Uncle Tian Lu’s expression turned complicated as he took it in, “I beg of you, please help me bring the Hellfire Forge Clan back out into the world.”

****

“Now scram!”

A sword strike landed on the chest of a young figure, sending him crashing to the ground!

Boom!

The dust cleared to reveal a pit in where a young man lay. His life and death were completely unknown.

“Hmph! A mere common mortal dares to challenge us for treasures!? Truly a frog at the bottom of a well!”

“Now, now, it is already impressive that he was able to get this far without dying.”

“Hahahaha, I wonder what art he is practising? It must be some peerless technique, hahaha!”

Several members from the group that attacked the young man laughed in scorn at his misery. They were not troubled whether he lived or died. In their eyes, he was a mere mortal and wasn’t worth their time.

In truth, cultivators usually didn’t concern themselves with regular mortals. Doing so was acting beneath their station, and any cultivator that disregarded this would receive scorn and derision from the rest. This, as a result, granted mortals a kind of protection from cultivators that didn’t feel the same way about leaving them be.

Of course, this was only when mortals minded their own business. If a mortal tried to challenge any cultivator, then which proud son of heaven would stomach such an insult from someone below them?

However, what happened here was a bit different. It was the mortal that found something valuable inside some ruins within a nondescript location.

These young cultivators spotted him shortly after and arrogantly requested the treasure. They disdained to speak to a mortal as is, but they were tempted by the treasure he acquired.

When he refused to give them the treasure, they brutalised him and forcefully seized the treasure. It was something that resembled an ancient lock of sorts. The ruin was relatively empty, so there was nothing else but this. Seeing as how they went through so much trouble for something they couldn’t even use, they had a mind to kill this mortal but decided against it, as it would be beneath them.

After this, they left the old ruins and continued on whatever journey they were on.

They didn’t notice, after they left, the gentle light that began shining on the walls, enveloping the young injured figure. A golden mark of the character ‘king’ appeared on his forehead as well.

Not long after, the light on the wall and the figure faded, taking with it the golden king character.

Hours passed before a twitch came from the figure that lay in the pit. Before long, his eyes opened with a pronounced weariness. Yet, at the same time, there was a light in his eyes that remained unyielding.

It was dark by now, and the coldness of the night was setting in. He tried his best to get up, but the pain that wracked his body caused him to flinch in pain.

His right arm wasn’t responding, and there came a crippling pain anytime he attempted to change that. It was most likely broken. Luckily, his two legs were still functioning, or this would be a serious issue. After all, he couldn’t die here. He had someone that he had to take care of.

He didn’t complain about his bad luck or the sequence of events. Obviously, this was not the first time that something like this had happened.

He dragged himself back to where he lived. After travelling for a long time, the massive walls of a city came into view.

When the two city guards at the gate saw a figure approaching in the dead of night, they tensed up and gripped the spears in their hands tightly in case something happened; but when they saw who it was, their originally tense bearing relaxed and a smirk even appeared on their faces.

“Well, if it isn’t young master Lu Pei? Did you explore some ruins and discover a treasure that would allow you to soar to the top of this world yet? Hahaha!”

“What do you mean!? Look at him!” The guard’s friend rebuked!

The city guard that made fun of him before was shocked as to why his co-worker would suddenly say this, but when he heard what came next, he couldn’t control himself.

“He obviously soared to the skies, but fell and ended up in this sorry state! How dare you disrespect such a great master!”

The two guards fell to the ground, holding their gut as they rolled around laughing. They didn’t even think of their superior coming along and seeing them slacking off when on duty.

Lu Pei didn’t pay attention to this and passed them by, before continuing on his way. He was used to the jeering and insults, and his heart had grown calloused to this sort of thing for some time now.

He made his way through the streets and alleyways of the city. Eventually, he passed by what appeared to be a scene of destruction. No construction took place to rebuild what was lost, as anyone who got close would be hit with an extreme feeling of oppression.

It wasn’t that strong at the outer edges, but as one got closer to the core, the pressure would increase until no one, not even the city lord was able to resist it.

He still remembered what happened back then. The phenomenon that rocked this city and brought to it several existences that could wipe it out with a breath.

At that time, the city lord was tensed, vexed, and even sought trouble with one of the 10 great family leaders, but was eventually scared off when dragons of all things came for that same family!

Lu Pei wasn’t qualified to know what happened beyond that, and even what he knew now was merely hearsay.

In the lower-tiered district of the city, he came upon a house built entirely of wood.

The dim light of what was most likely a candle shone faintly through the windows.

“He waited up for me again?” Lu Pei felt guilty when he saw this.

He opened the door with a creak and saw where there was a hunched over old man asleep at a table.

A sizeable amount of wax gathered below the candle that burned. Meaning, one candle was finished, and another was placed atop it to keep some light in the old house.

When the door opened, the old man was jolted from his sleep, and when he saw Lu Pei’s current state, pain and worry immediately surfaced in his eyes.

“Lu Pei!”

“Father, please don’t worry about me!” Lu Pei fell to the ground on his knees. In his whole life, this old man was the only person he had ever knelt to.

Tears streamed down the old man’s face when he saw the state of his son.

“You have a bronze destiny. Why not use your talents to live a better life instead of risking it all every day in that old ruin?” Lu Pei’s father asked

Lu Pei was the adopted son of Old Wu and was also one of the children who had their destinies tested along with Long Di back then. He had a bronze destiny, something that would allow him to be a city guard or a soldier at most. He was unresigned when he discovered this, feeling himself to be meant for much more.

“Father, I beg you. Just give this unfilial child of yours one more month. If I find nothing and am unable to come upon any fateful encounter, then I will join the ranks of the city guards just like you want.”

“Really?” This was all Old Wu wanted, for his son to live a comfortable life.

“Really.” Lu Pei promised.

“Alright, well, I’ll sell some of the potatoes I harvested, and hopefully I can buy some medicine for your injuries. Ah, get up off the ground now.”

Old Wu quickly helped Lu Pei off the ground, not realising that this kneeling gesture would be something that he, and he alone, could receive from a future king in the cultivation world.

Someone who would rise explosively through the ranks like a shooting star, and stand by side with even the most arrogant sons and daughters of heaven!