Li Feng sat on his small apartment bed, his hands trembling as he held the jade pendant. The moment he had touched it, an ancient force had surged into his soul, unlocking memories that did not belong to him.
The Eternal Star Legacy. A divine inheritance passed down since time immemorial. It spoke of a cultivation path unlike any other—a path where one did not merely absorb Qi but instead refined the power of the cosmos itself.
Closing his eyes, Li Feng felt something new within him. A faint energy, previously dormant, now pulsed in his meridians like a tiny flicker of a flame. This was his inner Qi, the very foundation of cultivation.
Taking a deep breath, he followed the techniques that had appeared in his mind:
"Before all things, the First Gate must open."
He sat cross-legged and focused on his dantian, the energy center just below his navel. With each slow inhale, he guided the faint Qi through his meridians, tracing a path laid out by the Eternal Star technique.
Suddenly—boom!
A surge of warmth exploded in his body. His eyes snapped open as his vision blurred. He felt something deep within him break, like an invisible shackle shattering.
Then, the world changed.
The air around him felt thicker, alive with energy he had never noticed before. His hearing sharpened, the ticking of the clock sounding like a drumbeat. The dim glow of the streetlights outside seemed brighter, more vibrant.
"I… I broke through?" Li Feng whispered in awe.
According to the inheritance, he had just opened the First Gate of the Mortal Realm, the initial step on the road to cultivation.
His heart pounded. If this was only the beginning, what lay ahead?
A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts.
"Li Feng, open up! It's me, Wang Tao!"
His best friend's voice sounded anxious. Taking a deep breath, Li Feng stood up. His journey had just begun, but he had a feeling that fate was already at work.