Deep inside Ip An’s stomach, a thin thread of vibrant green light the size of a grain of rice winked into existence. Instantly, Ip An’s body underwent a mysterious transformation. A strangely powerful boost of vitality and energy surged through his whole body like a rushing tsunami. Miniscule changes occurred across his whole body. Bones shuddered, blood churned and organs wreathed. And upon closer inspection, one could see minuscule tendrils of green light spreading out across his whole body with the thread of green light at its centre.

And just as Ip An could feel the edge of the knife’s blade touch his nose, his body suddenly jerked to the left that sent him to the other side of the temple! It was as if he had just been caught up in a tornado. With a racing heart and a face full of disbelief, he discovered that he was somehow still alive!

“What?” Uncle Huang scoffed in disbelief in seeing Ip An’s sudden ghost-like movements. And along with this sudden boost of vigour came sudden clarity of mind that helped him recover from his previous state of mind. His mind started to churn away as he thought of a way out of his situation.

Where did this energy suddenly emerge from?

Except, Ip An had no time to answer this question and suddenly clenched his fists, feeling the newfound power that was coursing through his whole body with increasing familiarity. He then looked at Uncle Huang with hope in his eyes. He was not going to die here!

Ip An then looked at Uncle Huang and saw him muttering unintelligibly. After a moment he snapped himself out of it and looked at Ip An with a sudden look of respect. With zero sign of wavering, Uncle Huang gave a sly smirk and charged at Ip An. As Uncle Huang charged he took in a strangely deep breath that made a noise akin to an arrow flying through the air.

Then, as he exhaled his arms suddenly increased in size by seemingly over twofold! They were now as big as a young man who had been labouring every day for the past several years! Cold, green veins now bulged out of his wrinkly skin like slithering snakes as he held the knife that was soaked in the thick-haired man’s blood.

This caused Ip An to become slightly intimidated but his resolve was still solid. He observed every single one of Uncle Huang’s movements as he charge towards him in a sprint that caused dust to fly. He quietly reminded himself to avoid that knife at all cost.

And soon, Uncle Huang reached the still idle Ip An. With the mysterious energy flowing through him, he watched the blade move in slow motion as it travelled through the air towards him. With unexpected coordination and speed, he ducked under the blade and sent his fist deep into Uncle Huang’s stomach just like the thick-haired man did. Uncle Huang’s eyes bulged in pure shock as Ip An’s fist contained frightening power rivalling that of an adult man’s!

Due to his frail build and old age, he suddenly limped to the ground without any energy left to fight back. The knife dropped out of his hand, clattering to the ground. His veins and arms quickly deflated back to their normal size.

Ip An couldn’t believe it! That mysterious energy that had suddenly coursed through his body on the brink of death had just saved his life. His whole body suddenly gained power that made him feel like he could fly and destroy boulders. Ip An then walked over to Uncle Huang to make sure he didn’t get back up and once he saw he was unconscious he let out a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon.

As Ip An looked at Uncle Huang he held a strange glint in his eyes. He held no remorse. Yet, he didn’t want to kill him. He knew that if he was older he would have the heart to do it. But as of now he just couldn’t see himself doing it. He felt like it was wrong to even though the latter had just tried to kill him.

Uncle Huang looked very pitiful. Well, he should call him Huang Shu after how he had tried to murder him. But had suddenly been defeated by a mere child. In the end, Ip An had come out on top. Huang Shu had betrayed the thick-haired man who he had now identified to be Yu Zheng after jogging his memory. And Ip An had then defeated Huang Shu.

Knowing that Huang Shu was completely incapacitated from his earlier punch, he walked over to Yu Zheng’s corpse and just looked on with a lost stare. Strangely, it didn’t disgust him nor was he terrified. He didn’t really feel anything. And that terrified him. Why wasn’t he feeling anything? He should’ve collapsed to his knees and vomited.

But here he was staring at Yu Zheng who was now laying in a puddle of blood with him at the centre. Ip An had little recollection of Yu Zheng. He had rarely seen him. If he remembered correctly, he lived on the opposite side of the village and usually kept to himself. In that moment he wondered about the person he had been and the kind of life he had lead.

As Ip An continued pondering, his mind drifted back to when it felt like death was imminent. The instant when Huang Shu’s knife that he had stolen from Ip An which he stole from Mei Yawen was plunging towards him. He had just brushed with death. Ip An had unconsciously gained a profound revelation about death. He had greatly matured due to this life and death experience.

If he hadn’t been mustering all his strength and will to get up, he thought about what would’ve happened. Would he have died? No, he was here now and alive. That’s all that mattered. And despite Yu Zheng’s role in trying to take his life he felt a weirdly deep connection to him on a spiritual level. It was strange. Thus, he gave him a small prayer to pay respects and turned away. He wasn’t planning to bury their dead bodies. He didn’t even have any proper tools anyway!

After retrieving his knife, letter and medallion from Huang Shu’s unconscious body with zero shame he packed them all away in his bag and promptly left the temple. Near the end of their conflict, the rain has stopped raining.

This meant Ip An didn’t have to wait around for Huang Shu to wake up! Eventually, his figure had disappeared into the distance and several hours later Huang Shu woke up! After many minutes of foggy thinking, he soon recovered his general train of thought and quickly remembered what had happened.

Suddenly, Huang Shu felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Ip An could’ve killed him! Yet he decided to leave him alive. This was. Very surprising. But also incredibly relieving. He looked around and saw that Ip An was nowhere to be seen and started muttering under his breath.

“That boy, just as he was on the brink of death he suddnely gained such strength, coordination and speed out of seemingly thin air! I had crossed out that possibility and thought he was just putting on an act earlier. Yet, the more i think about it the more likely it seems to be the truth! This boy. Ip An. Did he really have an awakening just then?” Huang Shu’s eyebrows crossed as he pondered this very seriously, no trace of joking in his expression.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, “Although neither I nor Yu Zheng has awakened, I had heard rumours of famous martial artists putting themselves in life or death situations to rouse and awaken the inner qi deep inside themselves. But even then it only happens under extreme circumstances and when the person wholeheartedly is on the brink of death. But to think a small ten-year old boy would just undergo an awakening in this situation? That is...”

Huang Shu couldn’t think any further. His mind blanked. He was unable to grasp what was real anymore. Mind, Huang Shu was a very old man that had seen many things. He was a powerful martial artist in his youth in a big city. He had seen countless betrayals, profound phenomena, and the darkness of the world.

Yet, if Huang Shu’s speculation was correct that Ip An had just awakened. He had most likely witnessed the birth of a genius. Those who have awakened will find that their talent to have increased twofold! They would soar through the heavens and find themselves treated with utter respect by everyone they encounter. Their strength could silence nations and bring emperors to their knees! And people would only become even more envious when they realise they're sudden imperviousness to disease and illness!

They are almost always the peak powerhouses of the mortal martial fighters. But what was even more frightening was that he had seemingly awakened when he was only ten years old! Most who had claimed to have awakened were almost always in their prime or just past it.

Whereas, Ip An was merely ten years old! His life energy was significantly more vibrant. This would cause his life energy's maximum capacity to also increase by a considerable margin.

The reason why awakening was so rare was due to the special circumstances that were required. Most often, several key conditions would have to be met in order to awaken. One, the person must wholeheartedly believe their life is on the line and be in a life or death situation. Two, a great challenge both physically and mentally must be created. A challenge that is seemingly insurmountable to the person. And lastly, a significant change mentally and physically has to occur. And even if all these conditions are met, there is still only a small chance of it occurring.

Some people are simply less prone to awakening than others and thus require significantly more effort to do so. While others are extremely sensitive. However, these people are exceedingly rare. They are almost as rare as heaven-chosen! If not the same rarity!

That’s why, when Huang Shu realised that Ip An had awakened. He couldn’t believe it. And at this point, he had given up pursuing him! He was already severely injured and felt that the punch he gave him would hinder his bodily functions and health for the rest of his life. But he quickly shook his head. He had to get out of here! And go somewhere far away. Somewhere even further away than he ever thought he would. Somewhere Ip An would never think to search!

If Ip An ever found him, he would certainly die! By that time, his heart would’ve definitely matured and he would have the heart to kill him. With this attitude, he gave Yu Zheng’s corpse a regretful look that had started to release a horrible stench and quickly left the temple.

He cut off all his ties with any of his remaining family in Fifth-Step Village, this included his treasured nephew too and traveled in a random direction until he finally settled in a small village similar to that of Fith-Step Village. Ip An’s injury would continue to hinder him for many years to come. He would live a relatively peaceful, quiet lifestyle that showed no indication of his martial path. Slowly, he began to forget about Ip An’s existence but even until the day of his death, still feared that he would one day show up at his doorstep and end his miserable life.