As the purple qi from the east continued to flow into the Niwan Palace, the ancient cauldron within grew increasingly radiant. The bottom of the cauldron absorbed the incoming qi as if directly connected to its source, gradually filling to the brim. Then, yellow streams of energy began to overflow from the cauldron's mouth, coursing through the body's meridians and blood vessels, eventually spreading throughout the entire body.
If the Niwan Palace could be likened to a vast ocean and the body to the earth, then the yellow streams flowing out of the palace resembled rivers. Among them, nine main "rivers" were the widest, each leading to the four limbs and the five major organs: the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. From these nine main "rivers," countless smaller tributaries branched out, spreading intricately across the "land."
Within the four limbs and five major organs where the nine main "rivers" flowed, two ancient cauldrons resided within the arms. These cauldrons were also yellow, massive, and sturdy, exuding an aura of ancient majesty and a terrifyingly potent energy. The cauldrons absorbed the yellow energy streams while simultaneously radiating the energy into the arms, nourishing the blood and bones. However, the legs and the five organs lacked such cauldrons.
Time passed swiftly as he cultivated, and before he realized it, dawn had already come.
Xia Yunjie slowly opened his eyes, a mix of joy and concern crossing his face.
He was pleased because, after just one hour of cultivation, he felt himself edging closer to the late stage of the Earthly Witch Second Cauldron Realm—a rapid improvement. Yet, this progress also brought him unease. The faster his cultivation advanced, the more he worried about his ability to control the surging power, a concern his master had also expressed. After all, the greater a person's strength, the greater their potential to bring either prosperity or calamity to the world. History was rife with examples of tyrants whose inability to govern their immense power led to ruin.
Xia Yunjie came from a humble background, an ordinary family with no lofty aspirations of saving the world. He only wished for a comfortable, peaceful life. However, his master's earnest teachings, coupled with his parents' simple and kind nature, instilled in him a deep fear of being consumed by his power. The rapid advancement of his cultivation, while a cause for celebration, also added a weight of invisible pressure to his heart.
Yet, fate had marked him with the ancient bloodline of the Witch King Xia Yu. Upon the awakening of his bloodline, Xia Yunjie inexplicably inherited the "Yu King's Art," the very technique cultivated by Xia Yu himself. Although he trained under Wu Ze, his master's role was mainly to guide him through the basics and solve his doubts. His true cultivation relied on the "Yu King's Art." This unique combination allowed Xia Yunjie to progress at an astonishing pace. By the age of fourteen, he had already surpassed his master, who was 118 years old at the time. Now, Xia Yunjie had reached the mid-stage of the Earthly Witch Second Cauldron Realm, just a step or two away from the Third Cauldron Realm, a level comparable to the Golden Core stage in traditional Daoist cultivation. In this era of waning Daoist practices, achieving the "Golden Core Path" would make him a truly formidable existence.
However, the Witch Clan, said to have originated from the flesh and blood of Pangu and the primordial chaos, emphasized physical cultivation and raw power over the refinement of qi and the soul favored by Daoist practitioners. Unlike Daoists who form Golden Cores and nurture Nascent Souls, witches transform spiritual energy into witch power within the dantian, using it to temper their flesh and bones. This process ultimately leads to the formation of terrifyingly powerful witch cauldrons within their limbs and organs. Each cauldron forged enhances both their physical body and witch power. Xia Yunjie had already forged two cauldrons within his arms, reaching the mid-stage of the Earthly Witch Second Cauldron Realm. Should he succeed in forming cauldrons in all four limbs and five organs, he would achieve the Ninth Cauldron Realm, capable of ascending to immortality. Regardless of the path—witch or Daoist—the ultimate goal was the same: an indestructible body and an eternal soul.
The dantian was divided into the upper, middle, and lower regions, with the upper dantian, or Niwan Palace, being the most difficult to cultivate and its associated techniques the most profound. Xia Yunjie, inheriting the "Yu King's Art," absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth through the Niwan Palace, converting it into witch power. This technique was one of the Witch Clan's most formidable ancient arts.
As Xia Yunjie completed his cultivation and rose to his feet, the vortex at his forehead gradually faded, and the inverted ancient cauldron mark disappeared. Yet, within the Niwan Palace, an invisible vortex continued to spin, half dark and half light, resembling a yin-yang diagram as it absorbed and stored the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Habitually touching his forehead, Xia Yunjie's eyes gleamed with firm resolve.
"I will control my power, not let my power control me."
Silently repeating this mantra, Xia Yunjie picked up his tortoiseshell and left his bedroom. After a brief wash and a bowl of self-made noodles for breakfast, he stepped out.
Though it was only 8 a.m., the sun was already blazing down, promising another scorching day.
Standing at the entrance of his neighborhood, Xia Yunjie held the tortoiseshell in his hand. A faint red light, invisible to others, shot out from the shell, pointing eastward.
Following the red light's guidance, Xia Yunjie walked east for about forty minutes until it stopped at a bicycle shop named "Honest Bike Store." Not far from the shop stood Jiangzhou University, the city's only key undergraduate institution.
The store had a large storefront, displaying both new and used bikes. Its proximity to the university made it popular among students. Young customers frequently came and went, with many opting for secondhand bikes due to their limited budgets.
Inside the shop, a man and a woman were busy attending to customers. However, Xia Yunjie did not see the person he was looking for—Bald Strong.
Without hesitation, Xia Yunjie entered the shop. Upon noticing a potential customer, the female attendant, a youthful woman with a ponytail, approached with a sweet smile. "Looking for a bike? We've got both new and used ones at great prices."
Her clean and fresh appearance, coupled with her full figure, particularly her ample chest, made her quite appealing to young male students. Xia Yunjie had earlier noticed another male customer being persuaded by her charm to buy a bike, his gaze unable to resist darting to her chest. Fully aware of her allure, the woman leaned closer, her smile even sweeter.
In most cases, male customers would be too distracted to shop around and would settle for a purchase at Honest Bike Store.
Unfortunately for her, Xia Yunjie was not here to buy a bike but to find one—and his recent encounters with women had fortified his resistance. Ignoring her charm, he instead glanced toward the back of the shop, where a door led to a hallway and the owner's office.
Before the woman could speak further, Xia Yunjie pointed toward the door and said, "I'm looking for Bald Strong."
Surprised, the woman's eyes flickered with curiosity. Xia Yunjie, young and clean-cut, didn't look like someone involved in the underworld. Most notably, he had addressed Bald Strong by name, without the usual honorific "Brother Strong." Despite Bald Strong being a minor figure in Jiangzhou's underworld, he still commanded the respect of thirty or so subordinates. For someone so young to address him so casually seemed audacious, if not ignorant.
Quickly, the woman reasoned that Xia Yunjie might be a newcomer, fresh from his hometown and unfamiliar with the rules of the underworld.
"Do you mean Brother Strong?" she asked, attempting to correct him politely.
"Yes," Xia Yunjie replied with a nod.
"What's your name?" she asked, her voice tinged with resignation. Inwardly, she lamented the bright future this young man seemed willing to squander.