The wind howled across the desolate plains of the northern Xuan Province, carrying with it the scent of frost and blood. Amid the bone-chilling cold, a boy no older than fifteen stumbled through knee-high snow. His clothes were tattered, face smeared with soot, blood, and tears. His hands were frostbitten, clutching a cracked wooden sword that had long lost its edge.
His name?
He didn't have one.
Orphaned since birth, the villagers of Stone Ridge simply called him "Boy." He was the bastard child of a beggar woman who died giving birth. No one knew his father. Most suspected it was a foreign soldier, or worse, a bandit. The village elders took pity and let him live at the base of the crumbling Spirit Pine Hill, feeding him scraps and giving him menial work no one wanted to do—cleaning latrines, collecting firewood in the frost, chasing off mountain rats.
And yet, the boy never complained. He never cried—at least, not where anyone could hear.
He had one dream.
To cultivate.
To rise above his wretched life and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the cultivators who soared through the skies like gods. He had seen one once—ten years ago. A white-robed woman descended from the clouds to slay a demon beast that threatened their village. Her sword shimmered like moonlight, and her eyes held galaxies within.
That image never left his heart.
But in a world where spirit roots determined destiny, he had none. On his tenth birthday, the village elder tested him with a Spirit Mirror.
"Zero affinity," the elder had said, frowning. "Not even a mortal-grade root. You're cursed."
The words were like a death sentence. Cultivation was impossible without a spirit root, or so everyone believed. And yet, the boy refused to yield.
He trained anyway. Every morning before dawn, he swung his wooden sword a thousand times. Every night, he meditated until sleep claimed him. He copied the breathing patterns of old cultivators he overheard. He memorized the stories passed around the village hearth.
He waited for a miracle.
And today, it came.
As the boy collapsed on the peak of Spirit Pine Hill, lungs heaving, he stared up at the sky. The clouds churned unnaturally, swirling into a vortex of golden light. Thunder cracked across the heavens, and a beam of pure white energy descended, striking the hilltop.
The world froze.
Time stopped.
And then he heard it—a voice, ancient and vast, echoing directly into his mind.
> [Ding! Heavenly Dao System initializing… Host confirmed. Compatibility: 99.9%.] [Warning: Host possesses no spiritual root. Compensating… Complete.] [Welcome, Host, to the path of Supreme Ascension.]
The boy's breath caught. "W-What is this?"
> [You have been chosen by the Heavenly Dao System. Your path to godhood begins now.]
A translucent screen appeared in his vision, filled with unfamiliar characters and glowing symbols. It looked like something out of a cultivator's manual, but alive—interactive.
---
Host Name: None
Age: 15
Cultivation: None
Spiritual Root: Artificial Heavenly Core (Unique)
System Functionality Unlocked:
– Auto-Cultivation (1x Speed)
– Quest System (Locked)
– Inventory (Locked)
– Dao Insight Simulation (Locked)
---
The boy's heart thundered in his chest. "Is this… cultivation? I can really cultivate?!"
> [Yes. Your artificial Heavenly Core bypasses the need for a spiritual root. Commencing energy absorption…]
Suddenly, the air around him thickened. Spiritual energy that had always felt distant and elusive now surged into his body. It poured through his skin, flooding his meridians—no, forming them. Agony followed, his body rejecting and rebuilding itself simultaneously.
Bones cracked. Flesh tore and healed. His blood boiled, and then cooled into liquid fire.
And when the pain finally ended, he was kneeling in the snow, body radiating faint spiritual light.
> [Congratulations! Host has reached Qi Condensation Stage 1.]
Just like that.
A stage that took ordinary cultivators months—if not years—he achieved in seconds.
The boy looked at his hands. Power coursed through them. He swung his wooden sword. A faint gust followed its arc, slicing a distant pine tree in half.
His eyes widened. "I… I'm strong."
> [Quest Unlocked: Name Yourself. Reward: 100 Experience, Unlock Inventory System.]
A name. Something he had never dared to claim.
He stood tall, spine straighter than it had ever been. "From this day forward… I am Li Tianming."
The moment he spoke the name, golden light enveloped him.
> [Quest Complete. Reward distributed.]
The screen flickered.
---
Inventory Unlocked
– Item 1: Beginner's Sword Manual (Heaven Grade)
– Item 2: Spirit Nourishing Pill (x10)
– Item 3: Dao Seed (Unknown Attribute)
---
Li Tianming's mind raced. Heaven-grade sword manuals were legendary—far above what even sect disciples received. Spirit Nourishing Pills could speed cultivation. And the Dao Seed… he didn't even know what that was.
But it didn't matter.
He had power now. And purpose.
---
As he descended Spirit Pine Hill, the snow began to melt in his wake.
The villagers noticed. Whispers followed him. Some bowed instinctively, sensing a change. Others looked on with fear.
The same elder who once mocked him stepped forward, trembling. "B-Boy… what happened?"
Li Tianming looked him in the eyes. "My name is no longer 'Boy.' I am Li Tianming. And soon, I will ascend to the heavens."
With that, he turned and walked into the rising sun.
---
Far away, within the inner halls of the Azure Cloud Sect…
A crystal orb flickered, showing the image of the golden beam that struck Spirit Pine Hill.
A young woman in sky-blue robes narrowed her eyes. "A celestial anomaly…? That village boy… is he the one?"
Her attendant, a graceful sword maiden with silver hair, whispered, "Shall I investigate, Lady Xu?"
The woman nodded. "Yes. If Heaven itself has moved… then we may be witnessing the birth of a calamity—or a legend."
---
[End of Chapter 1]
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