Episode 1

Rainbow Village was a place with beautiful scenery and abundant natural resources. However, unfortunately, due to the greed of a group of people, the place became a no man's land that buried many of its residents and became the largest cemetery in history. Although five years had passed, the incident was still fresh in the memories of everyone in the Five Finger Mountains region.

No one expected that the once peaceful village would turn into a mass grave in just one day. The identities of those responsible for the incident were kept secret as if it were a taboo subject that could not be disclosed. Even as the ruler of the Five Finger Mountains region, the Black Dragon Sect was not entitled to inquire further into why the incident had occurred. In the end, however, a number of parties linked the incident to the existence of an object being contested by a large clan from the capital to become the true leader.

Life was indeed a place where martial artists competed to be the best. Those who called themselves cultivators often disregarded ordinary people in pursuit of their ambition to become rulers. However, this was only found in black cultivators who often justified any means to dominate the world. In their eyes, weak people were just ants who deserved to be oppressed and humiliated.

Xiao Shuxiang was one of the victims of these black cultivators. As a fifteen-year-old outer court disciple of the Black Dragon Sect who was at the Initial Qi Refining Realm, Xiao Shuxiang had the determination to become the strongest cultivator in order to protect many people and create peace on earth. This was based on his personal experience of becoming an orphan at the age of ten when the village where he lived was burned down by a group of people, causing his parents to be killed in the tragedy.

Xiao Shuxiang and some of his playmates were not at the scene of the incident, so he was able to escape the disaster. While he was mourning the fate of his village, he was fortunate enough to be rescued by a great swordsman who was also an elder of the Black Dragon Sect and took him in as a disciple and adopted son.

As the adopted son of the Second Elder, Xiao Shuxiang's talent seemed ordinary in cultivation and in understanding martial skills. During his five years in the Black Dragon Sect, his ability only reached the first stage, which was the Qi Refining Realm. This was in stark contrast to the other outer disciples who were already at the second stage, or the Qi Foundation Realm. So it was widely said that the Second Elder had only picked up trash on his mission five years ago in Rainbow Village.

Black Dragon Sect, outer court disciple public bathhouse…

"Bang…!"

A teenager was thrown backwards and fell hard to the ground. Luckily, he didn't hit a large rock, so his injuries were not aggravated. However, as a result of the incident, his mouth spewed a mouthful of blood and the pouch containing five spiritual stones that he was holding slipped away.

"You fool, as if being in your hands would make this thing useful," another teenager looked at him with disdain and said arrogantly, picking up Xiao Shuxiang's pouch.

"Brother Fan, that guy is too stupid and can't think straight. Even under the tutelage of the Second Elder, he is still a trash who can only be a waste of the Sect's resources," said another teenager who joined in bullying Xiao Shuxiang.

At this moment, Xiao Shuxiang's body was lying on the ground, the hard kick to his chest caused excruciating pain until he almost passed out. Under his blurred gaze, he could still see the shadows of Lin Fan and Lin Bao who had beaten him to the point where he could not stand. Xiao Shuxiang felt several of his ribs were broken and his legs and arms were paralyzed.

Previously, Xiao Shuxiang did not expect that he would be followed by the Lin brothers shortly after leaving the Resource Hall after taking his monthly ration. Usually, the disciples would immediately return to their residences after receiving the long-awaited resources. They would immediately absorb them to increase their respective cultivation realms. However, it was not the case for Xiao Shuxiang who wanted to clean himself up while the hot spring was empty.

Unexpectedly, the Lin brothers wanted the resources in Xiao Shuxiang's hands by force. Although he wanted to be angry at their actions, Xiao Shuxiang could only hold it back. The difference in strength between them was too great, plus this kind of thing was commonplace for weak disciples who were not careful, so the Sect did not pay much attention to this.

Today, Xiao Shuxiang was in a difficult position. Although it was only a spiritual stone, he himself desperately needed it to catch up with what he felt was an increasing gap with his peers. Even though he was the adopted son of the Second Elder, anything related to resources was strictly enforced according to the rules of the Sect. Xiao Shuxiang had the same opportunity as the others to develop at the early stage of Qi Refining.

Xiao Shuxiang opened his eyes, then with all his strength he tried to get up to take back the pouch that was in Lin Fan's hand. For him, this was his dignity, so he had to defend it in order to stay strong and avenge the deaths of his parents which until now had not been avenged. The incident of the destruction of his birthplace was like an iceberg that no one dared to bring to the surface.

"Do you really want to die?" Lin Fan said with a surprised expression.

He didn't expect Xiao Shuxiang, who was helpless, to be able to get up and quickly snatch back the pouch containing the Spiritual Stones.

"I'm not a weakling you can easily bully," Xiao Shuxiang said hoarsely.

Even though his foster father was on a mission, he didn't want to rely on the Second Elder's big name to suppress Lin Fan and his brother Lin Bao's actions. As fellow outer court disciples, Xiao Shuxiang still thought that their actions were excessive and a bit cruel.

After saying that, Xiao Shuxiang threw his pouch into the center of the hot spring which was not too far from him. It was too fast and made the Lin brothers furious because they didn't have time to react to prevent Xiao Shuxiang's action.

"You crazy bastard, are you really that stupid," Lin Fan swore angrily.

"Don't know if you're lucky…" Lin Bao also cursed.

Spiritual stones, or also commonly called energy stones, were a resource that was desperately needed by the outer court disciples, but seeing them sink into the hot spring certainly created unwillingness in everyone's hearts. But Xiao Shuxiang did it on purpose in front of their eyes, making the situation even hotter.

***This work has been signed with NovelToon, and piracy such as reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited.***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***