Chapter Two: Yang Yan

Bang! Bang!

On the training field, a boy of about thirteen or fourteen was relentlessly swinging his small fists, striking hard against the ironwood stake before him. Beads of sweat trickled down his youthful face and fell to the ground, but the boy paid them no mind, continuing to repeat the motion without pause.

Ironwood was a common tree on the Tianyuan Continent, its trunk as firm as iron, hence its name. Its hardness and accessibility made it a favored training tool for junior cultivators at the Body Tempering Stage.

“Oh my, who’s so dedicated to training so early in the morning? Turns out it’s our esteemed Third Young Master!”

A mocking voice rang out from behind. The boy’s fist faltered for a moment in mid-air but he didn’t turn to respond. Instead, he raised his arm once more and slammed his fist fiercely into the stake.

Bang!

“Young Master Yang Yan, such impressive skill! At your age, you’ve already reached the ninth layer of Body Tempering. Compared to us servants with poor talent, you’re only just a bit ahead!”

The Body Tempering Stage was the first realm of cultivation, divided into nine layers. Yet even those who achieved the ninth layer were commonplace in the vast, martial-dominated Tianyuan Continent.

Only after reaching the ninth layer, breaking through the barrier, and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to transform it into one’s own, could one step into the Spirit Sensing Stage and truly be considered a cultivator.

Of course, the boy called Yang Yan was clearly not yet qualified.

“Third Young Master, don’t say I didn’t warn you. In three months, the Azure Profound Sect will be recruiting disciples. All the young talents from every family in Jin Prefecture will be signing up. I hope you break through to the Spirit Sensing Stage before then, ha ha ha…”

As the laughter faded into the distance, the boy slowly turned, leaning weakly against the ironwood stake. A trace of loneliness and despondency appeared on his pale, youthful face.

“The Azure Profound Sect… I’m afraid I’ll never set foot there in this life…”

He shook his head with a bitter smile.

He lived on the Tianyuan Continent, a land whose size was unknown—no one had ever reached its borders.

Jin Prefecture was one of sixteen prefectures within the Flying Cloud Empire, situated in the northern part of the realm. It contained a dozen cities, large and small. The Yang Yan family resided in Jinhuan City, which was but a drop in the ocean compared to the vast continent.

The Azure Profound Sect was established on Azure Profound Mountain within the Broken Cloud Range, the most renowned cultivation sect in Jin Prefecture.

Founded nearly five hundred years ago, its founder, the Azure Profound Master, was a young and spirited swordsman who, upon arriving in Jin Prefecture, defeated all rivals with a single sword and earned the title of the top expert. Yet at the height of his fame, he felt a deep loneliness and spent his days in anxiety.

One day, wandering into Azure Profound Mountain, he was struck by its beauty and inspired to spend the rest of his life there. Devoted to martial arts, he never married or had children. As his life neared its end, unwilling to let his skills be buried with him, he established the sect, named it after the mountain, and took the title Azure Profound Master, widely recruiting disciples.

Though he had long withdrawn from worldly affairs, his reputation as Jin Prefecture’s greatest still drew countless strong men to his call. The mountain became crowded with visitors, and many powerful cultivators joined the Azure Profound Sect.

From then on, the sect made it its mission to punish evil and defend Jin Prefecture’s peace, passing its legacy down through generations, paid for with the blood of countless predecessors, to achieve its current influence.

For a young master of a small family like Yang Yan, being chosen by the Azure Profound Sect as a disciple was a dream come true. It meant not only gaining a significant position within the family but also access to coveted resources for cultivation.

Yet all of this seemed destined to elude Yang Yan, for the Azure Profound Sect’s first requirement for recruitment was to reach the Spirit Sensing Stage before the age of fifteen!

“Spirit Sensing Stage—how does one enter it?”

Yang Yan clenched his fists in frustration and muttered.

He had been frail since childhood, plagued by the cold poison, which flared up periodically. His father searched the city for skilled doctors, but none could cure him.

Fortunately, as he grew older and trained diligently, he managed to reach the ninth layer of Body Tempering, which somewhat alleviated the pain of the poison.

Yet, confoundingly, after two years at the peak of Body Tempering, Yang Yan had never sensed the barrier to the Spirit Sensing Stage. He could not perceive the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, let alone absorb it and transform it into his own power.

His father, Zhang Tai, was helpless. His other two sons had entered the Spirit Sensing Stage at Yang Yan’s age and were now outer disciples of the Azure Profound Sect.

After much thought, Zhang Tai attributed this to Yang Yan’s constitution.

Though Yang Yan had been raised by him, he was not his biological son, but an abandoned infant Zhang Tai had found while gathering herbs in the mountains.

Zhang Tai treated Yang Yan as his own, caring for him devotedly for over a decade, even loving him more than his two biological sons. Perhaps because of this, Yang Yan became the target of his brothers, Zhang Quan and Zhang Sheng, who saw him as a thorn in their side. The person who mocked Yang Yan earlier was one of Zhang Quan’s close followers.

Yang Yan ignored his brothers’ tricks, and thanks to Zhang Tai, never confronted them openly.

Besides, his mind was wholly focused on breaking through to the Spirit Sensing Stage; he had no time for such petty troublemakers.

Only two months remained until the Azure Profound Sect’s disciple selection. If he failed to break through by then, he wouldn’t even be eligible to participate!

“No matter the outcome, I must seize these final moments and give it my all. At least then, I won’t have regrets!”

Yang Yan wiped the loneliness from his face, his gaze growing resolute.

“Big Brother Yang Yan!”