made martial artists almost impervious to attacks from Martial Disciples. If Ye Tian couldn't figure out by now that Ye Wei had advanced, his thirty-plus years of experience would have been for nothing.
"Hmph," Ye Wei snorted arrogantly, watching Ye Tian with cold contempt.
Lin Jiao sauntered over, casting a disdainful glance at Ye Tian. "That's right! Ye Wei has awakened his martial soul and advanced to a martial artist, an orange-grade soul no less. As for you, you'll never catch up."
Hearing this, Ye Tian's eyes trembled, his teeth gritting in frustration.
"Remember this lesson. From now on, Jiao Jiao belongs to me. If I catch you disrespecting her again, I'll beat you every time I see you," Ye Wei threatened in a low voice.
"What's going on here?"
Suddenly, a stern voice rang out as a figure approached from the village entrance. It was Ye Feng, the leader of the Beast Hunting Squad. His sharp gaze swept over Ye Wei and the fallen Ye Tian. "Fighting, are we?"
Ye Tian remained silent, but the previously arrogant Ye Wei instantly paled, his confidence vanishing like a mouse in front of a cat. With an ingratiating smile, he hurriedly said, "Uncle Feng, you misunderstand! I was just sparring with my little brother Ye Tian, and accidentally hurt him. It's my fault. Punish me if you must."
Ye Feng, the head of the Beast Hunting Squad and their mentor, was also a ninth-level martial artist, a figure of great authority in Ye Family Village, second only to the village chief. Even someone as haughty as Ye Wei didn't dare act out in front of him.
"Ye Tian, is that true?" Ye Feng's sharp gaze lingered on Ye Wei before shifting to Ye Tian, his voice calm but firm.
Even the usually domineering Lin Jiao kept her head down, not daring to meet Ye Feng's eyes.
Ye Wei, feeling uneasy, shot a threatening glance at Ye Tian.
Ye Tian brushed the dust off his clothes, stood up expressionlessly, and glanced briefly at the threatening Ye Wei and the anxious Lin Jiao. He calmly said, "I accidentally fell myself."
Lin Jiao immediately breathed a sigh of relief, while Ye Wei gave Ye Tian a satisfied look, as if to say: "At least you know your place."
"Oh?" Ye Feng's eyes gleamed at Ye Tian's words, but he waved his hand dismissively, saying, "You don't have a martial soul and can never become a warrior. Ye Wei is already a warrior; you're not on the same level. There's no need to spar anymore." With that, he turned and left.
"Understood, Uncle Feng," Ye Wei called out proudly to his retreating figure. He then cast a disdainful glance at Ye Tian and sneered, "Consider yourself lucky this time. Let's go, Jiao Jiao."
"Don't ever think about my brother again, you worthless failure who will never become a warrior!" Lin Jiao added coldly before following Ye Wei.
Ye Tian patted the dust off himself and, without sparing them another glance, dragged his weary body toward the forest, carrying the small white tiger that had fallen to the ground.
With every step, it felt as though he was carrying a thousand pounds. Slowly but surely, he left behind deep footprints, eventually disappearing into the vast forest.
The familiar sight of the waterfall came into view. Sitting on a large boulder, Ye Tian gazed blankly at the sky. Here, and only here, did he find a fleeting sense of solace.
The small white tiger at his side nudged his leg, meowing softly.
Today had left him battered — both by the love he once thought he had from Tingting and the humiliation inflicted by Ye Wei and Lin Jiao. These scars etched themselves deep into his heart.
If it had been a day earlier, Ye Tian might have succumbed to despair, resigned to the fact that he could never become a warrior.
But now—
As he watched the majestic waterfall cascade down the cliff, a fierce determination lit up his eyes, and a low voice rumbled from his throat.
"A warrior—I will become a warrior!"
The repeated insults and mockery only fueled his desperation to achieve this goal. He attempted to scale the waterfall, searching for the body of the old white tiger that had fallen, but the forceful current had long since swept it away.
"I hate this!" Ye Tian roared towards the heavens, filled with regret. If only he hadn't lost the old white tiger's body yesterday, he might have already mastered the Devouring Constitution by now.
But alas, there's no turning back time in this world.
As the sun set, Ye Tian dragged his exhausted body toward Ye Family Village.
Suddenly, the rhythmic thunder of galloping hooves echoed through the air. From the distant forest edge, a group of blood-clad warriors on black steeds stormed forward like a crimson tidal wave, radiating an ominous, deadly aura.
The blood-soaked warriors were charging straight toward the path where Ye Tian stood.
"Damn!" Ye Tian's face turned pale with shock, and he quickly dove into the nearby bushes to hide.
The ground trembled as the hooves pounded louder, their sound deafening. At the head of the group was a tall man wielding a spear, his eyes cold as ice, sweeping over Ye Tian. The sheer pressure from his gaze was suffocating, sending cold sweat trickling down Ye Tian's forehead.
"What an overwhelming presence! Even the village chief at the peak of Martial Disciple level ten doesn't possess such power. Could this man be a Martial Master?" Ye Tian's mind raced, his breath quickening.
In an instant, the blood-clad warriors had vanished, disappearing into the distant horizon.