*Bang*

Lightning struck the night when a lowly mortal started traveling in a forest for his journey to enter a sect.

This mortal, who finally reached the age of 15, is now an adult and qualified to enter a sect. Thus, he decided to apply for a third-rate sect, the Feather Wind Sect located in the Phoenix Kingdom.

While traveling, the rain continued to drizzle down from the dark and gloomy clouds.

"My luck sure is great to encounter this stormy weather when I decided to travel", Yang Wei said while using his hand to wipe some of the rain off his forehead. His clothes are now soaking wet and starting to stick into his skin.

Yang Wei lost his parents at the age of 8 because they didn’t receive proper treatment when they were sick.

His parents gave birth to him but he allowed their death to happen without being able to do anything. He hated himself for being weak and powerless, so he decided to become a cultivator.

Cultivators are people who defy heaven and logic to do unimaginable things such as splitting mountains apart and pulverizing lands or oceans.

Yang Wei thirst for power to not let another tragedy happen before his eyes. He applied to the Feather Wind Sect when he was nine years old.

But he failed to enter because his age was too young and because he did not have enough money to pay for the entry fee.

The cultivation world is cruel. However, his soul was from Earth and he was an adult before dying. Otherwise, he would have died a long time ago.

No normal child at the age of eight would be able to care for themselves alone once their parents had died. The shock and hopelessness would destroy their will to live.

Yang Wei has struggled for the past 7 years, doing all the odd jobs that other people aren’t willing to accomplish to survive.

Yang Wei offended a cultivator when he was 8 years old. His naivety and sense of justice led him to the biggest error in his entire life.

Although he was in the right, that does not excuse his crime of being the one responsible for his parents’ death when everyone refused to help their family.

He didn’t blame it on the cultivator because it was his own fault for being weak.

"Just another 10km and I should see the entrance of Phoenix Kingdom." Yang Wei gritted his teeth as he slowly splashed through the muddy water.

*Splash*

Yang Wei accidentally stepped into a huge puddle mixed with soft soil. His boot became drenched in disgusting water.

However, Yang Wei continued to walk because, during the night, beasts are active in hunting because they have a superior vision to humans.

Yang Wei’s appearance is extremely terrible, similar to a beggar, as his hair is in a mess and some stinky odor oozes out from him with this rain. It continued to worsen as time passed on since he traveled a long journey to be here from his small village.

Yang Wei lived in a small village, just 100km away from the Phoenix kingdom. The village is under the jurisdiction of the imperial family that rules over the kingdom.

The imperial family oversees almost every acre for thousands of kilometers and have authority over many sects, simply because they are the owner of the first-rate sect, the Phoenix Sky Sect.

Phoenix Sky Sect is the best sect in the world known to Yang Wei, in terms of knowledge. They have almost all the influential families rushing into the sect to send their talented youths to train there.

In the sect, they get cultivation resources and a Nascent Soul realm instructor. Yang Wei knows a Nascent Soul cultivator is powerful because the cultivator who thrashed him was only a 2nd stage Qi Condensation,

Yang Wei wanted to become a cultivator and with limited knowledge, he has studied in the library despite the hardship. He had to pay a fee to enter the library in his village.

He could only enter for barely 15 minutes because he is poor and needed to save the money to enter into a third-rate sect. The third-rate sect reluctantly accepts applicants that offer 100 silvers.

Yang Wei’s 100 silvers were earned through the hardship of working 12 hours per day for 7 years without any break. He has fainted many times due to overworking but he can't stop.

Being a cultivator is not an easy thing and it would require much dedication and hardship to attain a high realm.

Yang Wei couldn’t afford to be careless in this forest and die to some beast. He is still a weak mortal. Once Yang Wei was about 1km away from the entrance of the Phoenix Kingdom, he ran quickly.

Before he could enter, the guards stopped him because of his ridiculous appearance: soaked clothes, disheveled hair, and a face covered with muddy water.

This made the guard stop him and Yang Wei knows, if he can't explain himself or bribe his way, he would be thrown into prison and possibly experience death.

Killing a mortal is akin to stepping on ants. Yang Wei grits his teeth as he reaches for his soaking pockets. He took out three silver, leaving himself with only two silver left.

After seven years of hard work, he only earned 106 silver which is considered good but if compared to other aristocrats or middle-class families, 106 silver is something they would spend in a flash.

As Yang Wei handed over his three silver, the guard didn't comfort the young man and instead took the money before allowing him entry.

'Tch, with corrupt guards and officials that are easily bribed for an easy entrance, it'll be a miracle if this kingdom is not in ruin soon.'

Yang Wei sneered at the guard in his mind but kindly bowed to pay respect to the guard. He will not be naive and a fool ever again.

He has nothing that could allow him to be arrogant or disrespectful because the guard is still above him in terms of authority and strength.

Retreating is not a coward's strategy. Instead, a tactical retreat is being smart. Never fight if there's no advantage. Yang Wei learned this at the age of 8 when he powerlessly reported to the officials.

Although it was still night, there were only 10 hours left before the Feather Wind Sect opened for their annual ceremony in accepting new disciples.

Even if the Feather Wind Sect is a third-rate sect, for mortals and people without much background, it's an extremely attractive sect.

It may not be the most powerful sect, but they have resources and cultivation techniques. Also, it is a place for cultivators to learn and be trained in how to utilize techniques in a fight.

Cultivation techniques are scarce and only influential families or sects have them and for mortals or people without connections, they are irresistible.

Yang Wei slowly found a dark alley where there is a cover to block the drizzling rain. He slowly took out a tiny piece of vegetable bun that was half-eaten in his pocket and chomped on it.

The vegetable bun was cheap because there's no meat in it and Yang Wei has eaten this for his entire life. Not only is it nutritious, but it is also extremely cheap at the price of 1 copper.

However, the vegetable bun that Yang Wei is currently eating is already in a condition where the whiteness was covered with muddy water.

This probably happened when he stepped into a puddle and drenched his clothes. Yang Wei couldn't care less about the bun being ruined and slowly ate it all.

He has been traveling on foot for 5 days already in the journey of this 100km without stopping.

This was already the limit possible for a mortal and he has bought 10 buns that he ate within that time frame otherwise, he would starve to death.

Yang Wei easily finished the half-muddy bun before finding a comfortable position to sleep. The ground may be soaking wet, but with the drizzling sound of rain, Yang Wei quickly fell asleep.

Yang Wei is completely fatigued from the lack of sleep and travel. So falling asleep under these terrible conditions was easy.

He could only hope that, when he wakes up, he can finally obtain knowledge and resources to become a cultivator.