Cultivating the dragon veins of the Nine Provinces, forging an unparalleled demonic body, possessing innate divine artifacts, commanding ancient ferocious beasts.

Dominating the world, making a name overseas—even though I have not yet achieved the Nascent Soul, anyone below that realm should not come courting death.

A unique path to immortality—though I am arrogant, I remain humble before the Dao of Immortals.

The great Dao is long, the path of mortals is full of hardships; the years flow endlessly, the heart’s moon hesitates as well. Watch how a boy who knows nothing of cultivation knocks on the vast gate of the heavens!

Chapter 1: The Immortal Soul Awakens

"Boom..."

A muffled thunder rolled across the sky, shaking the pine needles on the mountaintop trees. Before the thunder faded, bean-sized drops of white rain began to pour down in a crackling torrent.

Henry Stone scooped up the little lamb that was still grazing and dashed toward two huge rocks not far away, which formed an "A" shape. As the rain poured down in sheets, Henry Stone hugged the lamb and hid beneath the rocks, staring blankly at the heavy rain outside. Though only twelve years old, he was much sturdier than most children, having grown up in the mountains.

His big, jet-black eyes were simple and honest, yet carried a hint of naivety.

He was just an ordinary village boy, like the other children in the village—good at working the fields and herding sheep. But if you put them in a private school to study... their simple-mindedness would have the teacher’s palm swollen from all the smacking.

"Rumble..."

Thunder sounded again, and the rain grew even heavier, as if a hole had opened in the sky, pouring water down in torrents.

Henry Stone stroked the lamb’s snowy, soft wool and muttered foolishly to himself, "Grandpa says, when it rains, it’s because Grandpa Thunder God and Grandma Rain Goddess are quarreling. I think their days in the sky aren’t so great either, just like Liu Er the rascal and his wife at the east end of the village, always fighting every few days. The thunder is so loud today... Hmm, looks like Grandma Rain Goddess really made Grandpa Thunder God mad this time..." The honest boy quickly came to his conclusion.

Mountain rain comes and goes quickly. After a wild outburst from the sky, the rain soon cleared, and Henry Stone led the two lambs out.

Suddenly, a bright bolt of lightning split the now-clear sky, stabbing straight down like a sharp sword, striking Henry Stone right on the head. Amid the brilliant flash, a nearly invisible speck of golden starlight followed the lightning and merged into Henry Stone's body.

Henry Stone shuddered all over and collapsed stiffly to the ground.

It wasn’t until his body hit the earth that a deafening thunderclap exploded in the sky, splitting the old pine tree on the mountaintop in two with a crack.

...

"Ah Hong, Ah Hong, wake up, are you alright..."

No one knew how much time had passed before Henry Stone was shaken awake. He opened his eyes groggily to see a pair of concerned eyes in the darkness.

"Dad," he called out, "where am I?"

Seeing him awake, Henry Stone's father finally breathed a sigh of relief. The sturdy mountain man easily lifted Henry Stone and set him on his shoulder with one hand. "You went out to herd the sheep and never came back. Your mother was worried and sent me to look for you. What happened? Why were you lying here?"

Henry Stone slapped his forehead as he remembered, "I was struck by lightning. Ah! The sheep, what about our sheep..."

Henry Stone's father cared deeply about the lamb—raising it to sell at the market would be a huge income for a mountain family like theirs.

He comforted his son, "It’s alright, if it ran off, it ran off. As long as you’re okay." Carrying him steadily, the man walked back toward the village.

Henry Stone felt deeply guilty. Poor children grow up fast, and he understood what the lamb meant to the family. But aside from feeling guilty, he couldn’t think of any way to make up for it. Having grown up in the mountains, he had never even left them, and his limited experience left him at a loss.

"Ah Hong!" When Henry Stone's mother saw him being carried back, she rushed over immediately. Tears welled up in her eyes, and Henry Stone's father quickly reassured her, "He was struck by lightning, but he’s fine now."

Still worried, Henry Stone's mother gritted her teeth and took out two eggs she had been saving to trade for salt. She chopped green onions finely and scrambled the eggs for him, forcing Henry Stone to eat them.

Henry Stone was the eldest son, with a younger sister below him. Naturally, she also got to enjoy a slightly better meal with her brother.

Henry Stone felt even more guilty—he had lost the lamb, yet still got to eat eggs. That night, he lay down with a heavy heart. Normally, someone in his state of mind wouldn’t be able to sleep, but as soon as Henry Stone hit the bed, his eyelids started to droop, and before long, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

In his dreams, he saw fantastic sights—glowing clouds like lightning, twisting like dragons, soaring to the heavens and diving to the earth, capable of anything.

In the middle of the night, Henry Stone's mother, still worried about her son, got up to check if he had kicked off his blanket again. As she reached his bedside, she saw a flash of golden starlight between his brows. Startled, she fell to the ground, sitting there for a long time before regaining her composure. When she stood up to look again, her son was sleeping soundly in bed. Only then did she relax, figuring she must have been seeing things from worrying too much about him that day.